“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive. “So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. ” Genesis 50:20-21.
These verses are part of a story regarding Jacob and Rachel’s son Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers because they hated the fact he was Jacob’s favorite son. And this was not a subtle favoritism but deep one. Joseph was born to Rachel, Jacob’s true love, while most of his brothers were sons of Leah, the wife Jacob had been tricked into marrying. The favoritism Jacob showed Joseph no doubt reopened old wounds from the rivalry between Rachel and Leah, which then showed itself in Joseph’s brothers plan for Joseph.
“When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer! Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!” Genesis 37:18-20.
Here are the dreams Joseph had which angered his brothers.
“He said to them, ‘Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.’ Then his brothers said to him, ‘Are you actually going to reign over us?” Or are you really going to rule over us?’ So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, ‘Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” Genesis 37:6-9.
These dreams irritated his brothers, and they decided to kill him. Then Joseph is rescued.
“But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, ‘Let us not take his life.’ Reuben further said to them, ‘Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him’, that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father. So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.” Genesis 37:21-25.
However Judah, who was a part of this plan, did not desire to kill him.
“Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers listened to him. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.” Genesis 35:26-28.
After the Ishmaelites bought Joseph, they went to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, who was the captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard. And things started going well with Joseph.
“The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.” Genesis 39:2-4.
However, things went bad when his master’s wife wanted him to lie with her.
“But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” Genesis 39:8-9.
Now, when the master heard the lie that Joseph tried to sexually abuse her, he became very angry and put him in jail. But as we see in the following verses, the chief jailer trusted Joseph.
“But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. He committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.” Genesis 39:21-23.
After this, two officials of Pharaoh had dreams they did not understand. So Joseph asked to hear them. First the chief cupbearer.
“So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, ‘In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.’” Genesis 40:9-11.
Then Joseph interprets the cupbearer’s dream.
“This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.” Genesis 40:12b-14.
Next, the Chief Baker tells his dream.
“When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” Genesis 40:16-17.
Then Joseph interprets his dream.
“Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.” Genesis 40:18-19.
After this, both dreams were fulfilled.
“He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.” Genesis 40:21-22.
Two years later, Joseph interprets two of Pharaohs dreams. When Pharaoh woke up he was troubled by what he dreamed, but when he asked all the magicians in Egypt what they meant, and they were unable to tell him, he asks Joseph to interpret them, and he is able to. Here is the dream Pharoah had.
“So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile; and behold, seven cows, fat and sleek came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. “Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt; and the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows. Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke. I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a single stalk; and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them; and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.” Genesis 41:17-24.
Joseph then interprets the dream for him.
“Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ‘The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine. It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. “Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land. “So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.” Genesis 41:25-32.
Joseph then tells Pharaoh to appoint overseers to be in charge of the process. That in the first seven years of abundance to set aside 20 percent of the crops to be reserved for the seven years of famine. Pharoah was pleased with this and he asked his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?” And Joseph was assigned the title or Vizier, in essence Prime Minister of Egypt, which gave him authority over all of Egypt’s resources. which he used to develop a plan to store all the excess grain in Egypt during the times when there was plenty to prepare for the coming time of scarcity.
During this time, Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, and since they were lacking, Jacob sent ten of Joseph’s brothers, which excluded Benjamin as well as Joseph whom they thought was dead, to buy food so they would not starve to death. When they arrived, Joseph recognized them, but acted as though he did not. However, his brothers did not recognize him. Joseph then calls them spies and puts them in prison for three days. After the three days, he called them to be tested if they were being honest.
“Do this and live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me, so your words may be verified, and you will not die. And they did so.” Genesis 42:18b-20.
Then they told each other they were definitely guilty concerning Joseph.
“Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” Genesis 42:21b.
They did not realize Joseph understood because there was an interpreter there. Then they went back home and told there father what happened. And when they go back, Joseph tells them who he really is.
All these hard times, both for Joseph and his family occurred because it was what God purposed.
“When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!’ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, ‘Your father charged before he died, saying, Thus you shall say to Joseph, ‘Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.’ And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’ But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” Genesis 50:15-21.
These verses from the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis teaches us a powerful lesson regarding forgiveness and trusting in God’s plans. Despite the betrayal and harm done to him by his own brothers, Joseph chose to forgive them. Instead of seeking revenge or holding on to anger, he sees the bigger picture that God had a plan for their good all along, even in the midst of his brothers’ evil intentions.
Have you ever been in a situation where someone has wronged you, hurt you deeply, or betrayed your trust? It can be incredibly difficult to let go of feelings like anger and resentment. However, when we look at Joseph’s example, we are reminded forgiveness is not just about letting go of our own pain, but also about recognizing that God can bring something good out of every situation, no matter the circumstances. Just as Joseph’s forgiveness paved the way for reconciliation and redemption within his family, our choice to forgive can also bring healing to our own lives and relationships. So while reflecting on these verses, let us emulate Joseph’s example of forgiveness and trust in what God allows, knowing it will lead to a good ending for us. We must let go of our desire for revenge and instead choose to forgive those who do us wrong. Can we believe that even in the darkest of situations, God is at work, weaving together a story of redemption and grace? This story should inspire us to seek reconciliation, extend forgiveness, and trust in God’s ultimate plan for good in our lives.
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