Oh Brother, Where Art Thou

Joseph, though not a patriarch, is instrumental in blessing gentiles, i.e. the Egyptians. Jacob moves the “first born blessing” from Ruben to Joseph. Ultimately Jacob gives Judah the first-born blessing. God has determined what will happen. The challenging question: How is it possible that the brothers sin by selling their brother Joseph to the Ishmaelite yet it was God's will for that to happen? The acted willfully and freely. There are two errors: Fatalism and/or Free Moral choices. Do not pit human responsibility against God's sovereignty. We are required to believe the mystery but we are no required to explain it. Even our sin does not derail God's sovereign plan yet we are responsible (accountable) for our own actions. One aspect of Joseph as a type of Christ: Joseph was put in a pit, as though dead, and was lifted from the pit as though risen from death.