God’s Providence: Genesis 50:15-20

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB).

On May 24, 2022, nineteen students and two teachers were murdered, and seventeen others were injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, by 18 year-old Salvador, Ramos. This is just one of several incidents that have taken place in the United States in the last several years that have given rise to questions about the cause of the incident and possible solutions. News people often ask the question, “What can we do (be done) to make sure that this does not happen again? This question and other questions like this suggest that there is something that can be done by human efforts to determine outcomes. On the other hand, I have my own questions. “What is God doing? What is God saying to us; what is God trying to tell us? I ask these questions because I believe in divine providence. I believe that God is in control of all things. I believe that God guides all things so that His purpose is realized. In this article I want to mention three incidents that have taken place in our country that like the story of Joseph testify that we should seek answers to our questions and solutions to our problems from God.

Before I discuss the story of Joseph in our bible passage, I want to mention three incidents that have taken place in our country that caused me to ask “what is God doing?” First, there is the killing of young Black men by police persons. While the news report that these are Black men, I am not willing to look at skin color as the only reason that these victims were fatally shot to death. I noticed that these young men have more than skin color in common. I noticed that most of these young men were men/boys that grew up without an active participating father in their lives. You see, while we are talking about racism, social justice, and poverty, I am asking, “is God trying to tell us something about children that are raised without a father’s participation in their lives?

A second incident that occurred recently is that the United States Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade which gave a woman the right to get an abortion in every state even though some states have state laws against abortions. The court’s ruling meant that states that already had laws against abortions were now free to enforce those laws. Of course this raised questions about how this would affect women and their families that wanted the woman to get an abortion but lived in a state prohibiting them. The thing that caught my eye was that the court’s ruling took place at a time when the president of the United States, Joe Biden and the democrats by and large are in favor of abortions. While the news reports mostly the facts of the case, too little emphasis is spent on the specific reasons that people favor or oppose abortions. Again, the question in my mind is “What is God doing and what is God trying to tell us? Does God have anything to say about abortions?”

The third incident that I want to mention is that of the conviction of Brittney Griner by a Russian court. The court found that Griner deliberately brought illegal drugs into Russia despite her clam that it was an accident. The court sentenced Griner to nine years in prison. Griner is a professional basketball player. She plays for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury team. The women of the WNBA and other supporting groups as well as President Biden are claiming that Griner has been unjustly held. The WNBA and their supporters insist that the president make a political deal with Russia in which Griner and Paul Whelan are exchanged for Viktor Bout a Russian arms dealer. President Biden will be under extreme pressure to make the exchange. Griner’s supporters want her to be freed so that she can return home to be with her wife. Griner is involved in a same-sex marriage. Does God have anything to say about same sex marriage and same sex relationships?

It is not the purpose of this article to argue the rightness and wrongness of these three cases. Rather, my goal is that the readers will begin to ask themselves the same questions that I ask. “What is God doing?” “What is God saying to us?” The story of Joseph tells us that God is sovereign. God has a purpose and God uses our actions and words to bring about God’s intended results.

The story of Joseph begins in Genesis 37. At least that is the first mention of him specifically in the Bible. Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him to merchants in a traveling caravan of merchants taking their goods to Egypt. The brothers lied to their father telling him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. In Egypt Joseph was sold as a slave to an Egyptian official, but after going through some difficult times Joseph became ruler in Egypt second to Pharaoh. There was famine in Egypt and Canaan. Joseph was in charge of the distribution of grain program. His brothers came to Egypt to buy grain. They did not know that the man in charge was their brother Joseph. They had been telling the lie that Joseph was dead for so long that they even told the man in charge that their brother Joseph was dead. Eventually, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. Joseph sent for his father and the rest of his family. Jacob, Joseph’s father died, and his body was taken back to Canaan to be buried with his wife Sarah. Our chosen passage records a conversation between Joseph and his brothers after their father was buried.

Although the story of Joseph began in Genesis 37, God’s purpose for Joseph’s enslavement and rise to power was promised to Abraham. God made a covenant with Abram (Abraham). “God said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13, NASB). As we have seen Joseph was sold by jealous brothers. In His providence, God was providing a way for the promised made to Abram would prove to be true. God used the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers to get Jacob and his family of 72 people into Egypt. Joseph did not know what God was doing. His father did not have God’s promise to Abraham in mind when he was told that his son was dead. His brothers did not have God’s promise to Abram in mind when they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelite merchants. However, true to God’s words the 72 members went to Egypt. Their increase in numbers was a threat to a Pharaoh that did not know Joseph. He ordered that the Hebrew people be put into slavery and the boy babies be killed. Still the Hebrew people multiplied into a nation of millions. The king of Egypt made them slaves and they were in bondage for 430 years. When the 430 years were completed God sent Moses to lead the people out of bondage in Egypt to freedom in Canaan.

The Genesis story tells us what happened in the life of Joseph and his brothers. The author of Genesis does not tell us how Joseph was feeling about his brothers. We know that Joseph was sad when he saw his brothers because he went into his room alone and cried. When did Joseph realize that God had used him to carry out his purpose? The Bible does not say when Joseph came to know this truth. Yet, Joseph at some point became aware that God had used the evil intentions of his brothers to bring about God’s good intentions for His people. So, let us return to the beginning of this article.

The killing of Black men by white cops is viewed by the media as a racial thing that needs to be addressed and solutions need to be found to resolve the problem. What is God saying to us? What is God trying to show Black Americans in particular? According to the creation story in Genesis 2-3 God created a man and a woman. Together, in a committed relationship in which the two become one they were to be fruitful and multiply—have children. Are we so accepting of the single parent family that we cannot see the danger and damage that is being done on our communities?

What might God be saying to America about abortions? Do Christians in America know the scriptures that strongly indicate that God values the life of the unborn and God has a purpose for their life? Jeremiah was such a person. “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah, 1:4-5, NASB). Consider Jesus who was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit. “The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ‘And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus… He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end’” (Luke 1:30-33, NASB).

What might God be saying to us in the Brittney Griner case? For us, it is about the difference between justice in America and justice in Russia. It’s about the continuing competition between Russia and the United States. It is about long held hostilities. The scriptures say that a same sex relationship is an abomination to God. “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22, NASB). Now, I am aware that many say that this is an ancient text that is no longer relevant in our world today. Yet, the same people will not condom the other forbidden relationships named in the same book and chapter. Yes, our world has changed. The problem is that God has not changed. God is immutable. We trust God because we believe that He is faithful to His word.

God is sovereign. He is the creator of the universe. God controls everything and guides things along so that His purpose is realized. Everyone is not Christian. Some people deny the existence of God and His authority. Such people will not change their minds because of some law written by government authorities. Real change will take place when the Gospel is preached and people believe the message and surrender their life to Jesus Christ. So, let us that claim to be Christian stop the condemning of people and condoning of ungodly behaviors. People will live as God wants them to live when Christians speak the truth of God and live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Most of the time we do not know what God in doing but we can know that God will somehow bring about the best good for His people that love him and seek to do His will.