“He called a famine upon the land;

All of the grain for bread was ruined,

He sent a man,

To be sold as a slave: Joseph.”

(Psalm 105:16-17)

Our psalmist, David, now begins to retell the story of God’s faithfulness to His people, beginning with the famine and Joseph’s entrance into Egypt. Notice that the famine is spoken about as something that was “called,” though many English translations will render the word קָרַא (qara — “to call” or “to proclaim/decree”) as “sent.” When used in this fashion, קָרַא, usually carries with it legal connotations in the form of a judgment sent out to punish evildoing. In this case, God was judging the land for their idolatry.

Yet, despite the fact that God is bringing judgment upon the wicked who were dwelling in the land of Canaan, God did not forsake his own (who also happened to be dwelling in Canaan at the time). As Peter writes, “God knows how to rescue the godly from trials and keep the wicked under judgment” (2 Peter 2:9). How did God do this? Beforehand, God ordained that Joseph would be sold as a slave into Egypt (through the wicked actions of Joseph’s brothers). 

One of the things we need to think about, when it comes to matters like this, is that the events surrounding the sale of Joseph into slavery took place 20 years before Joseph would become the deliverer of his people. By this time, his brothers most likely thought that their brother was long gone or even dead — is it any surprise that they did not recognize him 20 years later (Genesis 42:8)? 

Yet, the question that we need to come to terms with is that of God’s timing. We have a bad habit of thinking that God works on our timetable and that “soonness” or “slowness” is judged in the way we judge it. Yet, God’s timetable is different than our own (2 Peter 3:8-9). A friend of mine once told me that he thought that God was the ultimate chess player. He moves His people around where they may serve Him best. Sometimes we remain for a short period in a place and sometimes for longer periods. Sometimes God gives us good experiences in ministry and sometimes he brings about awful experiences and seasons. Yet, even though we may not understand His purposes, He is doing all these things for the building of His kingdom and for the punishment of the wicked. The difference between a chess master and God, of course, is that while a chess master knows the game so well that he can anticipate the moves of his opponent ahead of time, God does not anticipate; He ordains.

His purpose in sending Joseph ahead was the fulfillment of His covenant. His purpose in doing so twenty years before the famine in the land belongs to the secret knowledge of God. We may speculate about God giving Joseph time to mature and forgive, but we are not explicitly told the human element. All we are really told in the Bible is that God had ordered even the sin of Joseph’s brothers “so that many people should be kept alive” (Genesis 50:20). Christians sometimes think that God has failed them when things do not come together as planned. That notion could not be any further from the truth. God has ordained all of these things for the building of His Kingdom in His Son, Jesus Christ.