God Will Sustain You in Goshen

In this The Word on Wednesday episode, Pastor Tony Simon recaps Genesis 46 and walks through Genesis 47, highlighting God’s promise to Jacob not to fear going to Egypt and Joseph’s strategy of presenting five brothers to Pharaoh, resulting in Jacob’s family settling in Goshen, the “best of the land,” during a severe famine. The lesson contrasts Israel’s provision and growth in Goshen with Egypt’s famine-driven economic collapse, where Joseph gathers money, then livestock, then land for Pharaoh, and finally establishes a 20% harvest statute while giving the people seed to sow. Jacob blesses Pharaoh, testifies about his 130 years, lives 17 more years in Egypt, and asks Joseph to bury him with his fathers. The episode closes by explaining Israel’s later slavery through Exodus 1:8—a new king who knew not Joseph—and urging prayer, stewardship, and maintaining faith.

00:00 Welcome And Updates

00:54 Opening Prayer

02:09 Recap Genesis 46

05:41 Settling In Goshen

07:39 Strategy With Pharaoh

10:31 Blessed In Despised Places

14:26 Jacob Meets Pharaoh

17:16 Sustained During Famine

20:54 Famine Hits Hard

24:30 Josephs Economic Plan

27:29 Business Wisdom And Saving

33:00 Seed And Fifth Principle

37:11 No Shortcuts Just Work

37:31 Josephs Survival Plan

38:23 Wisdom Trust And Gratitude

40:12 Provide Protect Proclaim

40:56 Thriving In Goshen

43:34 Faith During Recession

44:26 God With You In Moves

45:56 Sustained In Goshen

48:17 Jacob Prepares To Die

50:33 Why Israel Became Slaves

53:44 Comfort Kills Maintenance

59:36 Discipline And Pruning

01:01:49 Final Charge And Prayer

Pastor Tony and Laura Simon live in Orange County, California, and are the founding pastors of New Covenant/Covenant City Fellowship, a wonderfully colorful congregation of vibrant members who love Jesus, food, fellowship, and fun.

Laura is an award-winning author and passionate speaker who serves pastors' wives, ministry leaders, and women seeking to live authentic lives within church culture.

Together, Tony and Laura have two young adult daughters and sons. They'd love to hear from you and can be reached at newcovenant007@yahoo.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I think that to have everybody in with us tonight. Welcome all of you again to Word on Wednesday. I'm flying solo. Miss Laura may join us. She was having a moment. Amen. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We'll be used in that thought with Laura tonight. She is tired. We've had a long day, but it's been a prosperous and productive day. We thank God for the prayers of the righteous day of Belmont. We went to the neurologist today, got a positive report on her mother's place. Praise God for that. And so we're just dealing with a whole bunch of different things, and our bodies get tired. We're going to do the best we can with what we have. We were in Genesis 46 on last week, and we're at 47 on this week. Alright, so let's pray, shall we? Father in Jesus' name, how we love you and we thank you for it this day. God, we thank you for life, health, and strength. We thank you for the ability to reason, to live, move, and have being. We thank you that we live with a purpose because you have given your darling son Jesus Christ for our sins as we ramp up to Resurrection Sunday, as we observe these 40 days, as we concentrate on what would be the Super Bowl Sunday of the believer. God, I ask in Jesus' name that you continue to strengthen us and keep us as you see fit. God, we pray for our country. We pray for our leaders. We pray for those in the military right now as we are engaged in war. That even though there is threats around us, we don't really have in fear because you have surrounded us with your presence. So now, God, I pray that you bless me as a teacher and them as students. God, we pray the Holy Spirit will enlighten us through this lesson and give us knowledge of who you are as we glimpse at you through the page of your holy writ. We ask in Jesus' name as we spend this time together that you will be with us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, we're gonna jump right into it. Chapter 46. I named it as All Good because it's all God. Joseph, we know in 46, brings his family to Egypt. He brings them to Egypt. He sends, Pharaoh sends wagons and sends his people to assist Jacob's family, his father and his brothers, and all their wives and their children's children to come out of Canaan to Egypt. He does that and he tells them in verse number two of chapter 46. But God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob, he said, Here I am, with chapter 46, setting up for 47. Then he says, I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. And I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I shall also bring you up again. And Joseph's hands shall close your eyes. Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. We want to really concentrate on that. Beersheba is the Hebrew word that means well, Beer, which means well, and Sheba, which means oath or seven. We have the number seven or the wells of seven, which is God's number of completion in the Bible. And they go out to Beersheba to do worship. We go out to worship God for what is taking place in transition. And in order, Laura said in this particular chapter, chapter before that in order to be elevation on your end, there must be separation from folks that are not like you. And the reason why they're not like us is God has a purpose and blessing on our lives. We looked at verse number five. They carried out the sons of Israel, carried Jacob their father, the little ones, and their wives and wagons that Pharaoh had sent them. They took their livestock, their goods, and that which they gained in the land of Canaan into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with them. We went over the sons and the wives, all that came in this package were 66 persons in all. That's who traveled as in the convoy of Jacob's sons and his family. And they were brought and who were born into Egypt. And then Jake's Jacob and Joseph reunites. Joseph falls on his father's neck and he stays there, the Bible says, for a while, what the Bible describes as a good while they wept on each other's necks. And then they are keepers. I want you to put this in perspective and keep this in mind that they are keepers of the flock. And as being keepers of the flock, in a prior chapter, I believe it's chapter 35, that they that the Egyptians despised shepherds. They despised people that were shepherds of sheep. Joseph's family were shepherds, but yet they were going to a land that did not necessarily want them because of their occupation. Then we're going to see latter chapters that they didn't want them because of who they were. And as we jump out of that, we find in chapter number 47, verse number one, Jacob's family begin to settle in Goshen. Underline that they settle in Goshen. Why is that important? Because Goshen was one of the prime pieces of real estate that was in the Egyptian providence. So Joseph, verse 1 says, So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, my father and my brothers, with their flocks and their herds, and all that they possess came from the land of Canaan. They are all now in the land of Goshen. Watch the text. It's a key verse for us. Verses 2 and verses 6 are key verses for us. And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Let's look at the strategy. Let's listen for the strategy. Pharaoh says to his brothers, What is your occupation? They said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, as their fathers were. They said to Pharaoh, We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for our servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in all the land of Canaan. And now please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. Verse 5 says then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you, the land of Egypt, watch the text, watch the key verse number six. The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father, settle your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen. And if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock. Let's sit on these. I know I covered a whole bunch of territory, but let's sit in these six verses. They go to Pharaoh, they go to Joseph first, have a reuniting with Joseph. Joseph then takes strategically takes five brothers. He doesn't take all twelve, he takes five. When I was reading in some of the notes and commentaries and some of the background, it's a strategic move that he only took five brothers. And then Joseph acts like a mediator between his family and Pharaoh. He selects these five brothers to represent the family. The number five may symbolize grace or favor in biblical numerology, suggesting divine favor upon Joseph's family. This choice reflects Joseph's wisdom and Joseph's discernment. He had been working with Pharaoh now for going on a number of years, and so he knows how to read his boss. And this choice reflected Joseph's wisdom. He makes a favorable impression upon Pharaoh, and then the selection of his brothers also highlights the theme of family. Y'all write that in your notes. It also represents family, unity, and the importance of representation in foreign courts. A common practice that was used in ancient Near Eastern diplomacy. It's a tactic that was used in Joseph that had learned the ways of the Egyptians, used their system to then get Pharaoh or to impress Pharaoh to give to his brothers or to his family a strategic place or stronghold. So that's why I say these six verses kind of set the tone of the text when they settle in Goshem. They go, they reunite, they have discussion, they fellowship, and then he takes his brothers to Pharaoh, presents them to Pharaoh, asks Pharaoh asks, What is your occupation? Why is that important? Just a few moments ago, the Egyptians looked down on shepherds. They didn't eat. Matter of fact, the text tells us, I believe, in chapter 40, 43 or 44, that when his brothers came, they came and they ate separately from the Egyptian servants, because the Egyptian servants thought that they were better than any of the Israelites, number one, and then any shepherds, number two, they despised shepherds. That's what the text says. So again, when we look at this, there's a couple of things that we want to point out. Number one, that God can bless you in a place where folks despise your presence. Keep that in your notes. God can bless you in a place where folks despise you, or where folks want to misuse you, or where folks can stand you. So there's no place for you really to have to pump yourself up or use crooked tactics. The Bible says if God is for you, he's better than the world against you. Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of wickedness in high places. And look what he tells us. He tells us, therefore, put on the what? Whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand against the wiles of the devil. And having done all that you can do, stand. How do you stand? I'm glad you asked. You stand girded with the armor that God has given you. And again, I'm not going to get into all the individual armors because that's a whole nother subject. But look at verse number six. I said to you, our key verses are two and six. Two says, and from among his brothers he chose or took five men to present them to Pharaoh. Six says, after the presentation, the land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best land. Look, he tells Joseph, let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if there's any able men, which they were among them, put them in charge of my livestock. So now they go from being broke, they go from being unemployed, they go from being on the bottom rung into the prime real estate of Egypt. They go into now being unemployed to becoming employed. And they're sitting in the court or in the favor of Pharaoh. That's the first six verses. Again, God can do anything but fail. And the promise is backed up to chapter 20, about 26, 27, somewhere in there, where uh Abram is pulled out or called out by God to separate himself. He's elevated, and because he's elevated, he's now separated. And he's going and tells him the promise is I'm going to make you a ruler of nations, that there'll be so many offspring they'll outnumber the sands of the seas, which means there's going to be a whole bunch of folks, but there's the promise that is attached to it. From that impossibility, we now see that this fruition of this text now comes to pass because of the fact that now they're in the land of Egypt. In verse number six, they're settled and they're in the best of the land, and their folks are with them, and they're placed in charge of that which is of the land. So verse number seven says this, and y'all can comment back to me if you would like, that God is able to settle you in places that you wouldn't imagine. God is able to do things that you eyes haven't seen, ears haven't heard, hearts haven't felt. So when we start looking at that, if God can do it in the past, he also can do it in the present. But you have to trust him enough to be able to know what God is positioning you for, and not that anybody talk you out of what God has told you your destiny is. So, verse number seven. Then Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and stood him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of your life? Jacob slash aka Israel says to Pharaoh, The days of my years of my sojourning are 130 years. And they have not attained to the days and the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from Pharaoh's presence. So the conversation between Pharaoh and Jacob is a pleasant exchange. He asked Jacob about his background. He asked Jacob or Israel about how many years old he is. He asked him, and then Jacob gives a testimony that few and evil have been the days of my years of my life. Which means he basically says, I've had some good days, I've had some bad days. But when I look around and I think things over, he simply says, I really can't complain. Because my good days outweigh my bad days. That ought to be our testimony. That our good days, in spite of what we're going through, outweigh our bad days. In spite of losing our job, our good days that God is going to sustain us, y'all can write this, put this, type this in the text. He will sustain us in Goshen. G-O-S-H-E-N. God will sustain me in Goshen. Goshen is the land of promise. Goshen is the prime real estate in Egypt. God will sustain me in the land of Goshen. Even when you have doubts, tell yourself, God is sustaining me in the land of Goshen. I don't care what your credit score is, I don't care what people are saying. I don't care what people are doing. God is sustaining us in Goshen. And so I just need somebody that agrees with me. Just type in, God is sustaining me in the land of Goshen. All right. And as we jump from there, verse number 10, it says, And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out of the presence of Pharaoh. Then Joseph settled his father and his brother and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food according to the number of their dependents. Why is that important? Remember the outline or the background in which they're being blessed. They're being blessed during a famine. They're being blessed when there is a shortage. Sounds familiar? Because it is. Whether we're going in or whether we're coming out, because we belong to God, God is going to sustain us. God is going to sustain me, not because I'm good, but because he's good. God is going to sustain me in the land of ocean. And verse number 12 says, And Jacob provided his father, his brother, his brothers, and all of his father's household with what? Food. He sustains them with the basic need according to their number of dependents. Somebody will say, That don't sound fair. That doesn't sound right. There were folks that were struggling. But can I tell you something? Favor ain't fair. God's favor resting upon us will do stuff for us and open doors for us that other folks are trying to open, but yet it won't open for them. So you have to understand the favor of God is in you and with you, even when it doesn't look like it, even when it doesn't feel like it, even when it doesn't seem like it. God makes a promise in 46. He tells Jacob in the dream that I'm with you. And that I'll be with you all the way. And so God is saying the same thing to us. I will be with you all the way through the famine, all the way through the test, all the way through the struggle, all the way through the heartache, all the way through the pain, all the way through the adversity, all the way through the death. God is saying to us, all the way through the sickness, that I'm going to sustain you in the land of Goshen. I keep beating that point because I want you to come out of this particular chapter with some hope. But God, what seems impossible to man is very possible for God. It is very possible for God. Matter of fact, it's impossible for God to lie, and it's impossible for God to fail. So giving these things, God is going to sustain me again in the land of. And God is sustaining me. God will sustain me in the land of Goshen. Again, I need that to be somebody's hope. If you're seeing there hopeless, I need you to wrap your head around God will sustain you in the land of Goshen. God will sustain in the land of Goshen. Okay, now verse 13 gives us back to reality. Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe. They went from our two verses were folks being blessed from those two verses, and now we jump into the reality of the text, which I told you in the background of the reality of the text, there is no food. The famine was so very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan linguished by reason of famine. They were struck, they were shaken, the economy was wrenched or squeezed because there was no food in the land. But look at God. Verse 14 and Jacob gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in change for the grain that they had bought. When he did that, and Jacob bought. The money into Pharaoh's house. So they were given money in exchange for food. Joseph then gathers up all of the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain they had bought. And Joseph bought the money into Pharaoh's house. And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone. We spent all we had. We spent all we could spend to get grain. And so looking at this, I'm still telling you that had nothing to do with the folks that came out of Canaan. That had nothing to do with Joseph's family. They were blessed beyond measure. Sis Kapru says Joseph was used by God to keep his people from starving. And the promise is still there. Great observation, Sis Kapru, that they were kept from starving because of Joseph, the one that they had done wrong. Which brings us to a point. Quit worrying about the people that are doing you wrong. God is going to make them usher you in to the table. Psalms 23 says, Thou prepares a table before me, not in the presence of my friends, but in the presence of mine enemies. The folks that can't stand me will be the folks that will serve me during my party. And if that don't shout you, I don't know what will. That God has it set, a system set that will have you in the spot that you need to be served. So he gathers up all the money, he brings it to Pharaoh, and then the people from Egypt, the Egyptians, in verse 15, say to Joseph, We have spent all the money in the land of Egypt and Canaan. And all the Egyptians came, Joseph said, Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone. And Joseph answered, Give your livestock, give your cattle, and I will give you food in exchange. Then he says, uh in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone, verse 17, if your money is gone, verse 17 it says, so they brought their livestock to Joseph. And Joseph gave them food in exchange. Look at it, watch it carefully, watch it carefully. He gave them food in exchange for their cattle. This is all strategic. And then they came back in verse 17. So they brought their livestock and gave the food in exchange for horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for their livestock that year. And when that year ended, they got a year's supply of food. They came to him with the following year and said, We will not hide from my Lord that all of our money is all spent. The herd of our livestock are my Lord's. There's nothing left in the sight of my Lord but our bodies and our land. Watch the text. There's nothing left. They said, There's nothing left. The Egyptians came and said, The herds of our livestock belong to you. There's nothing left in the sight of our Lord but our bodies and our land. Verse 19, why should we die before your eyes? Sound familiar? They became indentured servants and our land for food. And we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. We'll be slaves to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die. And that land may not be desolate. Watch 20 will carefully. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their field, because the famine was so severe on them. He made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other end of Egypt. Only the priests, the land of the priests, he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on that of allowance that Pharaoh gave them before they uh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell their land. Siskaprove says that Joseph's life serves as a role model for believers in Jesus Christ. It does serve as a role model. And also, it also serves that Joseph, if you're literally looking at the text, you'd be like, Joseph is a, some would say shrewd, some would say ruthless, some would say brilliant, some would say smart, but he's a businessman. He's about business, he's about doing the business. We as believers ought to be also good at business and taking care of business and being in position to do business. And the unfortunate part for us as believers is that we are not in position to do the work, neither will we come together to formulate a system that will benefit those that are in our stratosphere, those that are in our circles, those that are in our belief. We don't do that. We fight amongst each other trying to get it all for ourselves. But Joseph never worked for himself. He always acquires for Pharaoh. Always understands that anything that I do, there's somebody above me and somebody above him that gave me the summons to save not only my people, not only my family, not only my brothers that done me wrong, but also to save Egypt itself because Egypt was struck by the famine, just like Canaan. So this brilliant businessman that we see cultivating and moving and growing, he is going a large conglomerate, a large business. Check this out. He's creating a multi million billion dollar business, but he's doing it in a bad time of the economy. He's running against the grain. He's growing when folks say he should be shrinking. He is doing things and moving things when things seem to be unmovable because that's the kind of God we serve. He's able to do anything but fail, to deal with the impossible. That's why Jesus tells his disciples in the disciples' prayer, give us this day our daily bread. God tell me supply my needs for what I need today, but also give me the insight to be able to provide for tomorrow. Now, and again, providing for tomorrow don't mean that I'm trying to make it on my own, but it means, God, I'm going to trust you to envision me with a plan that will build for generations to come. I know they ain't studying you, they ain't sudden what you do, and they spoiled and all this other stuff that we like to say and do. But we want to have a plan in place that will be a benefit to our children's children. One of the things that I am just always fired up about is when I see young people that are generating businesses and taking their creative talents and then generating funds. The difference for them is they are not wise in their spending and saving when the famine comes. They're not taking that 5% and setting it back. I don't know who that one's for. That was a couple of chapters ago that Joseph tells Pharaoh, say 5% of the crops, set it back. You got bumper crops, you can feast off the bumper crops, use that, but then set stuff back for a rainy day. We don't want to set stuff back, especially people of color. We do not want to set stuff back for rainy days. I want it and I want it now. I'm gonna deal with it now. I'm gonna buy it even though it may cost me 22% interest, which is ridiculous. I don't need it that bad. Point A, I had to tell my son, cars go point A to point B. I don't care what they look like. If the engine is good, I don't care about no dents, I don't care about no scratches. I'm not telling you don't take care of your stuff and you don't need shoddy stuff, but also you got to understand until God moves me to another level and gives me the plan, I have to be satisfied on how to take care of what I have. I take care of what I'm dealing with, take care of what when life is treating me good and money's coming in, save some of that. Quit spinning. I said this on Sunday. When God tells us, bring the tithe to the storehouse, the tent to the storehouse, and we get all tight and up tight, he's telling us, don't eat your seed, but plant your seed and plant it in good soil. He says, I will open up the windows of heaven, pour you out a blessing that you shall not have room enough to receive it. And most of us are guilty for eating seed instead of sowing seed. Here it is in text. There it is. As for all the people, he made servants of them from one end to the other end. 22. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived, lived, what's the principle, and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their land. Verse 23. Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, or look, I brought you, I bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is the seed for you, and you shall sow in the land. Now look at this entrepreneur. Watch how he's thinking, watch how his wisdom kicks in. He says to the people, Behold, I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Then he says to them, Now here's seed for you. Here's what you're going to plant, and you shall sow in the land. Verse 24. And at the harvestes, watch the brilliance of Joseph's plan. At the harvest time, you shall give a fifth five percent to Pharaoh. And four fifths shall be at your own as a seed for the field, as food for yourselves and your households, as food for your little ones. He says, You hold back, give Pharaoh. Now, Pharaoh is a boss. He's a boss because he's not doing the plans, but he has somebody that is making the plan up. If you're the smartest guy in the room, you need to get out of that room. You need to get in a room where you can learn from others what they're doing to be successful. It can always be that you're the most successful person in the building. I'm always trying to learn from somebody that's ahead of me that's done it better. And can I say this to every black man that is tearing my voice? Please understand this. The only man that wants you to be better than them is your father. Every other man views you as competition. So please, gentlemen, listen to the direction. If you're blessed enough to have a father, listen to the direction of your father and what he's given you. He's not trying to harm you. I need you to learn from my mistakes and then capitalize. And then because what you have in this dispensation of time is youth. What I have in my dispensation of time is experience. And if we take those two things of youth and experience and mold them together, then we have what we will have as being able to build an empire together as a people. So he tells them, he makes a brilliant business plan. He says, now here's what I need y'all to do. I'm going to give you some seed. I want you to become your own business, your own entity, your own captain of industry. Become your own, your own boss. That's what I want you to do. You're going to work for Pharaoh because you're going to keep Pharaoh's already getting it. He's already in position because of who he is. Again, notice this is dealing with the Egyptians, not dealing with Joseph's family at all. They're employed, gainfully fed, blessed by God, sitting in Goshen in the upper part of chapter, and now we're in the hood with the Egyptians. And Joseph offers a plan to them and says to those who are in the struggle. He says to them, Look, here's what you do. I'll give you some seed. Sow it in the land. Do the work. You got to do the work. There's no such thing as a shortcut. You have to do the work. You have to build. If you don't build and you inherit and you don't know, you're going to lose what your inheritance is because you don't know how to work it. So here he tells, here's how you work it. I'm going to give you seed for your fields and as food for yourselves and for your households, and as food for your little ones. I'm going to cover your basic needs. I'm going to cover what you need. He says, and they said, You have saved our lives. They didn't come back moaning. They didn't come back complaining. They said, You've saved our lives. You've given us a plan. May it please my Lord. We will be the servants of Pharaoh. So Joseph made it a statute. He makes it a law. He makes it a concept concerning the land of Egypt. And it stands to this day that Pharaoh should have a fifth. The land of the priest alone did not become Pharaoh. He makes it a point to invoke God's wisdom to include where everybody wins. God's wisdom is very direct and complex. It is complex and is only complex if you don't want to do it God's way. God says, I can keep it away from you if you're a fool. That's what he says in Proverbs. He says, but if you hear my instructions, they'll become simple to you. If you do what I asked you to do, you don't have to worry about the blessing. It may not look like it, but you have to trust me. So he says, here's what I want you to, here's what I want you to do. And let me see what Randy says. Randy says, and wisdom that comes from the right decision making. Wisdom comes from God. It's going to be right. God knows everything. So through God, when we when asked, when God presents it to you, please understand that it's never going to be comfortable because it's not your plan. It's not going to be comfortable. And they said, you saved our lives. You have to be grateful, though, because of the fact they saved their lives were saved, but they also had the ability to now have some hope. Now I can dictate what I'm going to do. And I can dictate how I'm going to maneuver because now I've been given seed and that will grow on the land. I will give, I don't own the land, but there's enough. If Pharaoh gets a fifth part of it, and I four fifths will be my own, and seed for the field, I can provide. All a man wants to do is provide and protect. That's what he wants to do. Any man worth this salt wants to provide, protect, proclaim. Y'all, y'all talk to me. Provide, protect, proclaim. Ladies, if he's not providing, if he's not protecting, and he's not proclaiming his love for you, that ain't your man. That's not who God has sent. That's not where you should be. That's for free. So Joseph makes it a law concerning the land of Egypt, and it stances say Pharaoh should have the fifth. The land of the priests goes untouched. Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt. Here we go. Now we're getting back to Joseph's people. And the reason why I'm setting this up like this is because I want you to understand that God has a great sense of humor, but he also knows what he's doing. He wants to put us in position to be successful. So he gives this law, and when the law comes up, comes out, thus verse 27, and we're about through with this text. Verse 27 says, Thus Israel settled. Israel lived. Israel was comfortable in the land of Egypt and in the land of Goshen. Notice where I said he wasn't in the place that was struggling. He was in the place of Goshen. He's in the verse number six. He's in the best place. Pharaoh says, you know, survey, look in Goshen. Goshen's the Beverly Hills of the time. Go into Goshen and pick out your plot. Let your folks settle there. I got you. You got the credit card. You got the black card. Go do what you got to go do. Nowhere in this text, I want y'all to look at this plainly and clearly. Nowhere in this text does Joseph and Jacob and his brothers and their kids and the grandkids and their servants struggle. They don't struggle. Who struggles? The non-believers are the ones that are struggling. Why is it that it's reversed in this day because we have chosen not to take God at His Word? God tells us to provide, protect, proclaim. We decide that's not what we want to do. We want everybody. We want to participate in what the world system says versus what God's system says. And again, when you get that, you're gonna end up in Egypt. You're gonna end up not in Goshen, but you're gonna end up in the ghetto of Egypt. And so thus they settled in the land. Look what he's saying about these folks the land of Goshen, and they gained possession. In it. Look at the text. Y'all read it for yourselves. They gained. But this is a economic uh turn down. This is a recession. They gained possession of it, in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. What is it that they do that we don't do? That in that in a recession they're gaining. What are we doing? Where's our faith that in the midst of turmoil the rich get richer and the poor are poorer? What are we doing? Who do we trust in? So our goals, our systems are failing us, but we'd rather trust ourselves than trust what God has for us. That's why He tells Jacob, Israel, in chapter 26. Look here, I'm gonna go with you. Don't be worried about going into Egypt. You're struggling in Canaan. You're starving in Canaan. You sent the boys three times, and yet we still keep running out. You've discovered now that Joseph is alive, and he's asking you to come to Egypt. He's asking you to make a move. He's asking you to do something that is against every fiber of your being. But he says, I'm with you no matter what you do and no matter where you go. I'm with you. I'm with you. And God is saying that tonight to some of somebody, I don't know who I'm talking to, but God is saying, Yeah, you may not have the job, but I'm with you. You may have been passed over, but no, I'm with you. Just wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart. Then he says again, I repeat, wait, I say. You see, Sister Prue says, and the plan caused Pharaoh to prosper. Everyone was blessed, and that is why we trust God with everything. That's why it should be our plan to trust God with everything, because everybody benefits. When we who are pure of heart give and do what we're supposed to do, everybody benefits. Thus, Israel settled. I want y'all to look at the text highlighted if you got your Bible open. Thus, Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. I keep trying to tell you, some of y'all still were disobedient when I said I'm surviving or I'm thriving in Goshen. I told you, type that in, and three people did it. Um God's will for us to be in Goshen, but we got to understand where it is, where we are, who we are, and God will sustain us in Goshen. God will sustain us in Goshen. I'm gonna say it again. God will sustain us in Goshen because it is his plan and not ours. I'm gonna ask you again, just type in God will sustain me in Goshen. You may not understand Goshen. You will understand Goshen by the time we get through with this text. That Goshen is a place of promise that God supplied. God will sustain in Goshen. God will sustain me because we got to keep telling ourselves that because the enemy is telling us different. It is not about name it, claim it, blab it, grab it. It's not that. It's about having the belief system that God will supply all of our needs according to his riches, not the world's riches, because the world's riches run out. God's riches, God's system sustains us. I don't know who I'm talking to today. You may be a member of another fellowship. Yeah, I'm take pick this time, pick this moment to lock in to I'm going to give God the tenth. I'm going to give God the tithe. I'm going to give God the tithe and offering. I'm going to go into Goshen because I'm tired of living in the poverty of Egypt. I'm tired of being a slave to the system. But when I go into Goshen, I place everything on God and nothing on me. They settled there. They gained great possessions in Goshen. They were fruitful and multiplied greatly. They were happy in Goshen. They were full of food in Goshen. They weren't starving in Goshen. That's the text. Verse 28 says, And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years. So the days of Jacob and the years of his life were 147. He stayed in Goshen. 17 years. He said, I'm staying in Goshen. I'm in the land of promise. For 17 years God was faithful to him. And so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years. And when the time drew near that Jacob or Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh, which was a Middle Eastern ritual of swearing. He says to him, Here's what I need you to do. If I've now found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. He said to Joseph, I'll die in Egypt, but don't leave me here. Don't bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. I want to be with my family. He answered him, I will do as you have said. And he said, Swear to me, he swore to him, and Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed. He then presented to God, he then presented, his son presented to him a place of comfort that put him in a place for him to be able to prepare himself to die, to prepare himself to meet God. Again, we want you to understand that with the context of this text, God puts us in a place to where we understand, because the Lord asked a question, I'm gonna answer this right at the end. Then if Joseph brought his family to Egypt, how did they then become the slaves of Egypt? How did they become, how they became from being victorious to being victims? How did they come from being on top of the world to being on the bottom of the of the food chain? How'd that happen? Exodus 1.8 answers that question. Exodus answers the question in the first chapter, Exodus, verses 8, verse 8 is the key verse, but I'm gonna set the text so you can understand how they went from being on top, being in position. And that's why we need to understand, even though we're in position, there's a maintenance that goes along with being on top. Okay, there's a maintenance that goes with you, and responsibility that goes with you learning how to handle yourself while you're in position to be a blessing to somebody else. Verse 1 of Exodus 1.8. Just turn this a bonus. This is a bonus for you guys. Exodus 1.8. Now these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt, every man and his household with Jacob. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, Neftali, Gad, and Asher, and all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls. For Joseph was in Egypt already. Verse number six, highlighted, put a star by it. And Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation, and the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them. Verse number eight. Here's the answer to the question how did they then get it reversed? Now there rose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that falleth out any war, they will join unto our enemies and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Here's how they got it reversed. They were so comfortable being comfortable that they did not, they did not push to see that there was a new regime coming and ingratiate or insert themselves like Joseph did into Pharaoh. They were multiplying, they were abundant, they were mighty, and the land was filled with them. They were successful. But nowhere after verse 6 it said, and Joseph died and his gen and all that generation. Nobody kept up the practice of Joseph. There was not another Joseph after Joseph that wanted to serve in the capacity of being a servant, of being saying, okay, God, what did God tell you? How did you do this? When did God, nobody at no, nowhere on record did anybody, they enjoyed the luxury that Joseph provided, but nobody wanted to do the practice that Joseph did. Nobody wanted to go through what was going through. So yeah, maintenance and learn. Nobody wants to learn the system. What's wrong with our kids today? They don't want to learn the system. They don't want to learn to give God praise. They don't want to learn to be a blessing. They don't want to learn to pray for those that despitefully use you. They don't want to do none of that. They want to exact vengeance. They want to kill each other for your stuff. They want to take your stuff instead of earn their own. They don't want to be sustained in Goshen. They don't want to be blessed in the land of promise. They don't want none of that. They want to do what they want to. They want to run with the world system. Okay. And so Dr. Charlotte says they became slaves after Joseph died under a new Pharaoh. There's a new Pharaoh. But there was always going to be a new Pharaoh. The Bible tells us Donald Trump ain't no surprise. He was always going to be. He told folks what he was going to do. And folks, when the pandemic hit, everybody was running. We can't go to church. And how come church is close? Well, I don't want the church to close. And then when the church is open back up and business comes back to normal and everything goes back to status quo, where are we? What are we doing? How faithful are we to what we say we are? Why are we not practicing the promises that our forefathers practice? We got comfortable in Goshen. But again, you can still remain in Goshen and have the promise. God will sustain me, but I've got to change my attitude. I've got to change how I'm approaching this. I've got to change what has gotten us there from the junk. My great-grandmothers and grandfathers were diligent of being a part of the body of Christ and diligent of being part of church. Now, church, you can take it or leave it. I don't believe it. There's things that are said that we, because the internet, we believe anything the internet says, our young people are being dragged off because we gave them an option to whether they can serve God or not. We have to take the Joshua approach. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. That has to be the option. There is no other option for us. We will serve the Lord. Audrey says Joseph and his people became non-existent. The new kid on the block wanted to do it their way. Again, when you do not insert yourself into the new regime with the practices and the promises, I'm almost sure the new Pharaoh knew, the only reason he didn't know about Joseph is because nobody had a relationship that was brought into place. They got comfortable. When we get comfortable, we quit doing what we do. I'm going to say this for the ladies and the men. I don't want to just single out ladies. Try to lose weight. When you get to your goal or to your place where you think you look good or where you think you look the way you want to do, it is a tendency as human beings to slack off and not do what I'm supposed to do. There's got to be maintenance. Maintain your prayer life. Gotta maintain your reading of your word. You gotta maintain staying focused into what God has plugged you into. Otherwise, you'll get caught up in the success of being comfortable. And when you get caught up in that success, you'll take credit for it instead of give credit to God. And that again, I don't worry about losing it. God gave it to me. So God, if it's this will for it to be lost, what can we do? But here's what, yeah, we created our own comfort. We feel as though we create our own comfort. And it's not that's not the fact at all. If it had not been for the Lord who is on my side, we need to start understanding where I would be. And in understanding that, that's when we will understand that I can do nothing outside of him. He said, I am the true vine, and John, I am the true vine. My father is the husband man. There's no vine that can survive outside of me. And he says, Here's what I do with vines. He says, I will if I will pick them up and cut them off. Now, when we look at that text, when he says cut off, he means prune. He doesn't mean cut your sever you. God is not in the business of severing us from his grace and mercy. That's a misinterpretation of that text. He says, Those whom I love I chastise. He's not chastising you because you're bad, he's chastising you because he loves you. He says you won't submit to discipline, you're going to become undisciplined and gonna lose it in any way. Amen. So again, I want to say to you, if you understood this text, understood what I was presenting, and again, it's a little different spin when you're doing it by yourself. But we got to learn to live in Goshen. And we got to learn that Goshen is the destination that God is getting us to, and He settles us there, but He also needs us to be witnesses to expand. Again, the text that we presented, the Egyptians were the slaves. The Egyptians were the indentured servant. So where did the flip come? The flip came because man has a way of when they think you've been on for so long and that you've done what you do, they have a way of being jealous and wanting to turn it over. But we also have a propensity to not practice what God is there. And in doing that, it if we fall right into the hands of the enemy. All right, y'all, thank you for bearing with me through chapter 47. I hope that when you are having the worst day of your life, this pops into your head that I am living and sustained, and God will sustain me in the land of Goshen. I'm living, I'm sustained, I'm taken care of, I'm protected, I'm provided for, and God proclaims his love for me in the land of Goshen. He gives us a great insight of what we should be as men, what we should be as believers, what we should be as husbands, that those three things need to hang out with us. That we are to lead the charge, proclaiming, protecting, and providing. God led the charge for us. We need to lead the charge for our families. All right. The Lord bless you, God keep you as our prayer for our sick, our shut in. We got a praise report again that we're gonna share, that we're gonna have Laura share with you all on Sunday. Everything is well and God is good. And pray for their neighbors across the street, and passing of their mother and their grandmother. And just know that it could have been you. But God keeps you protected in the land of Goshen. Okay? And then we're praying for all of our seniors. We're praying for each other. And y'all pray for me and pray for our family as well. Um I want to stress prayer becomes essential to our church family. So we again we want you to be advised that we will be praying. If you are interested, let me know, and I will be able to shoot you a text back with the prayer zoom room. We want that to grow wherever you may be at 6 o'clock on West Coast Time, Pacific Standard Time, which is 9 o'clock on the East Coast from my East Coast, folks. We will be in prayer. We work to get one hour in. Sometimes it's less, depends on who's praying, but we're going to be there for prayer. Y'all meet us there. Folks from the fellowship, meet us there. And we're praying for each other. The Zoom room for our prayer meeting, 6 o'clock p.m. 234-392-1728. One more time for those that are like me in 234-392-1728. The information on the podcast, you can go to Apple, Spotify, Good Thread, Google, any platform that carries podcasts. You want to look for the word on Wednesday with the Simons. If you go to any podcast platform that carries podcasts, if you look for the word on Wednesday with the Simons, you will have the Bible studies on podcast. The late night lattes with Lady Laura will be on podcast. Anywhere, look us up. iHeartRadio carries it. I mean, we want to thank Amber. Amber does the work for us, gets it online, gets it moving. Please, sir, please, ma'am. It will be a blessing to you. Um Facebook, you get the live here, but the podcast will be so when you're working out or walking, you will have that. And Miss Felicia and her husband have a powerful Bible study that's on Saturday mornings and starts at 8:30. I've been on with them a couple of times. You will be blessed by their ministry and by what they are accomplishing. And again, it is ours to spread the word to people where we are. Let me challenge you. One more thing, and I'm out because I'm going over time. Let me also challenge you between now and Resurrection Sunday. Make it a challenge to you, saints and Christian friends, no matter what church you are affiliated with, make it a challenge to invite at least two people to resurrection Palm Sunday service. Give them time. Start inviting them now so they can get warmed up. Um, I believe God is going to do a great move on Resurrection Sunday, the first Sunday in April. So again, God told me to challenge the saints to learn to live in Goshen. Let's go to the Lord for her. Father, how we love you, how we thank you for this day. God, we thank you for all that we were able to accomplish in your word. God, I pray that there was no lost words and describing the context of this text. God, I pray for each and every hearer to let them know that we are living in Goshen. And God, there's a promise that you have given us in Goshen. There is adequate substance and provision in Goshen. Now, God, I pray for those that are of entrepreneurial minds and business strategy minds that you will bring them to the kingdom and the body of Christ, that we will be able to finance in this world system the things of God, that we will be able to magnify you even greater. Now, God, I pray that you give us a good night's rest. We pray for the sick, the shut in, the bereaved families, all those that are in need. And God, we pray for those that are in the armed services that are in Iran, in Iraq, God, in those regions, Israel. You said in the book of Revelation that there'll be wars and rumors of war. And God, it's now coming to pass. So now, God, bless us. Help us not be weary in well doing. But we shall reap if we fraint now. Now, God, I pray that you bless us and keep us. God, we just thank you for who you are and who you've been in our lives. And we ask it in Jesus' name and we pray. Amen. Alright, y'all. Blessings to you. You have a great night. See you soon.