45 as we continue in our study about Joseph. And this is really a great, great study. I tell you what, if you've ever read this, I pray that you have. I really pray that you have. If you want some time, just to settle down and to see the glory of God and how God can bless you, then just take some time and read this story of Joseph. It's a marvelous thing, and you can see as you read that, all the trouble that Joseph went through. You can see how he was sold into slavery, and my, he didn't deserve that at all. And then, Potiphar's wife lied about him, and put him in jail, and then the butler and the beggar, the butler forgot, and things just happen. You know, things happen, but in time, it all works out. And then in time, Joseph was made second under Pharaoh, right out of prison, And the next day, he was second unto Pharaoh. He married a priest's daughter, had two children. Great, great story it is. And here, in the book of Genesis chapter 45, we're coming down to the place, we've read some of this before, read again tonight, just refresh your mind about that. But if you've never read this old story, just take and read it. Just take some time, sit down with your Bible open with nothing else on. With nothing else on. No TV, no radio, no nothing. And just read the Bible. Let God speak to you through this. The Bible said in verse number one, and Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he cried, cause every man to go out from me. And I think here, he didn't speak this in the Canaanite language, he rather spoke it in the language of the Egyptians. Cause them all to go away. And there stood an old man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brother. And he wept aloud. It wasn't a quiet kind of weeping that he'd weep. No, it wasn't that way at all. I mean, this guy was really boo-hooing. He was really making a noise. It was such a great noise. The Bible said he wept aloud, verse number two, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. But when you hear somebody crying, you think they've got bad news. Was this bad news? I don't think so. I don't think so at all. I think it was really good news that he heard, that he saw. And the Bible said in verse number three, and Joseph said unto his brethren, and here, in verse number three, down through verse number about 14, is Joseph speaking. All those verses, Joseph speaks. And he says unto his brethren, and I think here, it's my personal opinion, that Joseph, he began to speak in the Hebrew language here. There was no interpreter there at all. But he spoke in the Hebrew language, and he said, I am Joseph, doth my father yet live. First thing he said, I am Joseph. Does my father yet live? First thing that was on his mind. In verse number three, and his brethren could not answer him. What? What? They could not answer him. For they were troubled at his presence. They didn't understand this. They're just shocked. They're shocked, totally blown away. And Joseph said unto his brother. So in verse number three, he said, and verse number four, he says again, come near to me. I think in verse number three, they were kind of standing away off. But when he said, come near to me, I think they stepped up, but they were a little afraid. I think they were. He said, and they came near, and he said, I'm Joseph, your brother. What? He's told them twice. I don't think they, this is a shock. I mean, it is a total shock. How long has it been since they've seen their brother? You can figure out the time. It's been 22 years. And they thought that he had been sold into slavery, didn't know where he was. They didn't think they could ever find him at all. And now he's showed up in Egypt. And he's the man that's selling them the provision. Wow. That's a story, isn't it? He says, I'm Joseph, your brother. Whom you sold into Egypt, you know who I am? He's made it real clear here, you sold me. In verse number five, he begins reconciling. He wants him to understand. He says, now therefore be not grieved. He could see the shock on their face. He said, don't be grieved nor angry with yourselves. that you sow me hither. Don't be angry, don't be grieving about that. Here's why. Joseph has come to this. And you read when he was in prison, he didn't talk like this. But now he understands why. Sometimes it just takes us a while to get a hold of what's really happening to us. Sometimes bad things happen to us and we don't understand why. But God knows and God is determined sometimes that we have these troubles and cares and problems. He said, don't be grieved nor angry with yourselves that he sold you. For God did send me before you to preserve life. Notice that. He says, God is one that did this. It wasn't you. Before Joseph could ever come to the place of explaining this to his brothers, he had to understand it himself. He had to understand the truth of what really was going on. And he said, Don't be grieved. Don't be angry with yourselves. No, God had his hand on you, God had his hand on me. You didn't understand it, I didn't either. Sometimes there's things that happen in our lives that we just simply do not understand at all. Of course, we could say, we're smart enough, we understand everything. We could say that, couldn't we? We can also lie, can't we? Because we don't understand everything, we don't understand at all. In verse number six he says, for these two years hath the famine been in the land and yet there are five years in which there should neither be earing nor harvest. He said Two years have gone by in the famine. Two years. But there's going to be five more years. What's he basing that on? He's basing that on the dream that Pharaoh had, that he correctly interpreted. All right? And verse number seven, it continues here. And God, and God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Let's hear it again. Joseph is saying, God is the one that has sent me, it was not you. I know that you had your hand in there. Joseph says as well, I remember when I also complained about the stocks being on my arms, being on my feet, I remember that. But the whole thing is, is that God is doing his work. Sometimes we get really aggravated at things. And we get to be thinking that it's just not going away. I don't want to go. It may not be going where you want to go. But can you trust God? Can you trust God when things don't turn out the way you plan for them to turn out? Can you really just trust God? God cares, and God knows, and God will bless, He will do that. In verse number 8, He says again, the third time, that's 1, 2, 3, once is verse 5, second is verse 7, third time is verse number 8. So now, it was not you that sent me hither, but God. You think they got it? Be careful of your answer. Do you think that they've really understood at this point that them selling Joseph into slavery, that they've got the point that God is in that? I don't think so. I'll tell you what, 17 years later, 17 years later, after Jacob dies, these boys get together and they call one of their servants, a trusted servant, and they say to him, you go tell Joseph that we're sorry and that we'll do whatever you want us to do. Do you think that was over? No, I tell you what, some things that happen and some things that we do, the consequences of those in our lives, they just go on and on and on. But it's a really, really, it's a great thing. If you could ever just turn it over to the Lord and let the Lord take care of it, it's such a fabulous, great thing that God can bless you with if you'll just do that. He said in verse number eight, but now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. And there's three things mentioned in verse number eight that he's done, that God has done. And he, that is God, hath made me a father to Pharaoh. Hey, look at that. Joseph is a second in command Pharaoh is above him but he says I am a father to Pharaoh and he knows that so he knows it so the second one he's also made me Lord of all of his house that is Joseph takes care of all that And number three, he is a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt, all three of those things. And verse number eight, he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all of his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Then in verse number nine, he says, haste ye, and go up to my father and say unto him, Verse 9, haste ye, go up to my father and say unto him, thus saith my son Joseph, thus saith Thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me and tarry not. So Joseph here in verse number nine, he says, I want you to hasten. I want you to, I got a job for you to do yet. You have supplies already loaded upon your ashes. They're already there. And I want you to leave, but I want you to go with more than just that. I want you to go with much more than that. So I want you to go get my dad. He says in verse number 10, thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. And thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children, thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast. So Joseph now has a place for them to pick out to live. It's a land that is full of pasture land, the land of Goshen. It's not like in Egypt where it relied upon the floods to produce the fruit, the livelihood. It wasn't that way at all. These were pasture lands that was good for the sheep and all that. Now, it's an abomination. to the Egyptians to have shepherds around them. But they will take these shepherds around them for Joseph's sake. They will do that. And Pharaoh will give command that that'll be just that way. In verse number 11. And there will I nourish thee, and yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast come to poverty. So he says here that there's five more years. And I tell you what, it's really, really, really bad. It's a bad time, because there's no crop at all. I mean, I've seen where that when I was pasturing in Willow Hill, that there will be short beans. I mean, whenever a person would will plant their beans and they'll barely get back their crop. They'd barely get back what they put into it. I've seen that. But I've also seeing how that God can bless and take care of people when they had no crop at all. So I know there's just five more years of famine in the household and all that that has come to pass. So you come here and we will bless you. And verse number 12, And behold, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you." So here in verse number 12, he reverts back to telling them, I am Joseph, I am your brother, you sold me into Egypt, I know that. But God has a reason for all that. If you've ever tried to see the power of God working, When you're in trouble, it's difficult. I know it is, but God has a reason, God has a way, and God has a purpose and a motive for doing everything that He's doing. He wants us to grow up and learn to trust Him more and more. In verse number 13, And ye shall tell my Father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen, and ye shall hasten and bring down my Father hither. And so this is really the end of his speech. He spends these verses, 10 verses there, speaking about telling his brothers who he is. And then the Bible says that he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck. and wept and Benjamin wept unto his upon his neck and so they were hugging each other they were they were weeping and the bible said moreover in verse number 15 he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them and after that his brethren talked with him i don't know what they talked about but i got a notion it was about wonderful things that's my thoughts And then the Bible says in verse number 16, And his fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come, and it pleased Pharaoh well and his servants. So in this verse, we find that the fame of all of this was heard in all of Pharaoh's house. It's kind of like spreading gossip, but this is not gossip. This is better than gossip. I mean, this is real true. It's real true. And I would imagine that one person told this and then it just blossomed out from there, went everywhere. It was heard in all of Pharaoh's house and all of his servants. And then verse number 17, down through verse number 20, Pharaoh speaks, and he says unto Joseph. Now here is Pharaoh talking to Joseph. That's verse 17, down through verse number 20. And he says, say unto your brethren, this do ye, lay your beast, and go get you into the land of Canaan. and take your father and your households, and come unto me, and I will give you the good land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land. Now that are commanded, this do ye, take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. Notice what he said. In the last verse, he said, for the good, verse 18, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt. I will give you the good of the land of Egypt. I want to tell you something. You probably already know this, but there was trouble in Egypt. there was bad trouble in Egypt. At this time, a lot of trouble, but Israelites, the Israelites will be spared from all that difficulty whatsoever, have no problem with that at all. In verse number 21, down to verse number 24, The Bible here talks about what Joseph says in verse 21, the children of Israel did so. So the Israelites were doing as Pharaoh commanded them according to the commandment of Pharaoh and gave them provision for the way. They already had enough, but now they've got more. To all of them, he, that is Joseph, to all of them, he gave each man changes of arraignment. But to Benjamin, he gave 300 pieces of silver and five changes of arraignment. I mean, he loaded that boy up. He said, this is yours. And to his father, he sent after this manner. to his father. He sent 10 ashes laden with the good things of Egypt and 10 she-ashes laden with corn, bread, and wine, corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he loaded those 10 ashes up with plenty. They had everything that they could possibly need. And verse 24, so he sent his brethren away and they departed. And he said to them, see that you fall not out by the way. Hmm, what do you mean? You be sure and take this back to dad. That's what it was saying. You be sure you take this back to dad. They have all this. Now it's your job to take all this back to dad. The Bible says, so they went up out of Egypt And came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Jacob is yet alive, he is a governor." How in the world, how in the world did these boys do this? I mean, they had hid this lie for 22 years, but they couldn't hide it any longer. It's time to come clean. And they came clean. They told Jacob exactly what happened. In verse 24, let me ask you a question here. Joseph is greatly concerned about his brothers and making sure they tell his dad exactly what happened and make sure that you don't do anything else. Why? Why didn't Joseph just simply go back with them? Isn't that easy enough to say? Why didn't Joseph just say, I think I'll go with you. I want to go see my dad too. Why did he do that? Say why? Let me show you why. It's in chapter 47. In verse 13, and this takes us, it's a little bit, I know this is reading a little bit ahead maybe, but it tells us a story. In Genesis 47, this is the reason that Joseph did not tell the boys, okay, you just go back and you tell dad, you make sure you do that, and here's the reason I'm not going. Verse number 13. And there was no bread in all the land. For the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. Now, there's a famine, not only in the land of Canaan, there's a famine also in the land of Egypt. That is a prophecy that God gave, all right? The seven plentiful years is already gone. Now they're in the second year of the bad, okay, the famine. In verse number 14, here's what happened. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt. There's no money left. All the money was used up in the land of Canaan for the corn which they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. And when money failed, When everybody didn't have any money, but they still want something to eat. When the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said, give us bread, for why should we die in thy presence? For the money faileth. And Joseph said, okay, give me your cattle. And I will give you for your cattle if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph. And Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, for the ashes. And he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year. That's the first year. That's year one. That's year one. The first year of famine, the people of Egypt were out of money, they were out of land, they had also sold all their cattle to the government of Egypt, okay. In verse number 18, when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year and said, We will not hide it from my Lord, how that our money is spent. My Lord also hath our herds of cattle. There is not aught left in the sight of my Lord, but our bodies and our land. Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh, and give us seed that we may live and not die, that the land be not desolate. And so now Joseph buys all the land, he buys it all. I got a question. Didn't these people know what was going on? Weren't they aware that there was seven years of plenty? During those seven years of plenty, Joseph took up 20% as a tax. It belonged to Pharaoh. And the Bible says that there was, it was grain. And he took up so much grain that he built places along for that grain to be, to stay in. I don't know where that verse is right now, I can't find it. But the Bible says that they had that stored that grain all around the cities until there was so much grain, they couldn't even number it. Do you not think that the Egyptians that lived in the land of Egypt, that they would understand that there was a time that they would need something? Or are they the kind of people that if they've got a dollar, they spend a dollar? You think that's the way they are? If they've got a dollar, they spend the dollar. Or maybe if they got a dollar, they spend a dollar and a half. You reckon? I've known people that way. I don't people that live worse than from payday to payday. They borrow next month's payday. I don't be able to do that. But these Egyptians, in one year, in one year, one year of not a crop, they lost it all. That's really quite unbelievable, and yet it's true. In other words, It's not a good thing to mortgage everything you've got. It's not a good thing to not have any savings. Am I supposed to say that? I'm a I'm not a politician, but it's not a bad thing at all. If you got something to fall back on, I know, personally, that it's just a, it's not a bad thing at all. I mean, the wife and I have gone through some pretty hard times, especially when our children were little. It is what was nip and tuck. I mean, when, when kids, it takes a lot of money. If we didn't have a garden boy, we'd start today. I mean, it really would. But God supplied that. And so don't spend every dime you got. But this takes me back. See, I read chapter 47. I read about the Egyptians. And notice that when the Egyptians had all of this trouble, that Canon also had a lot of trouble. Canon also had the same trouble. But there was a difference between the Canaanites and Egyptians. I think there was a difference. Maybe I'm just reading more than I should. But I think the the Israelites They didn't have any provision to lay up anything. But the Egyptians did. But they relied too much. The Egyptians relied too much on themselves and just figured that an eighth year would be fine. But you never know. You never know. It's not bad just to put back. It's not also bad. To give and to be generous when the Lord lays upon your heart. If God lays a thing upon your heart, then you ought to do it. Regardless, you ought to do it and praise God for it all. Okay. Now. So I think in verse 24, back in Genesis 45 and verse number 24. So he sent his brethren away and they departed. And he said to them, see that you fall not out by the way. So I think here's the reason that he's telling them this. You have enough now, but understand that the time's gonna come soon, and you need more than that, because it's gonna be five more years of famine. Verse number 25. They went up from Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Jacob is yet alive. Boy, this is a... I would think that this lie that they told had to be untold. I think it had to be untold. I think they had to go back after 22 years, after 22 years of them living this lie and Jacob living the lie and they had to make it all right. And there comes that time, listen, It's very important that we're just honest before God, honest with ourselves, all that we possibly can be. It's very, very important that we are that way, as much as we can. But the Bible says, how did Jacob take it at the end? He said, his heart fainted, for he believed them not. Collaborating stories, he did not believe. He couldn't phantom this in his mind. He was just like the brothers were when Joseph appeared to them. And he said, finally, he said, draw near to me. And he talked to them, and he talked to them, and finally, he fell upon Benjamin's neck and just wept, and Benjamin wept. And then he kissed all of his brethren, and he wept upon them, and after that, then they could talk. It takes a while to get all that through our heads about a thing. And that goes for good news or bad news, either one. Sometimes bad news takes us a while to understand it. And sometimes good news takes us a while to understand it. We have to think about that just a little while before we can really understand it. Verse 27. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them. And when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. And Israel said, it is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die. He had faith because of what he saw. But it won't be but just a few days that God will speak to him. In chapter 46, verse number one, the Bible said, and Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again. And Judah and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. I think in verse number four, he's talking two things. There's two things, verse number four. He says, I will surely bring thee up again. I was talking about the nation of Israel. But then he says, talking about Jacob himself, you shall die in that land. But that's a lesson for next time. We'll get to that chapter four, six, verse number one for next time, Lord willing. But it's a wonderful story. I tell you what, if you've never just read the book of Genesis and read about Joseph, it's a fabulous story. It goes to the end of the chapter in the book. It's a fabulous story. of how God is well able to preserve his people. Now, I know as well that there's a lot of people that have gone to seed on this, and they've gone to amillennialism and all kinds of weird things that they derive from all this. But I don't think that's what God wants us to do in all this. I really don't. God wants us to just trust him, live the way he wants us to live, be true to him, and know that the things that happen to us in our daily life, the things that happen to us every day have a reason for happening. and praise God that he washes over us. He loves us enough to care for us. One of the worst times I ever went through in my life, when I thought God had forsaken me altogether, was when I was lost. And I would not, I would not do what he wanted me to do. All he wanted me to do was confess that I was a sinner, but I was too good for that. I was way better than that, I thought. But when I confessed that I was a sinner, you know what happened? Jesus saved my soul. He gave me relief. And that's the way it works. That's exactly the way it works. If you're a sinner, know that Jesus Christ can forgive you of all your sins. I know that he can. Let's go, Lord, in a word of prayer, if you would, at this time. And we'll pray that the Lord help us today.