"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
Genesis 50:20
Part 8
Yesterday: Joseph and His Brothers Are Reunited!
“But God meant it unto good.” (d)
God has overcome time, distance, separation, starvation, and sin to bring Joseph and his brothers together again. Humanly this was impossible. But God’s sovereignty shines through as He accomplishes His plans. This God is to be trusted.
Today: Jacob and Joseph Meet
“To bring to pass, as it is this day.”
God specializes in bringing about the impossible for his glory.
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man, it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God’” (Mark 10:27).
When Jacob’s sons returned home from Egypt, they told him that Joseph is still alive. What’s more, Joseph has sent wagons and provisions for the entire household of 70 souls to move down to Egypt to be with him. This was almost too much for the old man to handle. The Bible tells us that when Jacob saw the caravan, Joseph sent to move them, “the spirit of Jacob, their father revived” (Genesis 45:27). His reply to this fantastic news,
“And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die” (Genesis 45:28).
Jacob must have been fearful of leaving everything he knew at home to go to a foreign country, especially at his age. When the travelers got as far as Beersheba, they stopped and offered sacrifice where Isaac, Jacob’s father, had offered sacrifice many years before. It was here that God spoke to Jacob “in the visions of the night.”
“‘Jacob, Jacob.’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ And He said, ‘I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes” (Genesis 46:2b-4).
“To save much people alive.”
This was God’s plan all along for Joseph and his family. He planned for their protection and the building of a nation. Joseph had Jacob and the family settle in the land of Goshen, a very fertile area of the Nile Delta. Joseph took his chariot and went to Goshen to meet Jacob and the family. At the reunion, Joseph hugged his dad and “wept a good while.” Jacob’s heart is settled because of seeing his son.
“And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die since I have seen thy face because thou art yet alive” (Genesis 6:30).
Jacob, now 130 years old, met the Pharaoh.
“And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh” (Genesis 47:10).
“And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families” (Genesis 47:12).
Jacob lived with his family in Egypt for 17 years before the Lord took him home to glory. He was 147 years old. Jacob was embalmed, as was the Egyptian custom. And Pharaoh graciously let Joseph and the family back to Canaan to bury him. And they buried him in the cave at Machpelah. God’s promise to Jacob was fulfilled, “I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again” (Genesis 42:4).
Joseph’s brothers were a bit nearsighted. For when they all return to Egypt, their father being dead and buried, they grew fearful again that Joseph would punish them now. Jacob’s sons are having this meeting now so that Joseph can reassure them.
“And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now, therefore, fear ye not: I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them” (Genesis 50:18-21).
This is not the end of the story. God always has a bigger plan in mind. In a little over 400 years from this time, God will raise up a leader named Moses who will bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt and take them back to the Promised Land. They will carry Joseph’s bones back with them to bury him there also.
Joseph indeed was a man of faith. For so many of his years, the days were dark, lonely, and painful. Often he could not see what God was doing. But at the end of his life, when he looked back, he could see that God had led his steps, day by day. Believers, we need to remember to be faithful to God like Joseph was. We may not understand what God is doing in our lives, but we know that he is working in us for our good and his glory.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So, what do we do in our dark days of pain, loneliness, and fears? We bring them to the Lord, and we trust Him to continue working in our lives, making us the men and women of God that He wants us to be. Our for “God is faithful.”
Quote: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).