David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 7:1-16

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ² And Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, ³ and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵ Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. ⁶ And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ⁷ ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹ “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹ Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, ¹⁶ and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Diane and I had a motto based on this verse as we were dating and considering our future lives – together or on different paths. “We can’t lose,” we would say. We carried on our relationship through the mail; letters sometimes crossing in the mail over the course of several months. More accurately I would write to her, “We can’t loose[sic!].” Oh well, she got the idea and we didn’t lose. God’s goodness and grace, faithfulness and love, together with much mutual understanding and long conversations when we were in person brought us this far, having been married some 48 years this year.

I don’t know that jealousy ever really played a role in the success and strength of our relationship. But I do know that God sometimes had to work overtime to overcome my stubbornness, blindness, and impatience. We both brought junk into our marriage. God, thankfully, has helped us clean it out over the years. Some of those cleaning-out experiences were painful and difficult. But in all things God worked for our good. We love him and each other. We are thankful for his forgiveness and love.

All that to say that God can work through all kinds of missteps and misguidances for his purposes. In the case of Joseph God used jealousy to write a story of redemption. Jealousy led Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery. While there Joseph was unjustly accused of trying to seduce Potiphar’s wife – when it was actually the other way around. Thrown into prison, Joseph was forgotten by his prison-mate and would have languished there had there not been a need for someone to interpret dreams.

Ultimately Joseph was not only released from prison, but made second in command in Egypt only to Pharoah. He saved the Egyptians from the terrible effects of famine and even supplied grain for his estranged brothers and his family. At the end of the Joseph saga – once he was reunited with his brothers and father, and after his father had died – Joseph declared: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”

No, God did not use jealousy to save his people. But he did work through the twists and turns of fallen, arrogant, proud, deceitful, and hateful people. Don’t take this as an excuse to act out on your own worst inclinations. But use this example to remember that no matter how bad things get, God can work them for good. He has a grand plan for the redemption of the world and to the praise of his glorious grace. You’re a part of it. Never forget it.