Jacob is buried in Canaan, and  Joseph dies. Before he dies, Joseph’s brothers beg his forgiveness for their evil against him in Canaan. Joseph explains that he is not in the place of God. What his brothers meant as evil against him, God meant for good in order to bring about the salvation of many people (v. 20).

God has great grace when people commit evil against us. Since God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), we can trust that God also means it for good.

Moses’s language, here, is strong. He does not insist that God merely used what evil people did to accomplished good. He writes that God actually meant to cause it for good. Remember Genesis 6? It was not until the Holy Spirit was removed that people could live fully wretched lives. It is God who decides to keep people from evil or hand them over to it. When He intentionally hands people over to their evil whims and desires, He means it for a good purpose.

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