The story of Joseph begins to draw to a close in Genesis 50 with these words. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” The past participle meant carries great significance in this text. Derived from the words “to mean” it focuses us toward a particular purpose and destination. We’ve probably all heard someone say “They meant well” after someone accidentally said or did something hurtful. We understand that it was not their intention to cause harm.
But this was not the case with Joseph’s brothers when they stripped him of his coat and dumped him in a pit. Nor was that the case when they greedily sold him for a profit to traders headed to a the land of Egypt. We could confidently say Joseph’s brothers meant anything but well.
However as Joseph speaks further we encounter the two MOST in important words of the text “But God.” Whenever you come across “but God” in Scripture, pay attention. What comes next will usually change the entire situation.
Genesis 50:20 shows how God can do what no one else can take Evil and bring good from it. He can not only protect you in it, but He can also promote you because of it. The exact thing Joseph’s brothers had meant to cause him harm was the exact thing God used to promote him to his destiny.
