Jacob, namely Israel, heads up to meet Joseph in Goshen, part of the land belonging to Egypt. Jacob offers sacrifices to God when he comes to Beersheba. Here, God promises Jacob to make him into a great nation. His people will become the nation of Israel. Even though they have been promised the land Jacob was in, he has to leave it before he can return. It won’t be the last time that happens in Israel’s history.

It’s all part of God’s plan, though. He said this to Abraham years before (Gen. 15:13) that his people would be strangers in a foreign land and afflicted there for 400 years. That’s what we’re heading into in our story.

It was part of God’s foreseen future that Joseph was a slave. He knew it, prepared a place for him, arranged his deliverance, and used it for the good of His people. It was part of God’s foreseen future that the Israelites lived as foreigners and were afflicted. He prepared a place for them, arranged their deliverance, and used it for the good of His people, not just at the time but for all time.

God is big. He sees the sin of man. He saw the sin of Joseph’s brothers. He didn’t stop them. He used it for the good of everyone, but that doesn’t mean their sin was His desire. God uses all things for good, but not all things are good. Just because God didn’t intervene and stop the course of free will, doesn’t mean it was His will.

It just means God is bigger than it all, bigger than our sin, bigger than the evil hearts of dictators. God is big. And, God is good. So we obey and choose not to be afraid. We trust our God, our deliverer, our provider. Our good father.