We might question why God chose to bring Joseph to this position of power in Egypt and this place of service for Him by means of all this suffering and adversity in his life. We know that God is all-powerful and that nothing is too hard for Him, and we might ask why He did not bring all of this about in some other way – some easier way. After all, Joseph had done nothing to deserve all that he endured during this process. We might also question why God chose to bring about a famine at all, and why He chose to move His people to Egypt to be preserved through the famine, where they would later be enslaved and oppressed.
One answer to the latter question is given in Romans 9, where Paul quoted from Exodus 9:16, saying: “For Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’” (Romans 9:17).
God would later demonstrate His power in delivering His people from
Egyptian bondage with a mighty deliverance, working through His servant Moses as recorded in the Book of Exodus.
We cannot know why God has chosen to bring about the bearing of spiritual fruit by means of suffering in the lives of His people. However, we do know that the suffering Joseph experienced in this process is completely consistent with teachings from the Scriptures that we have considered previously.
Once again, we recall the lesson that Jesus taught in John 12 when He said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24).
When Jesus said that “unless” the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, He was saying that this dying must occur in order for the fruit to be born, and that unless the death occurred, the grain of wheat would remain only a single seed, bearing no fruit at all.
In John 12:24, Jesus used the analogy of a grain of wheat to symbolize His life and the suffering that He was about to endure at Calvary in order to bear the fruit that God had ordained for Him. And then in the verses immediately following, He revealed that the same principle of spiritual fruit bearing that was at work in His life will also be at work in the lives of all those who follow Him, as they also bear fruit according to the plan and purpose of God for their lives.
In another very similar teaching, Jesus taught that we as His disciples must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily to follow Him (Luke 9:23). This means that we must deny, or “die to”, our own will and what we would choose for ourselves in life, and in place of what we want for ourselves, we are to submit to God’s will and His plan for our lives.
God’s will for all of His people is revealed to us through His word, and His will for each of us individually is revealed through the events, circumstances and conditions which He has ordained for our lives. In other words, God’s sovereign will for each of us individually is revealed through the things that He brings about in our lives and through the things that He
allows to “happen” to us. And through some of these we will suffer the loss, or the “death”, of things that we want for ourselves in life.
Jesus taught us clearly in John 12:24-26, and also in Mark 10:35-40, that such sufferings as we have seen in the life of Joseph, and in the lives of other of God’s servants as recorded in the Scriptures, are necessary if spiritual fruit with eternal value is to be born to the glory of God. Nowhere is this principle exemplified with greater glory than in the life of Jesus Christ Himself. And this same principle has always been, and will always be, at work in the lives of each and every one of God’s people, until Christ’s second coming.
The principle that Jesus taught in John 12:24-26 is like a continuous thread that runs throughout the entire tapestry of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. This timeless and universal principle of spiritual fruit bearing, ordained by God, is the reason that Joseph had to endure the undeserved sufferings he experienced in order to bear the fruit of saving the family of Jacob through the famine that He brought about. In this service for God, Joseph was instrumental in the preservation of the lineage through which Jesus Christ Himself would be born into the world.
Looking back, Joseph came to understand why God had brought about all of these painful events in his life, as we see when he finally revealed himself to his brothers in Genesis 45. Up to that time his brothers had not recognized him, but now he chose to reveal himself to them:
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer to me.” And they
came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved 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 still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God….” (Genesis 45:4-8, emphasis added).
Joseph had come to understand the sovereignty of God in all that had happened to him, and it was given to him to see the good that God brought about through the unjust sufferings he endured. After Jacob died in Egypt, Joseph’s brothers were once again afraid that he might finally take his revenge upon them for what they had done to him and the misery they had caused. But Joseph understood what God had intended to bring about through it all, and he reassured them as we read in Genesis 50:
But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:19-21, emphasis added.)
In retrospect, Joseph was able to see what God intended to accomplish through the years of his suffering in slavery and in prison, though while he was enduring these troubles, he could have had no idea of the way events would unfold as a result of all that he was going through. Joseph had come to understand the sovereignty of God in the things that happen in men’s lives, as we see in Genesis 45:5-8. He had also come to understand that God is working for good through the events and circumstances which He allows to touch the lives of His people, even when the intent of others is to do harm by their actions. We as believers have this same assurance that everything our sovereign God allows to affect our lives is working together for our good and for our eternal glory.