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They Rewarded Evil For Good
They Meant It For Evil
The LORD Meant It For Good
There is a theme in the bible about being rewarded evil for good,and how the LORD can turn the evil inflicted on us for our own
good and the for good of others.
Joseph was the youngest son and favorite of his father Jacob. His
older brothers hated him to the point they wanted to kill him. As
providence would have it, his brothers sold Joseph into slavery.
They then deceived their father Jacob and told him that Joseph was
dead, which broke the old mans heart. Lets read.
Genesis 37: (TANAHK translation)2 And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than
any of his brothers, they hated him so that they could not speak a
friendly word to him.
His father Jacob asked Joseph to go check on his brothers who
where tending the flocks in another location, and Joseph was atattle tail to his father about his brothers. So, Joseph is going to
check on them. Joseph is seventeen at this time his bother from
four different mothers are much older. (Now were jumping
verses)
18 They (his brothers) saw him from afar off, and before he came
close to them they conspired to kill him.
They said to one another, here comes that dreamer! Come nowlet us kill him and throw him into one of the pits: and we can say,
A savage beast devoured him. We shall see what comes of his
dreams! But when Rueben (his eldest brother) heard it, he tried to
save him from them. He said, Let us not take his life And
Rueben went on, shed no blood! Cast him into that pit out in the
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wilderness, but do not touch him yourselves intending to save
him from them and restore him to his father. When Joseph came to
his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the ornamented tunic
that he was wearing and took him and cast him into the pit. The pit
was empty and there was no water in it.Then they sat down to a meal.(remember this they many years
later are going to have another meal). Looking up, they saw a
caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels bearing
gum, balm, and ladanum to be taken to Egypt. Then Judah (notice
the names Rueben & Judah, they play big parts this in the
story, we want to focus on their actions and their years later
responses.) said to his brothers, What do we gain by killing our
brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to theIshmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all he
is our brother, our own flesh. His brother agreed. When the
Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit. They
sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver (ten less than CHRIST) to the
Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned
to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes.
Returning to his brothers, he said, The boy is gone! Now what am
I to do? Then they took Josephs tunic, slaughtered a kid, and
dipped the tunic in the blood. They had the ornamented tunic taken
to their father, and they said, We found this. Please examine it; is
it your sons tunic or not? He recognized it, and said, My sons
tunic! A savage beast devoured him! Joseph was torn by a beast!
Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and observed
mourning for his son many days. All his sons and daughters sought
to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, saying, No, I will
go down mourning to my son in Sheol. Thus his father bewailed
him.
Joseph was sold to a courtier of Pharaohs court. Now a slave,
Joseph gains he prominence in his masters estate, a few years later
gets thrown in prison by the false accusations from his masters
wife.
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In prison he interprets dreams for men in Pharaohs retinue, then
two years later he interprets two dreams for Pharaoh, who
recognizes Josephs wisdom and makes him second in command in
all of Egypt. Now lets jump to where Joseph meets his brotherssome seventeen years later. Now the tables are turned. Famine
forces the brothers to go to Egypt and Joseph is the one they come
procure food. They dont recognize who Joseph is. Our next setting
of scripture is the King James Version.
Genesis 42:5-21 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among
those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, andhe it was thatsold to all the people of the land: and Josephs brethren came, and
bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made
himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he
said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of
Canaan to buy food.
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them,
and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land
ye are come.
10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy
servants come.
11 We are all one mans sons; we are true men, thy servants are
no spies.
12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the
land ye are come.
13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons ofone man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this
day with our father, and one is not.
14 And Joseph said unto them, That is itthat I spake unto you,
saying, Ye are spies:
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15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not
go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be
kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whetherthere be
any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.17 And he put them all together into ward three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live;for
I fear God:
19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the
house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your
houses:
20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words
be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty
concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul,
when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this
distress come upon us.
They now know their evil deed to Joseph is coming to fruition.
Notice they say we saw the anguish of his soul, when he
besought us, and we would not hear. Remember Reuben wanted
to save the boy, Judah wanted to sell Joseph - remember this its
important to this study. Lets continue.
Genesis 42:22-28 AndReuben answered them, saying, Spake I not
unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not
hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he
spake unto them by an interpreter.
24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; andreturned to them again, and communed with them, and took from
them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to
restore every mans money into his sack, and to give them
provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
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26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender
in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sacks
mouth.
28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, itis even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were
afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done
unto us?
Now theyre blaming GOD. Their poor father Jacob is now to be
anguished even further. Lets continue.
Genesis 42:29-38 And they came unto Jacob their father unto theland of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,
30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and
took us for spies of the country.
31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:
32 We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the
youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.
33 And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall
I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with
me, and takefood forthe famine of your households, and be gone:
34 And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know
that ye are no spies, but thatye are true men: so will I deliver you
your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.
35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold,
every mans bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they
and their fathersaw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 AndJacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved
of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will takeBenjamin away: all these things are against me.
37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if
I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring
him to thee again.
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38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother
is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in
the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs withsorrow to the grave.
As providence would have it the grain runs out and the brothers
have to go back to Egypt and the plot thickens.
In this wonderful story, of Joseph being sold in to slavery by his
older brothers. At the death of their father Jacob, the brothers
feared the retribution for the rotten deed they had done to Joseph.
Genesis 50:15-20 And when Josephs brethren saw that their father
was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will
certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did
command before he died, saying,
17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the
trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil:
and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the
God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and
they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: foram I in the place of
God?
20 But as for you,ye thought evil against me; but God meant it
unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people
alive.
Amazingly Joseph was not bitter, but had a lofty and spiritual
insight on the incident. Ye thought evil against me; but GOD
meant it unto good.Joseph was able to see the plan of GOD in his
life in spite of the evil he received at the hands of his brothers.
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This theme of GOD being able to make good come out of evil deeds
against us is prevalent in the bible and essential to the faith in the
Judaic/Christian religion. The LORD can make good come out of
what seems like tragedy. Good always overcomes evil for thosepursuing the LORD, even though it might appear so.
In the life of king David his greatest enemies turn out to be those
of his own household. Absalom, Davids third son did him the
most harm, in trying to usurp his kingdom. (Read my study named
Ahithophel for more detail of the terrible conspiracy committed
against David).
Psalms 109:5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and
hatred for my love.
Matthew 10:36 And a mans foes shall be they of his own
household.
Psalms 35:11-16 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my
charge things that I knew not.
12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was
sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned
into mine own bosom.
14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend orbrother: I
bowed down heavily, as one that mournethfor his mother.
15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves
together:yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me,
and I knew itnot; they did tearme, and ceased not:16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me
with their teeth.
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David had a tender heart that is why the LORD made him the king
of Israel. Yet David seems to have been too soft on his children
and they wound up almost being his destruction.
At the death of his son Absalom David grieved as one that
mourneth for his mother.
Jeremiah 18:20Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have
digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to
speak good for them, andto turn away thy wrath from them.
Jeremiah in speaking the truth to Judah was reviled by the religious
and civil leaders of Judah, even though Jeremiah stood before thee
(GOD) to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath fromthem. For his effort Jeremiah received horrible persecution from
them. Judah would not listen to the prophet and for that they were
ejected out of their land at the hands of the Babylonian king
Nebuchadnezzar fulfilling this next proverb.
Proverbs 17:13 Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not
depart from his house.
Jeremiah asked in Jeremiah 18:20,Shall evil be recompensed for
good? The answer of course is no!
According to Judaic-Christian thought we are supposed to pray for
those who despitefully use us.
Jesus CHRIST is the ultimate example of being rewarded evil for
good. He came down from heaven to bring salvation to His
creation and his creation brutally murdered Him. Yet, He had no
hate, He didnt threaten, rail or revile. He is the ultimate exampleof love and forgiveness.
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them
that curse you, do good to them that hate you, andpray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
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Luke 6:28 Bless them that curse you, andpray for them which
despitefully use you.
I think that anyone who tries to adhere to the principles of theGOSPEL will suffer being rewarded evil for good. Its for our
spiritual growth. Jesus told us it would be so.
Matthew 18:7 Woe unto the world because of offences!for it must
needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the
offence cometh!
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me yemight have peace.In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of
good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Offences and tribulation are almost guaranteed.
1 Thessalonians 5:15See that none render evil for evil unto any
man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves,
and to all men.
1 Peter 3:9Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but
contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye
should inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer
for well doing, than for evil doing.
It is better to suffer for well doing, than to do evil and avengeyourself. This is a hard lesson, if and when you are rewarded evil
for good, think it not strange for - it is the trial of our faith, a sure
sign that we are growing in the LORD
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One of the most beautiful parables of the LORD is the parable of the
Good Samaritan.
Luke 10:29-37 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
And who is my neighbour?30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him
of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half
dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and
when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and
looked on him, and passed by on the other side.33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was:
and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and
wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and
took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence,
and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him;
and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will
repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto
him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus
unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Shalom al haaretz(peace on earth). Good will toward men.
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Copyright 2011 John W. Wilder
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any
means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written
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encouraged.
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