God Meant it for Good (Gen 50)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 50.

We are at the conclusion of our long-running series on Genesis, which we started in October of 2023 and have diligently been working through verse-by-verse and line-by-line ever since. If my count is correct, I believe today’s sermon marks our 63rd sermon from Genesis, which is the most out of any of the books that we’ve worked through verse-by-verse and line-by-line.

With that said, let me catch you up to where we are in the text. We have just witnessed Jacob blessing both his grandchildren in Gen 48 and his children in Gen 49. I mentioned last week that Jacob’s words to his children weren’t just his, they were prophetic in nature, meaning that God spoke prophecies through Jacob many of which were fulfilled throughout the OT, some of which were fulfilled in the NT, and few of which are still awaiting fulfillment in the eschaton.

This week starts where we left off—Joseph is mourning the death of his father before we’re granted some insight into Joseph’s brothers’ state of mind. Though they also are grieving the death of their father, part of them have a concern that prompts Joseph essentially giving us a theme that runs through not only this text, but also Genesis, and really all of Scripture; and then we see the death of Joseph at the end of the chapter.

With that said, let’s read Genesis 50 together.

Genesis 50 ESV

Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’ ” And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

As we study this text, we’re going to break this sermon into three parts: (1) Joseph Mourns for his Father (1-14), (2) God’s Good Purposes (15-26), and (3) Concluding Genesis. The text of Genesis is coming to its end, but it doesn’t leave us without some significant truth that gives us a theme that expands throughout the rest of Scripture and influences us significantly even to this day.

My goal is for you to see how God’s providence brings about God’s plan for your life—and to what extent that actually happens; and for you to give thanks for God’s goodness in His providence while praising and worshiping for working in your life.

Prayer for Illumination

Joseph Mourns for his Father (1-14)

Joseph Weeping (1-3)

In last week’s text, we witnessed the death of Jacob.

Jacob had called all his sons together to offer blessings (and really some judgments) on his sons—we focused a lot of our time last week on Judah and the promises given to Judah that turned out to be Messianic in nature.

By ch, 50, Jacob is dead and Joseph starts the process of weeping for his father. You see the ideas of weeping clearly explained through the text:

Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.

Joseph commanded his servants to embalm his father, which took 40 days to complete.

You can see the love that the Egyptians had for Joseph because they joined him in weeping for Jacob for seventy days—it’s significant because multiple days of national mourning usually wouldn’t happen for someone like Jacob—and yet, they love Joseph.

Jacob’s Burial (4-14)

Joseph goes to Pharaoh for permission to depart and bury his father in the land of Canaan.

It makes sense that he would need permission from Pharaoh primarily because of his role within the nation of Egypt—he is second in command. Pharaoh would keep track of him simply because he’s second in command (perhaps as a matter of national security)

Of course, Pharaoh is willing to let Joseph go to bury his father.

It’s interesting that it isn’t just Joseph who does go, but also Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, along with Joseph’s family, his brothers and his father’s household.

Which already is a significant amount of people if you think about it—the Bible says that it was a very great company of people and included both chariots and horseman—again, it’s a picture of just how much they truly love Joseph.

On a conservative scale—dozens of family members, scores of Egyptian officials and servants, many soldiers and attendants gives us a low number of maybe about 100 people, but some estimates suggest that because of Joseph’s stature in the nation of Egypt, this number could’ve easily swelled into a massive procession of several hundred to a thousand people.

Again, not really because of Jacob, but moreso because of Joseph.

The Bible says that they crossed beyond the Jordan and arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, which is quite literally a threshing floor, a place where wheat would be taken to be taken apart and there they lamented.

They mourned again for Jacob for seven days. So much so that the inhabitants, the Canaanites noted that the Egyptians were mourning.

And then Joseph and Jacob’s other sons carried him to the cave of the field at Machpelah—the field Abraham had bought—and they buried Jacob there.

Transition: After the burial, Joseph, his brothers, and all who went with them returned to the land of Egypt and his brothers have a concern because of the death of their father. Their concern causes Joseph to make a statement that gives the theme for not just his life, but all of Genesis, and really all of the Bible. Let’s look at vv. 15-26 again.

God’s Good Purposes (15-26)

Genesis 50:15–26 ESV

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. 22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Joseph’s Realization (15-21)

Joseph’s brothers are concerned that the only reason that Joseph was so kind to them was because Jacob was still alive—i.e., he didn’t actually forgive us, he’s just being kind for the sake of his father.

Now that our father is dead, why wouldn’t he hate us and “pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.”

And in their fear, it seems that they lied to Joseph in v. 16, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘say to Joseph,’ please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you . . . please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Though we aren’t positive that Jacob did say something like this.

It’s nevertheless an interesting statement because even though they’re lying to save their own lives, they do reveal that there’s a change in their disposition—they call themselves the servants of the God of his father.

And, it’s actually the first time in the entire life of Joseph that they actually admit that they’ve sinned against their brother.

However, Joseph responds to them with grace and kindness. He essentially says three things:

First, he isn’t God, which gives the implication that what they did, he has forgiven them for; and they ought to be more concerned with what God would do to them instead.

Second, despite their evil against him, God used it for good, which we’ll talk about more shortly. The good that God did kept many people alive.

And third, they shouldn’t fear, rather he comforts them and speaks kindly to them.

Let’s talk about the sentence, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

I want to be clear that the statement does not mean that God does evil—in fact, James makes it abundantly clear that God cannot do evil in James 1.

Rather, the word that we translate evil doesn’t necessarily mean moral evil. It’s the Hebrew word ra’ah and often means harm or calamity. It’s actually the same word that Job uses when he poses the question, “shall I accept good from the Lord and not ra’ah also?”

It doesn’t always refer to evil in the moralistic sense, though I think we’d all admit that what Joseph’s brothers did was moralistically evil.

Regardless, the concept is simple and clear—that what Joseph’s brothers did was used by God for good—something that I want you to hold onto as our application is focused on that.

Joseph’s Death (22-26)—the last five verses of Genesis then wraps up the entire book with the death of Joseph.

Joseph lived to be 110, but before he actually dies, he makes his final arrangements:

He tells his brothers that he’s about to die, but God will bring them out of that land into the land of Canaan that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He then makes them promise that they will take his body to the land of Canaan with them—to bury him in the land of promise.

You’ll notice, that the promise at the very end doesn’t happen here.

They embalm him and entomb him in Egypt.

Moses will eventually move Joseph’s body to Canaan in Exodus 13:19.

Transition: Now, before we talk about application because this is the last chapter of Genesis, we need to spend a few minutes wrapping up the whole book and tying it to the overall redemptive-historical timeline.

Concluding Genesis

Recap of Genesis

When we started Genesis, we were introduced to a proto-temple in which mankind dwelt with God in the garden of Eden.

Everything was created very good and yet, mankind was tempted with autonomy from God—and succumbed into sin, which brought about the curse.

You’ll remember that there was a creature in the garden that presented the temptation of autonomy to Adam and Eve—the serpent.

You’ll also remember that as God pronounced curses on mankind, creation, and the serpent. In that curse, there was a glimmer of hope in which we’re told a descendant of the woman would be the one who crushed the head of the serpent.

There will be someone who redeems not just mankind, but all of creation—to make a way for man to dwell with God again.

From Genesis 3 until Genesis 50, we’ve been tracing the seed and we’ve witnessed time and time again, that God is faithful to His people—to preserve them, to care for them, to love them even when they sin, even when they murder, they lie, they reject God, and continue to do egregious and outrageous things.

As we worked through this, we watched as the narrator focuses in on a person, then a family, and eventually a nation through which this seed will be born.

Genesis in Biblical Context

We’re still at the very beginning of watching the descendants of the woman.

And so, from this point in the Old Testament—we will watch as the descendants of the woman reject God over and over and we’ll witness God care for them over and over.

We’ll see God teach in a concentric pattern through the rest of the Old Testament about how we need a better father, better king, better prophet, better judge, and better priest.

All for this to be fulfilled in the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The New Testament then continues by showing us how:

New believers become part of the covenant family through Jesus.

We’re taught about how to live within this covenant family.

Before we then see the consummation of all things in the book of Revelation.

Really, as we wrap up Genesis, what we see is this:

Joseph considers his relationship with his brothers and makes the statement that what they did was evil; and yet, God used it for good.

Ultimately, what the serpent meant for evil was certainly evil; and yet, God used it for good.

What happened to Jesus during His crucifixion was certainly evil; and yet, God used it for good.

As we wrap up Genesis, we see the theme of how God providentially utilizes everything for the good of His people—even the things that we think are irredeemable, evil, wrong, or simply not what we would consider good.

That doesn’t give us reason to keep sinning, to keep doing evil, or whatever else it might be.

But it reminds us that God is more powerful than we are, more capable than we think He is, and abundantly good, merciful, and gracious even when we don’t deserve it.

Transition: with that said, it’s the concept that God means all things for your good even when others mean it for your harm that our application is built on and I want us to look at that in two ways: (1) in a very personal sense and (2) in an ultimate sense. Let’s start with the ultimate sense of things.

Application

Ultimate Considerations

Consider how Jesus is the ultimate example of how God means all things for good—even when people crucified Jesus.

Joseph is ultimately a type of Jesus Christ—by type, I mean he’s a shadow or a picture of what is to come.

He Himself isn’t Jesus, but what happens to him—being betrayed, being lied about, being sold, and being rejected happens to Joseph just like it happens to Jesus.

Even in the idea that the Bible doesn’t outrightly give us a sin that Joseph was guilty of throughout his life—though, I’d argue there might’ve been some amount of pride in how he tells his brothers and parents about the dreams that God had given him.

Again, Joseph isn’t Jesus, but when you’re familiar with the whole overarching storyline of Scripture, there are clear parallels between Joseph and Jesus—and the reasoning is rather simple: all of Scripture points to Jesus.

Knowing this reminds us that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection wasn’t some sort of cosmic accident—it was intentionally planned, not by those who did evil to Jesus, but by the Father who redeems all things for our good and His own glory.

This actually gives us a lot of insight into God’s overall plan doesn’t it—that He isn’t caught by surprise, that He is the divine orchestrator of life? It tells us of His character—that in His goodness, in His love, in His mercy and grace, He doesn’t just allow us to wallow in sin.

Rather, He gives His people the opportunity to come into God’s presence through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus—and He regularly foreshadowed this idea throughout history to show HIs people His intentional plan.

God is able to redeem everything on this side of eternity for the good of His people and for His glory

Of course, this plays out most clearly in salvation itself, but it really plays out in everything.

Do you realize that all creation is waiting for the day that it all gets to be redeemed? Romans 8:19–22 “19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

And yet, it’s not the redemption of the creation that’s the biggest part of Romans 8:19-22—it’s the revealing of the children of God that’s the primary focus.

We live in a world in which we’re subjected to futility because humanity, like the rest of creation was cursed by sin.

And yet, God clearly saves; He redeems; and He does it for our good and His glory—Joseph is a picture of how God does just this.

We should be so overwhelmed with thankfulness—that the God of all creation redeems us and the rest of creation:

That we can’t help but to praise

We can’t help but to worship

We can’t help but to follow Him

We can’t help but to obey Him

We can’t wait to serve Him

Psalm 107:1 “1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”

Personal Considerations

Consider the hardships in your life in light of the fact that God means all things for your good

This idea is difficult for us to consider simply for the fact that we usually think of many things in life being meaningless—we just think we’re going through life one event after another or one day after another—we don’t often consider the overarching storyline of our life.

Or, especially when we’re doing with harder moments in life—we don’t often consider that those harder moments have meaning. Rather, we just think in terms of self-pity—woe is me, my life isn’t how I want it to be.

But the beauty of the providence of God is that even when we don’t understand why certain things happen in our lives, there’s a simple truth that God knows what we’re going through, He cares about what we’re going through, and He cares about you as you’re going through whatever it is that you’re going through—all comforting ideas.

There’s also the simple truth that even the hard things that we deal with aren’t meaningless—though they’re still difficult to go through, all things work for your good and for His glory.

In fact, God is able to redeem every hardship in your life for your good and His glory

In the moment of hardship, that’s a difficult statement to reconcile—because there are plenty of events in life that just feel miserable, as if everything is lost, as if life is over in the moment.

And yet, God still cares, God is still good, and in His providence, He can redeem your hardships—even when those hardships are caused by others—Joseph is a fantastic example of this truth—sold into slavery, falsely accused, and thrown into prison; and yet, God still uses him in tremendous ways to save His people.

You might never be thrown into slavery, but you might deal with false accusations, lies and slander, rejection, the loss of loved ones, the hardship of life, or whatever else it might be—it might seem like everything is over now; and yet, God uses all things in your life for your good and His glory.

Have hope knowing that life isn’t meaningless—that hardships aren’t meaningless—that your all-knowing, all-loving, only-ever-good, sovereign God is providentially using these issues in your life for you and your good.

It’s still difficult, but God is still good.

So have hope and trust Him—this will all work out somehow and someway.

He can redeem even the worst hardships that you can experience.

So expect Him to—expect Him to use everything in your life for your good; expect Him to be glorified in whatever He chooses to do through your life.

And place your trust in Him knowing that He will work all things for your good.

Brothers and sisters, moments in your life that feel pointless, meaningless, or maybe even worthless, aren’t.

God sees you in those moments—and He still loves you and cares for you, He still seeks to sanctify you and mature you, He still leads and directs you; and He uses those moments—the ones that are difficult—for your good and for His glory.

Our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God who created, who promised, who providentially provided for and led His people through Genesis—He redeems you and He can redeem even the worst days of your life—if you are His.

Give thanks and trust Him.

Pastoral Prayer