God’s plan and will for Joseph (4)
Joseph, who could no longer control himself before all his attendants,
Cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” and made himself known to his brothers (Gen. 45:1).
He wept so loudly (v. 2).
This is what Joseph said to his brothers:
“… I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!
And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here,
because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. …
But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth
and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. …”
(vv. 4-5, 7-8).
Joseph learned God’s plan and will.
He understood God’s plan and will
Why God made him to dream twice at the age of 17 (37:6-11) when he was 39 years old
[Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt when he was 30 years old (41:46) +
7 years of harvest (vv. 29, 47) + 2 years of famine (45:6) = 39 years old),
Why God allowed Joseph to be hated by his older brothers (37:4, 8) and was sold to Egypt (vv. 27-36),
Why God let him be falsely accused and put him into jail (39:14-23),
Why God helped him to interpret the cupbearer’s dream (ch. 40)
and then 2 years later to interpret the dream of the king of Egypt (ch. 41),
Therefore why God not only raised him to be in charge of Potiphar’s household (39:4)
And then to be in charge of all those held in the prison (v. 22)
and then eventually to be in charge of the whole land of Egypt (41:41).
That will of God is to save lives and to preserve a remnant on earth by a great deliverance (45:5, 7).
God allowed Joseph to go through all those hardships from when he was 17 years old to 39 years old
such as, he was hated by his older brothers and his brothers even tried to kill him
and then they sold him with money, he was falsely accused by his master’s wife and then imprisoned,
in order to save and to preserve their lives and their children’s lives on earth.
Joseph, who learned the grand plan and will of God, told his brothers,
“it was not you who sent me here, but God” (v. 8).
Apparently the older brothers sold Joseph but Joseph said God sent him to Egypt.
And the purpose why God sent him ahead of his brothers
was “to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (v. 7).
Joseph, who dreamed when he was 17 but didn’t know the meaning of that dream until the age of 39,
Then after 22 years later, he learned God's will.
Joseph didn’t know God's plan and will for 22 years.
He suffered for 13 years from the age of 17 to becoming the prime minister of Egypt at the age of 30.
In the meantime, there is no record in the Bible that Joseph blamed God and complained.
He didn’t sin against God either by lips or by action.
How could this be possible?
It was because he trusted in God with all his heart and didn’t rely on his understanding (Prov. 3:5-6).
It was because Joseph trusted that God’s will toward him
was always good, acceptable and perfect (Rom. 12:2).
Through this kind of person of faith, God fulfills His plan and will.