God Meant It for Good (2)

Text: Genesis 50:15-21

Genesis 50:15–21 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.

PRAY

Introduction:

God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good.

Do you believe that?

When you sing, “God is so good, He’s so good to me” — do you really believe that?

Have you ever doubted God’s goodness?

I think everyone tends to doubt either God’s goodness or His sovereignty or both.

The Biblical writer Asaph struggled with it in Psalm 73.

Psalm 73:1–2 “1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.”

Sure, God is good, but it doesn’t seem like He’s been good to me.

My own times of doubting

Desire for marriage right out of college

Dating in late high school —> early college, breakup

Meeting Mexican girl next summer, date for a while, breakup (is God toying with me? Why give me something good if He’s just going to take it away?)

Dating girl and getting engaged in Puerto Rico, finding out about her other relationship, breakup (Why, God? Is this just the way it will always be? You give me something good only to take it away?)

Do you ever feel this way? Perhaps about a

relationship or friendship

job or business

church

Why does God seem to give something good and then just take it away?

Or perhaps you ask yourself questions like these:

If God is really good,

Why am I dealing with a broken relationship?

Why did I lose my job?

Why can’t I make it in this economy?

Why can’t I provide for my family?

Why do all my plans and dreams seem to fall apart?

If God is good,

Why does He let people slander me or say unkind things to me?

Why does He allow other people hurt me and mistreat me?

Why does He permit my health to fail and let me suffer from sickness or disease?

Why does He allow a loved one to be taken from me?

Why is there so much evil in our country and all around the world?

Is He really good?

We cannot define God’s goodness by our circumstances; rather we should define our circumstances by God’s goodness.

Romans 8:28–29 “28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Does it feel like all your circumstances are good? Do you always feel like God is working all things together for good?

No, it doesn’t seem good when you’ve hurt by someone. It doesn’t feel good when your desires are unfulfilled.

But what good is God up to in those times? Verse 29 holds the key:

God’s goal or purpose for you is to be conformed to the image of His Son. He is making you like Jesus — shaping your character to be more like His. And His perfect way of doing that often (maybe almost always) includes suffering.

So is God good?

Yes, in all these things, and in every circumstance, God is good, and He is working for the good of His people.

This confidence in God’s sovereign goodness will enable us to endure any hardship and mistreatment we might face and to forgive those who sin against us. If we know that God is good and that His good purpose will prevail, then no sin or evil perpetrated against us can stop God from being good to us and accomplishing His good purposes in and through us.

God’s Goodness (Gen 50:15-21)

Genesis 50:15–21 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.

Why were Joseph’s brothers afraid?

in v. 15, Joseph’s brothers are afraid that Joseph will seek revenge on them now that their father Jacob is dead. They think that perhaps the reason Joseph didn’t take vengeance on them earlier was because their father was still around. They’re concerned that now he will hate them and pay them back for their evil actions against him.

Could Joseph have responded in this way if he had wanted to? Yes! Joseph possessed the authority, opportunity, and justification to exact revenge on his brothers—circumstances where no one would have questioned his right to judge them.

What does their message reveal about them and their attitude toward sin?

I think that, although on one hand this was an unfounded fear (based on the character and actions of Joseph), their words and actions here demonstrate an appropriate view of the seriousness of their sin.

We live in a day where we don’t like to talk about sin all that much, or maybe we just like talking about other people’s sins, but not our own. We don’t like to come face to face with our sin, because we like to think of ourselves as pretty good people. We shy away from taking an honest look at our sins and failures because that would make us feel bad, and we desperately want to be approved.

But the fact is that we are sinful. Like Joseph’s brothers, we have done, said, thought, and desired things that we would be ashamed for others to know about. We have rebelled against our Creator, broken His laws, refused to submit to Him and honor Him, walked away from Him and gone our own way.

And the wages of sin is death. We deserve God’s wrath and retribution for the wrong we have done and the good we’ve failed to do. The fact that this bothers us so little shows us just how low our view of sin is and how little we think of God’s glory.

In one sense, Joseph’s brothers get it. What they did to him was sinful, and their evil actions are deserving of wrath and retribution; and Joseph is in a position to measure out that wrath and retribution.

Are you being honest with yourself and with God about your sin?

Is this a genuine repentance?

We see them here speaking about the evil that they did to Joseph in v. 15, and in their message to Joseph in v. 17-18 we see them acknowledging their transgression and the evil they did to him.

Twice they ask for forgiveness in v. 17-18; “please forgive us”, they say.

They bow before him and offer to be his servants.

I think this is genuine repentance. We had already seen repentance from Judah previously, but it does seem now that they are all together acknowledging their sin and guilt and seeking forgiveness and restitution for their wrong actions. I think this means that Joseph’s brothers are genuinely repentant for their sinful actions against him.

This is instructive for us when we wrong other people; we ought to confess our sin and the harm it has done to others, and we ought to ask for forgiveness and seek to make restitution and restore relationships where possible.

Are there any people you have sinned against that you need to seek forgiveness from?

Why did Joseph weep when he received their message?

Now I believe that these last two sections of Genesis are each structured as a chiasm, and the center of this chiasm, the point that Moses wants to emphasize in this section is Joseph’s response to his brothers at the end of v. 17: Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Why did Joseph respond this way? The text doesn’t tell us, but based on the context, I think we can say there are two main possibilities:

Joseph’s weeping may be in response to his brothers’ genuine repentance from their sin. Perhaps he is overcome with emotion because he realizes that his brothers have truly repented of their sin — so it’s possible that these are happy tears in response to genuine repentance.

But I think it’s more likely that these are tears of grief, based on Joseph’s words in the following verses. While Joseph may on one hand be pleased that his brothers are genuinely repentant, he seems to be grieving because of their fear of him. Twice we hear him saying, “Do not fear”, and I think it is this fear from his brothers that prompts Joseph’s tears.

So I think Joseph wept because his brothers remain fearful of him despite Joseph’s demonstrated affection for them. Even though Joseph had shown kindness to his brothers for 17 years at this point, they had misunderstood his goodness and worried he would take vengeance. If we go back to the words and events of Genesis 45, we can be reminded that this is unjustified fear.

So Joseph’s emotional response reveals the depth of his pain—not anger at his brothers, but sorrow that his years of compassion had failed to convince his brothers that he has genuinely forgiven them. Joseph is weeping because those he loves remain trapped in fear despite everything he has done to demonstrate his forgiveness.

His words to them in v. 19-21 and his actions in v. 21 show that there was no reason for his brothers to fear. The forgiveness and love he had been extending to them for the past 17 years wasn’t going to change.

Do you ever struggle to trust and receive God’s forgiveness for your sin? Is it ever hard for you to believe that God would go on forgiving you despite your ongoing struggles with sin? I imagine that when we fail to trust God’s forgiving grace, perhaps He also weeps tears of compassion, because we’re struggling to trust that He really is THAT loving and kind and forgiving.

So we need to honestly acknowledge our sin, but we must also embrace the forgiving grace of God in Christ.

What does Joseph’s response reveal about him?

Weeping in v. 17; Kind words and actions in v. 19-21

Joseph’s response in these verses show us that

He genuinely loves and forgives his brothers

He has a proper view of God’s sovereignty and goodness — God is God and I am not. He is in control of all things, even people’s sinful actions, and He is bringing about His good purposes for my life. I don’t need to try to take God’s place. He isn’t making a mistake in the way He’s running the world or my life, so I trust His control and His good purpose in all things.

Joseph acknowledges and forgives his brothers sinful actions and intentions, yet he also acknowledges that God’s good purposes will prevail. He recognizes that God’s sovereignty renders human revenge both unnecessary and inappropriate. God’s got it. He will take care of any wrong done to me; that’s not my job, it’s God’s.

Have other people sinned against you? Has anyone ever mistreated you? Perhaps a family member, friend, or fellow church member. Do you struggle to forgive their sin?

When we struggle to forgive others for their sins against us, that reveals that we have a wrong view of ourselves and of God. We are taking ourselves too seriously, and we’re not taking God seriously. We have too high a view of ourselves, and too low a view of God.

What did Jesus say about forgiveness?

Forgive your brother when he sins against you, even if it’s 77 times (or 70 times 7)

Following the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6, Jesus says, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” He’s not saying that we must forgive in order to be forgiven (as if we could earn God’s forgiveness). Rather, He’s telling us that if we have truly experience His forgiving grace, we will extend that same grace and forgiveness to others. If we don’t, we show that we have not grasped His grace.

Paul says that we must forgive one another as God in Christ forgave us. The forgiveness we’ve received enables us to forgive and motivates us to forgive others when they sin against us.

Is there anyone that you need to forgive? Anyone in your life that has wronged you that you need show the same forgiveness that God has shown to you?

How is Joseph’s response the opposite of Adam’s?

“Am I in the place of God?” - v. 19

Joseph’s words here take us back to the beginning of Genesis and show us that Joseph is responding in the opposite way from Adam.

Joseph’s question—“Am I in the place of God?” (Gen 50:19–20)—represents a fundamental rejection of the very temptation that defined Adam’s fall. The serpent enticed Eve with the promise that she would “be like God, knowing good and evil,” a seduction rooted in the desire to usurp divine authority. Adam and Eve succumbed to this temptation, grasping for a status that wasn’t theirs to claim.

Joseph, by contrast, explicitly refuses what Adam grasped for. Joseph is an anti-Adam: he refuses to count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

In Genesis 3, God’s first images wanted to be gods to themselves and thus brought death. Now Joseph refused to play God. He would remain in his place and allow God to give life.

Joseph recognized that while his brothers “meant evil,” God “meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” (Gen 50:19–20) This perspective—acknowledging God’s sovereign purposes working through human sin—enabled Joseph to extend mercy rather than judgment.

Whereas the serpent promised that Eve “surely will not die,” Joseph works to keep “many people … alive.” Adam’s disobedience brought death into the world; Joseph’s obedience preserved life.

In refusing the throne that temptation offered, Joseph demonstrated the obedience Adam lacked and modeled the humble submission that restores rather than destroys.

And in this way, Joseph foreshadows the greater Adam, the last Adam, Jesus Christ.

How is Joseph’s response the opposite of what his brothers expected?

This passage begins with his brothers’ fear that “Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him”, and it ends with Joseph comforting them and speaking kindly to them.

They were afraid he would hate them — instead, he loved them.

They were afraid he’d pay back evil for evil — instead, he overcame evil with good.

They expected nothing but justice — he gives them nothing but mercy.

Joseph’s response is a beautiful picture of the way God treats us.

We deserve nothing but His wrath and judgment for our sin.

Instead, He extends His love, mercy, and forgiveness to us in Christ.

How does God’s goodness strengthen our confidence?

In Joseph’s case, his understanding of God’s goodness and sovereignty led him to endure great suffering and mistreatment, because he trusted that God had good purposes in it all.

We need to see and understand and believe God’s goodness as revealed in Scripture so that when we come to difficult times in our lives, we can hold fast to our confidence in God’s good plans and purposes for us.

As we consider what God did in and through Joseph, we can’t come to any conclusion other than that God is good.

And when we consider what God has done in and through Jesus, we can’t come to any conclusion other than that God is good.

As we consider God’s providence and His promises to us, we will be strengthened in our confidence in His goodness.

Then when difficult times come, we can call to mind all the times God has shown His goodness to us in the past, as well as His promises regarding our future, and we can grow in our trust in His goodness.

How does God’s goodness lead us to repentance? (Rom 2:4)

Even though they were struggling to trust Joseph’s goodness and kindness to them, I think in part it was their experience of his kindness over the past 17 years that gave Joseph’s brothers some hope that he might keep showing them kindness.

The fact is, whether we realize it or not, God has been far more gracious and kind to us than we have deserved. He has been patient with us and has not punished us according to the measure of our sins. And God intends that this kindness that He shows us should lead us to repentance, just as Joseph’s kindness to his brothers led them to repentance.

Paul tells us in Romans 2:4 “4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

It was Joseph’s kindness to his brothers that gave them the opportunity to repent, and it is God’s kindness to us that leads us to repentance as well.

What good purposes is God up to in our lives?

Replacing self-confidence with trust in God

Replacing complaining with thanksgiving

Replacing anger and hatred with love

Transforming us to be like Christ in our character, desires, thoughts, words, and actions.

Using us to be a blessing to others around us

How has God demonstrated His good purposes in Christ?

Whenever we’re tempted to doubt that God is up to something good, we need to turn our eyes once again to the cross.

The death of Christ on the cross was the most horrific thing that could ever happen to a human being — not only because of the immense physical pain and suffering that Jesus endured, which far outweighs any physical suffering we will probably ever endure — but beyond the physical suffering, Jesus bore the wrath and punishment of God against all our sin. The one who knew no sin became sin for us.

The cross of Christ was the greatest injustice in all of history. The only one who never sinned was executed like a criminal. Good Friday was the worst Friday in all of history.

And yet, the death of Christ was the plan of God to bring about the redemption He had promised all the way back at the beginning, in the garden of Eden, right after Adam and Eve sinned. God’s promise of life was a sentence of death for His Son, and the Son went willingly and obediently to that death on the cross.

But death could not hold Him. On the third day, He rose from the dead, then He ascended to His throne and sent His Spirit to empower His mission through the Church, and someday He’s coming back to fulfill all God’s promises finally and forever.

If God could turn the greatest injustice into a great salvation, can’t He do the same in each one of our lives?

No matter what hardships we face, no matter what mistreatment we endure from others, we can trust that God is up to something good in our lives.

We might not see the full picture in this life; we might not understand exactly what God is up to, but He has promised that He is working for our good, and He has proved it over and over again in His Word and in our lives.

Applications:

Do not fear — live by faith, not in fear

Receive God’s forgiveness — believe God’s promises of forgiveness for your sin; trust that the sacrifice of Jesus is sufficient to take away all your sin.

Extend God’s forgiveness and love — if you have been forgiven, you are called to extend that same forgiveness and love to others, even to those who hate and mistreat you. Love your enemies, and so prove that you are a child of God.

Let God’s kindness lead you to repentance — God’s kindness to you isn’t an excuse to go on sinning. It’s an opportunity for you to turn from sin. So consider His kindness and repent of your sin.

Seek forgiveness when you wrong others — when you sin against others, seek to make it right. Ask for forgiveness, and make restitution if necessary.

Leave vengeance to God — God is just, and He will measure out justice in the end. We can trust Him to deal rightly with any mistreatment we endure from others.

Trust God’s good and sovereign purpose — God is good and He always does what is good. He is always up to something good in our lives. So let’s trust Him.

Return to Psalm 73 and Romans 8:28-29 at the end.

At the end of Psalm 73, after struggling to understand why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, Asaph comes to understand that the greatest good is not positive circumstances in this life, but having God Himself. The wicked may have an easy and prosperous life here, but they don’t have God, so this life is the best they get. The righteous have God, and so whether or not they have a good life by worldly standards, they have God, and God Himself is the greatest good. This is how the Psalm ends:

Asaph says to the LORD,

23 Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. 28 But as for me, it is good to draw near to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may proclaim all Your works.

If we know that God is good, then even when things don’t seem good to us, we can trust Him. We can believe His promise in Romans 8:28-29:

28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.

Our circumstances might not seem good, at least not the way we define good.

But God is good, and He is working for the good of His people.

If you belong to Him, you can know that He is working for your good, to make you more like His Son, Jesus Christ.