BETHANY BAPTIST CHURCH

The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness…. (Joshua 16:1)

The above verse is important because of what we read in Genesis 37 & 39. The time between Genesis 37 and Joshua 16 is approximately 500 years. Around five centuries ago, it almost looked like Joseph would never have any descendants. He was thrown into a pit by his own brothers and then ended up in prison and was then forgotten by his prison mate. It all seemed like the end of that young man’s life, let alone talking about his descendants. Yet, at the end of the book of Genesis, we get a look into Joseph’s theological conviction as he spoke to his brothers, saying, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20). Doubtless that Joseph understood the ‘good’ as what he saw God was doing through him in Egypt but Joshua 16:1 exposes to us that the “good” did not stop with God’s doing through Joseph in Egypt but ran through for five centuries as Joseph’s descendants inherited the land. Even Joseph couldn’t see the palace while He was in the pit and in the prison, but he believed God meant only ‘good’ for His people. Evil has its way of showing us only dead ends. Pits and prison experiences in life could seemingly shut all doors before us, but God alone could see five centuries down the line even while Joseph was in the pit and in prison, and He includes even such experiences to take Joseph to the palace and his descendants to the promised land. May God help us believe that He rules over evil and only means good for His people. Time and history will only testify to this fact if you are a child of God.

Pastor