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I think that song really summarizes
the theme of Joseph's life, doesn't it? God mended unto good, so
we could say, God makes no mistakes. And sometimes it seems that from
the human perspective, that he has, but as we continue to look
to him in faith and trust him over time, we see that God is
always right, God is always good. Man is often not good, many things
in life are not good but God is always good and God does not
make mistakes when it comes to the lives of his children but
you've got to know him, you've got to know him as your saviour
and have his hand in your life and when you have his hand in
your life then you can know great blessing. Turn with me to Genesis
chapter 46. We are continuing in our studies
of the life of Joseph and as a part of our overall series
in the book of Genesis. We are getting towards the end
of the life of Joseph and the book of Genesis but we have a
few messages to go and we're going to deal this morning with
the theme, Reunion and Reward. this wonderful reunion that takes
place between Jacob and his son Joseph. And I just find every
one of these chapters so moving as we see the tears flow, as
we see hearts restored and what a wonderful God we serve and
we see his hand of providence at work. Let's read chapter 46
though to get our hearts and minds ready for the message this
morning and then we will flow into chapter 47 a little bit
later hopefully if we have time with the message. The Bible reads,
"...and Israel took his journey with all that he had and came
to Beersheba and offered sacrifices under the God of his father Isaac.
God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night and said,
Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. 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 Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. Jacob rose up
from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their
father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons
which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle
and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan,
and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him. His sons
and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters,
and all his seed, brought he with him into Egypt. And these
are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt,
Jacob and his sons, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and the sons of Reuben,
Hanuk, and Falu, and Hezron, and Kami, the sons of Simeon,
Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zoar, and Shaul,
the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath,
and Merari, and the sons of Judah, Ur, and Onan, and Shelah, and
Phares, and Zerah, but Ur and Onan died in the land of Canaan,
and the sons of Phares were Hezron and Hamul. And the sons of Issachar,
Tola, and Fuvah, and Job, and Shimron, and the sons of Zebulon,
Sered, and Elon, and Jalil, these were the sons of Leah, which
she bare unto Jacob in Paddan-aram with his daughter Dinah, all
the souls of his sons, and his daughters were thirty and three.
And the sons of Gad, Ziphion, and Haggai, and Shunai, and Hezbon,
Eri, and Arodai, and Arilai. You say, I think I could read
it better. We'll come up and have a try. And the sons of Asher,
Jimnah, and Eshua, and Eshui, and Beriah, and Sarah, their
sister. And the sons of Beriah, Heber, and Malachiel. These are
the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter. And
these she bear unto Jacob, even 16 souls. sons of Rachel's Jacob's
wife Joseph and Benjamin and under Joseph in the land of Egypt
were born Manasseh and Ephraim which Asenath the daughter of
Potiphar a priest of on bear unto him the sons of Benjamin
were Beeler and Beecher and Ashbel, Gerar and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh,
Mupim and Hupim, they're my favorites, and Ard, Mupim and Hupim depending
on how you pronounce the U there, these are the sons of Rachel,
must have been good good fellas, these are the sons of Rachel
which were born to Jacob and all the souls were 14. sons of
Dan Husham, the sons of Naphtaliah, Jazeel and Guni and Gezer and
Shillam. The story is told of an old African-American
preacher, he was a really godly man and he was on his deathbed
and he would have members from the church come and read the
Bible to him. And they're up to this part of, I think it was
Chronicles, where it was a long list of genealogies and they
said, do you want us to skip over this? And he said, no, please
read it all. So read through this long chapter, long list
of names and the young man who was reading to his older pastor
said, why did you want me to read all those names? What can
you possibly get out of that? And he said, well, the Lord know
them all. The Lord knew them all. He was encouraged by that. These are the sons of Bilhah,
back to the Bible here, which Laban, see you distracted me,
which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter. And she bare these
unto Jacob, all the souls were seven. Verse 26, all the souls
that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins,
besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were three score
and six. The sons of Joseph, which were
born him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of
Jacob, which came into Egypt, were three score and 10. That
makes 70. And he sent Judah before him
under Goshen, to direct his face under Goshen. And they came into
the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot,
and went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen, and presented
himself unto him. And he fell on his neck, and
wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph,
Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art
yet alive. Joseph said unto his brethren
and unto his father's house I will go up and show Pharaoh and say
unto them my brethren and my father's house which were in
the land of Canaan are come unto me and the men of shepherds for
their trade hath been to feed cattle and they have brought
their flocks and their herds and all that they have And it
shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say,
What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servant's
trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now,
both we and also our fathers, that ye may dwell in the land
of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. the Lord add his blessing to
the reading of his word, let's pray and commit the message into the
Lord's hands. Father we thank you again for the joy of being
in your house this morning and Lord we pray now that you would
settle our hearts and our minds before your presence Lord and
that you would speak to us through the living word, we thank you
that this is a living book It's quick, it's powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword and we pray that the power of your
truth would be unleashed in our hearts and in our lives today
by the ministry of the Spirit of God. Help me as the preacher,
Lord, I don't want to get in the way of what you would have
to say today, rather I want to be your vessel, Lord, to communicate
what you would have for us to hear today as a church. So bless
us, minister to us, speak to us, we pray in the name of the
Lord Jesus we ask these things, Amen. We're dealing with that
section of Joseph's life where he is being reconciled and reunited
with his family. you'll recall the last message
hopefully, chapter 45 and how finally Joseph is reconciled
to his estranged brothers and how they are then sent back to
get Jacob, their father, and bring him back into Egypt. And
so really what we have now opening before us in chapter 46 are the
glory years of Joseph's life, the pain of the past being put
behind him and he has the joy of being reconciled to his brothers
and reunited with his beloved father Jacob. And so we want
to trace this journey of Jacob and his brothers to Israel, we
want to see the reunion that takes place with Joseph and how
Joseph then settles them in the land of Goshen and there'll be
some lessons for faith along the way as we consider this.
So Joseph is going to make sure that his family is well cared
for in Egypt, we'll get to that, but we want to understand what
God would have for us from this section of the Joseph story.
And so I'm going to divide up the account that we're looking
at under four headings to help us as we study. the first one
this morning, number one, is what I would call the reassurance
of Jacob's faith in verse 1 to 7. The reassurance, chapter 46
verses 1 to 7, the reassurance of Jacob or Israel's faith. The Bible says, journey. So God's hand of providence
has been working, hasn't it? And we saw in the last chapter
how Joseph's brothers returned back to their father and tell
him the earth-shattering news that Joseph was yet alive and
how Jacob's heart was revived as he saw the wagons and hope
began to fill his heart as he realized that he would see Joseph
before he died. And now we find Jacob setting
out on this journey with his family. They're going to make
their way from the land of Canaan all the way down into Egypt,
a long journey in those days. And we see Jacob is clearly a
little unsettled about this. Jacob is a little bit troubled
about this move. He's stepping out in faith, knowing
that God is directing, but he comes to Beersheba and Beersheba
is on the southern end of the land of Canaan and so it's kind
of like passing the point of no return. Beersheba had been
a very special place in the life of Jacob and in the life of the
patriarchs. There Abraham had dug a well,
Genesis 21-30, and Abraham had lived there, offering Isaac on
Mount Moriah. We heard about that in chapter
22. Isaac had also lived at Beersheba and it was from the home in Beersheba
that Jacob had left for Laban's house to find a wife. So this
was a very significant and special place for Jacob and here you
see him as 130 years of age coming back to Beersheba before he departs
finally from the land of Canaan to seek the Lord. And we see
a wonderful principle there, I call it the seeking of faith. Jacob has received some guidance
from God, the providential hand of God seems to be directing
in a certain direction but Jacob is concerned
to seek God and to make sure that he's on the path of God's
will. You know that's a very wise approach to the Christian
life. You may feel that God is guiding you and you may even
begin to take some steps in the direction of God's will but make
sure as you take those steps you're still seeking the Lord,
still asking God, still yielded to God and seeking His perfect
direction. And so He's seeking God for reassurance,
just a short distance into the journey. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6
encourages us, Look to the Lord to direct, seek his guidance.
And so, We can understand, can't we,
why Jacob would feel a little trouble. You say, how do you
know that? Because God says to him, fear not. And God wouldn't say
to Jacob, fear not, unless there was perhaps a little propensity
there to fear. Think about it, he's 130 years
of age. This is a massive step to make
in the sunset years of your life. Jacob knew probably that this
would be the last time he ever saw the beloved promised land
of Canaan. going to a strange country in
Egypt. I mean, let's put ourselves into Jacob's shoes at the moment.
There was no text message in those days. It's not like Joseph
and his dad were WhatsAppping back and forth saying, looking
forward to seeing your dad when you arrive on the first flight
into Cairo. No, not at all. I'm saying he understands this
is a long and a dangerous journey. He's stepping out by faith, believing
the word that he has heard that Joseph lives, trusting the providential
hand of God is leading him and guiding him. So we have the seeking
of faith. Then he's rewarded in verse two
to four with the sure promises of faith. God rewards Jacob seeking
of him and reveals himself to him in a vision. Jacob has had
some of these visions of God at key points in his life and
this is the eighth and the last such vision that is recorded
where God appeared to Jacob in this way. What did God say to
him? 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. I love that. 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 Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. Do you see the
promises of God here at a time in Jacob's life where he needed
it? promises of God. In verse 2 we have what we could
call the call of God. God calls out to Jacob, Jacob,
Jacob. God speaks to him and God spake
unto Israel. You see the Christian life, the
walk of faith is guided by the Word of God. God is speaking
into Jacob's life. And Jacob had the spoken word
of God to guide him and direct him at this point in his life.
We have the written word of God to guide us and to direct us.
So God speaks, we see Jacob's response he says, here am I.
That's the appropriate response, isn't it? When God calls us.
Jacob here was willing to be guided by God in his life. And so we see the call of God,
we see the character of God in this revelation. God says here,
I am God. Do you know, it is the person
of God that gives the promises of God their value. You think
about it, the value of a promise is connected
to the character of the person giving the promise. You understand
that in your life. There are some people who give
promises and their promise means nothing to you because you know
they will break those promises. What is it that gives the promises
of God such value? Well, because of who is giving
them. I am God, he says. We have this declaration of who
God is before God gives the promises. Brethren, that's why we can trust
the promises of God. They haven't come from someone
who lies, from someone who is untrustworthy. The promises of
God come from God. himself. I am God. The Hebrew word for God here
is the word El, which emphasizes God's strength, the mighty one. Oh, Jacob needed to be reminded
of that when he's growing old and frail and he's having to
step out in faith again. Think of that, seniors. This
is a big step to take in the sunset years of your life, to
move forward in faith, to actually change locations. That's not
easy. to uproot where you are and to leave behind familiar
memories, to leave behind all the attachment to an area and
to go out by faith in the will of God. But God sometimes moves
that way, doesn't he? Ask the Ringwaltz, they've done
it a few times, get some counsel if you... But that's part of the journey
of faith, isn't it? The walk of faith. Forward with God, wherever
He leads. God says, don't worry Jacob,
I am God, I am the Almighty One, I am the One with all strength,
the God of thy father. God is reminding Jacob here that
he's dealing with the same God who had been faithful to his
father Isaac. And so we have the character
of God, but then we have the comfort of God, verse 3, and
he said, I am God, the God of thy father, fear not to go down
into Egypt. I think this would have been
a blessing for Jacob to hear that fear not at this critical
time in his life. Did you know that transition
times in the will of God are vulnerable times? Did you know
transition times in the will of God can be scary times? Difficult
times? Challenging times? it's at such
times we need to hear from God through His Word the words, fear
not, don't be afraid. How often does God tell us in
His Word, don't be afraid? Why does He tell us that so often?
Because we are inclined to be afraid. The comfort of God. The covenants
of God, verse 4, look at the promises now. And you'll notice
that there are four promises here. The first three start with
the words, I will, and the last promise contains the word shall,
and it all emphasizes the certainty and the reliability of God's
promises, the trustworthiness of them. I will go down with
thee into Egypt, verse 4. And I will also surely bring
thee up again, and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
The promises of God. You say, I'm going through a
difficult time in my life where I'm seeking to step out by faith,
I believe God is leading me, God is guiding me, God is doing
something in my life. Let me encourage you, you have
the promises of God to undergird you. You have the comfort of
God within you, you have the hand of God upon you, you can
move forward by faith knowing that God is with you. Four promises. Firstly, I see
there the promise of God's power, I will make of thee a great nation. That took power, the power of
God. And this was one of the primary reasons why God was taking
the children of Israel down into Egypt. God was going to use that
period to make them a great nation and God fulfilled that. By the
time you come to the time of the Exodus, about 400 years on
from here, we've got roughly 2 million people coming out of
Egypt. So how do you know that? Because the Bible specifically
tells us, I think it's in the book of Numbers or Deuteronomy,
that there was, I think, around 600,000 men. So you count, it
doesn't take much to work out if you've got about 600,000 men
plus their wives plus a few children each, you're talking, you know,
probably at least 2 million people, possibly more, coming out of
Egypt. That's amazing. They go down
there, just 70 people, God makes them into a great nation and
takes them back into the land of Canaan. And that was what
God had promised many years earlier to Abraham in Genesis 12 too,
that he would maketh him a great nation. So this is part of what
God is doing. We talked about that in another
message. God is working in Joseph's life as an individual, but God
is also working to much grander purposes. God is working in the
nation of Israel. God is doing something on a very
grand scale here. God had said to Abraham in Genesis
15, 13, and he said unto Abraham, Know of a surety that thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall
serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And
also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterward
shall they come out with great substance. So God is fulfilling
a prophecy here by taking his people into Egypt. just as he
told Abraham back in Genesis 15, 13. So we have the promise
of God's power, I will make of thee a great nation. Then we
have the promise of God's presence, I will go down with thee into
Egypt. That's a comfort, isn't it? What touching words! Here's Jacob, elderly Jacob,
130 years of age, Life's taken its toll on him.
He's hobbling there. Remember that? The Lord had to
touch the hole of his thigh. He's got a staff. He's got 17
years yet to live. He doesn't know that, of course,
but that's the final record of his life. He had 17 years in
Egypt with Joseph. What a blessing that was. But
what assurance here from God, I will go with you into Egypt. You know, it's the personal presence
of God and the lives of His people that has been of great comfort
down through the ages, hasn't it? To know, my God is with me. In the words of Psalm 139, what
beautiful words, if I ascend up into heaven, behold thou art
there. If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take
the wings of the morning or dwell in the outermost parts of the
sea, there surely your hand will guide me, or whatever it says
there. But the truth there of the presence of God, So I feel fearful about the next
step in my Christian life. I feel fearful about what God
is now doing in my life. Things are unsettled. I'm getting
uprooted out of my comfort zone here and I'm being moved forward
in a certain direction. Be encouraged. God is with you.
God will not forsake you. So we have the promise of God's
power. I'll make of thee a great nation. The promise of God's
presence. I will be with you. will go down with thee into Egypt.
The promise of God's preservation and I will also surely bring
thee up again. That's preservation isn't it?
God is going to take them into Egypt, he's going to preserve
them in Egypt, he's going to work in the nation of Israel
and he's going to bring them back again. We have a God who
has the power to preserve us, preserve his people. Then we
have the promise of Joseph's personal touch. Joseph shall
put his hand upon thine eyes. What does that mean? Well, it
means that Joseph would be personally present at the time of Jacob's
death to do that last act of love that has been done by loved
ones for generations of closing the eyelids of the person who
has just passed on. Sometimes when people die their
eyes remain open and it's been an old practice of just quietly
closing the eyes of the person who has passed away. But what
a comforting promise for Jacob to know that, that he would actually
be present with Joseph at the time of his death. I don't know about you but when
I die I'd like to know that there's going to be someone there who's
going to respect my body and look after me, look after things. That'd be a comfort for Jacob
to know that. So see how God is rewarding Jacob's
faith here, Jacob is seeking God and God is speaking into
Jacob's life at this critical juncture in his life. Big steps to take in your life?
Are you seeking the Lord? At the altar? Maybe you even
feel that God's providence is leading you in a certain direction?
Better make sure as you take those initial steps you double-check.
seek reassurance, keep seeking guidance, I being in the way,
the Lord led me, wonderful principle there, as I move in the direction
of God's will, I'm trusting God to direct, trusting God to guide,
trusting God to lead. Then we have the step of faith,
verse 5 to 7, so we have the seeking of faith, we have the
sure promises of faith, then we see his step of faith, verse
5 to 7, and Jacob rose up from Beersheba, he's going to go forward
by faith, stepping out on the promises of God, that is faith,
isn't it? Faith is hearing God's Word and acting upon God's Word,
acting upon the promises of God, stepping out in reliance upon
what God has said. Jacob rose up from Beersheba,
and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, and their
little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had
sent to carry him. And they took their cattle and
their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came
into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him. His sons and his
sons' sons, that means his grandsons, with him, his daughters and his
sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into
Egypt. you get the picture. This is
not just the relocation of Jacob as an individual, this is the
relocation of the whole family clan. Sons, grandsons, daughters,
granddaughters, all are going into Egypt in the will of God. brings us to the second heading.
We've looked at the reassurance of Jacob's faith, God working
to reassure Jacob he's on the path of his will, then we notice
the records of Jacob's family in verse 8 to 27 and I just want
to give you a summary of this, we'll sort of pass over but we
have at this important point in the life of Israel as a nation,
this record of Israel's seed and the genealogy starts with
the children of Leah, and her maid Zilpah, then the children
of Rachel and her maid Bilhah. So it follows that order, it
starts with Leah and her maid, the first wife, then Rachel and
her maid and it's given in that order. So in verse 8 to 15, just
to give you the summary here, we have the sons and grandsons
of Jacob by Leah. In verse 8 to 9, the sons of
Reuben. Verse 10, the sons of Simeon. Verse 11, the sons of
Levi. And then verse 12, the sons of
Judah. And there is an important man
mentioned there by the name of Hezron, the son of Phares. Hezron would be a part of the
lineage of Christ. We have the sons of Issachar,
verse 13, and the sons of Zebulun, verse 14, and then verse 15 gives
us the summary, 33 souls there connected to the progeny of Leah. Then, in verse 16 to 18, we have
the sons and grandsons of Jacob by Zilpah, the sons of Gad, summarized
in verse 16, the sons of Asher, verse 17, and for whatever reason,
there's an interesting little note here, Sarah, Asher's daughter,
is mentioned. Mostly the girls are not mentioned
in the genealogies, the men, as they were responsible for
carrying on the family line, but she's the only granddaughter
mentioned by name in the lineage of Jacob. So she must have been
special. You say, why? I don't know, but she must have
been special, she was there. then we have the summary, verse 18,
16 souls. Then in verse 19 to 22 we have
the sons and grandsons of Jacob by Rachel and so the Bible's
just impressing upon us, this is the group of people going
down, here are their names, here are their descendants. Rachel's
mentioned at the start of this section, unlike at the end with
the other wives, just another little interesting feature in
the way it's recorded. We have the sons of Joseph, verse 19
to 20, the sons of Benjamin, verse 21 and then a total of
14 souls, verse 22. Then in verse 23 to 25, the sons
and grandsons of Jacob by Bilhar are outlined. We have the sons
of Dan, verse 23, and only one son is mentioned. The sons of
Naphtali, verse 24, and then again a summary, seven souls. And then in verse 26 and 27,
we have the total figure outlined for us. And all the souls that
came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides
Jacob's sons, wives, all the souls were how much? Three score
and six, a score is 20, so three score is 60, 66. Then, verse
27, and the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were
two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into
Egypt, were three score and 10. So if you have 66, you have Joseph
and his two sons, that makes 69. Why does it say 70? Well, Jacob's included. Okay,
so Jacob is included, you add Jacob and you have 70 and it
must include Jacob because it tells us that the wives are excluded
from the genealogy. So you've got 69 and then you
have the figure 70, therefore it must be, I would suggest Jacob. Just to throw this in there for
those of you who love to dig into things, in Acts chapter
7 with Stephen's speech it says 75. So see if you can figure that
one out, okay? You say, why don't you tell us the answer? Because
I haven't figured it out yet. So I'm hoping for some help there. But
the number 70, just understand, what I've noticed is there's
often a little bit of flexibility in Hebrew numbering. And remember,
we only have certain names listed here, there are many others that
were a part of this entourage. So maybe it included some of
the wives, but you could easily come up with a figure of 75,
the Bible's not incorrect if, you know, that should not be
your conclusion, all right? the number 70 actually would
become a significant figure in the nation of Israel and let
me just read you a little description of this by Henry Morris, he says,
the number 70 seems to have been associated in a particular way
with the nation of Israel ever since the time when these 70
apparently became its official founders. There were 70 elders,
Numbers 11 verse 6, 70 years of captivity, 2nd Chronicles
36 21, 70 weeks determined upon the people of Israel, Daniel
9, 70 members of the Sanhedrin in the
days of Christ and 70 witnesses to Israel sent out by Christ,
Luke 10.1. Interesting little thought there.
So we notice the record of Jacob's family. Now look in verse 28
to 29 at the reunion with Jacob's favoured son. And here we reach
another climax in the Joseph account. chapter 45 we saw that
climax of the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers,
here now we finally have the reunion with Joseph's father. And he sent Judah before him,
verse 28, under Joseph to direct his face under Goshen and they
came into the land of Goshen. Look in verse 28 at what I would
call the direction for the reunion. Do you notice there that Judah
is put in charge of leading family to Joseph. Can you see
that? And he sent Judah before him
under Goshen. can see that as the family of
Jacob is developing, Judah is rising up as a key leader because
ultimately he is going to carry on the messianic line and we
talked about that in our last lesson in chapter 45. We saw
the emphasis on Judah's role and how Judah was instrumental
there in the reconciliation of the brothers with Joseph and
now Judah is going to be instrumental again in bringing Joseph's father
back into contact with him which I find very significant and we've
talked about this before but Judah was the one who suggested
Joseph be sold into slavery in Egypt so Judah was instrumental
in Joseph and Jacob being separated from each other now Judah is
being instrumental in seeing Jacob and Joseph restored to
one another. It's just all over the life of
Judah, the grace of God and what the grace of God can do with
a man who we would have probably just written off as unusable. And so they come to the land
of Goshen and Joseph had already promised them the land of Goshen
in Genesis 45 verse 10. Goshen was in the northern Nile
Delta region of Egypt and if you look at the map of Egypt
you can still see the Nile Delta region and it's called Delta
because it's based on the fourth Greek letter in the alphabet,
Delta, which looks like a triangle, okay, so it looks like an upside
down triangle on the map, it's a fertile region, you have the
River Nile flowing up there and then branching off into multiple
branches there and it was a very lush and fertile region of Egypt. It was known as Lower Egypt,
which confuses us because it's higher on the map. It was lower
in reference to the Nile River, it was downstream from the major
population centers there, so it was referred to as Lower Egypt. And so they go to Goshen, the
land that Joseph had promised them, the land that will soon
be negotiated for them before Pharaoh in the following chapter,
and there they wait to see Joseph. So we have the direction for
the reunion. Look at then the presentation of the reunion,
verse 29, and Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet
Israel, his father to Goshen, and presented himself unto him. Try and picture the scene here
that the word presented there as I understand it is a word
that is usually used in the Bible for an appearance of God. Now
we're not saying Joseph is God but it's very interesting that
this word that is normally used of the glorious appearing of
God in some way is used of Joseph and it's emphasizing that Joseph
came in his splendor. Joseph came and presented himself
to his father in his glory there and in his power as the Egyptian
ruler. Can you see Joseph? The news
arrives at Joseph's royal mansion that his father has arrived in
Goshen. Quick, sharp orders are given and his servants hurriedly
prepare his royal chariot and horses. Imagine it for a moment. Joseph puts on his finest robes
of state. It is hard to describe the emotions
that are surging within him as he climbs into his chariot and
gives the order to his driver to go forward. The chariot lurches
forward as it quickly picks up speed. They are on their way.
Joseph is about to see his beloved father for the first time in
22 long years. Jacob arrives in Goshen after
the long trip. He climbs out of the wagon, his
staff in hand. Judah informs him that Joseph
is on the way. There he stands waiting. 130
years of age. His weather-beaten face reveals
some of the hardship and sorrows he's endured and yet at the same
time the sweet holiness of a man who has learnt to walk with God
for many years. Perhaps his eyes are a little
dim at this age. He leans on his staff as he waits.
Judah nudges him gently, Father, I see a chariot coming in the
distance. It's Joseph. Israel straightens, his eyes
strained as seen to the distance. As Joseph nears, he hears the
clatter of horses' hooves and the rattle of chariot wheels.
He can feel the ground beneath his feet vibrate somewhat as
it draws near. As Joseph enters his field of
vision, tears begin to well up in his eyes. There can be no
mistaking it, that's Joseph. Even after 22 years apart, the
loving eyes of the aged father had no difficulty recognizing
his beloved son, even dressed in all his Egyptian finery. He
could recognize that face anywhere. It reminded him so much of Rachel.
Joseph had the same handsome features and form. Flashbacks
pass through the old man's mind. Joseph as a baby cradled in his
mother's arms. Joseph as a young boy playing
happily around his tent. The days of his youth as he drew
strong and developed in looks and talent. The days of teaching
the young lad how to care for sheep and livestock. Then the
fateful day when he sent Joseph on an errand to check on his
brothers not knowing it would be the last day he saw his beloved
son for 22 years. His brothers returned with the
blood-soaked coat and the heartbreaking story that Joseph was dead. The
days where he felt so overcome with pain. He thought the grief
might kill him. The gnawing hole in his heart
that had been there all those years with such a loss. His thoughts
are interrupted. The chariot comes to a halt near
Jacob in a little cloud of dust. Joseph leaps to the ground. A
few quick paces and he is in his father's arms. Neither can
speak to begin with. The rivers of tears say it all.
Tears over the pain of the past burst forth like a dam opening
its floodgates and intermingle with the tears of the joy in
the present reunion. Father, Joseph croaks eventually.
Joseph, my son, you're alive. he fell on his neck and wept
on his neck a good while. Oh, the direction of the reunion,
the presentation of the reunion, the emotion of the reunion. What emotions here! God has worked. We see this all over the life
of Joseph, don't we? God is at work. Jacob expresses his joy by stating
his readiness to die now that he has seen Joseph's face, he
says, and Israel said unto Joseph, verse 30, now let me die since
I have seen thy face because thou art yet alive. It's a powerful story, isn't
it? God makes no mistakes. God made no mistakes in Jacob's
life either. We've been looking at Joseph,
no mistakes in Joseph's life, but Jacob went through some deep
waters through this time, didn't he? God didn't make a mistake
there either. Ultimately it was all for their
good and for his glory. As I think of Joseph coming there,
arriving in splendor and glory, I can't help but think the Lord
Jesus whom he often pictures and think of the day when he
will come arrayed in all the glorious white garments of heaven
when he will come with the armies of heaven upon his white horse
clothed in glorious garments with the words King of Kings
and Lord of Lords emblazoned on his robe can you imagine the
day when we will see not Joseph but the Lord Jesus Don't you see it there? Joseph
coming. He's been highly exalted in Egypt.
He's powerful. He's coming in glory, presenting
himself there to his family. Aren't you looking forward to
the day when King Jesus will come in his glory and in his
power and present himself to this world? What a reunion. What a reunion between Jacob
and Joseph. And so we have the reunion of
Jacob with his favoured son. Look now at, lastly, what I would
call the relocation of Jacob to fertile land. relocation of
Jacob to fertile land. Verse 31, And Joseph said unto
his brethren and unto his father's house, I will go up and show
Pharaoh and say unto him, My brethren and my father's house
which are in the land of Canaan are come unto me and the men
are shepherds. For their trade hath been to feed cattle and
they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that
they have and it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call
you and shall say, What is your occupation? And so even though
Joseph had all the power of being the second ruler in Egypt, still had to seek Pharaoh's official
endorsement on his plan to settle his family in what was the best
of the land of Egypt. And so he promised them that
he would settle them in Goshen but now he goes through the formal
approval process of getting Pharaoh's endorsement upon this. And I
just want to think about this for a moment and what Joseph
was doing here very wisely. Think about the aim of living
in Goshen. Why was Joseph wanting to settle his family in Goshen?
Well, I think there's two reasons here. Firstly, on a material
level, Goshen would keep the children of Israel sustained.
So on a material level, Goshen would help keep the children
of Israel sustained. It was a lush and fertile area, ideal for flocks
and for herds. Goshen was the best of the land,
we see that in the next chapter, it's called the best of the land
in both verse 6 and 11. So it appears to have been boarded
on the west by the Nile, says Henry Morris here, because the
Bible says in Numbers 11 verse 5 that the Israelites did eat
fish freely in Egypt. Then according to Psalm 78 verse
12, their property must have included the field of Zohan,
which was one of the outlet channels of the Nile fairly near the sea.
So in general, this location was close to Egypt's northeast
corner, more or less isolated from the bulk of the Egyptian
population, which tended to concentrate more to the south and west. So
what is Joseph doing here? He wants to get his family into
Goshen on a material level. No doubt that was because he
was concerned to provide for their material needs. But I believe
that there was a spiritual reason for this. On a spiritual level,
Goshen would keep the children of Israel separated. So what
was Goshen? Goshen, on a material level,
would keep them sustained. But most importantly, on a spiritual
level, it would keep them separated from The Egyptians, clearly Joseph
has this in mind because he makes it very clear, this is the strong
emphasis, he says, when we go to Pharaoh, make it clear that
we're shepherds because the Egyptians hate shepherds, they'll be happy
to have us far away from them, they'll let us settle in the
land of Goshen. Okay? The shepherds were an abomination
to the Egyptians, they hated shepherds, despised them and
apparently archaeological discoveries have unearthed art where the
Egyptians portrayed shepherds in very mocking kinds of ways.
They hated that, they just saw it as a very menial, lowly task
and therefore they would say, well if you're shepherds we want
to have you separated from us please. I believe that Joseph was aware
of a danger for his people and it's this, the danger of assimilation. Joseph, I believe, was concerned
that if he did not get his family put in the right kind of place,
separate from the Egyptians, there would be a real danger
there of the children of Israel being assimilated into mainstream
Egyptian culture, absorbed into the big machinery of Egypt there
and ultimately then the people of God would be lost and just
intermingled with the Egyptians. Can you see that? and I see here
a principle that the people of God were to be in Egypt but not
of Egypt. Joseph was concerned to maintain
some separation between the Egyptians and his family. I see wisdom
in Joseph. Let's not forget, here we're
talking about a man who knew what it was to battle the temptations
of central Egypt. Here we're talking about a man
who knew probably more than anyone else what it was like to try
and live for God in Egyptian culture, surrounded by paganism,
surrounded by immorality and sensuality, the immoralities
and sensualities of just about every kind. And Joseph is concerned
to make sure that his people, the people of Israel, are not
destroyed by assimilation with the Egyptians. Brethren, separation is God's
way to keep his people pure. We are to be in the world. Remember,
Egypt is always a picture of the world in the Bible. And here
you have the children of Israel. They're separate from the Egyptians. They're in Egypt, but they're
not of Egypt. Brethren, separation is what
God requires, what God wants for us to keep the purity maintained
amongst his people. important. If there is something
that Independent Baptists are giving up today, it's the doctrine
of separation. Separation from the world, separation
from error, by the way that used to be one of the hallmarks of
the Independent Baptist movement with all of its faults, it was
this, separation. separation from the world, a
willingness to draw a line in the sand for the truth and to
take a stand against the world and all of its error. Listen
to me, we are in great danger today of assimilation, of just
being absorbed into the mainstream sensual culture of the day. No,
no, no, no, we need to be like the Israelites of old and have
a Goshen, as it were, stay separated from all of that. You know what I find really interesting?
You know what God was going to use to help keep his people separated?
He was going to use the Egyptians' disdain of the humble lifestyle
of his people to help keep them separate. So on the one hand
they were to take the initiative and seek to be separate from
Egypt but God was also going to use the fact that Egypt despised
their humble and lowly and holy lifestyle and they would therefore
want to keep them at arm's distance. sometimes we lament the fact
that increasingly the world is hostile to us, wants nothing
to do with us. Brethren, it could be a blessing.
I tell you what, we are probably more in danger when the world
is trying to lure us into an adulterous relationship than
if the world is saying we want nothing to do with the people
of God. Seriously. Better to have the world spit
at the church than to have it attempt to lure it into a seductive
kiss. I'm not talking about an isolationism,
I'm not talking about going away and starting, you know, buying
your farm somewhere and locking ourselves away, you know that's
not what we're talking about. We're talking about being in the world,
not of the world. The people of Israel here had
to be in Egypt but clearly it worked because at the end of
400 years they came out, they still had faith in Jehovah God.
They were still a separate people to the Egyptians. Wisdom here
on the part of Joseph. Very wise actions, I believe,
and revealing his wisdom to have his people separated. Yes, for
material reasons, good place for flocks and herds but importantly,
the Egyptians didn't want much to do with the shepherds. We
don't like sheep. Yeah, sheep. Well, they despise
the flock. The world despises biblical churches,
hates biblical churches. Brethren, the world increasingly
is hostile to biblical churches, just mark that down. They hate
it. They hate holiness. The world
hates a separated church. Listen, if you're going to be
an Egyptian church and just assimilate with the culture, you'll be very
well accepted. But you take a stand for God
and you separate from wickedness and from sin and from error and
you'll just see how much they despise you. So I think that was the aim. living in Goshen. Then we see
in the next chapter, we'll round it up here, the appeal to live
in Goshen. We have this appeal of Joseph before Pharaoh, chapter 47 verse 1, then Joseph
came and told Pharaoh and said, my father and my brethren and
their flocks and their herds and all that they have are come
out of the land of Canaan and behold they are in the land of
Goshen. And he took some of his brethren, and even five men,
and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren,
What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy
servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers. They
said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we
come. For thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for
the famine is sore in the land of Canaan. Now therefore we pray
thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. So here's
this appeal... Joseph comes before Pharaoh,
he's appealing to Pharaoh to allow his family to settle in
the land and then he brings in five brothers as representatives
of the family. Pharaoh asks them their occupation
and they've been pre-instructed by Joseph to give an answer that
they are shepherds so that the Pharaoh would be more favorable
to granting their request to put them in the land of Goshen.
And he says, in the best of the land. Do you see how much blessing
came to Joseph's family because of Joseph's obedience? Don't underestimate the blessings
that can come from one life of obedience. Just one life of obedience
and surrender to God. And here you have Joseph's family
coming into an abundant place. Joseph brought his family into
an abundant blessed place. land of Goshen, the best of the
land. Hasn't the Lord Jesus brought us into an abundant place, our
heavenly Joseph? Now that we're saved we've been
called to an abundant life, that doesn't necessarily mean in terms
of material things but God does of course provide our needs but
much more than that, the spiritual blessings, blessed with all spiritual
blessings, Ephesians 1 in heavenly places, Christ. Can you see that?
Joseph bringing his family to an abundant place, a place of
provision, a place of care. Joseph himself would be watching
over them, Joseph himself would be caring for them and nourishing
them and don't we see in that a picture of us? We have been
brought out of the dryness of this world and into an abundant
place where Christ our Saviour watches over us in love and cares
for us and tends to our needs. What a blessed people we are. Then we have the father's audience
with Pharaoh. Notice here that Joseph then brings in Jacob,
his father, verse 7, and said him before Pharaoh, and Jacob
blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob,
How old art thou? See, it's not wrong to ask someone
how old they are. That wasn't in the notes, it
just came to me then as a stroke of brilliance, just to help encourage some of
you older folks, okay? No. How old are they? Age was revered
back then. Here you have Jacob. In fact,
just try and picture the scene there. Here you have Pharaoh,
the most powerful man on earth at that time, ruler of the most
powerful nation of Israel, and here you have Jacob. And Jacob
is blessing this powerful man, probably praying over him or
saying a word of prayer for him. You see how the man of faith
towers spiritually over the man of the world? Not in a proud
sense, I'm just saying look at the stature of Jacob, a man who's
walked with God. Can you see him there, his weather-beaten
face? Can you see the gleam in his eye? Can you see him there
with his staff, a humble man and yet a godly man? And here
he is blessing the most powerful man in the world. Yes, the less is blessed of the
better. Hebrews 7, 7. The godly separated man of faith
towers in spiritual stature above the man seated on the throne.
So Pharaoh asked him his age because age was revered not just
by the Hebrews but by the Egyptians and this is probably why Pharaoh
allowed him to bless him because he respected his age. And we
should respect elderly people too, by the way. Have some respect
there for those who are older than us. And he says, here's
Jacob's reply, and we get a bit of a window into Jacob's thinking
here, don't we, in his heart. Jacob said, under Pharaoh, the
days of the years of my, what? Don't miss that word, will you?
Are 130 years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days
of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their
pilgrimage. Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went
out from before Pharaoh and Joseph placed his father and his brethren
and gave them possession in the land of Egypt in the best of
the land in the land of Ramses as Pharaoh had commanded and
Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and all his father's
household with bread according to their families. So Jacob in
response to Pharaoh gives his perspective on his
own walk of faith. Look at Jacob's words there for
a moment. He speaks about the period of his life. He had lived
for 130 years at this time, he would live for a further 17 years
and in Egypt bringing him to a grand total of 147 years. But isn't it interesting that
Jacob viewed the years of his life as being few? Few and evil
have been my days, he says. I tell you what, we look at that
and go, 147 years? That sounds like a long time. But it's just a tiny drop in
the ocean of eternity, isn't it? That's the right perspective
on life. I think Jacob was comparing it
to Abraham and Isaac. He says, I haven't attained to
the years of my fathers, okay, because Abraham lived for 175
years, Isaac 180 years, so I guess his years were few in comparison
to that. But he had the right view of
the brevity of life. Life is just so short... it's
so short. The Bible says our life is like
a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
What's a hundred years? What's a hundred and fifty years?
What's two hundred years? What's a thousand years compared
to eternity? Make sure you're saved. Like,
make sure like Jacob you know God. Because our days on this
earth are few. we're going to spend eternity
somewhere. You say, I'm already safe, make those few days count
for Christ, won't you? So that he spoke about the period
of his life. He spoke about the pain of his life, few and evil,
he says. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been. He's not being faithless, he's
not saying that God hadn't been good to him. The word evil there
has the idea of bad, some bad things that happened in Jacob's
life, it's just a reality. You look at Jacob's life, he
went through a lot and some of it was trials of his own making,
sure. But as you look back over his life, there was some pain
there as well. But through it all, God's goodness and God's
faithfulness to him, of course. Then you see the perspective
of his life, notice how Jacob refers to his life here as a
pilgrimage, I love that. Jacob saw himself as a pilgrim... a pilgrim... a pilgrim a starting
point, a pilgrim has a goal and everything in between is just
the flyover zone, just the place where we transit through. Make
sure you maintain that mindset in the Christian life, this world
is not our home. Have that mindset. You are a
pilgrim. You are on a journey, the journey of faith to the celestial
city. If you're saved, you're on your
way to heaven. And by the way, your citizenship is in heaven.
Let's not get tangled up too much with down here. Let's just
remember, we're on our way to the glorious city above. And
let's hold the things of this life loosely and embrace like
Jacob the mindset of a pilgrim. We are pilgrims on a journey. This world is not our home. That was the attitude of these
ancient men of God, because Hebrews 11, 13 tells us that they confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. And the
apostle Peter exhorts us in 1 Peter 2, 11, Dearly beloved, I beseech
you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshy lusts which
war against the soul. So maybe we should stop living
as if this world is the most important thing there is. Perhaps
we should stop living as if money is the only thing, the reason
we exist. Perhaps we should stop living
as if sports the most exciting thing in life. Perhaps we should
stop living as if everything down here is what life is all
about. Listen to me brethren, we are just passing through And
by the way, when you have a mindset like that, if God says, I want
you to make a big step of faith, like Jacob has just done, you
can do that, and you can feel a little bit sad about some of
the sentimental memories of this location, or this house, or that
house, but ultimately, you let it go, because I'm going forward
with faith, in faith in God, and I know that at the end of
the journey, that's where it's all, that's where I'm aiming.
I'm going to the celestial city to be with the Lord, and we have
mansions above. I think that means it's time
to finish. So I was about to finish but
thank you for that alarm. Reunion and reward, it pays to
obey the Lord. It doesn't mean that there won't
be some evil things that happen in your life but what we see
through Joseph's life is God meant it for good. God's thoughts
overrode and overruled man's plans to ensure that God's will
was done and that God was glorified. Let's embrace the pilgrim mindset.
Let's embrace separation from the world. Let's get a hold of
the promises of God and move forward by faith as Jacob did,
as the Lord leads. Father, we thank you for your
word to us this morning. Just a number of lessons there through
that passage, we pray that you would just seal those lessons
to our hearts according to the needs, we pray. Help us to be,
Lord, like the children of Israel of old, a separated people in
Egypt but not of Egypt. Lord help us we pray to have
the pilgrim mindset as Jacob did to not see ourselves as being
really attached down here on earth but to see ourselves as
just transiting through to heaven to be with the Lord and we pray
as well Lord that you bless As we seek to step forward in faith,
we thank you, Lord, for the promises you gave Jacob and that we can
lay hold of the promises of your word to encourage us, to strengthen
us in our walk with you. So bless us now, we pray, as
we close this service. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Reunion and Reward
Series Genesis Series
This section of Genesis deals with the journey of Jacob and his family to Egypt and his reunion with his beloved son Joseph. The glory years now commence for Joseph. The pain of the past is behind him, he is reconciled with his brothers and reunited with his beloved father Jacob.
| Sermon ID | 9302321445036 |
| Duration | 1:00:21 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Genesis 46; Genesis 47:1-12 |
| Language | English |
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