Why We Believe

Genesis 37:3-36; Genesis 39-45. Joseph, son of Jacob, had a dream in which he saw his brothers bowing down to him. Naturally, this did not go over well with his brothers who wanted to kill him. Due to Judah’s intervention, Joseph was not killed but sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and ended up in Egypt. While in Egypt, he was tossed into jail for attempted rape (falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife). Later, he is released and rises to power in Egypt due to his special ability (given by God) to foretell the future through the interpretation of dreams. In prison, both Pharaoh’s butler and the baker had dreams that Joseph interpreted. Pharaoh interpreted the butler’s dream leading to his restoration, while the baker’s dream was interpreted to lead to his death (40:21-23). Two years later, Pharaoh dreams and the butler remembers Joseph who is then called out of prison to interpret. Joseph interprets seven plentiful years and then seven years of famine. He told Pharaoh to appoint a wise man as an overseer (41:33). Pharaoh appoints Joseph (41:39). When famine comes, Joseph’s brothers come down into Egypt (minus Benjamin). Joseph tricks them into coming back with Benjamin (his blood brother from common mother Rachel—Genesis 30:24; 35:18). They all bow before Joseph as his original dream predicted. In Genesis 45, Joseph reveals himself. Note: vss. 5, 7 and 8: It was God who was responsible, not his brothers, bringing him to Egypt. Genesis 50:14-21 (especially 2)) “God meant it for good.” God’s predestination and foreknowledge are to be seen as elements in God’s overall providence.

Joseph says in Genesis 50:20 to his brothers “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. In this passage rĕ^cĕh (the noun form of rā^cā “evil” in Isaiah 45:7), can mean “vicious” or “harmful.” This passage offers us a hint at an answer to the question: How can God be just in the midst of evil? Deuteronomy 32:4 declares that "his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. [He is] a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." Similarly, Psalm 5:4 notes, "You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil." God works sovereignly even as men and their evil deeds appear out of control.

“The “it” in Joseph’s declaration that “God meant it for good” clearly takes as its antecedent the previous rā^cā. Both are feminine singular signifying that “evil” and “it” are the same. However, this means that Joseph’s claim is most accurately represented like this: “As for you, in selling me into Egypt you meant evil against me, but God meant that evil event for good.”⁸

Open theists (this group will be discussed shortly) would assume that Joseph’s brothers acted completely on their own in what Talbot calls “libertarian” freedom, that is, freedom that is not mitigated by another being such as God. Only Joseph’s brothers are responsible for their actions. But that is not what the Genesis account says:

“… neither Genesis 37:28 nor Genesis 45:4-5 “explicitly ascribes responsibility for selling Joseph into Egypt to the brothers.” Neither the word “responsible” nor any of its synonyms appears in these texts. What the texts do assert is that Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egypt. In fact, Genesis 45:4-8 makes a special point of it, since in those verses Joseph twice attributes his presence in Egypt to his brothers’ act of selling him (“you sold” [v. 4], “you sold” [v. 5]).”⁹

Also, in Genesis 45:4-7 we find that “God sent” twice. God was involved in the entire series of events. Does God create evil? Indirectly, yes. God, in the mere fact of creation and allowing for choice in mankind, sets up the potential for evil. As William Lane Craig proposes, objective moral values are contingent on there being a God; else, any morality would by necessity be subjective. Evil becomes evident only if there is background knowledge of what is objectively good.¹⁰

Acts 21:1-14. The events of Acts 21 parallel the story of Joseph in several significant ways. In both stories God’s Providence is evident in that both Joseph and Paul were propelled to a conclusion that would affect future generations. Both received prophetic revelation which confirmed God’s involvement throughout: for Joseph the revelation came through dreams, and for Paul the revelation came through a series of prophesies. The major difference though was that Joseph was relatively passive as events happened to him. For Paul, the prophetic voices were meant to warn him of harm should he continue in his determination to go to Jerusalem. Paul exercised his free will to go to Jerusalem and eventually he was arrested and sent to prison in Rome. Harm did come to Paul, but if he had interpreted the correct prophetic claims of harm should he continue as an indicator that he should not go, we might not have benefitted from the letters of Paul written while in prison, and we might not have seen the explosive growth of the church in the West. The churches in Asia Minor later lost their influence and for the most part no longer exist, so the real consequence of Paul’s decision to go to Jerusalem has changed the course of Christianity in powerful ways, just as the actions against Joseph affected the future of the Jewish nation and beyond.