Genesis 50:20
But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, it save many people alive.
To me the story of Joseph, which begins in Genesis 37, is a perfect example of God's heart and plans.
He will take a person, with all their flaws and character defects, and through circumstances that follow, mold them and prepare them for His work. If you read the Bible long enough, you'll find that everyone (outside of Jesus) is a foul up of royal proportions. So lets take a look at Joseph.
Genesis 37:2 - Joseph is a snitch. He runs to his father to tell on his brothers. How do you think the bro's felt about their kid brother? Well, you know how they felt.....they wanted to pound this kid to wennie meat!
Genesis 37:3 - Dad loved Joseph more than the other sons. This also magnified the hatred the big boys had against their little snot-nosed brother. And to make matters worse Dad dressed Joseph up a coat that made him look like a peacock. What was dad thinking? Now not only do the big boys despise Joseph...they can spot him a mile off wearing his rainbow hoodie. Bad move on dad's part.
Genesis 37:6-11 - Joseph has no idea how to keep his mouth shut. Somehow I believe that if it was in Joseph's head....it was going to come out of his mouth. Joseph has a series of dreams that he just has to share with the family. I can picture them sitting around the dinner table and old Joe says, "Hey let me share some dreams I had...they are really a hoot." Family listens. Joe shares how all the family is going to bound down to him. That breaks it as far as the older boys are concerned. Their thought is to take this young pup out behind the tent for an attitude adjustment. Poor Joe needs to learn the value of timing...when to speak up...when to be quiet.
Genesis 37:18 - Brothers have had enough. They hold a sibling conclave to decide what to do with Joe. It has reached critical mass now...they plot to kill him. They cook up a plan to knock Joe off and create a false story for Dad that the youngun' was killed by a wild animal. Hatred will move you into some areas where the hold gets deeper.
Genesis 37:26-27 - Judah, one of the brothers, has a moment of remorse. But rather than say, "hey, let's not do this", ol Judah turns capitalist. They won't kill Joe, but there is no reason they can't get rid of him AND make a buck. SO they sell Joe into slavery. Joe gets an all expenses paid vacation down in Egypt. Land of enchantment...beauty.....and more trouble than you could shake a stick at.
Genesis 37:36 - Joe winds up in the house of a guy named Potiphar. Now ol' Pot was an officer of Pharaoh. As you know, Pharaoh was the head honcho when it came to movers and shakers down in Egypt. The buck stopped with Pharaoh.
Genesis 39:2-3 - Here is where things began to get dicey. In verse 2 we are told that the LORD was with Joseph, and that Joe was a whiz bang at whatever ol' Pot wanted done. Joe is a slave, but God is with him. Joe's circumstances are not the best in the world, but God is with Him. If God was with Joe, why didn't God take Joe out of this slave-dom he was stuck in? Because God's plans superseded Joe's.
Genesis 39:7 - Things go all "Soap opera" for Joe. Ol Pot has a wife that has roaming eyes and she sets her sight on this young Hebrew boy. She put's the move on Joe, but he resist. She turn the heat up to the point that ol Joe splits. Runs away...got out of Dodge. But in the process, she grabs him by the coat and he runs slap dab out of it. What does the old girl do? Why cry "Rape" of course.
Genesis 39:20-21 - Pot captures our runaway and throws him into prison. I'm not sure what the sentence was for rape,but I do know that Joe did not get out on good behavior. Verse 21 tells us that the LORD was with Joe, showing him mercy and favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. In other words, Joe may be locked up, but the jailer made sure that Aunt Bee came every day and feed Joe well.
This is a good time to stick a book mark in this story. So if you're interested, check back here tomorrow and we'll see how this whole mess turns out.
God on you...
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