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

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

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....

Genesis 42, Joseph

Lead in...
The seven years of plenty ended and the seven years of famine began.
Pharaoh directed the people to Joseph.
All the countries came to Egypt to buy grain.
Joseph is now 38, 39
2nd year of famine
has wife and children
been enjoying God's blessing, trusted that God knew...did not get slowed down or slowed up by what he experienced.  Did he understand God's purposes? No, he didn't.

Narrative---Biblical truths are found in the narrative itself. Joseph is Romans 8:28 lived out.  Not a man to give up.

Where's your limit in trusting God?

"All things are against me" -Jacob
God:  "All things work together for good.

Mannasah--amnesia
Ephriam--fruitful, God has blessed me greatly

Judah changes--takes responsibility for brother
Reuben never changes--unstable as water
Simeon---instrument of cruelty (Shecham incident)

Think Joseph's law not Murphy's law:  "God has a plan"

Genesis 40-41

Jack Abeelen
Morningstar Christian Chapel

Look at the story, learn, and then make application.

Leaves Potiphar's household when he's 26 or 27.

F.B. Meyer's commentary on Genesis--maybe one reason God allows suffering among Christians is so that the world will know their God is real.

Joseph noticed others while in prison--not self absorbed.  He was patient...waited in prison despite having no one encourage him.

21 years between when he's traded and when he sees his brothers.

Jacob's grieving was unhealthy: "All things are against me."

God works big picture.  Don't judge Him until all information is in.

Egyptian customs required that all men be shaved bald (a cue-ball ;)).

Butler doesn't remember him for two years.

Joseph will not take credit for God's work.

Peter--healing of lame man, why are looking at us.
Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar same thing.

Joseph's calm and loving heart....not mad at butler...he's kind, he turns to the Lord, turns the attention of the Pharaoh to the Lord--God is kind, He will help you.

"And as with Nebuchadnezzar, later, so with Pharaoh here – God lays out in a dream, before these heathen kings, His plans for the future because He rules even over the government of the wicked. So you Americans who are dissatisfied with your government, know this – God’s on the throne. Rest in Him, and serve Him well with all of the freedom you have to preach. Flourish where God put you. Wasting a lot of time complaining. There’re people that need to get saved." -Abeelen

Manasseh--"forgotten my toil"
Ephraim--"fruitful" God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

"Joseph finds great joy where God plants him and lays any bitterness or anger down so that he might enjoy what God has given to him. He names his son literally “amnesia.” “I’ve forgotten all of the sorrows. I’m just going to rejoice in all that God’s doing. Look at the blessings God has brought to me.” And he doesn’t bear the frustrations of a difficult life to the forefront. How many people do you know that you talk to and they go, “Oh, for years I’ll tell you that since I was eight years old.” They want to just live their life backwards." -Abeelen

"God can handle your Potiphars, can’t He? And He can handle the chief butlers who forget about you. And He can handle brutal families. And he can handle difficult circumstances. “All things DO work together for good to those who love God and to those who are the called according to His purpose,” (Romans 8:28). And don’t forget – His purpose is to conform you. That’s what the next verse – Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” -Abeelen

Genesis 38-39, Judah & Joseph

Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers at Shehman.  They were 12 miles north at Dothan.  Brothers saw him coming from a long way off, hatred boiled forth, decided to kill him.  Judah talked them into selling him into slavery.

18 year old slave in far away country
Potiphar--eunuch, court official in Egypt often made eunuchs to reduce threat to royal women.

Judah falls.  Joseph triumphs.
Contrast between faithless

Judah moves 8-10 miles away (perhaps to avoid Dad's grief), stays with heathen friend “a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.” Hirah shows up three times in this chapter. He marries a Shua, a Canaanite woman.  Canaanites were the worst of the worst--child sacrifice, prostitutes worshiped in temple, God eventually said destroy everything in the land.

Judah and Shua's sons:
Er, Onan, Shelah

Judah picked Tamar as Er's wife.  Er, the first born, has no interest in the things of God, and God kills him (first time God kills someone, and without explanation...compares to Aaron's sons, Ananias & Sapphira.)

Kinsman-Redeemer Law
Verse 8, “And Judah said to Onan,” (that’s his second-born son) “ ‘Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.’ ” Now, the instruction of God to His people about this practice would later be written down and codified in the Law of Moses. This one, in particular, is found in Deuteronomy 25. But there are thirty-four distinct laws in Genesis that kind of come up out of nowhere, like this one, that will later find their way into the Law of God as a practice both for the Jews and for the nation. And this is one of them – Deuteronomy 25. But it had been well-established by this time. "   Ruth  and Boaz, ultimately a picture of Jesus

Onan under obligation to marry Tamar but doesn't want to give Tamar children because he recognizes his heir would receive the inheritance.  So he emits on the ground.  Disrespects wife. God kills off Onan too.

Judah blames Tamar for their deaths.  But he's the one who married the Canaanite wife.  Sometime later, Judah's wife dies and he goes back to pagan friend for comfort....harvest celebration....

Tamar....saw Shelah was grown but she's not given to him as a wife.  Plan....embarrass father-in-law.  Use of temple prostitutes was common, acceptable practice (related to Ishtar/Ashturah, goddess of fertility.  They believed worshiping this woman would bless the flocks and fields.  If you had sex with this temple prostitute honoring the goddess.  This is about as bad as it gets. You can imagine men lining up for this religion.)

Tamar dresses up as a temple prostitute.  She knew he'd be in that area. Motivation? She's angry because father-in-law not supporting her). Shelah laters marries someone else in the family of Israel. She covered her face. She knew her father-in-law would be a likely candidate.  She was pretty sure this would work.  She want to negotiate a young goat and she says what will you give me until you send it.

He hands over his signet ring---big deal, like giving someone your credit card. Basis for wedding rings eventually, covenant signature  Hands over ring, bracelet, shepherd's staff.  He goes into her and she becomes pregnant. Sends goat with Hirah (friend) but can't find her.  He returned to Judah.  Judah's concern is that he wants to be sure he's perceived as promptly paying. Judah's not upset about losing his things, but about that he might be perceived as a snake.

Three months later learns about Tamar being pregnant. His response is to suggest they bring her out so that she can be burned. No double standard, right?  We always have an explanation.  It's amazing how bad our sin looks on other people. All of a sudden, we are so self-righteous.  David & Nathan

She brings forth the signet ring, staff, bracelets.  Judah acknowledges them.  Admits to own sin.  Doesn't go into her again but doesn't stay with her. He's gone; he has no involvement with these children.  Doesn't give son to her ever.  She has to bear it up by herself now.

Tamar gives birth to twins...Perez (first born breech--should have been second, but slipped into first position), Zerah (scarlet thread--second).  First born child would need to be redeemed with sacrifice.  That God would pick either one of these kids is God's grace.  It is Perez that you find in the genealogy of Joseph the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew.  In this genealogy there are four women listed, all gentiles...Tamar, Rahab (harlot from tribe God had cursed forever) Ruth (Moabite), Bathsheeba.  Beautiful picture of God's grace overuling man's weakness and failures and mistakes.  It's a harsh story and paints a pretty interesting picture of Judah who is in the lineage of Christ.

This is the only story we have of those 20 years of that family (while Joseph is away).  We could literally go from Chapter 37 to 39 without skipping a beat.  Chronologically, Joseph was 18-28 in Potiphar's house as overseer, manager. Dies at age 110.  In every place God puts him he's a vessel of deliverance.  Joseph is 38 when he sees his brother again.

Beginning with Joseph's age, I have a firm conviction that God has his heart on the youngsters--teens. There is something exciting about young people when God begins to stir their hearts. He was willing to serve the Lord and speak up. Samuel was much younger than Joseph when God begins to speak with him. Jeremiah was also younger than Joseph.  And he tried to excuse himself to the Lord, and the Lord said, knock it off. Daniel was 16...would be the leader and the voice of God for 80 years. No wonder Paul at  40 wrote to Timothy don't let them despise you because you are young.

Our chances at salvation diminish statistically as we age.  Mathematically at 25 (1 in 50,000),  45 (1 in 60,000) at 55  (1 in 125,000) chance come to know the Lord.  You get picky about the things that matter little.  It's just "the way you like it." Adults get locked in; kids aren't like that. God gets ahold of people like Joseph.  He had a pliable kid who was willing to work. Young kid, now he finds himself in a world of hurt.

"Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, a eunuch, a captain of the guard, an Egyptian,  ad bought him from the Ishmaelites.  Joseph found favor in his sight. That the Lord was with him. Joseph was made overseer of his house and all that he had was put under his authority.  The Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake.  He did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate, and Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 

Popular phrase, "the Lord was with Joseph.  The Lord's hand was upon him."  Now, there is no mention made, at all, of how hard this might have been for young Joseph to deal with.  I would expect to read, "I had a hard couple of months adjusting." No complaint, no questioning God.  And if Joseph, I always say to people who ask, "Who do you like the best in the Bible?"  I'll tell you who I like the least, Joseph and Daniel--because they're so convicting.  I read Peter and I go, I could be Peter (I can shoot my mouth off at the wrong times).  I could be Paul (I can lose my temper and punch someone in the nose) that's easy.  Joseph, I hate that guy because he's not complaining. I'm complaining here, aren't you? Really you're not, is it just me?

In any event, you don't read one word of questioning of God at all. What you read is Joseph faithfully began to do his work, serving God, loving the Lord, bringing God's blessing upon himself, upon the people that he was serving, upon his surroundings. There's no mention of the horrible treatment by his brother, how unfair slavery is, how unright his imprisonment later would be.  Joseph if nothing else was able to at a young age to be convinced that God was taking care of his life. So he set that aside and he was diligent wherever he was planted being the best for the Lord even in unfair circumstances.

When he gets to be 40 years old in Genesis 50, and his father has died and the boys are pretty sure now that dad's dead that he's going to get even with them He says, "Look, do not be afraid of me, I'm not God. As for you, you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring about...." He was able to say that 22 years later. I know that God had a plan.  But he sees it at 18.

One of the things that challenges me about Joseph's life is that so often we find lots of ears to listen to our complaints because they're reasonable complaints, but they just don't work. No sense asking God why, and what, and where, and what's happening to me. If you really believe God's in charge, you rest, right.  Joseph's the absolute example of rest in the worst of places.  He remember meeting Corrie ten Boom a couple of different times-most of her family was killed around her.  It was a death camp.  But Corrie ten Boom, even in her own testimony, labored to be the best inmate she could. She did what she was told.  She didn't gripe or complain. She didn't put up any fuss. She led clandestine Bible studies in Barracks #28, she'll tell you.  And many inmates on their way to death gave their lives to Christ. No sense complaining; live for Jesus.  Live for the Lord. Do for Him. He knows.

And Joseph was diligent with glorious results.  Potiphar saw it and instead of converting to Joseph's God, he just put Joseph in charge. Ask yourself--how often do you find yourself in contrary circumstances where no one can tell the difference between a good day and a bad day in your life because you just walk with God? If you met Joseph, I don't think he's say "You should see what happened to me." Only one time does he even bring it up, years later in jail. "I was unjustly accused...maybe you could put in a good word with Pharoah." When that didn't work, he went back...

We all can worship when things are going our way, but could you worship like that when you got fired?
Or your kids didn't do as well as you hoped. Or your wife walked out the door. Usually not. We usually find great reason.  It's the same God who sits on the throne of our life.  You see Judah, he's lying, sleeping with prostitutes, divorced, and sorrow and guilt and he can't be home.  Then there's Joseph.  He's a slave. Doing so well that everyone around sees it and knows it, and is aware of it, amazed by it.

Now, the devil is not going to leave a guy like that alone. So it shouldn't surprise you that after that we read about Potiphar's wife. She said, "hey come lie with me." But he refused and said to his master's wife "He has committed all that I have into my hand. Nor has he kept back anything but you. How then could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"

If the enemy can't get you with sorrow or suffering, maybe he can get you with something else. He's got another angle.  In Luke 4:13, he remembers reading, "Then the devil left him until an opportune time."  The enemy came back. Now the enemy brings this next temptation, the seductive advances of an older woman whose husband had made himself a eunuch for his job and she was a desperate housewife. She wasn't subtle, "lie with me." 

And he refused. Day-by-day Joseph kept saying no. Be with Joseph here--he's maybe in his early 20's, a an with sexual drive as any man in his 20's might be, far from home, things are going his way, he could easily have taken advantage of the situation for his own gratification, and she comes out everyday, dressed to kill.  You can just see her, the nod, the wink, the stare, And Potiphar's wife still has lots of descendants. And there are still a lot of young people who have to face that temptation

Joseph's response is awesome.  First he recognizes his position. He says "I have been entrusted by your husband with a great responsibility and accountability, and I can't violate that trust.  He's a guy with great fidelity, honesty. You can trust him with whatever you give him. Second he recognizes who he is. He says literally "How could I as God's child do this wickedness against the Lord who loves me." He calls it "great wickedness and sin."  Now, that's quite a mouthful coming from a 20-year-old good-looking guy to an older woman who is more than willing to accommodate his youth.

Oftentimes we find,  even in counseling, that people's view of sin is insufficient to keep them from it. They don't hate sin enough, or they don't see it as problematic enough, or it doesn't register in their hearts as wicked enough to say no to it.  Because so much of what we see around us is sin with prosperity.   It's easy to develop a mentality that sin is fine, or that it's not that big of a deal. But notice Joseph.  He's convinced. He sees it in black and white; there's no shades here.  He sees it as an affront to God.

Ultimately and I think, as a young person, you can grab ahold of this, it will help you. Sometimes we think we can get away with stuff because no one sees it. But God sees it. He always sees it. David realized it with the whole issue with  Bathsheeba.  In Psalm 51, he said "Against You only I have sinned." Ultimately it's sin against God---God's rules, God's laws, God's demands.

I think one of the keys to Joseph if you want to learn from him as a young person, is that Joseph had a great fear of the Lord in his life as a young guy. He knew sin was wicked and he knew God was good. And he took it seriously. We read that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or knowledge" Proverbs 8---the fear of the Lord it to hate evil. And Joseph hated evil. If you can hate evil, you can do well with the Lord. But if you can accommodate evil, you'll have a hard time because that door is always be half open, isn't it?Joseph never allowed that door to open. He was convinced he had to serve God.

Make a comparison between Joseph and Moses. Moses who knew because he was raised by his mother and father for a few years or because God had told him. Moses knew he was going to be God's deliverer.  When the time came, or when he thought the time had come, for him to take over and he killed that Egyptian.  He looked one way and then the other (when he was going to kill the guy), but he never looked up. He killed that guy because  And he would have to spend the next 40 years on the back of the desert learning that God knows what you are up to and God's watching. Then he was able to come back to Pharoah and speak for the Lord. to 40 years it took Moses to learn what Joseph knew at 20.

Day by day he did not heed to lie with her or to be with her. He determined his best move was to not be anywhere near her.  Joseph just figured, I'm going to stay as far away from her as he possibly can.  He didn't allow himself a place of difficulty.  He just wanted to serve the Lord. Pretty smart young man, don't you think?

So it was that she spoke to Joseph day-by-day, that he wouldn't heed her or lie with her or be with her...none of the men of the house were around, so she caught him by his garment, he fled outside.  She called the men of her house and says "he came in here to lie with me" accuses Joseph of rape. So the temptation did not diminish or subside, eventually an opportune time came for this woman to hit on him again. So Joseph resorted to step 5---run, running works. Timothy said "flee youthful lusts." It's hard to be in trouble when you are running.

She blames him to her husband. Joseph's master took and put him into the prison, a place where the king's masters were confined.  It appears that rape was punishable by death in ancient Egypt and no time was spent thinking about it.  The actions of Potiphar were merciful and perhaps suggest he didn't fully believe his wife. He didn't have him killed. Now if it were your wife, and he had slept with your wife and you had the ability to put him to death.... His behavior suggests even he was a little doubtful about Mrs. Potiphar---28 years old when this takes place, is now in prison after 10 years of serving so faithfully and so well.

"But the Lord was with Joseph. He showed him mercy. He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to him all the prisoners.  And the keeper of the prison did not look into anything he did." 2nd unfair place, ten years later. God's favor is shown to him.  Soon he's the chief trustee of the jail. Now, you might read this and think, I'd rather not be so blessed to get out. But, again, it's Joseph growing where he's planted. You may in a job tonight you hate, and you wonder why. Maybe you could just enjoy what God has for you, God's plans.  He didn't love prison, but he loved the Lord. And he was sure God had a purpose and a plan, and he could rest in God's purposes.  So his faith remains strong. He's in jail at least a year before these men are sent to him. He becomes in charge of the prison. It's a very unfair life as it reads, and yet in every position, God blesses him, and Joseph sets out to be the best prisoner in the world. What a guy, don't you think? I'm impressed by this guy. He's terribly challenging. I hate him a little bit. And we are just getting started; his best years are ahead of him.