Genesis 37:23-28 23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. 25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Genesis 45:4-8 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. 5 “And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 “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. 7 “And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God
I’m sure that while Josephs brothers were selling Joseph into slavery they thought that they were doing exactly as they wished. I’m sure that each of them thought that they had a free will. However what they could not see was the work of the Lord God through them. In spite of their pride, greed, and hate they were fulfilling Gods plan for their family. They were to be rescued from famine by the very brother which they sold according to the will of God. (not their own) This story holds so much of the goodness of God, and is also filled with the wickedness of men. What we see ultimately from this story is that God IS working through us and He is using us to fulfill HIS purposes. We may think that we have control of our lives, but this is just our rebellion. We must submit ourselves to the will of God and thank Him for each day that He has allowed us to be.
