Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Genesis 43-45.
Boy! What a narrative!
Out of all the story line, this is what caught my eye the most:
"And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God." (Genesis 45:5a-8a)
Wow!
Think about what he just said. It was sovereign God who permitted Joseph to be thrown in the pit, sold to merchants, become a slave to Potiphar, thrown into jail for years, all to ultimately become the Vizier of Egypt to protect the lineage of Christ through Jacob's seed. For remember, Messiah will come through Judah, not Joseph.
All those years of bondage not simply forgiven, but complete responsibility transferred to Yahweh.
This is certainly another view of God's sovereignty, but also certainly a foreshadowing of Messiah's ultimate sacrifice for his chosen people.
