Sermon Text: Genesis 50:20a “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…”
My goal for this sermon is first that we would gain a greater understanding of God’s sovereignty and how He works in the lives of His people. And second, that this revelation of God would help us to understand our own lives better.
Remember that the purpose of all of scripture is to reveal Christ to us and to point us to His gospel of grace. So instead of looking at Joseph, we will be looking with Joseph to Christ. Instead of simply looking at this story, we will look by this story to the good news of the gospel.
Let us pray.
Our Father, would grant us eyes to see You for who really are. Would you help us to intimately know You as sovereign and good. Would You please help us to know the ways you work in our lives and in our stories and in Your world. As we open up the story of Joseph would You open up our hearts and remove the attitudes, the high thoughts, and emotional blockades that we have erected that attempt to reduce You down to a safe and sterile god of our own imagination. Be known to us today for who You really are. Reveal to us today that Your providence in our lives comes to us through the good and evil—the sweet and the bitter. In Jesus’ name we ask these things. Amen.
Genesis 37 is the beginning of Joseph’s long and dramatic story. But I don’t want to take anything for granted and just assume you all are sufficiently familiar with it so I am going to give you a very brief overview of the story of Joseph.
Synopsis of Joseph’s Story
Jacob has twelve sons but of all of his sons, he loves Joseph the most. Because Joseph is his father’s favorite, Jacob makes him a robe of many colors. This doesn’t sit well with Joseph’s brothers and they hate him. Then God gives Joseph two dreams that his brothers and family will bow down to him.
Joseph and his brothers already have a strained relationship but Joseph decides to go on and tell his brothers and family of the dreams anyway. This makes the brothers hate Joseph even more than they already do. Without knowing specifics, we know that Joseph’s behavior was such that it was enough to provoke Jacob to rebuke his beloved Son.
One day Joseph, who is 17 years old, goes out to check on his brothers in the fields and they see him coming and conspire to kill him and thrown him into a pit. But Joseph’s oldest brother, Reuben, intervenes and will not let them kill Joseph, but only strip off his prized robe and throw him into the pit.
Then another one of Joseph’s brothers, Judah, intervenes again and suggests that instead of killing him, they at least get something out of it and sell him to slave traders who are going down to Egypt.
Joseph is then sold to Potiphar who is an officer of Pharaoh (who the highest in command in Egypt). The Bible tells us that God is with Joseph and that God caused all that he did to succeed.
As it happened, Potiphar’s wife becomes smitten with Joseph and day after day begs him to sleep with her and day after day he righteously refuses to sin against God. One day when no one else is around, as if to give him one last chance, she catches him by his garment and says “Lie with me.” But Joseph does not even wait for her to let go of him and he flees from the house leaving his garment in her hand.
This naturally makes Potiphar’s wife very angry. So the Egyptian noble accuses this Hebrew slave of trying to rape her. As soon as Potiphar hears his wife’s slanderous story, he puts Joseph into prison.
But through his whole story and even now, God has not abandoned Joseph. God gave Joseph favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison and he puts Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. Then two unlikely men just so happened to become prisoners, the King’s cupbearer and the King’s baker.
Then one night they both have dreams (remember, Joseph was a dreamer himself). These dreams trouble the cupbearer and the baker such that Joseph notices and asks them why they were downcast.
They tell Joseph their dreams and Joseph gives them the interpretations which was good news for the cupbearer but a death sentence for the baker. In three days each man’s dream would come to pass and the baker would have his head chopped off and the cupbearer would be restored to his former position with Pharaoh. When Joseph gave the cupbearer the favorable interpretation to his dream, he charged the cupbearer to remember him and to mention him to Pharaoh to get him out of prison.
But when the cupbearer got out and was restored just as Joseph had told him, he forgets about the dreamer, and Joseph stays in prison. (We are not told exactly, but we know Joseph was in prison for a minimum of two years but very likely it was longer.)
Some years later Pharaoh dreams and there is no one who can give him the interpretation. But finally the cupbearer remembers Joseph and tells Pharaoh about the imprisoned dreamer. So right away they bring Joseph from the dungeon and Pharaoh asks Joseph to interpret his dreams. God gave Joseph the interpretation to Pharaoh’s dreams which was that there was going to be 7 years of plenty in Egypt followed by 7 years of terrible famine.
Pharaoh is so moved by the Spirit of God in Joseph and his wisdom that Pharaoh sets Joseph over all the land of Egypt, second in command, answering only to Pharaoh himself.
Joseph, being the wise master that he is, takes care during the first seven years to store up all the food in preparation for the famine. And then when the famine finally comes it is severe in Egypt and in all the earth so that all the countries come into Egypt to Joseph to buy food.
Jacob, Joseph’s father, along with Joseph’s brothers are not exempt from the famine and so Jacob sends his sons down to Egypt to buy food in order to survive. This brings them directly before Joseph who they do not recognize. In true humility they bow down to this prince of Egypt not knowing that it was their brother Joseph the dreamer. Eventually Joseph reveals himself to his brothers who become terrified that Joseph will avenge himself for the violent way they treated him, but instead he forgives them and reconciles and reunites with his family in Egypt.
Salvation Not Condemnation
At the end of this story what we see is that instead of punishing his brothers and condemning them, Joseph saves them. In Genesis 45:8 Joseph says, “So it was not you who sent me here, but God…”
This is why I chose as the sermon text Genesis 50:20a, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…”
As we dig into the story of Joseph and particularly chapter 37 which is terribly violent and distressing, I want us to look at the verbs of Genesis 50:20 to help us navigate.
The verb is meant or in the hebrew khä·shav’. The word literally means to weave or to braid. This is the same verb used in Genesis 15:6 when it says Noah believed so God counted (hashav) it to him for righteousness. The word is also used later when God is giving Moses the instructions for the construction of the tabernacle. There were to be ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet. Images of cherubims were to be masterfully and intentionally woven in to these curtains in the tabernacle.
As one theologian observes, “This is not a verb of accidental occurrence. It is a verb of deliberate intention and imagination.”
Hashav pictures the sovereign God orchestrating every meticulous detail, every single thread of His glorious tapestry of redemption being woven together masterfully and intentionally.
Over the next few weeks as we journey through the story of Joseph and the rest of the book of Genesis, hashav must be at the forefront of your mind. See God’s hand and plan in all of this mess and evil working and weaving something beautiful even if we can’t quite make out it’s beauty and goodness just yet.
Read Genesis 37
So remember, I am aiming this sermon at two areas, a greater understanding of God’s sovereignty and how He works, and then that this would help us to understand our own stories more clearly.
So as we dig into chapter 37, remember hashav, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” So particularly, I want you to see how God is using what would appear to be coincidences, and how He is using people’s sins and evil. God is weaving. What appears to be coincidences are all precisely part of the plan. God is weaving. Even sins and evil, tools meant for destruction are being wielded by a merciful Craftsman for Good. The curse becomes the cure. Afflictions are working for Glory.
Joseph’s Dreams
Joseph has two dreams. Dreams about humiliation and exultation. Two dreams about people being brought low before one who is being raised up. Joseph dreams about sheaves and about Heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars) and we are told explicitly here that those images both represent people, they represent his brothers and his parents.
I want you to notice three responses to these dreams.
First, look at Joseph. We don’t know, but it would appear from the fact that Jacob rebuked his beloved 17 year old son, that either Joseph was chronically insensitive or inconsiderate or that he was a bit presumptuous and proud. Either way, do you think he knew how it was that God would make those dreams a reality? Joseph, like many of us, don’t usually see the deep dark valley that lies before the mountain top.
Then you have Joseph’s brothers. Perhaps because of the messenger, so young, probably arrogant, so familiar, perhaps because of what it is they are hearing, his brothers outright dismiss this dreamer and his dreams. They simply don’t believe and do not heed God’s reveled truth. They are jealous. We are told three times (vv. 4, 5, 8) in this chapter that hate is swelling up in their hearts toward their brother.
In verse 4 we see that they could not speak peacefully to him. In other words, they could not even follow basic cultural etiquette and greet him with peace.
Finally there is Jacob. Jacob listens to his favored son, he rebukes him, and yet he does not make the same mistake his sons make. Instead of rejecting the dream altogether, he tucks away Joseph’s saying in mind, however unimaginable it sounds.
The prophetic dreams that God gives to Joseph are a hope for Joseph to anchor his faith to. A hope that reveals God’s sovereign purpose. A hope that God is working and weaving.
To jump further ahead, Joseph’s dreams all came to pass. And not just in a single gesture as his brothers physically bowed down to him unknowingly in Egypt.
Jacob actually gave Joseph the birthright that would traditionally go to the firstborn. The firstborn would also receive a double portion and Jacob received this double portion. Not only that but Jacob adopts Joseph’s two sons he had while in Egypt and elevates them to the status of his own biological children leaving them a blessing also.
In that culture, this all so very backwards and upside-down. The older never bowed to the younger. The younger just didn’t receive what belonged to the older and yet here we are (again).
God, through Joseph’s dreams, is telling His people that this fallen world is going to be turned upside down and set right once again. So remember, Joseph isn’t the point of Joseph’s story, Jesus is. So Joseph is here to remind us that one day, God would send another Prince, a better Prince, who would likewise be rejected by His brothers. Who would also be thrown into a pit, but it would be a far deeper pit.
Joseph’s Humiliation
Joseph’s brothers are taking care of their father’s flock in Shechem. Joseph is sent to check on them and he obediently goes, but when he gets to Shechem his brothers are not there. And there just so happens to be a man who just so happened to overhear that they went on to a place called Dothan.
So Joseph goes to Dothan and as his brothers see him coming they conspire to murder him. They despise him but take note of what they say in verses 19 and 20, “Here comes this dreamer…. [L]et us kill him…. [A]nd we will see what will become of his dreams.” You see, in reality, they are not only despising Joseph the dreamer, but they are rebelling against God Himself, the dream giver.
Bitterness, jealousy, envy, and hatred will always bear themselves out. Do you have bitterness? Jealousy? Envy? Hatred? Do you struggle with any of those? All of those? Can you greet your brother in peace?
Did you know that a baby polar bear weighs 1-2 pounds when they are born? And by 8 months they weigh something like 100 pounds. Adult male polar bears can get up to around 1500 pounds.
You see, you may think your jealousy and envy and bitterness and hatred are harmless. You may think that these are not a threat to you, that you can keep all of these under control because they are just 1 or 2 pounds cubs. But before you know it, these will break out and consume you.
Joseph is a 17 year old young man and these are his brothers. They seize Joseph and strip his clothes off of him and throw him naked into a pit to be left for dead. And this is their idea of “mercy” after Reuben, the oldest brother, convinced them (at least for now) not to shed his blood with their hands. And then in utter callousness they sit down to eat while their brother begs for mercy, naked, from the bottom of a pit.
Bitterness. Jealousy Envy. Hatred. Left unchecked, theses will consume you.
Imagine Joseph’s intense emotions as he cried out. Do you think he thought of his dreams in those moments?
Reuben, must have been preoccupied, because as they are eating a caravan of Midianite traders is passing by. Judah, like a scrupulous pharisee, suggests that since Joseph is their brother, their own flesh, they should not lay a hand upon him, but instead sell him for a profit to the Ishmaelite slave traders.
What happens next is nothing short of irony. If you remember the story, Jacob used a goat and his favored brother’s clothes to deceive his father, now Joseph’s brothers deceive Jacob with their favored brother’s clothes and a goat. Of course they are different, Jacob was righteously deceiving his father in order to receive the blessing that was rightfully his while here Joseph’s brothers are being completely wicked.
They soil Joseph’s prized robe with the goats blood and make their father believe he was torn to pieces by a wild animal.
But the author gives a glimmer of hope in the last verse. Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
Notice something else the author did, nowhere in the chapter is God specifically mentioned. Can you imagine how Joseph must have felt so alone. He must have felt that God was absent in that pit or on that road to Egypt as a slave. And yet, we know it is God who is working all of these things, bitter and sweet, good and the evil, for an ultimate success. For an ultimate good and an ultimate glory.
Think about the many so-called coincidences we see in this chapter. Jacob happens to send Joseph whose brothers happen to not be where they were supposed to be, while a man happened to be there who just so happened to know where Joseph’s brothers had gone. And then when Joseph was to be killed Reuben happened to be there to save Joseph’s life but just so happened to be gone and did not prevent Joseph from being sold into slavery.
Of course these aren’t coincidences at all. These all are masterfully intended by God, including the willful sin of Joseph’s guilty, murderous brothers. It was all God’s will.
Conclusion
The truth is that if any single one of those things did not happen in exactly the way they happened, everyone dies. If Joseph doesn’t get to Egypt to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams and to save the people from the famine, all of Joseph’s family dies.
It is really interesting, Dothan, where Joseph is thrown into the pit, is same place where much later a prophet would cry out to God for salvation and God would miraculously and immediately intervene with chariots of fire to work salvation for His child. And yet here is Joseph in Dothan crying out for salvation, and God stays silent. And yet God is no less active. God mercifully worked salvation for the prophet by supernatural chariots of fire and God is mercifully working salvation for Joseph by violently sending him, as a slave, down to Egypt.
We see the same thing in the new testament. It is the wise mercy of God to free Peter and Paul and other disciples miraculously from prison. And it is the loving and merciful wisdom of God that kept John the Baptist securely in prison until his execution.
As one pastor puts it, “God’s wise redeeming love is completely compatible with terrible things happening in the lives of those He loves. God’s wise redeeming love for you is compatible with terrible disappointments, and terrible things happening to you.”
It may seem so often that God is not answering your prayers—that He isn’t doing anything in your life—that He is silent. You may feel like Joseph at the bottom of that pit, betrayed, rejected, abandoned. But God is working. In the good and sweet and in the bitter and evil. He works in the blessing and in the curse.
Joseph points us to Christ, but he also points us to Christ’s work and that means Joseph, in his weakness is a picture of us. Just like Joseph, we have a Father who loves us, who has clothed us in a robe of righteousness we didn’t deserve. Just like Joseph, we have a hope, who is Christ, that will not disappoint. Just like Joseph, before we get to the mountain we must go through the valley. Before we are raised to glory we must pass through the grave.
You see, when it seems like God is not answering your prayers, what He is really doing is working in your life and answering you in ways that you just don’t understand.
As you pray and it seems that thing cannot get worse and death is surrounding you on every side, God is answering you in ways you would easily understand if you only knew everything He knows and saw everything that He sees, which is impossible, which is why, in the end, we are only ever to trust our Father who is the One who turns all deaths into glorious resurrections.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…”
Joseph tells us plainly, [“you meant evil against me,”] But the true meaning of these evil acts did not lie under the authority of the perpetrators. God took their evil and turned it to His good. The events did not change. God didn’t miraculously alter Joseph’s slavery or imprisonment. He just made something else happen through it; something that the perpetrators could never have anticipated….
God doesn’t need to alter events in order to bring about His purposes. His is a much more glorious plan. He takes what others plan for evil and uses it to bring about good. He doesn’t erase the evil; He transforms it.
—Skip Moen
The curse becomes the cure. Remember the story of Joseph is just a window that we look through to see Christ. Can you see Him? Can you see the cross?
I love the way that Sally Lloyd Jones makes the connection from Joseph to Christ in the Jesus Storybook Bible. She says just like Joseph His heart would break. He would leave His home and Father. His brothers would hate Him and want Him dead. Just like Joseph, He would be sold for silver pieces. He would be punished even though He had done nothing wrong. But just like Joseph, God would use everything thing that happened, even the bad things, even the sinful actions of men, to do something good—to save His people.
Although Joseph’s sufferings point to and foreshadow the Messiah’s sufferings, Jesus suffered infinitely more that Joseph. He was not only stripped of a robe, He was stripped of His Father’s love. Why? He suffered and died to save His people, to become sin for us, to bear the weight of our sin. He died so that in Him we can die and as He lives so can we live. Thanks be to God!
One of the things that strikes me the most about Joseph’s story is that if Joseph stays buried in the pit, our hope for Messiah stays buried with him. If Joseph doesn’t make it to Egypt, God’s people perish in the promised land. If Joseph is left alone by God to live comfortably as the favorite in his father’s house, avoiding years and years of inexplicable suffering and misery, the line that our Messiah comes from, starves to death.
Even at the very end Joseph still did not see the entire picture that God was weaving with his life and with his sufferings, he could not, and yet, he knew they were not meaningless. And thus he was not bitter or angry or resentful, toward God or toward his brothers. He loved. He believed.
We will no doubt come to the end of our troubles or to the end of our lives with unanswered questions. But know this, when hope finally gives birth, when what we hope for is finally obtained, and we get to the other side, we will see the final glorious portrait.
Just like the song we sing, we will know that every tear was worth it all. Why? Because we will know Glory like never before.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Please stand and let us pray.
Heavenly Father, these truths may come easy enough to our minds but we must have them set deep in our hearts. Father let the truth of You loving sovereignty take root in our hearts. Let it guard us and keep up even when we are in the pit. Let the comfort of Your wise mercy saturate every piece of our heart that it would drive out all bitterness and jealousy and envy and hate. Make us to trust You. Keep us faithful. For Your glory in Christ Jesus. Amen.
My charge for you is this. Believe in the God of the Bible, who is God all the way up and all the way down. The God who works in the light and in the dark, in the good and in the calamity, in the sweet and in the bitter. Believe the God who works all things for the good of those who love Him. Believe the God who works all things for His glory. Let this belief purge your heart of all bitterness, jealousy, envy, and hatred. Believe the God of loving sovereignty and wise mercy.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen and Amen. (Psalm 72:18-19)