“Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as [God] is doing today.’” –Gen 50.19-20 NRSV
My Old Testament professor highlighted this verse over and over again, calling it the thesis of Genesis. When I read this verse today, well-marked in my study Bible from OT class, I breathed a sigh of relief and thought, “It’s all good—God says so and so does Joseph.”
It’s no secret that Genesis is filled with people doing harmful things. It does not take long for the created-good people of God to start behaving badly. Each generation has its quirks, its tragedies, and its triumphs. But even though the journey is a rough one, it is permeated by one word: good. Genesis begins with God seeing that all creation is “very good” (1.31); it ends with the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers, with Joseph proclaiming that the harm his brothers intended has been used by God for good.
Good= the beginning and the end of this book, this story, our story.
God creates humankind. Humankind is good.
Humankind does harmful things.
God transforms hurt into healing, death into life, bad into good.
Good wins.
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