John Calvin Commentary Genesis 50:20

"And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." — Genesis 50:20 (ASV)

Ye thought evil against me. Joseph well considers (as we have said) the providence of God, so that he imposes it on himself as a compulsory law, not only to grant pardon but also to exercise beneficence. And although we have treated this subject extensively in Genesis 45:1, it will also be useful to repeat something on it now.

In the first place, we must notice this difference in his language. For while, in the former passage, Joseph, desiring to soothe the grief and alleviate the fear of his brothers, would cover their wickedness by every means ingenuity could suggest, he now corrects them a little more openly and freely, perhaps because he is offended by their disingenuousness.

Yet he holds to the same principle as before. Since, by the secret counsel of God, he was led into Egypt for the purpose of preserving the life of his brothers, he must devote himself to this object, lest he resist God. He says, in fact, by his action, “Since God has deposited your life with me, I would be engaged in war against Him if I were not to be the faithful dispenser of the grace which He had committed to my hands.” Meanwhile, he skillfully distinguishes between the wicked counsels of men and the admirable justice of God, by so ascribing the government of all things to God as to preserve the divine administration free from contracting any stain from the vices of men.

The selling of Joseph was a crime detestable for its cruelty and perfidy; yet he was not sold except by the decree of Heaven. For God did not merely remain at rest and, by conniving for a time, let loose the reins of human malice so that He might later use this occasion; but, at His own will, He appointed the course of action which He intended to be fixed and certain.

Thus we may say with truth and propriety that Joseph was sold by the wicked consent of his brothers and by the secret providence of God. Yet it was not a work common to both in such a sense that God sanctioned anything connected with or relating to their wicked cupidity, because while they were contriving the destruction of their brother, God was effecting their deliverance from on high.

From this we also conclude that there are various methods of governing the world. Truly, it must be generally agreed that nothing is done without His will, because He both governs the counsels of men, sways their wills, turns their efforts at His pleasure, and regulates all events; if men undertake anything right and just, He so actuates and moves them inwardly by His Spirit that whatever is good in them may justly be said to be received from Him; but if Satan and ungodly men rage, He acts by their hands in such an inexpressible manner that the wickedness of the deed belongs to them, and the blame of it is imputed to them.

For they are not induced to sin by the impulse of the Spirit, as the faithful are to act rightly, but they are the authors of their own evil and follow Satan as their leader. Thus, we see that the justice of God shines brightly in the midst of the darkness of our iniquity.

For as God is never without a just cause for His actions, so men are held in the chains of guilt by their own perverse will. When we hear that God frustrates the wicked expectations and injurious desires of men, we derive from this no common consolation.

Let the impious busy themselves as they please; let them rage, let them mingle heaven and earth. Yet they will gain nothing by their ardor; not only will their impetuosity prove ineffectual, but it will also be turned to an issue the reverse of what they intended, so that they will promote our salvation, though they do it reluctantly.

Thus, whatever poison Satan produces, God turns it into medicine for His elect. And although in this place God is said to have meant it unto good, because contrary to expectation, He had brought forth a joyful outcome from beginnings fraught with death, yet, with perfect rectitude and justice, He turns the food of reprobates into poison, their light into darkness, their table into a snare, and, in short, their life into death.

If human minds cannot reach these depths, let them rather suppliantly adore the mysteries they do not comprehend than, as vessels of clay, proudly exalt themselves against their Maker.

To save much people alive. Joseph makes his office serve the design of God’s providence. This sobriety is always to be cultivated, so that everyone may by faith behold God from on high holding the helm of the world’s government and keep himself within the bounds of his vocation. Even when admonished by the secret judgments of God, he should look within himself and exhort himself to discharge his duty. If the reason for this does not immediately appear, we must still take care that we do not fly about in confused and erratic circuits, as fanatical men are accustomed to do.

Regarding what Joseph says about his being divinely chosen to save much people alive, some extend this to the Egyptians. Without condemning such an extension, I would rather restrict the application of the words to the family of Jacob. For Joseph amplifies the goodness of God by this circumstance: that the seed of the Church would be rescued from destruction by his labor. Truly, from these few men—whose line would otherwise have become extinct before their descendants multiplied—sprang that vast multitude which God soon afterwards raised up.