Thursday - February 2, 2017

Woodlawn Family Bible Study
THURSDAY

BIBLE READING:  Genesis 50:1-21

 All eleven of them had a meeting. I’m not sure who was the spokesman, but one could assume it was Reuben. They had met before without their younger brother, but under totally different  circumstances. This time it wasn’t out of jealousy over their brother Joseph, but out of fear. Their father, Jacob, was now dead, and one of the brothers must have said, “Joseph was only playing nice as long as dad was alive. Now that dad is gone, he may very well turn on us, and repay the evil that we deserve!” Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery, caused him to spend a great deal of his life in prison, and made his father think he was dead. Who wouldn’t seek revenge? 

 Joseph wouldn’t. When the brothers send word to Joseph to forgive them, he weeps and tells them they have nothing to worry about. Joseph says, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Joseph understood the concept of the providence of God. If he had not been in Egypt, then he would not have been able to save his family, and the entire nation of Egypt, from the famine.

Application: Bad things happen to all of us, and we usually don’t understand why. However, we must trust that God is still sovereign, that He is still in control. Although we may never see His reasoning for allowing certain things this side of eternity, we can rest assured that on the other side we will.

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