Saturday, December 28, 2019

Psalm 110--150

"Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people." Psalm 113:5-8

Psalm 114

"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living." Ps 116:9

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." Ps 116:15

"The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die." Ps 116:15

through ps 118

"Open my eyes, so that I will see wonders from your Torah." CJB
"Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions." NLT
-Psalm 119:18

"I will run the way of your mitzvot, for you have broadened my understanding." CJB
"I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding." NLT
-Psalm 119: 32

"You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees." NLT
-Psalm 119:68

"I see the limits of all perfection, but your mitzvah has no bounds." CJB
-Psalm 119:96

"I take your instruction as a permanent heritage, because it is the joy of my heart." CJB
"Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight."
-Psalm 110:111

"You are my hiding-place and shield; I put my hope in your word." -Psalm 119:114 CJB

"I have had to live far too long with those who hate peace.
I am all for peace; but when I speak, they are for war."
Psalm 120: 6-7


"The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth." Ps 145:18

"He takes no delight in the strength of a horse, no pleasure in a runner's speed.
Adonai takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who wait for his grace." Ps 147:10-11

Monday, December 23, 2019

Psalm 86-109

"A Prayer of Moses the man of God. 
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 
Before the mountains were brought forth, 
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, 
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." 
-Ps 90:1-2

"Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;"
To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Ps 92:13-15

"In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul." Psalm 94:19

"Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity." Psalm 98:8-9

"Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." Ps 100:3

"I will lead a life of integrity in my own home." Ps 101:2

Favorites:
Psalm 103

"O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." Psalm 104: 24

Ps 106

"Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." Ps 107: 8-9

"Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man." Ps 108:12

Ps 109


Saturday, December 21, 2019

Psalms 51-85

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom."  Psalm 51:5-6

Shaped in sin---in utero sin.

Pulpit Commentary insights: "It is doubtless true, as Professor Cheyne says, that "the Old Testament contains no theory of the origin of sin"—no formulated doctrine on the subject. But the fact of congenital depravity is stated, not only here, but also in Job_14:4; Psa_58:3; it is also implied in Isa_43:27 and Hos_6:7."

"And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest." Psalm 55:6
Resonates with me this morning.  Flying away.  Rest.

"...if riches increase, set not your heart upon them." Ps 62:10

"God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." Ps 62:11

"The Detective detects the mystery in the dark of the cellar heart." Ps 64:6 The Message

Although I don't typically like The Message for the psalms, I find that translation effective in an unexpectedly contemporary way.

"Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness." Ps 65: 10-11

Lush agricultural imagery.

"Blessed be the Lord— day after day he carries us along." -Ps 68:19 The Message

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits." Ps 68:19, KJ

"...unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death." Ps 68:20 KJ

 "They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards." Ps 69

It would be discouraging for sure to be the song of drunkards.

Psalm 73---so good.

"The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun." Ps 74:16

"Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." Ps 75:5-7

"Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." Ps 77:19

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Ps 84:11


Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Group #2--Psalm 31 through 50

"I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities." Psalm 31:7

There is comfort in knowing that God sees our trouble and stress.

"Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." Psalm 31:19-20

To think that God stores up goodness for us...

"Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him." Psalm 32:6

There is a time during which God can be found which means there is also a time when it may be too late.

"The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." Genesis 32:8

"...but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about." Psalm 32: 10

"Praise befits the upright." Psalm 33:1 ESV

The rhythms of life are a gift:

"When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
shall never cease.”

Genesis 8:21-22

They either point to or from the Lord.  God's either in His Heaven and all is right or not.

"that's part of loving someone--you love them in hard ways." -Grace

"...for praise is comely for the upright." Psalm 33:11 KJ

"The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations." Ps 33:11

"...he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds." Ps 33:15

"Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love." Ps 33:18

"The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." Ps 34:10

"Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." Ps 34:14 KJ

"Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it." Ps 34:14 NLT

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." Ps 34:18

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all." Ps 34:19

"For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit." Ps 35:20

David knew that there were people who were against him in injustice.  He didn't shirk from praying he would be vindicated against them.  He knew the boundaries and who was wrong/out of line.  I admire his moral clarity in this regard.

"Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!" Psalm 35:24

"Let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me." Ps 35:26

Listening to Brooklyn Tabernacle's song based on Psalm 34---it encourages all to "magnify the Lord, bless His name forever."  Eyes on Him.  Eyes on Him.

"O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together." Ps 34:3

"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Ps 34:1

"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Psalm 34:8

I have always thought this "taste and see" odd.  Think it's on my parent's gravestone thanks to Kathy.  She viewed my dad as a person who enjoyed food and earthly pleasures I guess.  I think that was her reasoning.  What I get out of it is "trust in God."  It's on our currency.  It should be written on and in our hearts. He not only gives us good things, but he himself is a good pleasure.

(1) There is no praise without concentration of soul.
(2) Distracting forces are rife. -Biblical Illustrator on Ps 34

"It is social. The true worshipper becomes magnetic; he draws others to the shrine before which he falls." -BI

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Finishing the Year with the Psalms, Batch #1 Psalms 1-30

I bailed on Allistair Begg--just needed to get back to the Word, period.  There is value in listening to preachers, but I don't want to move too far from the primary text. So, to end 2019, I've decided to read 7 psalms a day and started this two or three days ago.

It's been a blur--our Boston Terrier is terminally ill, and I'm not sleeping well.

All that to say, I realized this morning that I need the physical structure of the blog to hold my thoughts and keep them on track.  Today I'm picking up with psalm 18.

"...with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward." Psalm 18: 26 KJ

"...with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous." Psalm 18: 26 ESV

"The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever." Psalm 19:9

Psalms 20 and 21 war psalms.

 "Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns." Psalm 22:21 KJ

Unicorns?  In the Bible?  huh.  Translates to wild ox or bull in other versions...

"I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee." Psalm 22:22

Public praise is a good thing. King David thought so.

"For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He has not turned his back on them, but has listened to their cries for help." Psalm 22:24 

I remember making a visual of this verse, and it being on my mom's bedroom wall when Kathy was caring for her. Though we suffer, He listens and is faithful.

 "He restores my soul." -Psalm 23:3

Ah, the word restore.  And to restore one's soul.

"Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
"He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully." -Psalm 24:3-4

"All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies." Psalm 25:10

All the paths.....not most, not many.

"Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old." -Psalm 22:6

ever of old...duration and time...

"O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells." -Psalm 26:8

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple." Psalm 27:4

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart." -Psalm 27:24

"Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle." -Psalm 28:2

What exactly is a supplication?  A plea?  I feel like we've lost this concept.  Lifting up hands when he cries unto him---emotion and gestures in prayer.  What is an oracle exactly?  Interesting word that makes me think of pagan worship.

"The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters." Psalm 29:3

The imagery of "the voice of the Lord" dominates Psalm 29.  This verse reminds me of Genesis 1:2:

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

There is something about the Spirit of God and water.  I've always been drawn to water which brings life, recreation, mystery, danger, peace, meditation, contemplation, a sense of permanence in change.

"The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory." Psalm 29:9 KJ

"The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”" Psalm 29:9 NLT

The storm imagery seems more in keeping with this psalm--the mention of the Lord inspiring birth is intriguing.

"The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever." Psalm 29:10

"For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5

Night can be a hard time---literally and figuratively.  This resonates with me as we walk our terminally ill dog through rough nights.  She is better as the morning goes on.

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever." Psalm 30:11-12

God blesses so that we may praise?


God values praise.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Chapter 1 "Before the Foundation of the World"

Phillips points out that there are many places in the scriptures that mention the foundations of the world.

"All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable.
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”  Matthew 13:34-35

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt 25:34

"....so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation." Luke 11:50


For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.  Heb 4:3

"For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb 9:26

"Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain."  Rev 13:7-8

"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come." Rev 17:8

"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you." 1 Peter 1:20

God's eternal purposes in redemption:

1. The splendor of the Lord's person.

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  John 17:24

While on earth, his disciples were viewed as ignorant, unlearned men. Jesus himself was viewed as a Galilean, disrespected.  At the last supper, Jesus desires the disciples "may be with me where I am" in order to "see my glory."

2  The selection of the Lord's people.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Eph 1:3-4

Phillips uses the analogy of a chess master who allows the novice player free choice over the board but who inherently has much more control over the board because of his chess experience and understanding.

He also stresses that the act of being chosen is much more about being adopted by God, "Election is not so much about the salvation of sinners (if at all).  It is about the high calling, the magnificent destiny, and the eternal enrichment of God's people" (19-20).

"God is not restricted by the tenses of time....Since God dwells in the eternal present, it is obvious that the moment He chose us and the moment we chose Him was the very same moment in God's eternal present tense."

3. The scope of the Lord's passion.

The trinity determined the plan for redemption before the foundation of the world was laid.  Phillips likens it to his wife's music box.  When we look inside, we "see" the complete tune pegged out in metal prongs, but it is only over time, over playing the box, that the tune will come to life, "The whole plan, from a past eternity to ages yet unborn is all pegged out in heaven" (21).  During WW II he relates the BBC would report "Everything is proceeding according to plan," so that although the world may feel precarious as difficulty unfolds, God proceeds according to His plans.

I found both of his analogies--the chess game and the music box--helpful in understanding God's preeminence and foreknowledge in relationship to human understanding and will.

Monday, December 2, 2019

John Phillips and Intro Matter

About John Phillips
(1927-2010) He was born in Wales, served in the British army during WWII in Palestine. After the war, he moved to Canada to start a small church. He later worked at Moody Bible Institute and moved to North Carolina in retirement. He taught at the Moody Evening School and on the Moody Broadcasting network.  There's a gob of his sermons online here.

Table of Contents
The book is divided into seven parts that all start with "p"

1.Prehistorical
2. Pictorial
3. Poetical
4. Prophetical
5. Portrayal
6. Practical
7. Perennial

Warren Wiersbe & Forward
Forward--by Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019)

I didn't realize Wiersbe had passed in May of 2019, so it proved timely to read Justin Taylor's survey of Wiersbe's ministry at The Gospel Coalition website:

"Wiersbe served at Moody from 1971 to 1978, during which time he wrote for Moody Monthly, penning the “Insight for the Pastor” column, where he offered not only practical theology counsel but also wrote biographical sketches of noted figures in church history, which formed the basis for his books Listening to the Giants (1976) and Walking with the Giants (1980). Each of the entries included bibliographic information for further reading—a feature that encouraged and guided many pastors to explore primary sources for themselves. " -from the Gospel Coalition

"The staff at Moody Church quickly discovered Wiersbe’s sense of humor. He recalled:

God has a sense of humor. If you don’t believe that, go to the shopping mall, sit there and look at the people. It will convince you that God has a sense of humor. Humor is based on contradiction, seeing the other side of a situation. In one of the churches I pastored, we would have our staff meeting on Monday morning. We’d spend the first twenty minutes laughing over what happened the day before. Because people are people and situations are situations. I remember the Sunday morning at Moody Church when John the Baptist came in. This guy came in wearing a white robe and carrying a big pole and he said he was John the Baptist. We knew he was a fraud because he had a head." -GC

Jacobsen's survey also led me to this sweet blog post by D. Jacobsen, Wiersbe's grandson, "Be Remembered: My Grandpa, the Bridge Builder." Here are some excerpts:

"Grandpa mutters the phrase, “write for the ear, not for the eye!” but what does that even mean?!"

"The bridges I’ve seen him build are far more impressive. His preferred tools were words, his blueprints were the Scriptures, and his workspace was a self-assembled library. Grandpa knew he was a bridge builder, not a home builder, nor a museum builder, but a bridge builder. Bridges are functional, yet only some are remarkable. I think he had the writing chops to weave together his own Buechner-esque fairy tale, but he stuck to expounding Scriptures, practically helping people move closer to the destination of Christlikeness.... But bridge builders don’t do it for the money, they always build bridges with the utilitarian purpose of helping others get to the other side."

"But one of the greatest gifts my grandfather gave me was a collection of his early sermons and radio shows (think podcasts) where he would rail on hippies for not loving their neighbors who don’t look like themselves. He wrote a very good book with E.K. Bailey called Preaching in Black and White and his ministry always carried with it the sense of grace toward one another regardless of race."

"But the bridge I am most grateful that he built is the bridge that I’ve walked across myself, and which I’m reminded of tonight. It’s the bridge of family heritage. One of Grandpa’s favorite verses was Psalm 33:11, “But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” My Grandpa was a generational bridge builder."

Moving onto the short but purposeful forward, Wiersbe comments that "Without Jesus, the Bible makes no sense; without his atoning death on the cross, the Bible makes no difference. The gospel is gone."

The Bible is such a treasure that can be looked at from endless angles, but Wiersbe is correct in that the only lens through which it can be understood fully is the lens of Christ and his work.

Along the way, Wiersbe compares John Phillips to previous generational writers: Campbell Morgan (1863-1945) and Sidlow Baxter (1903-1999). Both of these men are 20th century fundamentalist oriented preachers and writers. Like these men, Wiersbe states that Phillips has "the rare gift of bringing diverse scripture passages together" (7).

Preface
'the mystery of iniquity — the counterwork to “the mystery of godliness” (1Ti_3:16). Anti-Christianity latently working, as distinguished from its final open manifestation. “Mystery” in Scripture means, not what remains always a secret, but that which is for a while hidden, but in due time manifested (compare Eph_3:4, Eph_3:5)."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Phillips states "this is essentially a book of devotion" (9).

The View from Mount Calvary, John Phillips

I'm sad to leave the book of Genesis and Jack Abeelen's warm voice each morning.  I haven't enjoyed Genesis in that way in a long, long time--if ever.  The process of taking notes on his sermons and the frequent transcription of his words slowed me down and helped me ruminate over these people. I'm thankful for Pastor Jack, his habit of recapping before moving on, and his gift of insight.

Back when Pastor Jack was working through Abraham, he mentioned a book, The View from Mount Calvary, by John Phillips. The premise and subtitle of this effort is to offer "24 portraits of the cross throughout scripture." Pastor Jack was particularly struck by the power of Phillip's chapter on Abraham saying it was the best he's read.  This was enough to prompt me to hunt down the book--not as easy to find as some published in UK.

Now that I have it in hand, I'm less excited about the intellectual effort and discipline it will require.  But, this is the third or forth Christian book I've ordered in the last year or so and not read.  I'd much rather jump into Exodus with Pastor Jack.  All the more reason that I feel I should break the pattern and give it a go.

So, here's my go.  I'm hoping the act of posting will keep me accountable and active.


Thursday, November 28, 2019

Genesis 49 & 50, Jack Abeelen Series

Sermon notes from Jack Abeelen, Morningstar Christian Chapel 1/23/2013

We began this book Genesis, March 7th--last year. So I want to congratulate each of you who have been here for all of the studies. God bless you. I don't know who you are, but I've been here for all of them. And, man, it's been a good journey, learned a lot.

In chapter 46, 47, and 48, we followed Israel, Jacob, and his family toward Egypt.  And we got to watch Jacob's meetings with Joseph.  Some of his meetings with Pharaoh.  labor during the final five years during which was then a tremendous time of famine worldwide.
And then watch his oversight of the government program to take care of every person under his concern. In all, when Jacob finally showed us there in Egypt, he would live 17 more years with his boy. And they would get to spend time in Egypt's delta, the grazing land of Goshen, at the time where the shepherds of Israel would spend many many years to come.

Beginning in verse 28 of Chapter 47 and then going forward really through the end of Chapter 49, we're in the middle of tonight, God gives to us the final days and meetings of Jacob.  He first meets with Joseph privately and he blesses Joseph's two boys, Manasseh and Ephraim. In fact, Jacob says "they're mine." They received a double portion, and he assigned them a place with the 12.

Prophecy is easy for the Lord.

Psalm 128  Your children are like olive plants around your table. Jacob had a big table.
Jacob wasn't that good of a dad. Ephesians 6:4 "Father's don't provoke your children to wrath but bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord." Did not bring them up in fear and admonition of the Lord.
admonition neuthesis,  Greek word. Neuthetic means "to confront, correct, place it before someone's mind so that they consider it"--admonition.  So God's desire is to put before our kids a hunger for the things God wants to do in their lives.  His last years were certainly better than his early years.

The blessings speak to the character traits of the individual, to their behavior.  He tells them what's coming in the near future, some of it in the very distant future. Notice that the chapter is written in Hebrew poetry not prose.

Zebulun (6th of Leah and her youngest, 10th overall) --will dwell by the haven of the sea....a haven for ships. His border shall join Sidon. Mentioned very little in the Bible, but when he is, it's in a favorable light. Not really by the beach, but God blocks this tribe together with Naphtali and Asher as "the way of the sea." commercial seafaring. It is the land of Zebulon and Naptali that is the Galilee of the Gentiles, there that "people sitting there in the darkness that have seen a great light.: God showed forth some of his greatest miracles in that area.  11 of the 12 apostles (Judah the exception) were from Galilee.

Moses later prophecies before he goes to die in Deuteronomy 33 that they will "Call people to the mountains and offer sacrifices of the righteous. They shall be partakers of the abundance of sea and the treasure of the sand."  Ministry of gathering people together for the Lord in the last days. He's the fellow that's calling others to Mount Zion to offer sacrifices and to the tribes as well.

Issachar--(9th of Leah) v 14 strong donkey lying between two burdens, saw that the rest was good and the land was pleasant.  Strong kid, lazy as could be. Inherited the Valley of Megiddo (bread basket of Israel) didn't take much work for him because the land is so fertile.  Numbers 26, outnumbers all tribes by size except Judah and Dan.  He had a lot of people working the land. Assigned others to do the work, but he lays down under the burden.  His laziness and rest mentality more often than not found him not dominating his own future but becoming a slave to others. Later on, in the scriptures we find him paying tribute to northern invaders.  Like a donkey, just laid down...wasn't into working or serving as he should have been.

Dan--(1st boy born of proxy by Rachel's servant Bilhah) shall judge his people.  "Dan" literally means judge.  A serpent by the way and a viper in the path that bites the horses heel so that the rider falls backward. Joseph speaks of him as a wise judge. Sampson was a judge from the tribe of Dan.  The judges in general were a blessing to the nation.  They were sent at a time when the people were willing to repent, so they brought relief for a time. Dan inherited the land between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea, but because it was so close to where the Philistines were at the time, they didn't like it.  They all moved north. They moved away from where God wanted them to be. Did not dwell in the land God gave them.  Susceptible to false doctrine and false ways of life.  And when the separation between the North and the South took place, Dan became one of the places early on that was set up to be a center of worship of idolatry. 1 Kings 12. Tel Dan--now a national park, unearthed original altars from this time, made of dirt, surrounded and protected. Stumbling block, viper to people, a poison to the life of the folks.  "I'm waiting for your salvation, O Lord." First mention of salvation here. Bitten by sin. The viper that bites and the salvation that God brings.

Gad--symbol is army camp. Warring people. Gad means "troops"---a troop will tramp upon him but he shall triumph at the last. Along with Reuben, he settled on the wrong side of Jordan (east). Because of this, they were always at war. If anyone wanted to get to Israel from that side, they had to go through Gad first. Gad means "troop." Settled for less than God had for them--no natural boundaries for Gad. He puts himself in tremendous difficulty. It's always problematic to be separated from God's people. They are the first to be carried away by the Assyrians. Elijah from Gad. Warring people. When the Lord returns, they will be given a victory in Him, but until then, that's kind of life outside the boundaries.  It's a tough call, they made a bad choice.

Asher--bread from Asher will be rich and shall yield royal dainties. Asher settled later in northern Israel between Lebanon and Mediterranean Sea. This is where Elijah was sent during the famine to the widow of Sidon. This took place among the people of Asher.  Many of the materials for the temple came from this area and tribe. They contributed much to the templ.  A place of great refreshing, bread, satisfying things coming forth. Anna waiting in the temple when Jesus came to be dedicated--she was from Asher and pronounced those words over his life, "I can die now, I've seen the Lord."





Naphtali--deer let loose, uses beautiful words. Every time we find Naphtali involved in the scriptures, they tend to bring forth good counsel.  One of the most beautiful areas in Israel to stay.  We like it the most because when you go to Jerusalem things have been moved around, you have layers, things have been leveled, etc.  But when you go to Naphtali, it's much the same as it was thousands of years ago, not much has been built, it's been left alone. Like a deer let loose, just kicking up her heels, she always blesses and seems to have abounding life.


Joseph- (1st of Rachel. 11th of Jacob)-v 22 "A fruitful bow by a well whose branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him and shot at him and hated him. But, his bow has remained in strength, and the arms of his hands have been made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.  From there is the shepherd and the stone of Israel. By the God of your father who will help you and by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of Heaven above and blessings of the deep that lie beneath. And blessings of breasts and of the womb, and the blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors. Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills, they shall be upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of the head of him who has been separated from his brothers."

First in fruitfulness...if add two tribes together, at the second census of Moses, they were by far the most populous.  Notice the poetic language--he's a tree that is fruitful that has a water source and actually grows up and over the fence. You can't contain the fruit; it just kind of expounds beyond its borders.  He mentions in verse 3 that Joseph had faced such difficulty (archers bitterly grieved...hated him).  Compared to what he faced, his sons and the tribes they represent would have to face much more difficult things from the world at large. Out of Ephraim came Joshua, by the way, to take the lead from Moses. That great military leader came from the loins of Joseph.

Then we read in v 24 that they were strong because of their faith in God.  From him would come the shepherd (Jesus) and the stone (2nd coming reference), and it would satisfy all those who like Joseph, walked by faith. In verse 25 and 26, he ends with general blessings upon his family and upon his influence.

Here are some neat really poetic words which say some important things about Joseph. He was fruitful while he was away. Joseph had every reason to just sit down and die, to give up and quit, to grumble and complain. But instead of doing so, he's away from the land of promise, away from his family. No one loves and supports Joseph. but he continues to go forth and bear fruit.  Wherever you see Joseph during those 22 years, blessings follow. Blessings in Potiphar's house.  Blessings in the prison.

 Joseph was fruitful even in the worst of places, just like a tree planted right next to water. He seemed to be able to sit there and enjoy wherever God placed him. He even named his son Ephraim, "fruitfulness" that's what it means. I've named my boy--"I've been fruitful man, God has blessed me, so much so."  He kept his eyes on God all the years he was suffering, and God made him fruitful in the land of his affliction. And Joseph served well there, bringing the blessings of God everywhere he went.

I would say that you and I have an obligation, and one of them is that wherever we go, God's blessings should follow. When people hire you, when people have you around, it should be better than when you're not. They may not want to believe in your God, certainly Potiphar didn't, Pharaoh didn't, others didn't. But they couldn't deny that God was with Joseph. It was obvious. It was as plain as day. They couldn't get away from that truth. They had to face up to it and own up to it if you will. So that was a pretty awesome deal that Joseph was that man that was constantly fruitful in all of the years that he was gone, even to the point where his blessings now extended to the family.

Second of all, that Joseph, according to the scriptures here, was faithful while he was by himself.  Isn't it interesting to you that Joseph did better than most of us do, and he had no one to help him, no one to confide in, no one to share with, no one to hold up his arms. And so what did he do? He did the wisest thing you could do; he moved himself closer to the Lord, right? Didn't have a lot of guys to turn to, so he just had to turn to the Lord, and then look to Him, and allow nothing to interrupt that relationship with God that he had been established with Him, that nothing would take him away, so he's like this tree planted by this water source but his water source is the Lord. The Lord was at Joseph's disposal, and for 22 years in isolation, he stayed in that place where he becomes really the living example of "Abide in me. And let my words abide in you. And you will bear much fruit."  Joseph did.

And one thing that I love about Joseph's example is that he stays in place regardless of what others do around him and continues to experience the goodness of God though he has very little support. That's a pretty good example. And notice that the Lord makes mention of that, "Your bow remains strong by the hands of Almighty God. Your eyes were on the Lord. You didn't try to go it alone.

When Joseph was bountiful, when things went his way, Joseph continued to be a servant. When he got to Potiphar's home, and he was made in charge of the whole house, he was very careful to represent whom he was serving well. Didn't take advantage of his place, didn't serve himself. Said to the wife, "You know your husband has been so good to me. God forbid that I should violate that trust." Same thing when he went into the prison. Same thing when he became second in command. And then one day, he went from jail guy to second in charge of the world. And it might have been "Now's my time. I'm going to take care of me. And now's the time to serve me," but we don't see that in Joseph's life. We see him wanting to bless others. And so notice you read here in verse 22 that the branches just flow over the wall.  Like his neighbor's avocado tree.

Joseph's life was like that, he would so abound that he would just be bountiful, right?  He would give over to others, and the Lord speaks out of Joseph through Jacob's words to him. And you have to ask yourself, is that you and your life in Christ, or is it only about what you can get out of it all, y'know? Jesus said there in John chapter 7, "If you believe in me as the scriptures said, out of your belly will flow rivers of living water." And certainly part of that is this blessed life of service that you find in Joseph. So Joseph is the guy who certainly is our example.

I was thinking about Israel today since we're kind of getting ready to make our plans to be over there at the end of April. The two big waters in Israel are in the north the Sea of Galilee and in the south the Dead Sea.  And the Sea of Galilee has several sources. Two of them come out of two different countries. And part of the fight in Israel sometime is to keep those waterways clear and not be cut off because Israel relies on all of its water coming out of the Sea of Galilee.

But it has an outlet too. The Jordan River takes that water south. And along the way, people use it, and we baptize in it, and sometimes it overflows. But many times it's just there's not enough rain, and people work real hard to preserve water at every step.

But it eventually gets down to the Dead Sea which is an awful body of water in the sense that there's no outlet. So it only takes. All it does is take.  It'll take water and take it.  It's undrinkable. You can't plant in it. You can't use it. In fact, we have you float in it because it's so salty, but if you happen to roll over and get in your face, you won't see for three or four hours. It's that bad. If you shave, don't shave for a week before you go in it, argh! The thing is worthless. It just takes up all of this desert land, and it just rots away. It's got sink holes and you can't, it's just, there's good for literally nothing.  They've tried to get something out of it, but there really isn't much good to be had because it's always taking.

Here's Joseph. Joseph's the Sea of Galilee. He's taking in from the Lord, giving out, taking in, giving out, just blessed. And then there's that Dead Sea, the one that just kinda sucks all of the life out from everybody.  And it's appropriately named; it's called the "Dead Sea," nothing grows in it because it just takes and takes and takes and takes. Not Joseph--when he was bountiful, he was abundant in his giving, right? He was like a tree next to water growing over the fence into somebody else's yard.  He had more than he could deal with. He gave it away.

And according to verse 23 when he was under attack, he remained steady. I like that because I hear so often from people, "I was doing better with the Lord until so and so showed up. And so and so sometimes is the wife, sometimes is a brother or sister, sometimes some guy they don't like, "O man, then this guy came into my life, and now I'm just all messed up."  Really? Joseph had more reasons to quit, and it didn't bother.  He had a lot of arrows shot at him. Y'know, think about it. Arrows of jealousy from his brothers. Arrows of treachery as they sold him off. Arrows of temptation from Mrs. Potiphar. The false accusation from her. The neglect from the butler and the forgetfulness. And every step along the way, he just went "Well Lord, You know."  You know, the arrows flew and Joseph was faithful. 

Don't let difficulty determine who you're going to believe and how. Joseph didn't. And he becomes that example to us of just steady as he goes. And according to verse 24, and 25, and 26, it was the blessings of God upon a man who believed God and trusted in God that kept him all of those years. So quite a word from the Lord through his father to this young man, and now not such a young man, 56 years old, who's hearing from his dad, and it all rings true, right? This is a man that God could greatly use. And you get some more insights into Joseph's way of life here, poetically.
Well finally we get to Benjamin (2nd of Rachel, 12th) Jacob's last son born in his older age and we read, "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.  In the morning he devours the prey. At night, he divides the spoil." Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife, died as Benjamin was being born. Jacob says of Benjamin he's going to be a warrior tribe, and indeed he was. He's only given 400 square miles. When the land is given out, oh Benjamin gets just this little place. But both Sauls in the Bible are from Benjamin--the Old Testament Saul and the New Testament Saul both came from this warring tribe. 

So verse 28 "All of these are the 12 tribes of Israel. This is what their father spoke to them. He blessed them. He blessed each one according to his own blessing. And then he charged them and said to them "I'm to be gathered to my people, now bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephram the Hittite which Abraham bought with Ephraim as a field of possession as a burial place.

I bet some of those boys would have rather just missed this meeting.  But we will have an account before the Lord too.  Do your best now.  Live in a way that on that day God will have a reward for you.  "Don't lay up for yourself treasures on the earth.  Lay up for yourself treasures in Heaven. I'm going to stand before the Lord one day. Earth is a time for employment. Heaven is a time for enjoyment. So get busy man. Don't waste time. Don't waste effort. It's an important time that you run now and store up now. There's an evaluation day waiting for you.

He wants to be taken back to Canaan and where Leah, Abraham, and Isaac.  He associates himself with the patriarchs. Is there life after death? Yup. He's been "gathered to his people." Jesus--Concerning the death, that they rise, have you not read the book of Moses? So Jacob goes to live, not to die.

Israel was embalmed.  40 days.  Egyptians mourned for 72 days..  It'd be interesting to find this cave.  If a Pharaoh died, the morning period was 72 days. Jacob basically received a state funeral.  After Jacob's death, the brothers were concerned that Joseph would seek revenge. But Joseph viewed life through the sovereignty of God.  Followed the route that Moses would to bury him...long journey.

The boys were afraid of Joseph.  Guilt has a tough time going away, doesn't it? Joseph was pretty nice, but maybe it was for dad.  Now that he's gone, there's nothing to inhibit his hatred. They came up with a scheme. Send someone to say dad's last words were to forgive us and all of our sin. Upon hearing this, it immediately brings Joseph to tears, to embracing them. He says to them without hesitation, "Look I'm not God. I know where your hearts were. You wanted to hurt me. There was evil driving you. You were guilty for what you did and how you did it. But, let's face it, God is over all of our evil even. He's in charge of us even when we are not doing the right thing. And God had a better plan.  And look, we're all alive today.  And I got to spend 17 years with my dad.  And all of the Egyptians have been saved because God had a plan to get me here. Look, I'm not angry with you. I'm not upset with you. It's between you and the Lord when it comes to your guilt. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm rejoicing in the work God has done. God meant it for good. God has blessed.

I bring this up because it's a great way to end this book with Joseph. It seems to me, we would be the wisest if we would look at the difficulties that we face from the lives of others in view of the overwhelming sovereignty of God.  He was able to look beyond the wickedness of men to the goodness of God. It kept him from those 22 years of separation, and it keeps him now.  He literally says to his brothers "look, I got no beef with you. God's doing good stuff." But when it comes to right and wrong, or to getting even, Joseph was able to rest in the sovereignty of God which gave Joseph great freedom. He didn't for five minutes want these guys to worry.  He say "look, I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to take care of your kids. God's been good to us, so let's just let it lie."

Whenever you step out to serve the Lord, you'll always gonna find critics. You can make it your lif'se goal to track them down to try and correct them, or challenge them, or argue with them. As a young pastor, whenever I heard somebody said something mean about me, I would go find them. I'd go and confront everything I could because that's the way I used to live. But eventually, that's your whole life. You're no longer praying or loving people. You're forever defending yourself. It doesn't do you any good. It's just the enemy's way of getting you off track, isn't it? And it slows down your service. So at some point in my life, I just decided "who cares." You know, ultimately, God's the only one that I want to hear from. And I'm only really concerned with what He thinks. I mean, I'm concerned with what you think, don't get me wrong, but not as much as what He thinks. So, please the Lord and let it fall where it will.  Sometimes you suffer because you're an idiot and sometimes you suffer because you're doing the right thing, but leave it with the Lord.

I always think of that Nehemiah 6 passage--when they were finally making progress as a people and serving the Lord, Nehemiah gets invited to lunch by some crooked guys. Remember that guy Sanballat and Geshan? Come on, let's have a meeting and ee'll go to the cafe of Ohno.--"Oh no, we won't." The valley of Ohno that's where we're going to have lunch. He sent messengers back to say "We're doing a great work. We can't come down. Why should the work cease, and why should I leave it to talk with you?  I think that's pretty good advice.  He didn't want to be bothered with it. It doesn't do any good to  Just make sure the Lord's happy with you. I think that's all you want.

Covers the life of Joseph's many years in five verses. Not very much. We read in verse 22--"So Joseph dwelt in Egypt. He lived to be 110. Saw Ephraim's children to their 3rd generation. And then Joseph said to his brethern, "I'm dying, but God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. And God will surely bring you out of this land. God shall surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones from here. And Joseph died.  He was 110, and they embalmed him and put him in a coffin in Egypt." Now, it interests me as Joseph's life kind of comes to a kind of abrupt halt, not very much lead up or after, that of all of the things in Joseph's life that the Lord might have chosen to pick to put in Hebrews 11 as an example of real faith, He picks this one. "Take my bones with you when you leave."  Of all the things of faith. I'm thinking man, there are so many good things He could pick. He picks one that is future. Eyes upon the promises of God. He cries out in faith, "take my bones with you when you go because the Lord's coming for us." Living in faith is great, but dying in faith is best.  Five verses cover 54 years.
Credit: ANNA MARSZALKOWSKA





Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Genesis 48-49:12

Jack Abeelen
1/16/2013
Jacob At 147 Years Old
Genesis 48-49:12

Jacob--a man who is, at best, unsteady.  We can relate to Jacob.
Joseph--you really can't point to anybody. He sails through life--godly, committed, steadfast, 110 years old

Genesis 1-11
4 major events
formation
fall of man
flood
fallout

Joseph--nearly 25% of the book
Great lesson to teach us---the sovereignty of God rules over all.

God's only interested in two things
*get us to the first coming of his son.
*prepare us for the second coming.
What's the Bible about?  It's to take you to the first coming of Christ at the cross and have you wait for the second coming.

Man goes through 7 steps in his life
spills--babies spill everything
drills--go to school, get tested
thrills--grow up, date, drive, college
bills--pay for stuff, cost involved
ills--get older, things begin to hurt, not as resilient, sick more
pills--
wills--

Jacob is in the wills stage. Jacob wants to adopt Joseph's two sons, Manesseh and Ephraim.  Wants to promote these two to tribe status--make them part of the tribes of Israel.  Joseph isn't mentioned as a tribe, but with his two sons, that would make 13. There are some 29 lists of tribes in the Bible. The lists vary. Tribes shift. Levi is often left off the list. Joseph isn't on any list until Rev 7.

God continues to bless Joseph for sure.  In Bethlehem today, (under PLO) if you go into the city right before you go inside, you can see Rachel's tomb.  3rd holiest site to the Jews. Jacob wants to make them full and equal partners.  He notices movement in the room, (dim with age eyesight) and asks about sons. Joseph positions the boys for blessing, and Jacob does the grandpa thing---does what he wants. Joseph "guided his hands knowingly," well meaning, tries to help Jacob out because he knows he can't see. But Jacob crosses his arms. He knew exactly what he was doing even though he couldn't see.   Israel was a man of the Spirit at that point.

The law of the first born precedes Moses.  First born rights born only to him.  Patriarchal head of the family, double inheritance, voting rights in what happened to the family, business, adjudicate matters, new "master of the house" Authority to lead, rule, choose.  Elisha followed Elijah around, "What do you want from me?" "I want a double portion."  He wants his position when Elijah dies. Typically the way things went unless God had other ideas.

Second law, precedes the law of the firstborn--the law of preeminence.  Literally mean that God chooses whom He chooses when He chooses because of His will to choose outside of the law that we would follow.  Because He's sovereign, He oftentimes interjected Himself and made decisions only He could make.

not Cain--Abel
not Ishmael--Isaac
not Esau---Jacob
not Reuben--Joseph
not Manasseh--Ephraim

not Aaron--Moses
not Eliab--David

He does a lot of these things. He wants us to graphically see that He's the one who's in charge.

The greatest example of preeminence is Colossians 1:15  "He is the image of the first born God. The first born of all creation."

Greek--prototokos, "first in value or importance"  not first born. Not a matter of timing but choice. Where does God place the value on the use of that individual for the sake of others.

Ephraim became a huge tribe in terms of population
Manansseh had more space, but not useful land















Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Genesis 46 & 47, Jack Abeelen, "The Great Reunion"

Transcription of Jack Abeelen's  sermon on Genesis 46 & 47, "The Great Reunion."  Given at Morningstar Christian Chapel 1/2/2013

We're going to continue tonight in our wonderful study through this book of beginnings, the book of Genesis.  And continue with Joseph, in particular, who is certainly a type of Christ. He's a wonderful example to us of Romans 8:28, "We know that all things work together for good to those love the Lord who are called according to his purpose.

And Joseph will teach us how that trust in God, when you don't understand His ways, is a life of faith that brings great blessings to bear upon your life.  And let's face it, that's a lot of our life, isn't it? We trust the Lord though we don't certainly always understand. And hopefully, as you've been going through this, together with us, you're allowing that life of  Joseph and the chapters that record it to fill your heart with a new confidence in God.

I mean to think of a young man, barely 18, getting sold by his brothers into slavery, spending 10 years in the house of a servant of the Pharaoh, Potiphar's house, where he is so blessed, and God blesses his every move, that it isn't long before he's second in command. And for ten years faithfully, he serves in a place of captivity. Falsely accused by Mrs. Potiphar of attempted rape, he's imprisoned. Spends the next three years in jail. Spends his 30th birthday in jail. Didn't do anything wrong, but he was so faithful there that it wasn't long before he was made second in command there, as well.

He interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's butler and the baker.  The butler got good news; he was going to be released and found innocent, "Please remind the Pharaoh that I am here innocently as well and that I'm not guilty." And the butler got out and immediately forgot about Joseph who then had to wait another year, as he sat, and waited upon the Lord, not understanding but trusting God.

One day the Pharaoh had a couple of very frightening dreams about the future of Egypt, seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of drought. The magicians couldn't help him. The butler went "Oh, I remember this guy in jail, nailed it as far as our dreams." And they quickly got Joseph to Pharaoh who heard Joseph speak to him about what was coming. And then Joseph advised him that he should plan ahead, store up, be ready; this is God showing you what's coming. And the Pharaoh couldn't really think of anyone that would be better equipped to lead the nation with him than Joseph. And again, faithfully serving, Joseph becomes second in command in the world, second in command Potiphar's house, second in command in prison, second in command with Pharaoh.

And the seven years of plenty come and go. And Joseph faithfully serves. He is 37 years old by the time the famine begins. He's married. He has two boys. He named them amnesia and ambrosia, forgetfulness and fruitfulness.  I've forgotten all of the suffering, the Lord has so blessed me, and I've watched the fruitfulness of God upon my life.

But then the famine began, and in the second year, Joseph's brothers, living in Canaan, travel the 265 miles to Egypt to get food. And Joseph recognized them. Of course, they did not recognize him. And since chapter 42 we have been with the boys who have faced a series of exams from their brother Joseph, who wanted to learn their hearts towards the matter of having sold him off, wanted to find remorse, asked them about his father, wanted information about his beloved brother Benjamin.

But through it all, Joseph now nearly 40 years old, begins to clearly see what God was up to. He hadn't known it for 22 and 1/2 years. He just knew that God was faithful. He didn't know what God was up to. And he rested in just knowing that God knew. And he began to say that to himself, "Oh, God used me. He sent me ahead so that my family and the people of Israel, and God's people, can be saved.  Now I understand, now this all makes sense to me." And God's purposes were clarified.

We finished last time with a final test of love as Joseph saw Judah, the fellow who had suggested selling him to begin with, offer to stay in custody instead of Benjamin, who they kind of set up so that he looked like a crook, a criminal. But he couldn't bear Judah to go back and tell Jacob his father that Benjamin had been taken. He said, "My dad won't survive it." And with too much to bear Joseph just couldn't handle it anymore. And he clears the room. And he makes himself known to his brothers. And he reveals himself to them.

And then with great love, he sends them back with food. And he says to them "Bring dad and the family back." The Pharaoh approves, "Here, he's got some new carts you can use."And they sent them back to transport the entire family back to Egypt from Canaan.

Tonight in Chapter 46 and 47, we want to look at the great reunion of father and son. In a few weeks, we'll finish this book, and jump 200 years ahead by just flipping a page to the book of Exodus. So I hope you'll join us this Wednesday, or Wednesdays this year and really commit yourself to studying some of God's word.

Here's what we finished with last time, v 25  of Chapter 45.
Then they went up out of Egypt. They came to the land of their father.
Jacob's heart stood still. He didn't believe them, but when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, when they saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry them. The spirit of Jacob their father Israel revived and his father said "It is enough. I will go and see him before I die."

One lesson I think that you always have to take away from studying Joseph's life is the need to rest in the Lord and have a peace of mind when you can't connect all the dots. And that's a hard thing to do. You know, I have a large file in my head, and it just simply says on it, "waiting for more information." And every year that file gets thicker. You just want to shred the thing but you can't, y'know.  Things I don't understand that God has done. Things that God has allowed that I don't have for the life of me know why. Things I can't wrap my head around. I don't have the full picture.  I may not have it until I get there. And that file just continues to grow. And every now then the Lord will show me something and I'll think "Oh, ok, I can take that out of there, good" But there's so much in there. Do you have one of those?  If you don't, you should have. Because the great adventure is trusting the Lord when the file is so big and still believing he knows what He's doing.

Look at Joseph's file, the hatred of his brothers, the faithfulness of his life that had been rewarded with false accusation. Forgetful so called friends. Years of prison and for what? Further information. That file must have just grown, right? And yet he rests--I should say, and he rejoices--anyway. He's a true man of God. He believes that the glory of God's providence will be revealed, and the victory will come in faith.

By contrast, Jacob didn't have a file at all like that. And because Jacob wasn't willing to put things away and just trust God, Jacob becomes a kind of a little whiner in his old age. Every time you read about him in the last twenty years, you find Jacob making everything about Jacob--he's a woe-is-me the-world-is-all-against-me kind of guy. And it isn't until here, the end of chapter 45, that Jacob goes "oh." First he thinks he's going to have a heart attack, then he comes back to life, and he said "alright I'll see him before I die." But everything's kind of like "ohhh, I just...." You need a big file, and it's ok to keep one. But you can't stop trusting the Lord, y'know.

I remember hearing a wonderful story about a mom who took her seven-year-old son who was just taking piano lessons for the first time. And she took him to hear that Polish piano maestro, Paderewski. It was in the late 30's before he died I think in the early 40's. But, he was certainly the virtuoso of piano. He traveled the world and could fill concert halls. But so she wanted to take her seven-year-old boy to see a guy and say to him "This is what you could maybe be like one day."

And they got front row seats, and some friends of her were sitting behind her. And so they sat down and before the concert started, she turned around and talked to some of her friends. All of a sudden the lights went out and the concert was ready. And she looked around, and her boy was gone. Well, he had unbeknownst to her gone around backstage and saw a sign that said "no admittance," and didn't know what that was, so went right ahead and went through.

Well, as the curtain opened, and this beautiful piano sat in a spotlight right in the center of the stage, to her chagrin there sat her boy, at the piano.  And he began to play the only song that he knew, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." And he didn't do that too well, but he did the best that he could. And so she panicked and Paderewski walked out onto the stage.  And she thought, "Oh we are dead."

But he learned over to the little boy and he said, "keep playing." And he put his left arm around the kid and he began to play all of the base cords. And he reached with his right hand over and he played these obbligatos on the tremble keys, and it sounded so beautiful that by the time they were done, they got a standing ovation--him and the seven-year-old boy who could play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

And I love this story because I thought, you know, that's kind of how we are with the Lord. If we were on our own, we're going to look pretty silly on stage. But if God reaches around you, and starts playing the notes, you'll look good. So Joseph was able to look good, even when things were going bad because he realized the God had his arms around him.

Jacob not so much, he was just the guy that's always the victim of everything, and "woe is me," all the time, it's all about him. So, we may not sound too good on our own, but if we'll let the Lord just be the Lord even when we don't have all the answers. And Jacob will get that.  The last 17 years of Jacob's life. I've always liked the numbers, now I'm not sure what they mean. But Joseph was 17 when he lost his relationship with his father. And now at 130 Jacob is going to come and see Joseph, and he's going to get to take care of him 17 years. He'll die at 147. So I guess he gets to repay his dad the seventeen years that he raised him and cared for him. But Jacob will come around these last 17 years. In fact, we'll see the word Israel a lot more. Jacob certainly, but Israel refers to that spiritual man, right, the one governed by God. And it will pop up more and more in these chapters as we go. Alright, I think we are ready to start. Let's see, so...

"So Israel took his journey with all that he had. And he came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac."

Now, it does seem just in reading the context of the text that once Jacob was sure of the information, he wasted little time in assembling the troops and heading south for Egypt for his son.Yet, when he got to Beersheba, which is on the edge of the desert wilderness, the brakes absolutely seemed to be applied hard and heavy.  Jacob all of a sudden bawked.

There were a lot of memories Jacob that would have had from this area as a young boy with his father Isaac, even with his grandpa, Abraham. And it seems that fear and that longing to know the heart of God stopped him in his tracks. His emotions said, "Go see Joseph before you die; you're an old guy. You never know. Go see him."  But he hadn't sought the Lord in all of this. And in fact, years earlier the Lord had very specifically said to Jacob, "You stay out of Egypt." But now he was headed there. And so Israel, notice Israel, took a journey. And Israel stops on the edge of the wilderness, and he says to himself "I wonders, I wonder if this is really what the Lord really wants me to do." Emotionally, yes, you know, mentally, of course, but does God want me to do this?" And for the first time in a lot of years you find Jacob going, "I just want to know what the Lord wants."

So, you know, he stops before he steps over into Egyptian land. You know, Grandpa Abraham had run here during a famine and had caused havoc. You know, Sarah his wife had brought back Hagar. Lot had brought back a taste of Egypt that he would never lose. And the Middle East was never the same. By the time Abraham left he was rebuked by a Pharaoh for his ungodliness. His dad Isaac, Jacob's father, had also run here and used that same ploy. So on the border town with Egypt, and you know that little biblical axiom you'll read a lot, "from Dan to Beersheba," you'll read that a lot, from the north to the extreme south. So right on the border if you will with Egypt, Jacob wonders what God is gonna do, what God would want to do. And notice he brings sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. He goes to seeking the Lord.

Though we are not at the sacrifices books yet, there are really three main sacrifices found in the law later. There's many of them, but there's basically three main ones. There is a sin offering. A sin offering is where you would put your hand on the head of the animal and transfer your sin by confession to it. And it would be killed, and you would have the blood of that animal sacrifice covering your sins. And with it, you could come to the Lord in the Old Testament, that's as close as you can get. And so, in the New Testament, Jesus,being God becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He becomes the fulfillment of that picture who can restore our fellowship with God with sin and all the rest. But sin offering was certainly one of the big three.

The burnt offering, the second one, or sometimes called the sacrifice of consecration, was a place where you took the whole animal, and it was consumed on the altar. And you got nothing back. It spoke of total sacrifice or dedication of your life to the Lord. Lord, take all of me, not half of me, not some of me. Take all of me. And burnt offerings were submitted to the Lord. And so, I don't doubt that Jacob brought a sin offering because they were certainly aware of it at the time, and maybe very well a burnt offering because Jacob wanted God to have His will done, not his own, which was driven by emotion.

Then there was a peace offering.  Peace offerings were cool, you really basically just burn the fat of the animal, things you wouldn't eat.  And those we laid upon the sacrifice.  But then the rest of the animal was dressed and cooked. And you sat there before the Lord, having dinner with God.  It was the offering of fellowship or communion with God. Jacob wanted to know God's heart in these things. And, it's a pretty important principle because there are times where we really don't need to pray, we know stuff. Right? Like the Ai experience, the overthrow, the Joshua chapter 7, where you think you know things, but you don't.

So Jacob comes to deal with his sin, comes to commit himself to the Lord, comes to have fellowship with God. And he's a pretty mature guy because there's nothing he wanted more than to get to his boy, but he wasn't about to make the same mistake again, "God don't let me do what Abraham did, what Isaac did. If you don't want me to go, I don't want to go."

So then verse 2, "So, then God spoke to Israel in a vision of the night. And he said "Jacob, Jacob," and he said "Here I am." And He said, I am God, the God of your Father. Do not fear to go down to Egypt for I will make of you a great nation there. And I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again, and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes. And so Jacob could then arise from Beersheba and the sons of Israel and they carried their father Jacob, the little ones, the wives in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And so they took their livestock and their goods which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and they went to Egypt, Jacob and all of his descendants with him, his sons, his son's sons, his daughters, his son's daughters, all of his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

So Jacob spends the night of sacrifice, goes to bed leaving it with the Lord and the Lord, as He always does--if you really want to know him, seek Him with all your heart you'll find Him.  Comes to speak to his son, if you will, because he had sought His direction.

"Jacob, Jacob"  I mentioned to you several times that most of the time when God repeats names it's to men, not to women. It happens a couple of times to women, but I think they pay better attention. I don't know. Need more information. My wife tells me I don't pay as much attention as she does. I have no explanation at all. It's just an observation I'm trying to define in my favor but so far I haven't had any luck.

So Jacob gets a visit from the Lord and notice from what the Lord says a couple things we can deduce:

1. Jacob was afraid. "Don't fear."  He was worried about going.

2. He didn't want to leave the land of promise because God had promised him the land.  And he thought forsaking it, then what's going to become of it. And the Lord says "no, no, I'll grow my people there, and I'll bring you back here. So don't let that be a concern to you as well. I will be with you every step of the way. And don't worry about dying, Joseph will be there when the time comes to close your eyes.

So the promise to make of you a great nation is reiterated by the Lord. It started back in Genesis 12:2 with Abraham, been passed along to all of the patriarchs. Jacob was willing to hang onto that, was afraid to leave because of it.

Today in Israel, as of June of this year, there are some 8 million people living in Israel according to the CIA World Fact Book. And about 76% of those or so, or 6.2 million, are Jews, which means a little over 50% of all of the Jews alive today in the world live in Israel.  So God has certainly faithfully carried forth His promise. He's made of them a great nation.

This year, their GDP is expected to exceed 250 billion dollars. Their growth rate is about 4 1/2%, not bad for a country the size of New Jersey. They are 4th in the world exporting citrus fruits. They are 3rd in the world in exporting flowers. They are 2nd in the world in technology, development, and security.  New Jersey.  Well someone the size of New Jersey anyway. So, they are a tremendous nation.

In the last few years where we have experienced this financial woe because of the loans to homes and people couldn't afford them and stuff. It didn't affect Israel at all because Israel's banks will not finance 80% of a home. They require 80% down, and they will only finance 20%. So, kids as they grow up don't spend everything they got. They spend their entire early years saving up to one day buy a house. But because of that practice that financial hardship did not hit Israel nearly as hard as it did us.

So God gives Jacob three promises here:

1. You won't go to Egypt by yourself; I'll go with you.

2. I'll bring you back to this land that I have promised to make of you a great nation. In fact, in 430 years, they will come back, led by Moses, and they won't be 70 people, they'll be 2 million folks.

3. Your son will be with you when you die. You won't die along the way. You're going to be just fine. I will be there every step of the way.

So the sacrifices the offering brought, if you will, a response from the Lord.

Now, we're not going to read verses 8-25 because I can butcher names just like you. Let's just look over it real quickly. The nation is small here. The list of names is complete.

Now, we run into genealogies quite a bit in the Old Testament in particular for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, they are all intended to set aside the families that take us nowhere and drive us through the lineage to Christ. That's the most important reason; we want to be taken to the birth of Christ.

Second of all, I think it should teach you that God never forgets a name, or a life, or a soul.  And no life is small in His eyes. There are more names in these genealogies that we have no idea who they are. We don't know how to pronounce them, and if we get them right, we don't know who they are.  Don't know how long they  lived, don't know what they accomplished, but God does. So you will find this constant kind of laying out for us lineage. In this case, it is given to us so that we might know that God knows.

Now with Jacob were 66 descendants, plus Joseph and his wife, two children in Egypt, to make 70 in all. 33 through Leah's side of the family, 16 through Zilpah's side of the family, 14 through Rachel and her grandchildren. 7 through Bilhah. 12 sons, one daughter, 52 grand-kids, 4 great grand-sons. You look through the list, Dan had the fewest children; he only had one son. Benjamin was the youngest, he was in his early twenties or mid-twenties by the time we read this. He already had 10 kids. So he was a busy kid. Had he continued at that pace, he would have been the largest tribe by far, by the time we get down the road, but there will be some tribal sin later that will keep him as the smallest. But we don't have time for that tonight, so you can just mark that down.

In verse 13 there is an interesting reference to the sons of Issachar, and one of them, the third, was named Job and most scholars believe this is indeed the Job of the scriptures. Moses would have been his contemporary.  It is believed by many scholars, and we won't go into it tonight, that Moses, who wrote the book the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, also wrote the book of Job.  It doesn't really matter whether you believe that or not. Certainly the Lord is behind it, but it is a plausible thought, certainly.

Also in verse 19, notice we read the sons of Rachel, Jacobs's wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.  Although he had four wives, she's the only who's designated as Jacob's wife here, in the writing. No doubt because this was his true love.

Now, finally, verse 26, all of the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt who came from his body besides Jacob's son's wives were 66 persons in all. And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. So all of the persons of Jacob's house who went to Egypt were 70. And they added Joseph and his wife and those two kids, Ambrosia and Amnesia.

In Acts Chapter 7 when Stephen is standing before the Sanhedrin giving his last message--he would be killed for his insinuation, for his accusation, for his declaration--but in the midst of his preaching to the Sanhedrin, he mentions that there were 75 persons who went down to Egypt not 70. And so, people get worried. Well the Bible is problematic. Well there were two children of Ephraim. There's two of Manasseh. There's a grandson to Ephraim as well.  So even as adding the bigger extended family of Joseph, 75 was just fine.  I'm just trying to head off questions early on.

Verse 28--Well then he sent Judah before him as they were traveling to Joseph to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. Now Judah took the lead. He went out to prepare the arrival with Joseph for his father and the family. He gets directions to Goshen.  That was that best part of the land we told you about there in the delta for feeding your flocks if you were shepherds.

By the way a trade that the Egyptians for years were very proud of. They were shepherding people. But this Pharaoh that knew Joseph is literally the last shepherding pharaoh. There is a tremendous move, and you can look historically at Egypt's Pharaohs or kings, if you will, that they moved away from shepherding to agriculture. And there was a already a predominate thought in the culture that shepherds were no more than uneducated people. So they despised them, except this pharaoh had great heart; he was old-school. And he was an old-school shepherd. So they placed them where the shepherds would have had the greatest benefit there in this very fertile delta, the Goshen area.

Verse 29 "So Joseph made ready his chariot, and he went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. He presented himself to him. He fell on his neck, and wept on his neck for a good while. And Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die." Get a file, pal. "Since I have seen your face because you're still alive." And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, my brothers and those of my father's household, from the land of Canaan have come to me. The men are shepherds, there occupation has been to feed their livestock. And they have brought their flocks and their herds, all that they have. And so it shall be when Pharaoh calls you and says what is your occupation, then you shall say your servant's occupation has been with livestock from our youth even until now. Both we and our father, that you may dwell in the land of Goshen for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."

So, 22 years after Joseph gets snagged 65 miles away from home and sold, he now gets to stand before his father who is now 130.  He was 108 when he left. And they get together there in Goshen. The word Goshen by the way means "to draw near." It would later be renamed Ramesses after the Ramesses ruler I and II in particular. Ramesses means "thunder."  The Ramesses thought they were pretty tough.  So, Moses would write years later defines the place for the readers as well.

I love how Joseph brings his family to Pharaoh with careful introductions and instructions. He said, "Now you be sure to tell him you're shepherds. Even though they're despised in our culture; people will look down on you. You tell him, very proudly. Even in the days of Joseph, the Egyptian hierarchy already had a seven caste system. The herdsmen were the lowest rank, and the shepherds were second.  But they weren't even allowed to marry outside their caste, let alone to eat with someone, or to visit with them. So there was a tremendous amount of prejudice.

But Joseph sought to keep his people separate from the Egyptians, "You tell them you're shepherds." Well
they hate shepherds. They're going to put you out there in the middle of nowhere. It's the best land. It's also the closest to Canaan, so when we get to go home, we won't have far to go." Pretty wise move, you know.

And as a type of Christ, it really is a picture to us of what Jesus wants us to be like in the world. Don't get too involved. You're not really of this world, right? So hang out, away from those things, until the Lord comes for you. Separate yourself. Be separate if you will. Not that you shouldn't reach out, but you should be separate.  God had told Abraham the sojourn here in Chapter 15 would be 400 years.  If you add the 30 years that Joseph will spend here before that time begins of persecution. I don't know if Jacob knew those verses already or not. But that was Joseph's idea: let's keep it separate; let's go where we're blessed; let's stay away from the culture. Let's wait for the Lord to call us home. So they were going to be in the fields, far removed from urbanized or heathen cities of Egypt if you will.

Verse 29--Joseph ran out there, and loved his dad, and fell on his father's neck, and did a lot of crying. Joseph you know, he's a tough guy, he's a powerful man .He could have thrown his weight around, but he just loves his dad, y'know. It's interesting to me, I was talking to a high school kid this week. I though you know when kids are young, their dads can do no wrong.  Every kid wants to be his dad when they're little. But when they get older, junior high, high school.  All of a sudden, kids believe they're smarter than their parents. Kids get smarter, parents get dumber, don't they?  In their eyes. Eventually, I'm telling you because I've gone through all these stages--eventually you get old enough where you go "you know, my parents weren't that dumb after all.  And begin to appreciate them later. Then they realize--hopefully you'll realize, but it's good if you can realize it early. Joseph was just blessed to see his dad.

Verse 1 of Chapter 47--Then Joseph went, and he told the Pharaoh, "My father and brothers and their flocks and herds, all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan.  Indeed they are in the land of Goshen. And he took five men from among his brethren, and he presented them to Pharaoh. And  Pharaoh say to his brothers "What is your occupation?" And they said "Your servants are shepherds. We and also our fathers.  And they said to Pharaoh "We have come to dwell in the land  because your servants have no pastures for their flocks. and the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Therefore please let us your servants dwell in the land of Canaan.

So Joseph brings five of his eleven brothers to meet Pharaoh. I have no idea who they were and how he picked them. I wonder which ones--file, more information. And they tell Pharaoh just what Joseph, their brother, had told them. We're shepherds, adding that they have come to dwell. Now the word dwell there is the word sojourn, to pass through, to hang out if you will. They didn't plan to stay permanently. God had told them otherwise. It was going to be a round trip, but it is a cool picture of the church, right?

You read in Hebrews 11, "These are died in faith not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off. They embraced them. They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They looked for a better country, a heavenly one. God wasn't ashamed to be called their God. So that's really where we leave Israel, isolated, and yet devoted to the Lord.

It's a sad day when a Christian begins to feel at home in the world. In fact, I think that the older you get, the less this seems like home. Don't you think?  Because the more folks every year I know in Heaven. There was a time I didn't know anybody in heaven except the Lord. And then people started to head there, you know.  And one day so will we.

So this formal request to stay and Pharaoh's response would be that he would greet them with open arms. In fact, verse 5 Pharaoh says to Joseph "Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock. And so Joseph brought in his father Jacob. He sent him before the Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How old are you?" And Jacob said, ""The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years my life. And they have not attained to the days and the years of the life of my fathers and the days of their pilgrimage. And so Jacob blessed the Pharaoh, and he went out from before the Pharaoh.

Before meeting Joseph's father, Pharaoh tells Joseph his family is allowed to dwell wherever they please, and suggests, as Joseph already knew, that Goshen would be the best place for shepherds. He also said to Joseph,"If you've got any real competent people in your family," because remember this was the last pharaoh who loved shepherding, "I'd love them to work for me." Isn't that interesting-in the days of Pharaoh and Joseph, to work for the government, you had to be competent. You see that? Well, I'm just saying; it's right here in the Bible. I don't do any politics, but this is in the Bible.

And I thought to myself when Joseph brings in his dad Jacob, you just know that Joseph went to find him the best suit he could find. Don't ya? And the shepherd didn't feel comfortable with a tie on. And you know, the good look. How you doing. Oh I'm good. Right? He's just marching in his dad. You know he's proud that--here's my dad.  And I'm sure he got him as presentable as Jacob was willing to be presentable if you will. And he brings him before the pharaoh.

And, it's an interesting picture. It almost, you know, it begs the question, about Jacob because Jacob is a prince with God, and he blesses pharaoh who is a prince with men. So that the greater blesses the lesser which is Hebrews 7:7.  It's always the case right? The greater blesses the lesser. And he blesses him twice. You know, one has power on the earth, but the other one has power with Heaven.  It's like Melchizedek had blessed Abraham. So Jacob comes in to a guy that he depends upon, that he needs, that he comes to stay in his country for whom his son has worked for years, and he blesses the guy.

And I thought, you know, that's kind of the way the church is. You know, we live in the world, but we don't belong to the world. And we can go out and bless the world, can't we?  By telling them who the Lord is and praying for them, and reaching out to them, and sharing the gospel with them. We can be a blessing as God's people to the citizens of the world, and we have a calling to do that.

So, he blesses the pharaoh, and pharaoh doesn't argue which I think is pretty cool. "How old are you?"  "I'm 130." "But I'm not nearly as old as my dad; he was 175. Or my granddad; he was 180. Or my great granddad Terah who was 205. So, I've lived comparatively few years at 130."  I'll tell you what, the older you get, the faster time passes, I'm pretty sure of that. But I love his explanation, my life's been few and evil. I think Jacob is in touch with God now and he sees the grace of God in his own life.

So verse 11, Joseph situates his father and his brothers. He gives them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of land, in the land of Ramesses. Now at the time of the writing, that's already what it was called as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all of his father's household with bread, according to the number in their families. So what a joy for Joseph these days must have been, right? He's taking care of his family. He's ministering to them. He's been the guy who's been sent ahead. "Oh God I get it now."

Well the rest of the chapter covers Joseph's dealing as second in command. The land of Egypt would have had no future had God not raised up Joseph. Not just the family in Israel, in Canaan, but in Egypt itself. And so Jesus exemplified in Joseph as the one that the world needs to keep them going. So Joseph now comes to the forefront during these years of tremendous suffering and famine. And he provides wisdom and insight. Pretty good insight into the faithfulness of Joseph in his everyday life.

Verse 13-Now there was no bread in all of the land, for the famine was very severe so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.  And Joseph gathered up all of the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 

And when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all of the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us bread. Why should we die in your presence? The money has failed." And Joseph said then "Give me your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock if the money is gone. So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and the flocks, and the cattle of their herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all of their livestock that year."

So famine's in full swing. It's been a couple of years. The people have exhausted their money to buy food.  They come back to Joseph who now allows them to trade livestock for seed and grain and all.  So the people go from purse, to possessions, to pay for provision.

v 18--The following year, when the year had ended, they came to him the next year, and they said "We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone. But my lord now also has our herds and livestock.  There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die and that the land may not be desolate. 

And so Joseph bought all of the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Every man of the Egyptians sold his field because the famine was so severe upon them. And the land became Pharaoh's. And as for the people, he moved them into the cities from one end of the border of Egypt to the other. And only the land of the priests he did not buy for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh. And they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

And Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give 1/5th to Pharaoh, and 4/5th shall be your own as seed for the field, and for your food, and for those of your household, and as food for your little ones.  And so they said, "You have saved our lives. Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. And so Joseph made it a law in the land of Egypt to this day that Pharaoh should have 1/5th, except for the land of the priests only which did not become Pharaohs."

So the following year they came to buy again, but now their livestock was gone. And Joseph began to take their land as payment, and eventually they became servants. They went from purse to possessions to property to person.  Everything became Pharaoh's, and notice Joseph was a good businessman. He didn't hurt people. He just treated everyone the same. But in the presence of his oversight, the land became very wealthy, and the Pharaoh became very powerful.

So Joseph the businessman makes an equitable arrangement. He they placed it in the laws, a permanent taxation system that he said 20% of the income of the people would go to run the government. The other 80% will be left to the people.  Now I know we've had a lot of tax wars lately, but if you add up all of the taxes you're paying today, I think you'd long to go back to a simple 20% rule for everyone.  That was Joseph's wisdom from the Lord. It blessed everyone. The people came and said, "You've saved our life. We just want to be good servants." "Well that's great, work hard. 20% goes to us because we have to watch over all these things. 80% goes to you." Maybe we can read the Bible at the next meeting.

So verse 27, we now go back to the 70 person strong nation, we read, "So Israel dwelleth in the land of Egypt in the country of Goshen, and they had possessions there. And they grew, and they multiplied exceedingly. So the 70 persons who came out of Israel with Jacob, God began to bless them. In some 400 years that would follow, they would grow to about 2.3 or so million people. So their annual growth as a population was about 6% a year. And what God had promised to Jacob in chapter 46, verse 2-3 "Don't be afraid, I will make a great people of you there," indeed over the next 400 years came to pass.

Verse 28 "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and so the length of Jacob's life was 147 years. And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me.  And please do not bury me in Egypt. Let me lie with my fathers. You shall carry me out of Egypt. Bury me in their burial place. And Joseph said, "I will do as you have said."  And so he said, "You swear to me." He swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed. "

Now, for the last 17 years of his life, Jacob enjoys his son Joseph's presence. He enjoys the peace of God in his family. You don't read any trouble, there's nothing brewing, everyone seems to be thrilled to be here. God is blessing them mightily. Joseph like I said had been 17 when sold into slavery. He now gets to care for his dad as his dad cared for him. I think it should be every child's will to care for their aging parents, to be a blessing certainly. But it was for Joseph. He was thrilled to take care of his dad.

When Jacob knew that his days were numbered, he called for Joseph and made a simple request that really was a request of faith. According to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 22, it says "By faith, Joseph when he was dying made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones." Well, his dad Jacob really does the same thing. He says, "Look I don't want to be buried here.  God is making us a nation here. God's gonna keep us here. God has promised to bring up back there. I want to be buried back there where my family is buried, and where our hope lies."  And so he has Joseph slip his hand under his thigh.  It sealed "cross my heart and hope to die." And to swear by that he would do as he promised.  It was like "lay your hand on the Bible." Abraham you might remember got an oath from his servant Eleazar the same way, "Put your hand under my thigh, now swear."

And so, the theory is, you know, your leg thigh muscle is largest one in your body. And so, "I will do everything that I can to perform what I just said"--that was kind of the theory behind it. But we only know this from what we have in the scripture.  So as Eleazar swore to go on a quest to find a bride for Isaac,  Jacob said "I don't want to stay here." So he agreed, and like I said, for Israel totaled 430 years, and this 70 became 2 plus million, and God's plan will be to move them back to the land of promise.

Now for the generations to follow, there would be a time for them to seek the Lord and fill that folder entitled "Waiting for more information." Why are we in Egypt? Why haven't we come out of here? When will God deliver us? Why doesn't He answer prayer? How come the Pharaoh is treating us so bad? Are we ever gonna get out of here? God just doesn't answer our prayers. Oh, no, no, He will. He has a plan, you just gotta wait and see it. And keep filling that folder, and trust in the Lord.

Next time we will continue with the patriarchs regarding Jacob and his family. And Jacob's going to proclaim words of prophecy over his children and his grandchildren. And God's gonna to tell us a lot about what's gonna happen to these kids down the road. And you're gonna see them absolutely fulfilled years later, some of them hundreds of years later; you don't want to miss it.  And we're also going to see Jacob taken back and buried by his son in the land of Canaan before we come back and bury Joseph who will die in chapter 50.

And we will pick up the story 200 years later in the book of Exodus. yAnd by the way, book of Exodus, in the first couple chapters you move like 250 years. And then for the next 30 chapters, you move 6 months. More information....

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Most of my mornings begin with Bible and coffee. This blog forces me to slow down, to nail down the text and be precise in my processing and...