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It is always fascinating to me when we come across a chapter in the Bible that captivates us with incredible detail and then quickly moves across history with sweeping summaries. We get both in the final chapter of Genesis. We read the details of Jacob’s funeral and Joseph’s death. However, at the same time, there were most likely 50 years of “ordinary life” that happened between these two events to which Scripture remains silent.
Chapter 50 bookends Genesis with a happy ending. It contrasts the introduction of sin and rebellion in earlier chapters and leaves us with hope for humanity. If there is one lesson we can learn from Genesis, it is wholly encapsulated in the wise words of Joseph.
You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
Genesis 50:20 HCSB
How many times did humanity rebel against God in Genesis? How many times would He have been justified to wipe humans from His presence over and over again? How many times were we surprised by the degree of patience and grace that God displayed while fulfilling every promise He made?
Genesis very clearly defines the role of both God and man. On a wide spectrum of blatant disobedience and good intentions, humanity has proven that we do not have the power to fulfill the desires of God – let alone the desires of ourselves. We plot and scheme with selfish motives and God waits patiently for our plans to fail so we can marvel at how He takes planned evil and uses it for His good – to bring about the result He desires.
This is my story. Is this not your story as well?
It is easy to read through Genesis and see God’s standard. It is natural to see how He defines good and bad, light and darkness, life and death, etc. It is easy to look at the lives of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and pick out the instances where they completely failed as leaders. But when we begin to think about our own story and put our names in place of theirs, we realize we are just like them. We realize the grace they were shown is the same grace we were shown.
It is the grace we walk in this very day. If we read Genesis and miss God’s grace, His sovereignty, His patience, and His perseverance, much has been lost.
What man has planned for evil, God has planned for good.
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