How to respond to God’s providence? (Gen 41:1-36)

A young pastor who was just starting his ministry was particularly busy one week and neglected sermon preparation. He consoled himself with the truth that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, who ‘will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say’ (Luke 12:12). Sunday came and the young minister stepped up to the pulpit waiting for the Spirit. The Holy Spirit duly turned up and whispered in his ear, ‘You did not prepare.’ This humorous anecdote well illustrates the confusion over God’s providence, which some treat in an almost fatalistic way. In this view, if God says it will happen then there is nothing for us to do. In fact, even if we fight against it, it will happen anyway sometimes not only despite what we do but because of it. To a certain extent this is true, of course. Joseph had no control over being sold into slavery and ending up in Egypt, which ultimately led to his exaltation. Moreover, his brothers’ actions to eliminate the possibility of Joseph ever gaining mastery over them were the very means that brought such mastery about. How is God’s providence different from believing in fate and how should we respond to it?

God or fate at work?

At first glance, there seems no difference between the two. The events described in our reading happen without any action from Joseph. There is no mention of God, either. Yet, there are odd features as if the events were ‘meant to happen’. Pharaoh has a disturbing double dream (Gen 41:1-7), and for ancients such dreams meant some sort of divine revelation, especially when given to a king. Further, it is surprising that the court magicians cannot interpret it (Gen 41:8), given that connecting cows and grain to agriculture and harvest, fatness and leanness to bounty and famine, and interpreting numbers in terms of time seem standard procedure. Is their understanding blocked? Do they sense the meaning but are afraid to bring bad news to Pharaoh? Whatever the cause, this failure triggers the cupbearer’s memory, so Joseph is brought to Pharaoh (Gen 41:9-14). The hurry in making the prisoner presentable (he is shaven like the Egyptians but only his outer garment is changed, v.14) underlines the urgency of relieving Pharaoh’s anxiety. As he recounts the dream, Pharaoh’s additional comments focus attention on the worrying aspects of the dream (he has never seen such ugliness as the gaunt cows; when they have eaten the fat ones, they looked no fatter themselves; Gen 41:19, 21).[1]

Joseph’s testimony

The first obvious difference between fate and God’s providence comes in Joseph’s words to Pharaoh. He is emphatic that it is God who will give an answer to set Pharaoh’s mind at rest (lit. ‘God shall answer the peace of Pharaoh’; Gen 41:16). Moreover, it is God who will act as He intended and who reveals the future to Pharaoh (Gen 41:25, 28). This is no blind fate that makes something happen though; rather, it is God with a purpose (which will be revealed later). He is sovereign over all, but this revelation also shows His goodwill. Although the future here is presented as unavoidable – it will happen with certainty and quickly (Gen 41:32) – this is not a cue to be dejected and give up in despair. Joseph understands that the dream is not mere information but an opportunity to respond wisely. Thus, he follows up the interpretation with advice about the way the worst effects of the famine may be mitigated by the storage of excess grain from the abundant years (Gen 41:33-36).

Responding to God’s providence

Providence then is different from fate because it is the purposeful activity of a loving God who cares about His creation rather than a blind force allocating unchangeable roles to puppets in a grand play. He is sovereign, yes, and can arrange circumstances in the human and the natural realm to suit His purposes. Since the results do not ultimately depend on us, we can be neither proud and point to our achievement, nor need to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. At the same time, our actions matter because God’s providence incorporates our responses in a mysterious way so that acting in our circumstances with integrity and godly wisdom and to the best of our ability makes a difference. Thus, Joseph’s discernment and practical advice to the coming crisis will contribute to the way many will be saved in the midst of famine. May we trust God for His provision then, even as we do our best to live faithfully within our circumstances.

[1] Repetition is a key feature of Old Testament narrative. Often, this is simply meant to reinforce a point. However, in some cases, there is some divergence between the original text and its repetition, and it is instructive to compare the two. What is added or left out can be indicative of the speaker’s mindset, where they see the focus, what they want to emphasise or minimise.

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