Joseph

The Man Who Saw Through God’s Eyes

READ Genesis 50:15–21

True forgiveness is among the hardest things a person can offer. It involves letting go of a wrong that another person has done to you. Even our own family members can treat us in ways that seem utterly unforgivable—and without the transforming grace of God, that is likely the case. However, when we see through God’s eyes instead of our own, forgiveness is possible. Joseph showed us what that looks like.

We barely scratched the surface yesterday of how Joseph’s older brothers treated him terribly. Sure, Joseph could have been a little more tactful about sharing his dreams with them—dreams in which they all bowed down to him—and a little more cautious about flaunting the special robe their father, Jacob, had given him. The brothers’ response, however, was over the top. They threw Joseph into a well, planning to kill him. They even ignored the sound of their brother’s cries for help (Genesis 42:21). Fortunately, a caravan of merchants passed by while Joseph was in the well, and his brothers decided to sell him rather than kill him. Though the brothers chose to spare Joseph’s life, selling their brother as a slave was clearly a cruel act.

The merchants took Joseph to Egypt, where he became a slave in a high-ranking official’s household. At first he ascended in status; the official, Potiphar, favored Joseph and entrusted him with the care of his household. However, a false accusation from Potiphar’s wife resulted in Joseph being thrown into prison.

But God was with Joseph all along, even in prison (39:21). A providential series of actions led to Joseph becoming the second most powerful official in Egypt, subject only to the pharaoh himself.

In the last reflection, we examined the powerful reunion between Joseph and his brothers in which Judah’s act of loyalty and faithfulness brought the family back together. Jacob lived out the rest of his years in Egypt. Fittingly, he lived seventeen years after he was reunited with Joseph; Joseph had been seventeen years old when his brothers sold him.

After Jacob’s death, however, Joseph’s older brothers grew afraid. They wondered if he had indeed forgiven them, or if his kindness had only been an act while their father was still alive. With Jacob dead, the brothers feared Joseph would finally exact his revenge upon them for their treachery to him. They sent Joseph a message that their father’s final wish was for Joseph to forgive them, and then they came to Joseph and bowed down before him.

Far from feeling vindicated or haughty, Joseph felt brokenhearted. Did they really think he still harbored vengeance in his heart? Certainly, through human eyes, that would have been understandable. But Joseph didn’t see his situation and struggles from his own perspective. Instead, he saw the whole story from a God’s-eye view. In one of the most powerful statements on God’s providence in the entire Bible, Joseph said to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (50:20).

Romans 8:28 assures us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” It’s not easy for us to understand how this works. Sometimes, like Joseph, it is only after many years that we can see how God’s hand was at work all along.

It’s also true, though, that in some cases we simply don’t see God’s grand plan, at least not on this side of eternity. Such times give us opportunities to practice faith in God. His plan is beyond what our eyes can see. For our part, we can try to be like Joseph. Instead of viewing life only in terms of how good or bad it’s been to us, we can look for the broader design of God. We, too, should strive to see life—even through the difficult seasons—from a God’s-eye view.

The Sierpinski triangle is an interesting image. In this wonderful mathematical pattern, a person can choose any starting point within an equilateral triangle and proceed to bisect imaginary lines to any of the triangle’s angles.^* Though each angle and line is random, if you put a dot at the bisected point of each line segment, a beautiful pattern emerges. It’s an incredible illustration of God’s providence: Even when life seems random and chaotic, nothing happens outside of God’s providential design. The more we remember and believe this, the more we echo the amazing faithfulness of Joseph.