God's Sovereignty Despite Me

Joseph’s trouble started with his father Jacob/Israel. Joseph’s father was Jacob, and Jacob’s father was Isaac. Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, Jacob and Esau. Isaac loved Esau the most and Rebekah loved Jacob the most. Their favoritism toward their favorite sons tore their family apart. It bred envy, jealousy, deceit, anger, hatred, you name it, it was ugly. Isaac tried to bless Esau with everything and curse Jacob, but Rebekah and Jacob tricked Isaac and stole Esau’s blessing, and Esau got cursed. You would think that Jacob would learn how much favoritism would tear a family apart, but he didn’t, he repeated his father’s mistakes and showed favoritism to Joseph and it ended up tearing his family apart as well.

Genesis 37:3–4 CSB

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son born to him in his old age, and he made a robe of many colors for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.

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but we also see God step in in the next few verses

Genesis 37:5–11 CSB

5 Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 “Are you really going to reign over us?” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

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You know what happens next. Jacob tells Joseph to go check on his brothers and the flocks that they are shepherding and bring back a report. Keep in mind that shepherding is not an easy or enjoyable job, it’s very dirty, and that’s what Jacob is making his sons do, but what is Jacob making Joseph do? Joseph is not only wearing clean clothes, he’s wearing an expensive colorful robe and he is their supervisor.

Genesis 37:18–20 CSB

18 They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert! 20 So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”

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Now did God give Joseph the dream about his brothers serving him and his parents bowing down to him? Yes. Did God have to show Joseph that vision? No. If God did not show Joseph that vision, do you think his brothers would have thrown him into that pit and sold him to the Midianite traders that day? Probably not, at least not quite yet, it probably would have been a little bit later that they would have done something to him and who knows what they would have done. Now did God actually tempt Joseph’s brothers to kill him, or beat him, or sin against him in any way? No. Have you ever been tempted to sin? of course. Was it God who tempted you to sin. Absolutely not.

James 1:13 CSB

13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.

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So Joseph is sold to Potiphar, who is the captain of the guards for Pharaoh. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph and he does not give in and says that he would not just be sinning against Potiphar he would be sinning against God. Which is an important point. All sin is against God. No matter what you do wrong to other people or even to yourself, all sin is ultimately against God. So Joseph resists temptation and takes a stand against evil and as a result is thrown into prison by Potiphar. Now did God tempt Potiphar’s wife to try to seduce Joseph? No. Pharaoh then throws his cupbearer and baker into prison along with Joseph, God gives them both dreams and gives Joseph the interpretation. Then a couple years later God gives Pharaoh a dream and the cupbearer tells Pharaoh about Joseph and Joseph is brought before Pharaoh and God gives Joseph the interpretation to Pharaoh’s dream and Pharaoh places him in charge of all of Egypt. God brings a severe famine throughout the land for 7 years and ends up forcing Joseph’s brothers to come to Egypt and bow down before him. Just as God had foretold.

Joseph knew that his brothers didn’t recognize him

He punished his brothers, he was still very bitter and didn’t trust them

He accused them of being spies, and threw them all in jail for three days, then he told them they could go back but Simeon would stay in jail until they returned with Benjamin. He stayed there two years, by the way.

When they finally convinced Jacob to allow all the brothers to return to Egypt, he sabotaged them again and demanded that Benjamin remain as his slave. He had still not forgiven his brothers at this point. He still wanted to send them away and keep only his full brother Benjamin back with him in Egypt. But his resentment was finally overcome when Judah, the one whose idea it was to sell him into slavery to begin with plead for Benjamin’s life. This is the longest speech given by any of Jacob’s sons.

Genesis 44:18–45:15 CSB

18 But Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 20 and we answered my lord, ‘We have an elderly father and a younger brother, the child of his old age. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’ 21 Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him to me so that I can see him.’ 22 But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’ 23 Then you said to your servants, ‘If your younger brother does not come down with you, you will not see me again.’ 24 “This is what happened when we went back to your servant my father: We reported to him the words of my lord. 25 But our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us a little food.’ 26 We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. If our younger brother isn’t with us, we cannot see the man.’ 27 Your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One is gone from me—I said he must have been torn to pieces—and I have never seen him again. 29 If you also take this one from me and anything happens to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.’ 30 “So if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—his life is wrapped up with the boy’s life—31 when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Then your servants will have brought the gray hairs of your servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow. 32 Your servant became accountable to my father for the boy, saying, ‘If I do not return him to you, I will always bear the guilt for sinning against you, my father.’ 33 Now please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave, in place of the boy. Let him go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the grief that would overwhelm my father.” 1 Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt. 5 And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 “Return quickly to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. 10 You can settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you, your children, and your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all you have. 11 There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute.” ’ 12 Look! Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can see that I’m the one speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.” 14 Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. 15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept, and afterward his brothers talked with him.

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Joseph didn’t know his brother’s were changed or not. He didn’t know if they were truly repentant or if they were still jealous of Benjamin like they were jealous of him. Since Joseph is gone, Benjamin was the only son left of Rachel and so he was now Jacob’s favorite son. There is no doubt that he was receiving very special treatment by their father, just like Joseph was. This is why all of the brothers, except Benjamin came to Egypt on the first trip. Joseph could learn a lot by watching how they react to Benjamin. Judah had changed and he knew the grief his father would experience by losing his beloved son, so even though Judah was not guilty of stealing Joseph’s cup, he offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin. Judah was willing to sacrifice himself to save his brother. Judah was a changed man.

Jesus descended from the line of Judah. It is no coincidence that Jesus, like Judah, would take the punishment due to someone else in order that they may be able to go home to their Father in heaven who loves them with all of his heart.

Joseph told his brothers that God had orchestrated his being brought to Egypt so they should not be grieved. Joseph was telling his brothers, to forgive and let go of the guilt of their past, because everything worked out for the salvation of countless people and Joseph felt that the price that he paid was worth the way things turned out in the end. And so we too must live our lives from that perspective. Knowing that we will suffer in the fallen world if we remain faithful to God, but that He is able to work out all things for the good of those of us who love Him.

Romans 8:28 CSB

28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

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Now, did God tempt Joseph’s brothers to kill him or to sell him as a slave? No. The brothers did that all on their own, but God did give Joseph just the right dreams, at just the right time, that when told to his brothers it ensured that God’s plan would be accomplished. God showed Joseph and his brothers the truth of what God would do one day. God has revealed to us the truth about the future. How we respond to that revelation is entirely on us. God said that he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus.

Acts 17:31 CSB

31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

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You tell some people that and they become very scared, you tell others and they become very angry. Telling them is not a temptation to sin. Joseph’s dreams were not a temptation to his brothers to sin, but because they had so much hatred stored up in their heart for Joseph already, they responded with greater hatred.

All of that to say this: God is completely sovereign. There is nothing that will ever happen that will surprise him or catch him off guard. He does not tempt us to sin, but he does allow us to choose to sin against his will. He is so far above us in his omniscience that He knows exactly how to accomplish anything He wants to accomplish regardless of what we do in rebellion against him. All the sin in the world, all the rebellion in the world from people and evil powers, can never, and will never be able to outsmart or outwit God. He will accomplish His plans regardless of how much we fight against him. Our free will, and our sinfulness does not phase Him. He will always achieve His goals. So we should take great comfort in God’s sovereignty, knowing that He loves us and cares about every detail of our life. We should be praying about everything to Him, knowing that He can do something about any situation we have. He is bigger than our circumstances. He is smarter than our enemy. And He is more loving than all of us put together. He is God, and He is our Father. Is he yours?

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