Gen 50:20 is
one of the most common "proof-texts" for compatibilism. I have
discussed this text at:
In
an article examining common texts used to support such a doctrine, Christopher
Fisher wrote the following about Gen 50:19-20:
Gen 50:19 Joseph
said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
Gen 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
This text shows
that God repurposed the evil of Joseph’s brothers. It would be strange to say
that God needed to force the brothers to be evil to get Joseph to Egypt.
Couldn’t God have just asked Joseph to walk? Couldn’t God just have then
ordained Pharaoh to accept Joseph into his court? Here is one of an infinitely
number of scenarios which skips the entire part of Joseph’s brothers being
evil:
God ordains Joseph
to walk to Egypt.
God ordains Pharaoh to see Joseph and appoint him as a ruler.
God ordains Pharaoh to see Joseph and appoint him as a ruler.
No evil necessary.
But this verse (instead of showing God making irrelevant events to effect His
will) shows God’s planning to effect His will in spite of human evil. God uses
evil actions for good. Nowhere in the text states that God “ordained” that the
brothers sin.
For anyone to take
this text as saying: “God forced the brothers to be evil to Joseph in order to
place Joseph in a good place” makes God into a strange being, using weird
methods to do things that could be done much easier without ordaining people
into evil. It is unnatural.
