Sermon Notes + Quotes:
Transcript:
We study through books of the Bible here at The Village Chapel. We have extra copies. If you would like one to follow along, raise your hand up real high. Otherwise, we can also point you to the network here in the room and the password is up there if you would rather follow along on an online Bible. There’s one on our app, The Village Chapel app. If you haven’t gotten that, you might want to download that. That’s always great.
We’re studying the Book of Genesis and this is our last day in the Book of Genesis. I always get a little misty and blue when we’re finishing up a book. It’s been such a good friend to us in so many ways. I feel like it’s one of those monumental things that happens about once or twice a year for us around here.
By the way, how many of you have been with us since chapter one of Genesis? Raise your hand. Okay.
How many of you are new to this church or new to our study since Genesis 1? Oh, good. Just a couple. That’s good. It’s nice to have you along with us.
Genesis begins to answer some of the really great questions that people have been asking for a long, long time and I’ve been saying that since our study of Genesis began. Answers questions like, “Where did everything come from? Is this all just the random co-location of atoms and chemicals or was there a creator who designed and created everything and manages everything? Is there… Why is there something rather than nothing?”
A great philosophical question that goes way back to Leibniz and many have asked it ever since. Why is there this something rather than another kind of something? Why do we perceive immaterial things like order, beauty, love, mercy, injustice, forgiveness, and honor? How is it that we… those can’t be found under a microscope. How do we perceive those things? Why do we perceive them and how can we tell the difference between any of them?
Oh, this is a really important question for us to ask. Does human life have meaning and purpose? What has gone wrong with the world? How can we know right from wrong? And what has God done about what is wrong in this world?
And here we have in the Book of Genesis, the beginning of some answers to some of these really big questions. So ones that you may or may not have been with us when we’ve talked about some of those, but along the way we post these up online, you’re welcome to go back and listen to them. It’s all available to you on the website or on our YouTube channel.
But here we have really theological realities like there is a God, a Creator, and you are not Him. That’s a great… That divides the world into a whole lot of… Right there. Not that we’re just simply trying to divide the world but we want to know what’s true, what’s real.
And we sense and experience the chaos in the world and the moral ambiguity and confusion and bankruptcy, all that moral bankruptcy, there’s a reason for it. What is it? And we have in part forgotten our Creator. We have in part forgotten who we are in the grand scheme of creation. And we’ve tried to assert ourselves in areas that we do not have any real right to assert ourselves.
So there are theological realities, cosmological claims. Universe had a beginning and a designer and that designer wanted it to look like something. And all that, it looks sometimes it’s filled with beauty and wonder and it’s quite amazing. And the more you look into all of that, you find science just confirming over and over and over again how intricate, how delicately balanced everything is. Is that a random accident or did somebody actually plan that? Very important questions begin to be answered, cosmological claims and questions.
And then the personal hope, which we certainly have seen here in the Book of Genesis that human life has a design with meaning and purpose. We were created to bear the image of God. Every single human person whether you believe in God or not has this intrinsic value. Why? Because they were created, designed, created in the image of God. And so that changes the way I look at everybody else and changes the way I think about myself.
And as I look at everybody else, and as I think about everybody else, this eliminates… When I think of them as created in the image of God, it eliminates any opportunity for any sort of mischief to creep into my thinking like that I’m better than someone else or that someone else because of the color of their skin or their lot in life or the nation that they were born in is somehow or another lesser.
And so you can see that we now have a theological basis for the elimination. And there’s just no room for some of the biggest problems we have in this world right now. There’s just no room for those if we’re Bible believers.
And it’s not just about us convincing ourselves to be good humanists, no, there’s a theological basis to all of this – a biblical basis. And it’s profound and it goes way beyond the way I happen to feel in any one given moment of time.
So there’s lots of purpose, lots of hope, lots of meaning there. God has done something about what is wrong in the world and the Book of Genesis begins to explain what’s wrong in the world and the promise and the hope of all of what God will do about it begins there runs all the way through to the Book of Revelation. And if you pull a loose thread, one end of your Bible, the other end, it’s all… The page is all crinkled because they all talk about this same hope that God is offering.
So Genesis is a book of beginning. It’s a book of real life stories, real people walking through the kinds of things we walk through in life. And yes, there are definitely some differences between our own experiences, modern times. They didn’t have the internet back then, they didn’t have Twitter. And I’m so glad they didn’t have social media back then. It’s really awesome when you think about it. It can be used for good, that’s true but it also has all kinds of potential for disaster for us.
But here we have a book of beginnings, book of real life stories, and a book about God’s redeeming love. And I’m so thrilled to have studied this book together with you.
So let’s take a look then at these last three chapters as we come up on it. What we have just finished studying is how the Lord has arranged in this famine throughout the land, this seven-year famine, the Lord God has arranged for Joseph to be in a place called Egypt. And God has given Joseph favor with all the authorities in Egypt and he’s literally the VP in Egypt at this point. He’s the Vice – Pharaoh of Egypt.
And he’s great manager and he has literally been used by God to not only save his own family as they move to Egypt but he’s literally saved the Egyptians. He’s literally saved a lot of the world through the wisdom that God has given him in terms of storing up grain, being able to distribute it and manage it, and all of that sort of thing is really brilliant in so many ways.
But his family has now moved down there including his brothers who we read about early on hated him so much when Joseph lived back up in the land of Canaan, hated him so much that at 17 years of age they threw him in a pit, they were going to leave him for dead. Instead they sold him to some Ishmaelites travelers that were coming through and they knew he would be carried into slavery and bondage and probably never see him again.
And for 22 years, he’s down there with no conversation with his family and he’s literally a slave in the household of Potiphar. He rises in the household of Potiphar because of the wisdom and the Lord being with him. We’re told that over and over again in the Book of Genesis that God was with Joseph. It’s really an interesting, powerful distinction that God was with him so much.
And he rose to great position in Potiphar’s household. But then Potiphar’s wife tried to have an affair with Joseph, he resisted, but yet was thrown in jail because she accused him anyway. So he is falsely accused, thrown in jail. The Lord comes along, gives him the ability to interpret some dreams for the baker and the cup bearer of the pharaoh.
And it’s just fascinating how you see these sequences go and it leads to him actually being brought into pharaoh’s household. So from the pit to the palace to the prison and back to the palace again, his life – going up and down like this. Does your life go up and down like that? Yeah. But the Lord was with Joseph, we’re being told over and over again.
And here when we come to chapters 48, 49, and 50, we’re going to see not only the death of Jacob, his father, his long lost father whom he hadn’t seen for 22 years and now Jacob and the other brothers have moved to Egypt. Joseph has been forgiving toward them and he’s actually arranged for them to live in the land of Goshen, the best of the land in Egypt and to bring their flocks and their herds and be able to survive. They’re not only survived but to thrive there.
It’s really amazing. It came about verse one says in 48, “…after these things…” Remember they’ve been there… Let’s see. They moved and have been in Egypt now for 17 years. Jacob, the brothers have been there for 17 years. So Joseph’s probably 56 years old at this point in time and “…after these things, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick…” So Jacob is now sick after living in Egypt for 17 years. He’s going to die at the age of 147 years. And we’ll see that. We’ll read that in just a minute.
But Joseph gets told that Jacob is sick. “…So he took his sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.” And remember Joseph had these two sons with his wife Asenath who is an Egyptian. And so it’s interesting that these two who become namesakes of some of the tribes of Israel later are actually of mixed race. Alright, so Manasseh and Ephraim come with him. [v2] “When it was told that Jacob, ‘Behold your son Joseph has come to you, Israel collected his strength, sat up in the bed.’” You can see this. I love the live body detail of this. Scooching up, pulling his pillows up behind him, arranging his duvet cover, whatever it was, and just getting himself set so he can actually talk with Joseph.
[v3]” And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. And He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous. I’ll make you a company of peoples. I will give you this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.”
That’s really amazing that that’s what He’s going to drive home, those promises of God. And it’s so important that we pass those promises along. It’s so important that as we sing about God, as we sing about… As we sing scriptures, as we express ourselves to God, that we also remember to be mindful to pass these promises that God has made because really this book, this library of books right here is all about the promises of God. He’s been in pursuit of a people He can call His own and He has made very specific and certain promises that He intends to fulfill. And so Jacob passes that along to Joseph and tells him that God himself appeared to him in Luz in the land of Canaan blessed me. And he said to me, “All of this progeny and the place or the land now to your two sons,” verse five, “…who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they are mine.” In other words, I’m going to view Ephraim and Manasseh as my descendants…Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon are. t your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours. They shall be called the names of their brothers in their inheritance.” So what he’s doing is he’s preparing as he knows his own life is coming to an end. Jacob is. He’s preparing the rest of the family what he’s going to hand down to them. And he gets very specific here.
[v8]” When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” Remember he’s a 100… He’s getting ready to be 147, okay if he’s not already that? .And this is an old man. And so his short-term memory could be gone. We all… I know I have to, when I go to the grocery store, when Kim says, “Hey, can you go get some of the macaroni, cheese, milk, eggs, and bread?” I have to assign a number or something to it because I get there and she knows I’m going to be calling her. I just forget, “What are these things you want me to get?” And here sitting right there, here, Jacob says, “Who are these?” And his eyesight’s bad. We’re going to read that in just a minute. But he wants to know who they are, alright? And he’s already told Joseph, “Hey, Ephraim and Manasseh…” So he already knows their name, but when they step up, it’s almost as if he has a little brain freeze thing to happen. “Who are these?”
Verse nine. “Joseph said to his father, ‘They’re my sons God has given me here.’ So he said, ‘Bring them to me please that I may bless them.’ Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him and he kissed them and he embraced them.” This is so beautiful. He may have already; these guys may be under 17 years of age themselves. He may have been living in Egypt, Jacob, when these little tykes were born. And so here he’s got the two boys and he kissed them and he embraced them. Granddad is doing this.
[v11] “Israel said to Joseph then…” and remember, Israel is Jacob, Jacob is Israel saying, their narrators swaps those names out all the time “I never expected to see your face and behold God has let me see your children as well.” Grandchildren are a delight. And all the grandparents said…that’s right. And so, “I never thought I’d see them as well.’ [v12] “Joseph took them from his knees…” So they’re little enough to be on his knees, “…and bowed with his face to the ground. Joseph took them both. Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right and brought them close to him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim who was the younger and his left hand on Manasseh’s head crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the first born.”
And here we have that reversal pattern that has run really throughout Genesis, hasn’t it? Jacob and Esau. Jacob was the younger one and yet God spoke to Jacob and passed the promise to Jacob. And it was through Jacob’s line that Israel, the nation, would be born and that Messiah would actually come.
God has that right. God is sovereign. It’s His creation every bit of it. So the divine prerogative, we read about that throughout the Book of Genesis. So he literally does that same thing that has happened in his own life.
Verse 15. “And he blessed Joseph and he said, ‘The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd.” And I love that. “All my life to this day the angel who’s redeemed me from all evil; bless the lad;” I don’t know if your English translation calls it lads there, but I thought, “Oh, so Jacob was British. He was into soccer and stuff. The lad. Okay, that’s good.” No, it’s just another word for boys or young ones. Okay? [v16 cont’d] “And may my name live on in them and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” And this again just echoes the promise of God that was given to Abraham and Isaac and then passed to Jacob. And now here he is passing it on that same general promise reminding his family of it.
[v17] “When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him.” It displeased Joseph. “He grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s said and Joseph said to his father, ‘Not so my father for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.’ But his father refused and said, ‘I know my son. I know. He also shall become a people. He also shall be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
And that’s exactly what happens with Ephraim and Manasseh if you know your Old Testament history.
[v20-21] “He blessed them that day saying, ‘By you, Israel shall pronounce blessings. Say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph,” and I love this verse by the way, verse 21, is just so beautiful, “…Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and this God will be with you.” That runs throughout Genesis, throughout the Joseph narrative in Genesis. He said one more time and we’re reminded of that, the presence of the Lord at work in Joseph’s life. It’s interesting because nowhere do we find God speaking to Joseph in the Joseph narrative like he did, like God spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
So if you’re here today and you’re wondering, “Well, I don’t ever have any of those big supernatural experiences where God speaks to me.” You’re like Joseph then. That doesn’t mean the presence of the Lord isn’t with you. So if you’re longing for the presence of the Lord, please understand, the presence of the Lord is not restricted to only those who have supernatural, sensational experiences. Okay?
[v21] “…The Lord will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers,” which is an interesting thing to say in Egypt when you’re about to die and the famine is in the land. He knows something that God’s revealed to him, that God will be bringing his people out in what we call the Exodus which is of course the next book. So God will be with you. What a blessing, what a promise. Joseph blessed by God’s presence.
Others were blessed by being near to Joseph, who was near to God, and there’s meaning there as well. We are here to be missional. We are here to serve our city, to bless our neighbors, to love our neighbors. And here with Joseph, he’s blessed pharaoh, he’s blessed Potiphar, he’s blessed his brothers. He’s blessed Jacob. The Lord has used him to bless so many people. Even the Egyptians themselves have survived. Why? Because of the wisdom of God flowing through Joseph during this very difficult time of famine.
You have a shepherd. Jacob said, “I have a shepherd.” King David would later say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” This is an image used throughout the Old Testament. It’s a beautiful image. We have a shepherd. He is God. We belong to Him. We don’t belong to ourselves. This world we live in thinks we do. Everybody thinks… everybody out there is trying to influence us to think we belong to ourselves but we don’t. We belong to our shepherd who will protect, provide, and guide us.
Now, this is really powerful chapter. I’ll read through the next chapter a little quicker. I’ll give you one portion. Verse 22 says, and a little bit of a mystery here, “One portion more than your brothers.’ He says to Joseph, ‘which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” We don’t really have any history on that that describes that particular event. That doesn’t give me any… I’m not worried about that at all. This is the Book of Genesis. It’s covering years sometimes in one verse. And so every detail of everybody’s life and everybody’s story isn’t told.
“Then Jacob summoned his sons….” So he brings all the brothers and this is really cool. Verse one of chapter 49. He’s going to talk about some near and far fulfillment as he draws close to the time he’s going to pass. He says, “…Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what shall befall you in the days to come. Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.”
And now there’s going to be a bit of tough love. There’s going to be some blessing but there’s also going to be some, “You’re kind of a wild donkey, son.” That kind of stuff. Watch… We’ll read through it pretty quick though alright. So watch this.
[verse3-4] “Reuben, you’re my firstborn. My might and the beginning of my strength, preeminent in dignity, preeminent in power, but uncontrolled as water. You shall not have preeminence because you went up to your father’s bed.” We read about that in Genesis 35. “Because you went up to your father’s bed, you defiled it and went up to my couch,” and evidently, Reuben struggled with lust. If you’re here today and that’s issue for you, please understand the Bible speaks to every little thing we struggle with in this world. There’s some… If it’s not stated specifically, they didn’t have the internet, I got it. They didn’t have pornography, I got it. But that doesn’t mean you don’t lust. That doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem with lust. And Reuben evidently had a problem with that as well as pride and rebellion and all of that.
[verses 5-7] “Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are implements of violence. Let my soul not enter into their council. Let not my glory be united with their assembly because in their anger they slew men.” Remember that? “And in their self will they lamed oxen. Cursed be their anger for it is fierce, their wrath for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.”
Now he’s going from oldest to youngest and about now the fourth guy has got to be getting a little nervous. Yeah, it’s like, “Whoa. Okay. Hey. Can I take a break? It’s time for… Let’s get a little water.”
[v8-10] “Judah, your brother shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion’s whelp,” or a lion’s… a young lion, “from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion and as a lion who dares rouse him up. The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes…”
Shiloh means one to whom it belongs the scepter. Shiloh – another Old Testament term for Messiah. Until Messiah, until God’s Messiah comes and see, Jesus will be born to the tribe of Judah. Which is interesting, isn’t it? Yeah, “Until Shiloh appears,” alright. “To him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” And this is interesting. That’s really plural and it foreshadows the nation’s falling before Christ in a beautiful way.
[v11-12] “He ties his foal to the vine as donkey’s colt to the choice vine. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are dull from wine,” or darker from wine is another way to say it. “His teeth white from milk.” So strength, power, these belong to Judah.
[v13-15] “Zebulun shall dwell at the seashore, shall be haven for ships. His flank shall be towards Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. When he saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens and became a slave at forced labor.” And again, an ancient version of probably a workaholic…you probably know somebody or are somebody who struggles with workaholism. It’s a tough thing to turn it off, to be present with the people in your household, to be present with God; really interesting.
[v16-18] “Dan shall judge his people.” His name means to judge actually. “As one of the tribes of Israel, Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls back. For thy salvation, I wait. Oh Lord.” And this is like Jacob blurting out in the middle of… Here, he’s running down the blessings and the difficulties that these sons have experienced and he just bless… He just yells out, “For thy salvation I wait, O Lord.”
[v19-20] “As for Gad,” whose name means fortune, “raiders shall raid him, but he shall raid at their heels. As for Asher,” his name means happy, “his food shall be rich and he shall yield royal dainties.” I love that. That’s just interesting. Live body detail. I love this.
[v21] “Naphtali,” which means my struggle, “is a doe let loose,” or set free. “He gives beautiful words.” Think the poet in your family, the songwriter in your family, the artistic person in your family that loves art and creativity and all of the…
[v22-26] “Joseph,” whose name means he will add, “is a fruitful bough. A fruitful bough by a spring, its branches run over a wall. The archers bitterly attacked him.” That’s true. His brothers did do that, didn’t they? “They shot at him, they harassed him and his bow remained firm. His arms were agile from the hands of the Mighty One from Jacob. From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. From the God of your father who helps you and by the Almighty,” that’s Shaddai, “who blesses you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts, of womb, blessings of your father, have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills…” And he…here we are, Thanksgiving week. This is awesome. He’s just overflowing with gratitude here for the blessings. The blessings are everywhere. And he’s showing, they’re literally surrounded by blessings. “Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills may they be on the head of Joseph. And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.”
[v27] “Benjamin,” finally to the youngest, “he’s a ravenous wolf,” or a raven wolf, his name being son of the right hand. Remember Benjamin and Joseph, full brothers; Joseph, half-brothers with all the other brothers in some way, right? “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning, he devours the prey and in the evening, he divides the spoil.” and the tribe of Benjamin well-known later on for being archers, in a battle, to be able to fight like that and slingers with the sling, right?
“All these are the 12 tribes of Israel.” verse 28 says, “and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, everyone with the blessing appropriate to him.” [v29-31] “Then he charged them and said to them, ‘I’m about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite. In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan,,,” This is down near Hebron, near the Dead Sea. “…which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site there. There they buried…” Jacob’s telling Joseph, “there they buried Abraham,” which would be Joseph’s what? Great-grandfather, right? Yeah. “They buried Abraham and his wife, Sarah. There, they buried Isaac and his wife, Rebecca. And there I buried Leah.” And you half expected him to say Rachel because Jacob loved Rachel. We were told explicitly that he loved Rachel and he got fooled into marrying Lea first by Laban, if you remember the story. Isn’t it interesting that he says he wants to be buried there though?
[v32-33] “the field and the cave that is in it purchased from the sons of Heth.’ When Jacob finished charging his sons,” this is so beautiful, intimate right here, “he drew his feet into his bed. He breathed his last and was gathered to his people.” Oh, a very powerful and sacred moment. Any of you who have ever been around someone who has passed as I have on numerous occasions – really powerful.
There’s a little more that will happen here. The narrator in chapter 50 will just talk a little bit about what happens after this.[v1] “Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.” Now, Joseph is a weeper. How many… I don’t know if you’re a weeper or not. I’m a bit of a weeper sometimes over certain things. We’ve been told six times. Now this is the sixth time Joseph breaks down and weeps. We’ll be told one more time that he does that. And that’s a really important one. Watch for it in the coming verses.
[v2] “Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians to embalm his father….” You may or may not know this, the ancient Egyptians were brilliant at embalming bodies. You’ve heard of mummies, right? Okay. So they’re really… You can look it up online that some of the different steps that they take, it’s really interesting to do a little bit of reading on that. Don’t have time to go into it today.
[v2 -3]“…But he commanded his physicians to embalm Israel. For 40 days were required for it for such as the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him 70 days.” So they’re literally having an official 70-day period of mourning in Egypt. And the Egyptians are also mourning for Jacob as he dies, right? And when, by the way, a pharaoh, the time of mourning for a pharaoh was only 72 days. So do you see how respected Jacob has been over the years that he’s had in Egypt?
[v4-7] “When the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of pharaoh saying, ‘If now I have favor in your sight, please speak to pharaoh saying, ‘My father made me swear. ‘Behold, I am about to die in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. There you shall bury me.’ Therefore, please let me go up and bury my father and I will return.’ So Pharaoh said,” verse six, “Go up and bury your father as he made you swear. So Joseph went up to bury his father.”
And you realize how long it’s been since Joseph has been back in the land of Canaan? Thirty-nine years. Sold into slavery, thought his life was over multiple times. And after 39 years, this is the first time he’s going to go back to the promised land, back to that land that God had promised to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and Jacobs told him about it now and he went to bury him.
“He went up with all the…” Listen to this, verse seven [through 9], “All the servants of pharaoh, the elders of his household and the elders of the land of Egypt and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household, they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. There also went up with him, chariots, horseman. And it was a very great company.”
Can you see it on the horizon if you live in the land of Canaan? That tiny little speck on the horizon as it swells and grows to a royal funeral procession.
And nobody dare attack them. Why? Because all of Egypt’s elders, all… It’s a huge entourage. And they have come out of respect for Joseph and his father, Jacob, to bury him where he wanted to be buried. It’s really amazing.
[v10-14] “When they came to the threshing floor of Atad which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great sorrowful lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning of the threshing floor of Atad, they said, ‘This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.’ Therefore, it was named Abel-mizraim which is beyond the Jordan. And thus his sons did for him as he had charged them, for his sons, carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre which Abraham had bought along with the field for a burial site from the Ephron the Hittite. And after he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt…” What was that like? I got to turn around now and go back. Thirty-nine years I’ve been… I got to go back now though. We have to go back, brothers. We need to go back. We promised we would, we have to do that. “He and his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said…”
Now watch. This could be the most important little section right here of the entire study today.
[v15-17] “When his brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘What if Joseph should bear a grudge against us and pay us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him?’ So they sent a message to Joseph saying, ‘Your father charged before he died saying, the quote, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, ‘Please forgive. I beg you the transgression of your brothers and their sin for they did you wrong. And now please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father…” And he understands what’s happening here. The brothers are so afraid that Joseph has not forgiven them. They couldn’t receive his forgiveness.
Now you’re Joseph and you’ve been living in the land of Egypt all this time. And you saw your brothers and you went… You made them go through some hoops to prove whether or not they actually were repentant or could repent for what they had done. And along the way, God is with you as you try your hardest to forgive those who literally abused you, want to kill you. And you say to them even, you’ve already said it once, that God was in this. See? That God was preserving their family and this area of the world because of this thing. And now he’s going to say it one more time.
But when they say, “Joseph, dad said this. You really have to forgive us and you really have to mean it.” It breaks his heart.
[v 17] “…Joseph wept when they spoke to him.”
Wow. And I thought to myself, when I read that, “How much more does God weep when I say, ‘I don’t believe you’ve forgiven me?” And yet look at what God has done, already done to forgive me my sins, to forgive you your sins. See, the invitation of the Bible folks is to believe in the God who is there. Not the God of your imagination, not the God that this culture would try to teach you to believe. No. The God who is there who’s revealed Himself in scripture says, “If you’ll confess your sins…” He’s faithful and just forgive you your sins. Let Him do His part. Believe in that God. Not the God of all these voices out here or the God that’s even in the fear in your own heart.
These guys are afraid. They’re afraid to receive forgive… I don’t know how many of us here today are afraid to receive God’s forgiveness but they really strike me as it’s heartbreaking.
[v18 -19] “So his brothers also came and fell down before him,” again, one more time, that dream that he had is fulfilled, “and said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’ And Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid for, am I in God’s place?”
How often do we try to be in God’s place? But I like Joseph’s perspective here.
[ v20] “And as for you, you meant evil against me.”
And by the way, notice he doesn’t say, “Guys, it’s really okay. You didn’t mean anything by it.” No, you meant evil by it. He tells the truth and we’re just… All of us, we’re terrible at truth telling. We’re not very good at that – wouldn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. Tell the truth. Why? Because then we can truly repent and truly be forgiven. Don’t just sweep it under the rug.
[v20-21] “You meant evil to me. But guess what? God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore…” and this is a great verse, “…therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”
So Joseph spoke truthfully, suffered patiently, succeeded humbly, and served faithfully. I’ll do it one more time He spoke truthfully, he suffered patiently, he succeeded humbly, and he served faithfully. Someday, when I grow up, I want to be a little more like that. He’s not the hero ultimately of the Bible but Joseph is indeed one of those personalities that we can look to and see a lot of God’s redemption at work in him. Let’s finish the book.
[v21] “…He comforted them and he spoke kindly to them.”
Can I do that? Can we do that to people who have abused us? Or to people who, one more time, how many times do I have to say you’re forgiven? I said what I mean and I mean what I say.” Oh, I’m just talking to myself.
Verse 22. “Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household. Joseph lived 110 years.” So he’s 56 when Jacob died. He’s got 54 more years in Egypt as the vice pharaoh. Okay[v23] “Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons.” That’s awesome. The third generation. That makes Joseph grandfather or great-grandfather to that third generation. Can you see him bouncing on his knee? “Let me tell you about my great-great-grandfather Abraham, what happened to him,” sitting around the campfire, just talking about stuff. That’s just awesome to think about.
[v23 -24] “So also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh were born to Joseph’s knees.” He bounced them on his knees. Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I’m about to die…” or to his… He’s essentially saying this to his family. My guess is that some of the older brothers are going to die before Joseph, but he does die at a relatively early age compared to Jacob and to Isaac and to Abraham. He dies at 110, they died at 147, 180, and 175. So this is interesting.
He saw the third generation then he’s about to die. He tells them in verse 24 and he says, “But God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which he promised an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob.’ Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, ‘God will surely take care of you. You will carry my bones up from here.” And if anybody’s read the Book of Exodus, that’s awesome – a 40-year journey carrying a box of bones around. But he ends up there. It really does happen.
[v26] “You’ll carry my bones up from there.” So Joseph died at the age of 110 years. He was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.”
Wow. Okay. That’s the Book of Genesis. Pretty powerful. Yeah.
We learn here that humanity needs the redeeming love of God as Romans tells us:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:23-24
The problem does exist though. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There’s one kind of person though and when it comes to gathering as a church and reminding ourselves of these things, here’s what’s important that we remind all of us about. Rebecca says it beautifully:
“There’s one kind of person who should be uncomfortable in our churches, and that’s self-righteous people. Jesus didn’t come for the righteous but for sinners. Let’s make sure we don’t let people get confused on that.“
–Rebecca McLaughlin
Somebody say amen. Yeah, she’s right there.
Humanity needs redeeming love of God. Humanity also must leave all the righting of wrongs to God.
That’s for us in the household of God. Joseph did this well. Leave the righting of wrongs to God. Why?
Because we can’t properly hold justice or vengeance quite as well. We tend to get it confused, to get it wrong. We jump the gun sometimes before we have enough information. Other times, we guess wrong about what somebody said or the way they said it. How many times have you thought somebody was looking at you with an evil eye and they just had gas? It wasn’t that. It just… “Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to do. I just had to…” Oh gosh, whatever. And we just miss it sometimes. We can’t handle that. We need God to be the one who rights wrongs. And I think that’s very important for us. Remember:
“History is not a random series of meaningless events. It is rather a succession of periods and happenings which are under the sovereign rule of God, who’s the God of history.”
–John Stott
And Joseph really believed that. “You guys meant really evil things for me.” That’s true. But look what God did? Now, receive God’s perspective on all of this. Receive God’s grace and mercy. And that’s a word I think I need to hear over and over again.
And finally, receiving and reflecting God’s redeeming love looks like repaying evil and unkindness with what? Forgiveness and generosity. That’s exactly right. Who do you think exemplifies that any better than Joseph? I got one… There’s really one answer that I know of and that’s Jesus the greater Joseph. Okay?
So Jesus came, His name even means God is my salvation, He came so that we could know the joy of His salvation. We are talking about this in advent. Advent is coming up. Please understand, bring all of your friends that we can squeeze into these chairs or at least get them to watch online if they’re uncomfortable coming in person or whatever, that’s fine. Either way, the message is such great news.
God’s… Because of his relentless love for sinners, He sent Jesus, His son, to bring us the joy of salvation, the hope of heaven.
Oh, this is so beautiful. And the peace that passes understanding blows our minds and we’ll keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
But receiving and reflecting that starts to look like something. And Joseph did that with his brothers. He reflected what he had received from God himself. He reflected that to his brothers. God meant this for good. And God has a higher purpose that we don’t understand including some of the suffering we go through. We don’t want to understand it. But God’s doing stuff all the time. Fleming Rutledge:
“Language matters. Today’s familiar locution ‘live into’ is misbegotten. We live out of or out from, our baptism, our redemption and our callings. God is out ahead of us, before us, behind us, over us, not waiting for us to live into Him. He is the originator and the completer.”
–Fleming Rutledge
Amen! I love the way that’s said.
Do you understand your identity is now in Christ and you live out of this life you have been given as a gift in Christ? You don’t live into myself. No, Jesus called us to deny thyself, take up the cross, and to follow Him. Richard Gibson:
“It is the cross that allows us, no, demands of us that we put down our weapons, let go of our anger. There God’s righteous anger against us…” This cross. “There God’s righteous anger against us was appeased. Now He calls us to the same forgiveness, so that our relationships are ruled by grace, kindness rather than by bitterness and revenge.”
–Richard Gibson, The Consolations of Theology
Amen. Let’s pray:
“Lord, we’ve run through 50 chapters and sometimes, I feel like we’ve raced too fast. So I pray that You, Lord, will make up the difference as we’ve come to the end of the beginnings and to what will be the beginning of the rest of the story here at the end of Genesis.
Now, I pray that the lessons would take root in our hearts but more than that Lord, that You would be with Your people and that we would have a greater awareness of Your presence among us, both individually and collectively, Lord.
Like Joseph, Lord, that we could begin to see everything including our suffering, whether it’s personal or just the cloud of suffering in the world around us. But we would see it all through the clarifying lens of the sovereignty of God and that we will find that Christian life is both a walk and a way and that we walk in Your ways that we might increase our knowledge and awareness of Your presence, Lord.
Lord, there may be some here like Jacob that need to think about preparation for the time when they leave this life. We won’t all have the same amount of time and advanced knowledge that Jacob had. There may be some that need, Lord, to think about what they need to do in terms of forgiving others or reconciling with others. Please, Lord, Holy Spirit, would you move our hearts in that regard.
And then finally, Lord, I pray this. Oh, Lord, I pray this. Like the brothers in this lesson that we who sometimes have trouble receiving forgiveness would fall to our knees before You and just receive with joy as we repent, receive with joy Your response to our repentance which is Your forgiveness and grace and mercy and kindness. Amen and amen.”
(Edited for reading)
