into slavery?” they would have said, “To be rid of him and his lousy dreams.” If we had asked the Ishmaelite traders, “Why did you buy Joseph?” they would have said, “To turn a profit.” And yet as they served themselves and their own ends, the brothers and the traders did a great service to Joseph. Their selfish interests became, in God’s providence, instrumental in saving Joseph’s life and, ultimately, the lives of the brothers themselves. So we are beginning to see that even when, as Calvin puts