It is a common belief that God intentionally gives hardship to help us grow. Is this true? God allows hardship to help Him fulfil His promise. He does not give us hardship when we are outside God's purpose and plan. Let’s take a look at the story of Joseph.

13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” (Gen 15:13-14)

Roughly BC2500, God appeared to Abram (later Abraham) in a vision promising him that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land not their own but after 400 years would come out with great possessions. Abraham, who left his homeland and settled in Canaan, was the father of Isaac, who was the father of Jacob (later renamed 'Israel'). Of Jacob's twelve sons his second youngest, Joseph, was to his brothers’ envy Jacob’s most loved because he had been born to him in his old age.

Aged 17, Joseph told his father and brothers about a dream where he saw the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. His brothers all took offence at him though Jacob, who knew of God’s promise through his father and grandfather (Isaac and Abraham), “kept the matter in mind” (Gen 37:11).

One day, as Joseph was on his way to meet his brothers in the fields, dressed in his father's ornate robe, they seized him, threw him into a well and sold him into slavery in Egypt. His brothers brought his ornate robe that they had intentionally covered in goat’s blood back to his father who, fearing the worst, mourned deeply for days, refusing to be comforted. It was an undeniably tragic experience for the young man and father. Why did Joseph have to endure such hardship?

While in Egypt, one of the officials of the king of Egypt (Pharaoh) named Potiphar bought Joseph and put him to work. However, because God was with Joseph and “gave him success in everything he did” (Gen 39:3), Joseph was quickly put in charge of Potiphar’s household. Nevertheless, this positive turn-of-events was short-lived after Potiphar’s wife made false accusations against the well-built and handsome young man. Joseph was thrown into prison.

Joseph, through his God-given gift, interpreted the dreams of his fellow prisoners - Pharaoh’s cupbearer and chief baker - speaking very positively of the cupbearer’s dream. Joseph urged the cupbearer to tell Pharaoh about the injustices he had suffered being forcibly dragged from his homeland to this foreign land in Egypt. But the cupbearer “did not remember Joseph; he forgot him” (Gen 40:23). Surely Joseph would have felt crushed, trying to make sense of everything, as he lay confined in prison.

Hearing of Joseph's ability to interpret dreams, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dreams of seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine and Joseph grew in stature, being placed in charge over Egypt (Gen 41:39-40). Following a famine in Canaan, Joseph's brothers and father moved to Egypt where an abundance of grain was stored and Joseph eventually revealed his true identity to their disbelief (Gen 45).

Seventy of Joseph’s family members - his eleven brothers and their children - had moved to Egypt. Joseph died (Gen 50) and his descendants multiplied and grew in number in Egypt until they were brought out under Moses' guidance to enter the promised land of Canaan.

God's promise to Abraham about the 'country not their own' was Egypt and the 'great possessions' was the land of Canaan. God had to take Joseph and his family out of Canaan to the land of Egypt to then conquer Canaan. Exactly 430 years after God's promise to Abraham, the Israelites were taken out of Egypt, as recorded in Exodus 12:40. (Note: the first 30 years was the time needed for Joseph's family to settle there). In conclusion, all the hardship Joseph experienced was all to fulfil God's promise to Abraham.

Today, there is a clear promise that God has made with believers in the Bible, as recorded in the four Gospels and book of Revelation. Unlike Joseph, we have the privilege to clearly know the reality of this promise and, with a willing and persevering heart, we can freely learn this promise.

★Shincheonji Church of Jesus, The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony is the promised temple that has appeared according to the promises of the book of Revelation. If you are curious about the promise a believer must keep today, the reason for birth, ageing, sickness and death, or about Jesus' promised second coming, you can register your interest for Shincheonji Church of Jesus' online Bible Study Course, delivered by experienced lecturers free of charge:-

⇨http://bit.ly/bible_061102 (English)

⇨http://bit.ly/shengjing_061102 (Chinese)

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