The older book
Joseph
They tried to stop the dream.
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today.
Genesis 37:1-36 · Genesis 42:1-9 · Genesis 45:1-8 · Genesis 50:15-21 · Psalm 105:16-22 · Acts 2:22-24 · Acts 7:9-14
The scene
Joseph is seventeen when his brothers decide they have had enough of him. Their father loves him more than his other sons, and Joseph has been having dreams. In those dreams, his family bows down before him.
His brothers understand what that means:
"Will you indeed reign over us?"Genesis 37:8
Then one day they see Joseph coming towards them in the distance and decide to kill him.
"Behold, this dreamer comes. Come now therefore, and let's kill him... We will see what will become of his dreams."Genesis 37:19-20
They don't kill him in the end. Instead, they sell him for twenty pieces of silver, and Joseph is taken down into Egypt.
They tried to stop the dream by selling him.
Selling him is how the dream came true.
Joseph becomes a slave, is falsely accused and ends up in prison. But Yahweh is with him. Eventually Joseph is brought before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. A terrible famine is coming, and Joseph tells Pharaoh what needs to be done. Pharaoh raises the prisoner to power, and Joseph prepares Egypt for the famine.
When the famine comes, Joseph's brothers arrive in Egypt looking for food.
And they bow down before him.
Years earlier they had asked: "Will you indeed reign over us?"Genesis 37:8
Now they're doing exactly what they tried to prevent. But Joseph eventually sees something even bigger than the dreams. When he reveals himself to his brothers, he doesn't pretend that what they did was good. He tells them:
"I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt."Genesis 45:4
Then: "God sent me before you to preserve life."Genesis 45:5
Joseph can say both because he sees two intentions in the same event. His brothers really did sell him, and they meant evil by it. But God was doing something they couldn't see.
Near the end of Genesis, Joseph explains it one last time: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today."Genesis 50:20
Jesus is rejected and killed. People mean evil. But the apostles later preach that his death happened according to God's purpose, and through the death of the one who was rejected, God brought salvation.
I'm not going to tell you that every detail of Joseph's life was a hidden prediction of Jesus. The New Testament doesn't say that. But the shape of the story is difficult to miss.
The rejected one becomes the means by which the people who rejected him are saved. People mean evil, God means good, and many people live.
The point
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.Genesis 50:20
Sit with this
To save many people alive.Genesis 50:20