Meant for Evil

Evil seems strong, but God is stronger.

In Genesis 50:20, we read “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” The words were spoken by Joseph.

His brothers, inflamed by jealousy and hatred, overpowered him, threw him into a well, and then sold him into slavery where he eventually ended up in Egypt. They then lied to their father, Jacob, and convinced him that the younger man had been killed by a wild animal. They did not think that Joseph would prosper in Egypt and for many years, because of more treachery and jealousy, he didn’t. Eventually, though, he did prosper and became the second most influential man in Egypt. His policies, influenced by God’s wisdom, resulted in the salvation of many starving people, including, ironically, his own brothers and father. God intended the evil actions of the brothers to be used for a great good.

The wonderful story of Joseph, which is worth reading in its entirety, is in Genesis 37 through the end of the book.

Joseph’s is not the only story in the Bible of God using something intended as evil to accomplish much good. The murder of the young man Stephen, as shocking and disturbing as it must have been to the nascent, first-century church, actually kick-started the world-wide expansion of the good news about Jesus. “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1). The murder of Stephen was meant for evil; God intended it for good, resulting in many people from different ethnic groups hearing about Jesus. Until Stephen’s death, the good news about Jesus largely was confined to Jerusalem. After Stephen’s death, the Jesus followers became witnesses to “Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The murderous anti-Christian terrorist, Saul, became a powerful pro-Jesus force for good in the whole Mediterranean world, perhaps even further.

More recently, the murder of Charlie Kirk was meant for evil; God, though, intended it for good, resulting in many people giving their lives to Jesus and returning to church.

Jesus himself was murdered and publicly humiliated. Yet God used this great evil for an unimaginable good, the salvation of millions of people: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

On a micro scale, we individually sometimes experience evil; and yet we know that God can use it for good, if we allow him to do so. May God continue to use the evil of this world for great good!

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Edward Wolfe

Edward Wolfe has been a fan of Christian apologetics since his teenage years, when he began seriously to question the truth of the Bible and the reality of Jesus. About twenty years ago, he started noticing that Christian evidences roughly fell into five categories, the five featured on this website.
Although much of his professional life has been in Christian circles (12 years on the faculties of Pacific Christian College, now a part of Hope International University, and Manhattan Christian College and also 12 years at First Christian Church of Tempe), much of his professional life has been in public institutions (4 years at the University of Colorado and 19 years at Tempe Preparatory Academy).
His formal academic preparation has been in the field of music. His bachelor degree was in Church Music with a minor in Bible where he studied with Roger Koerner, Sue Magnusson, Russel Squire, and John Rowe; his master’s was in Choral Conducting where he studied with Howard Swan, Gordon Paine, and Roger Ardrey; and his doctorate was in Piano Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature, where he also studied group dynamics, humanistic psychology, and Gestalt theory with Guy Duckworth.
He and his wife Louise have four grown children and six grandchildren.

https://WolfeMusicEd.com
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