As
for you, you meant evil against
Me,
but God meant it for good…
Genesis 50:20 ESV
How could Joseph or his brothers have imagined
their evil deeds, throwing Joseph into a pit and then selling him into slavery,
as a step in God’s plan to create a nation that would eventually birth the
Redeemer of Man, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Joseph lived through the pit, the palace
of Pharaoh, the prison of Egypt and finally a return to power surpassed only by
the Pharaoh himself. Through it all his integrity remained intact. Eventually,
he saw his childhood dreams come true as his brothers knelt before him desiring
to purchase grain to save their families from an ongoing famine.
Finally, Joseph sent his brothers back to
their home in Canaan to retrieve their father and their families and return to
Egypt where they were provided the best of everything. As the family grew from
less than one hundred to over a million, the Egyptians became afraid and the
children of Jacob (whom God renamed Israel) became slaves.
Onlookers might see a dire set of
circumstances, but God was in control and at work fulfilling His promise to
Abraham. It was all in God’s plan. After four hundred years, deliverance came as
God used a murderer named Moses to lead His people home—back to the land of
Canaan—not as slaves but as a nation born of God’s grace, refined in the fire
of slavery, tested in the trials of the wilderness and awaiting the coming of
Messiah.
After two thousand years of wandering,
Israel once again exists as a nation whose borders encompass a portion of the Promised
Land; all in God’s plan.
To the discerning heart the biblical
account of the Nation of Israel brings assurance that God’s promises are true,
His almighty power is unmatchable, and His grace is extended despite our
actions not because of our actions.
Today, we are the beneficiaries of millennia
of God’s fulfilled promises. We have the privilege of holding the history of man
in our hands; God’s Word. We can see the whole picture—from the garden to the
marriage supper of the Lamb.
You and I are present on planet earth at
this time and in this season—not by accident but because it is all in God’s
plan. We must use our time wisely and trust that even when we face evil, God
can use it for good! Be blessed today as you walk through the unfolding plan
God has for your life.
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