Genesis 50:20 – The Proper Understanding of Evil

Posted on September 10, 2010 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

Genesis 50:20 (ESV) As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Life in a fallen world requires a response to pain and suffering. Bad news is all around us. Whether it is directly or indirectly perceived, evil cannot be ignored.

The most difficult evil of all is when people who are supposed to love and care for us fail in this responsibility or are cruel or abusive.

In this verse, Joseph reminds us that God is in control even we are victims of those who actively perpetrate evil.

Knowledge that God is in control does not make the evil any more palatable but it does help us grasp that it is not permanent and we will be able to move beyond it. This knowledge provides a context and a means for getting through the difficulty.

I see that God has used the most difficult people and events in my life to teach me dependence upon himself. I have also begun to learn a little of patience when my situation is beyond my ability to control.

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Summer is over already?

Traditionally, in the USA, Labor Day (the first Monday in September) marks the end of the summer vacation season. It is also the time when students go back to school and in this blogger get back to blogging. We marked some significant events this summer. We gained two sons-in-law this summer. In August, we had […]

Rejoice is a command

The Apostle Paul was confident that he was in Prison for a purpose and in prison he practiced what he preached. He rejoiced in the difficult circumstances and demonstrates that I have no excuse for not doing the same.

We build the altar but God sends the fire

It is right to want more people sitting under the preaching of the gospel. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to learn from others. But the danger is that we can lose focus on what real spiritual growth looks like and we lose sight of who causes that growth.

On delayed answers to prayer

Prayer is an integral part of the Christian life. One cannot be a Christian without prayer. But even for those who have been Christians for a long time, there is mystery in prayer. One form of mystery is why sometimes the answer to prayer doesn’t come in a satisfactory time frame. In his book, Faith […]

Living Water or Broken Cisterns – A Choice for Western Society

Nature abhors a vacuum is a proverb that came to me as I contemplated Jeremiah 2:12–13 recently: 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, […]

On gadflies and prophets in the church

The prophets in Israel had the job of confronting the king to speak God’s word into his life. The “gadflies” in the church do the same. Leaders need to listen to them and not simply label them as troublemakers.

Share

About Mark McIntyre