WHAT IF GOD HAD NOT ALLOWED JOSEPH TO BE SOLD AND TO BE BROUGHT TO EGYPT?

WHAT IF GOD HAD NOT ALLOWED JOSEPH TO BE BROUGHT TO EGYPT?

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and made him a coat of many colors” (Genesis 37:3). This is the preface to a tragic story that led Joseph’s older brothers to hate him and to finally sell him as a slave to the Egyptians. The rest is a magnificent story of great trials, and immense final rewards for Joseph, who had been overpowered by a vortex beyond his control.

What if God had not allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery? What if He had simply intervened and had not permitted Joseph’s brothers evil plans to succeed?

The biblical story tells us that, though initially Joseph suffered greatly, the end result was very positive for both him and his family. As the years went by, Joseph rose to the position of Pharaoh’s first minister. Furthermore, the children of Israel were allowed to live in Egypt so as to escape a deadly famine that was prevalent in Canaan.

On the negative side, Israel became a slave to future Pharaohs “who knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). But centuries later, God had the opportunity to declare his great glory by pouring his wrath upon Egypt and by manifesting to all the nations that He was the Omnipotent God.

Had God intervened and had He prevented Joseph from being sold, some of the most inspiring and meaningful parts of the Bible would have never been written. We would have never read about God’s miraculous interventions to save Joseph’s life and to finally elevate him to number two in Egypt. We would not have been inspired by God’s dealings with Moses. We would have never been awed by the great plagues God rained upon Egypt. There would not have been a crossing of the Red Sea, and there would not have been a giving of the Manna. The giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai would have never taken place. The forty years in the desert and all the surprising twists and turns faced by Israel would not have been in the Scriptures. Lastly, the glorious entering of the Children of Israel into the Promised Land would have never happened either.

The selling of Joseph, and his slavery in Egypt, therefore, was the introduction to a series of stunning events brought about by God to astonish future generations. What, at first glance, seems to be God’s perplexing unwillingness to protect a faithful servant God’s part was, in reality, a critical and necessary part of a long and glorious chain of events that introduced the Almighty to the nations and to generations to come.

After Joseph revealed his true identity to his brothers, he shares with them an amazing insight: “And God sent me before you to preserve before you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me hither, but God” (Genesis 45: 7-8).

Truly God was the great orchestrator who directed the whole chain of events. He allowed jealousy to saturate Joseph’s brother’s minds; He allowed resentment to build and, finally, He brought about the events that made it easy for Joseph to be sold to the passing caravan and be brought to Egypt. From the start, God was totally in charge of the script, and made it all come to pass according to His great plans.

CLICK ON TOPICS BELOW FOR A THOROUGH ANALYSIS

The Tree of Knowledge

Cursing of the Ground

Cain and Abel

Noah's Flood

Lot's Wife

Joseph in Slavery

Pharaoh

Jephtha's Daughter

Death of David's Child

David's Punishment for the Census

Sennacherib and his Armies