000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

74 Proper 15 [20]/Year A
a theological interpretation of what had happened among them. “Do not
be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God
sent me before you to preserve life” (Gen. 45:4–5, emphasis ours). According
to the theologians who shaped this narrative, God used the events of Genesis
37–44 to prepare provisions through Joseph in Egypt for the family
during the famine. Readers in later generations could thus have confidence
that the sovereign God of Israel could ultimately work through any
circumstance for blessing.
The reader must also conclude that God used Joseph’s remarkable
administrative ability to prepare Egypt itself for the famine. In this way,
Joseph’s service in Egypt was a life chapter fulfilling the promise to Sarah
and Abraham that through their descendants, the other families of the
earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3).
Because the famine would last five more years, Joseph instructed the
siblings to bring Jacob to the land of Goshen (an area in the eastern part
of Egypt) where it would be easier for Joseph to provide for them (Gen.
45:6–15). Pharaoh is so moved by the reunion, that he sends wagons to
help the family move and declares, “Give no thought to your possessions,
for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours” (45:16–28).
One function of this text is to assure readers that God can work for
good through any circumstance, no matter how bitter. However, the
preacher needs to handle this claim with care. It is theologically inconsistent
with the affirmation that God is unconditionally loving to think
that God would directly cause events that brought such pain to Joseph,
Jacob, and the siblings, even in the name of long-term good. Because
God is omnipresent trying to help each event in life reach the highest
potential available, the community can affirm that God is ever at work in
events such as those in Genesis 37–44. God tries to help every event
achieve as much blessing as possible. When good does result from difficulty,
we can give thanks for the good without thinking that God orchestrated
the difficulties.
Christians typically have negative associations with Pharaoh and Egypt.
While Exodus exposes pharaonic repression, the Priestly writers who
redacted Genesis with their universal theology portray Egypt and the
pharaoh here as instruments of providence and recipients of blessing. This
presentation cautions us against caricaturing others. It presses us to ask,
“Where might Egyptians today function as agents of blessing?”
Luke alludes to this passage (and others from Genesis 37–50) in Acts
7:9–16 in ways described on Proper 14/Year A.