Joseph

• Israel favored Joseph over his other sons (Gen 37:1-4).
• Envious of him, Joseph's brothers sold him to traders (Gen 37:5-36).
• Through a complex series of events, he became a leader in Egypt (Gen 39-41).
• In this position, Joseph preserved his brothers through famine (Gen 42-47).
• God directed a good outcome by permitting much evil (Gen 50:20).
• His overall purpose of preservation was not recognized until all had taken place.
• While God had a sovereign plan over history, the events are not mechanized.

• Job was a blameless man whom God had prospered (Job 1:1-5).
• God allowed Satan to destroy Job's family, possessions & health (Job 1:6-2:13).
• Job's three friends argued that his suffering was the result of sin (Job 3-31).
• Job maintained that he was righteous & that God was unfair.
• In a moment of inspiration, Job sees that suffering results in growth (Job 23:10).
• Young Elihu then dialogues with Job about God & His works (Job 32-37).
• He confirms that God instructs & perfects through suffering (Job 33:29-30).
• Justice may take the subtle form of discipline for development (Heb 12:3-11).
• He recognizes that life's events are for preservation, mercy & justice (Job 37:13).
• Job acknowledged his limited understanding & contention with God (Job 38-42).

• Israel had 7 cycles of sin, bondage, prayer, rescue & peace (Judg 2-15).
• In this case, God's interaction with a nation resulted in historical cycles.
• This illustrates the consequences of violating spiritual law (Rom 1:24).

• Judas Iscariot was a hand picked disciple of Jesus (Lk 6:12, Mk 3:13-19).
• With the other disciples, he was trained & sent to minister (Mt 9:35-11:1).
• Jesus knew through whom his death would come about (Jn 6:64, Mt 26:20-25).
• Judas was being influenced by Satan (Lk 22:1-6, Jn 13:2).
• Jesus personally allowed Judas to betray Him (Jn 10:17-18, 13:21-30).
• While God controlled & Satan influenced, Judas was responsible (Lk 22:22).

• God foreknew & predetermined Jesus' death (Act 2:23, 4:27-28).
• God announced Jesus' death through the prophets (Act 3:18).
• Jesus knew & predicted His own final destiny (Mt 16:21-23).
• Direct revelation of God's plan was not accepted until afterward (Act 2:23).
• While God planned Jesus' death, the events are not mechanized.

• The Christian faith seeks to progress toward maturity (Phil 1:25, 1 Tim 4:15).
• History's final decline & termination leads to an eternal kingdom (Mt 24:3-31).
• Earth's temporal history has elements of both progress & decline.

• We know God's overall purposes in history: preservation, mercy & justice.
• We will not necessarily know God's specific purposes in each event of history.
• History is affected by supernatural interactions which we may be unaware of.
• God's sovereign rule of history encompasses both control & permission.
• Biblical history is not mechanized nor chaotic.
• History may have cyclical patterns & elements of progress & decline.
• God interacts with man on cultural & individual levels.