WEBVTT 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:12.320 We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel, and we happen to have some extra copies. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:16.960 If you didn't bring one with you and you would like one to follow, follow along, just raise your hand up. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.559 Matt, somebody in the back can uh bring one by so that you can follow along. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:29.280 The uh uh internet uh network for the building is also up on the screen, along with the uh uh password if you would like that. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.960 We're studying the book of Genesis, and it's the book of beginnings. 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:40.079 It goes back to the beginning of beginnings, of course, where it says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.399 And uh we we we studied through those first 11 chapters as one section. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:51.920 Now we've been studying really the lives of the patriarchs and the way that uh God has been in pursuit of a people he can call his own. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:01:17.200 And he has made as progress has been made through this book, I hope you uh have been inspired and encouraged uh by what you see God doing in the lives of so many of these characters that we read about because their lives just as messy as our lives, and uh their brokenness just as severe as our brokenness, and their longings just as deep as our longings. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:25.840 And so uh we come now, we're really in the this is the second to last study of the book of Genesis, and you say, Yeah, but Jim, there are five chapters. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.519 And and I say, Yes, that's right. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:34.239 We'll do two of them today, and then uh uh we'll get together next week and uh tackle the last three chapters. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:37.920 But we're gonna call this one a sojourning reunion. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.239 Uh I don't know if you like reunions or not. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:41.840 I happen to like reunions. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:42.959 Uh I think they're great. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.920 I love it when long-lost family members are reunited. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:47.680 We've all heard stories like that. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:49.840 Uh when old friends are reunited. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.359 I love it when pet owners find their lost dogs. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:55.040 That has happened to me. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:00.560 Uh I love it when uh pet owners find their lost cat, their bunny, or even their boa constrict. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:01.120 I don't care. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.319 Whatever you got, if you find it, it's a good thing. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:14.159 Reunions are a good thing, unless, of course, you're talking about the reunion of ABBA or air supply or Milly Vanilli. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:19.919 Or if you were to even go so far as to say the spice girls are limp biscuit. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.639 I would probably not be, I would probably not be into all now. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:24.080 Have I offended almost everybody? 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.159 I'm kind of reaching for that. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:28.560 Um let's look though at this sojourn. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.879 I'm gonna call it a sojourning reunion, because what we have here is sort of the climax. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:49.199 We've been working toward this, where the family of Jacob and all of his sons and the entourage, right, have uh you know discovered now uh Joseph has uh uh uh revealed himself to the brothers, and it's really moving and powerful. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:56.080 But now we're gonna read in verses or chapter 46 and 47 about Jacob actually moving to Egypt. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:02.719 And it's so it's a sojourning, it's a traveling, if you will, reunion, because it's not their permanent home. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:08.159 And I think that's something for us to take note of and to maybe learn something about. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:09.599 What does that teach us about God? 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:16.000 What does that teach us about God's will for his people as he calls them and what happens to them sometimes? 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:31.120 I don't know if you ever feel like the stagecoach is running toward the edge of the cliff and you know, in your world or in the world around us, and you're wondering if if God's in charge or if, you know, what does this all mean, all these changes and disruption and all of that? 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:41.599 This is that kind of story that's been preserved for us uh down through history to remind us some things, to remind us of some things about the God who's actually in charge of it all. 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.960 And so uh without uh further ado, let's take a look. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:51.919 Uh, I'll remind you, Jacob, Israel, is 130 years old at this particular moment. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:04:00.159 And Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:16.720 So the first thing he did after receiving the good news that Joseph's alive and he wants to, he wants to welcome them to out of the famine that is around the world and into the safety of uh of where he's at in Egypt and where he actually has plenty of food. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.319 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:24.319 And by the way, it's interesting to me that that happens multiple times. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:28.000 This is probably about the fifth time we've heard of God speaking to Jacob. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:32.160 And guess how many times we read of God speaking to Joseph? 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:33.360 Zero. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:35.680 That's interesting to me. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.439 It's actually encouraging to me. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:42.959 Because we do read multiple times of God being with Joseph. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:52.079 Unless we fixate on the sort of supernatural moments of thinking, we hear a special word from the, or whatever. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:05:00.959 I just want you to know there are people that we, you know, here's a quarter of the book of Genesis dedicated to the Joseph storyline. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:10.319 And God, we're told God is with him over and over and over again, but he doesn't have one of these big supernatural moments where he gets, you know, some kind of a vision or something. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:18.560 It's just daily sort of fidelities, and it's God being faithful, God being with him, the divine initiative in his life. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:20.800 Um, this is really interesting. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:27.839 But God spoke to Jacob or Israel in visions of the night, and he said to him, Jacob, Jacob, and he said, Here I am. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.199 And then God said, I am God, the God of your father. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:38.240 Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:42.240 So Jacob, your family will become a nation. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:51.600 This will sort of in his mind, Jacob, who sat around the campfire with Isaac, who sat around the campfire with Abraham, the promise. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:54.480 We sing, the promise, pass the promise. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:06.959 That promise got passed along as well to Abraham, that your descendants will be as numerous as the sand on the seashores or the number of stars in the skies. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:17.920 Here's a promising God who keeps his promises, even when the road or the path seems very strange at times. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:19.680 Go to Egypt. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:22.959 No, do not be afraid to go to Egypt. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.720 Don't be afraid of change, of strange change. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:30.720 If it's God behind it, you can trust God. 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:44.560 And he is basically breaking through to Jacob as Jacob goes to Beersheba, that place where Abraham and Isaac, that very frequent spot for them to go and worship the Lord. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.120 And I love this about what happens right here. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:48.800 And do not be afraid, of course. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.040 We constantly like to point that out. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:55.040 The most often repeated negative command in the Bible is don't do this. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:57.199 Don't be afraid. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.160 Verse 4, I will go down with you to Egypt. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:06.319 And I will also surely bring you up again, and Joseph will close your eyes. 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:14.879 So there's this promise that actually goes beyond the sojourning moment there in Egypt, which is really going to be about a 400-year moment. 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:20.240 But God's going to say to Jacob and his family, I will go with you. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:21.519 I'll be with you. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:30.560 And then as after a period of time, I'll also bring you, meaning this nation that is going to come from your descendants. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.279 I'm going to bring them back to the promised land. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.639 The same promise he gave to Abraham. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:47.439 And we read that same indicator that they're going to be in a foreign land in Genesis chapter 15, which you can check that out on yourself by yourself if you would like to. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:54.319 So they took their livestock, it says here, and he arose from Beersheba, verse 5. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:59.680 And the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:12.959 They took their livestock and their property, which they had required in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him, his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters and his granddaughters and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:21.600 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who were who went to Egypt. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:27.439 Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and the sons of Reuben, dot, dot, dot. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:40.960 Unless you think I'm afraid of trying to pronounce the names, I just remind you, we've done a bunch of that before, but I'm going to let you read these aloud at lunch today, no matter where you go. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.200 And I want you, you know, watch the people and the tables around you move away from you or whatever it is. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:50.480 But yeah, it's it's a great list, and it's a great reminder that each of these names are important to God. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:09:01.519 Each of these, and here's the thing: God is saying to uh Jacob, I know you, I know your family, and I know uh who's going with you. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:06.879 And all of this is preserved to remind us, I think, that down through history, God's ultimately in charge. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:12.000 And so specific people are listed, but also these people are talked about as a group as well. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:17.360 It's not either or, it's both and when it comes to our faith in God. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:22.879 I'm an individual, I'm one sheep in the flock, but I'm a part of a flock. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:29.840 And I belong to Jesus, and I also belong to everybody else who belongs to Jesus. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:34.159 And that's really what I think this kind of thing reminds us of. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:38.639 That he's God is meticulously watching over human history. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:50.879 And in this particular case, these these are the people that are going to be the fountain through which the sort of the stream of the people of God will come and the nation will be formed there in Egypt, and then God will go and set them all free. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:10:00.240 Verse 26, all the persons belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt as direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob's sons, were 66 persons in all. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.600 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.840 And all the persons of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were 70. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.120 Remember the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:16.480 Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph to point out the way before him to Goshen. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:24.879 Goshen would be that area, that region of Egypt that would be uh to the north and and uh that sort of the northeast corner of Egypt. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:32.480 And great land there, uh great opportunity for them to bring their flocks and their herds and be able to uh flourish there. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:34.240 And Joseph prepared his chariot. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:39.440 And this remember, he is the he's the number two, he's the right-hand man of the Pharaoh. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:45.039 So he's got his chariot, he prepares it, he's got a license plate on that chariot that's VP. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.919 You know, he's literally vice pharaoh. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:11:02.240 And uh and so he has lots of privileges and has the ability to offer to his family with Pharaoh's endorsement the best land that there is for them there. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:07.440 And so he prepared his chariot, verse 29 tells us, and he wanted to go to Goshen to meet his father Israel. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:19.200 As soon as he appeared before him, and please don't miss us, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck along the time. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.000 And guys, this is like 22 years. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:27.759 I thought you were dead. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:35.360 22 years mourning, grieving, trying to kind of move on in some ways. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:48.320 But now all of a sudden, the most amazing, surprising news that God had preserved Joseph for such a time as this. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:53.039 And uh as he as they I mean, what did that look like? 00:11:53.200 --> 00:12:03.440 I mean, Joseph literally dresses like an Egyptian, looks like an Egyptian, has the Egyptian haircut, the Egyptian makeup, and it looks, talks, and walks like an Egyptian, you know? 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:12.000 I mean, so what must that have been like, though, to see his son after 20, 22 years? 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:18.799 Um I I don't I don't like being displaced from my wife for a weekend. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:20.639 Yeah, we're like calling each other. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:25.360 I you know, I don't want to make you guys too sick of the syrup and all that stuff, but I mean it's like every 20 minutes. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:25.759 You okay? 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:26.240 Yeah, I'm okay. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:26.879 All right, I miss you. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:27.519 I love you, honey. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.279 You too schmucky, you know, all that stuff. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:49.039 All the all the little nicknames and all that stuff, and I know a bunch of you are the same way, and you you you do that same kind of thing, and you have your certain parameters, but you you know, you being reunited with somebody you love is just so amazing, and this is so moving here when Joseph and his father finally see each other after all this time. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:53.759 Israel, Jacob, said to Joseph, now let me die. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.600 This is an old testament nuncdemitis. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:01.840 This is this is now I can now I can die in peace. 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:06.799 You know, this is this is what I've been longing for for so long. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.879 And so the emotion is there, and we don't want to miss it. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.159 It speaks to us too. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:19.279 Now let me die, since I've seen your face, that you are still alive. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:30.639 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, I will go up until Pharaoh and will say to him, My brothers and my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:38.080 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they've brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:42.559 And it should come about when Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation? 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:55.519 That you shall say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers, that you may live in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:57.759 Now, what's Joseph doing there? 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:08.240 He's telling his family, um, tell the truth about your occupation in a world where shepherds are despised, looked down on. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:13.679 Your shepherds are from the other side of the tracks, we might say, in our own nomenclature. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:19.200 But just tell the truth about who you are and what you do. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:40.799 And perhaps even in so doing, uh, Joseph realizes that this uh may go well for them, that it would lower any sense of a threat that Pharaoh and the Egyptians might feel as these folks come in with some level of privilege, and uh as they're going to expand and grow as we know. 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:47.200 And along the way, um they uh another pharaoh will come along who won't know who Joseph is. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:51.200 And we'll see those of you who have read the book of Exodus understand how the story goes. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:52.879 They end up becoming a threat. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:59.759 They end up becoming enslaved in bondage in very severe uh work conditions. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:07.360 But I love this chapter for the reunion that it is, and the way that uh these two come together. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:14.320 And I I found there's an article from uh actually it goes back to 1997, the Jerusalem Post, and I just wanted to read it to you. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:16.960 It's kind of short, but it's a more modern-day version. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:21.840 I know a man, this is by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, is the guy's name who wrote it. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.960 I know a man who grew up in South Africa, having been rescued by Christians during the Holocaust. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:32.559 He lived in Johannesburg, turned religious under Habad influence, and eventually became a rabbi. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:38.320 Once he found himself on a plane next to an elderly gentleman to whom he felt particularly drawn. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:43.200 They spoke in Yiddish and talked about Israel politics in the Jewish world. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:53.759 When breakfast was served, the older man ate the regular meal of sausages, eggs, and milk, while the rabbi ate his specially provided kosher breakfast. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:59.360 The rabbi gently suggested that perhaps the elderly man could do without the sausage. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:07.840 The rabbi was told in no uncertain terms that since he had lost his only child in Auschwitz, the old man ate whatever he liked. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:15.600 They parted, but the rabbi couldn't get the elderly gentleman out of his mind and was deeply disappointed that he hadn't asked for his telephone number. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:20.240 Two years later, on a visit to Yad Vashem, that's a Holocaust Museum there in Jerusalem. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.279 Some of us have been there and to visit that site. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:31.120 But two years later, on a visit to Yad Vashem, the rabbi saw a familiar figure near the entrance of the building, and rushing over, he said, In Yiddish, do you recognize me? 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:32.639 Do you remember our plane trip? 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:38.159 The man smiled, nodded, and said, And I still eat the sausage. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.879 The rabbi wanted to see the exhibits and asked if the old man would join him. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:46.720 I never go in. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.080 Didn't I tell you I lost my only son in Auschwitz? 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.279 Something suddenly clicked in the rabbi's brain. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:55.120 What was your name before the war? 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:56.000 He asked. 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:59.279 And the man answered, the rabbi whispered with tears in his eyes. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:00.240 Tate. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.679 Yiddish for father. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:09.440 All that I was given by the people who adopted me was your name. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.119 I'm your son. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.240 Now they both live together in Israel. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:16.799 The father no longer eats sausages. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:25.039 And the only thing that the rabbi complains about is that whenever he enters the room, his father stands up. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:35.039 Well, because we're all sinful people, I'm pretty sure reunions have been necessary since the historical first family. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:37.039 It's very important. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:45.920 Our passage today is a 4,000-year-old reminder that God can do amazing things when hearts are obedient to him and surrendered to him. 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:47.680 And I think that should give us hope. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:49.039 But I think there's even more. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:51.839 And so let's take a look at chapter 47. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:03.119 Joseph went out, or went in, rather, and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they have have come out of the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.119 So Joseph, reporting to his boss, Pharaoh. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:09.759 And he took five men from among his brothers. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.599 We're not told which five, but he just took five, and presented them to Pharaoh. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.960 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:22.720 So they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:32.160 And they said to Pharaoh, We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.440 Now therefore, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:39.839 And then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:41.599 The land of Egypt is at your disposal. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:44.799 Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:46.480 Let them live in the land of Goshen. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:51.440 And if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:53.519 Isn't this beautiful, the way this is working out? 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:54.400 I love this. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:59.440 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.480 And this is really a twist right here, what it says. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.640 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:11.920 Usually it's the man with the status that does the blessing. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:15.759 But here, the 130-year-old Jacob blesses Pharaoh. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.960 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many years have you lived? 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:24.319 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The years of my sojourning are 130. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.920 Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:34.480 Nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:41.680 Abraham, you will recall, died at 175, Isaac at 180, I believe, if I'm recalling right. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:45.920 And so at 130, Jacob is going, I still got 50 years left on me. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.640 He's still talking about few years at 130. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.160 Well, Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:20:03.759 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession, a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramesses, as Pharaoh had ordered. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:09.440 And of course, our narrator has the perspective of time. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:19.039 And there, you know, some will triangulate the uh uh the events that are being reported here and go, hey, there was no Ramesses back then. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:32.559 Well, there was at the time of the writing, and so I think it's fair for the narrator to be able to use that term in writing, um, uh, whether this is Moses or an edited uh group of writers that Moses edited. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:37.119 Either way, Ramesses would have been later, and certainly uh Moses would know about that. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:38.640 So as Pharaoh had ordered. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:46.160 And Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food according to their little ones. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:48.640 And so here he is being able to bring his family. 00:20:48.799 --> 00:21:05.119 Remember, he had uh he had uh uh Joseph had uh uh these these these 10, 11 brothers, and including Benjamin, and now he's and there's a sister Donna as well that we know, and then there are all these grandchildren as well, too, grandchildren to Jacob. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:13.519 And so Joseph is just just in, he's in, he's grown up in a family with four moms, which is also three more than you're supposed to have anyway. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:30.880 And and and yet, and yet, all in spite of all of that, um God has been shepherding his flock, uh as they even as they shepherd the literal, literal flocks that they have brought into the land of Goshen. 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:31.759 Verse 13. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.680 Now there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:40.160 So the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:58.240 So the idea that you you're gonna be given here is about Joseph's management style and the gifting of management that God has given to Joseph and how that use of that gifting has actually found favor for him with the Pharaoh. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.680 Um, also, please. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.359 Please note the intensity of the famine here in verse 13. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:15.599 We, you know, I've been shocked lately at how I walk into Kroger, and my favorite choice of capers isn't there in a jar. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:22.640 Maybe you have two, well, maybe, maybe not, but it seems like some of the shelves are a little bare, okay? 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:27.680 We don't know anything at all about this kind of famine. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:33.519 And so, you know, I just want to point that out to you, how desperate these people were. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:39.039 And so it's so severe that the people are languishing. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:44.720 Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.359 And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:57.039 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us your food, for why should we die in your presence? 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:58.079 For our money is gone. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:04.400 And Joseph said, Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:15.519 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys, and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:23.200 And when that year was ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, We will not hide from my Lord that our money is all spent, and the cattle are my lord's. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:26.880 There's nothing left for my Lord except our bodies and our lands. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.000 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:36.400 By us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:41.599 So give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:49.599 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:52.720 Thus the land became Pharaoh's. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:24:01.519 And again, I want to just remind us all as we read this: this isn't teaching about slavery or something. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:02.880 That's not what this is. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:04.880 This is reportage. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:16.160 This is just reporting how desperate the world was at the time, and how desperate measures would be required for them all to survive. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:23.279 So if your goal is just to get to this, boy, you know, especially when we have this, you know. 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.079 But that's what's going on here. 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:28.240 It's such a desperate time. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:39.279 People are taking desperate measures, including Joseph, and he's attempting, with his management skill, to do things that will make sure people can eat. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:39.759 Okay? 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:43.680 And he brought all of the he bought all of the land for Pharaoh. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:46.240 Every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was severe. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:46.880 21. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:49.359 And as for the people, he removed them to cities. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:53.839 In other words, he moved them around from one end of Egypt, Egypt's border to the other. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:59.599 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:02.880 And they lived off the allotment which Pharaoh gave them. 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:05.039 Therefore they did not sell their land. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:10.079 Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:14.480 Now here is seed for you, and you may sow the land. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:16.640 Again, he wants them to be able to eat. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:18.559 He wants this all to work. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:31.440 And at harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, for your own, for seed of the field, and for your food and those of your households, and as food for your little ones. 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:38.160 Notice again the care and the compassion and the order that he's trying to bring to what is a desperate and chaotic situation. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:44.000 Joseph made a statute concerning the land of Egypt valid to this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:46.559 Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:51.519 So basically, it's a 20% flat tax, is what he's doing. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:55.200 And uh Israel lived in the land of Egypt in Goshen. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:58.559 They acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:02.480 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.440 So now he's 147, right? 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:08.640 So the length of Jacob's life is 147. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:22.799 When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:26.559 Please do not bury me in Egypt. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:32.960 But when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in the burial, in their burial place. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:35.599 And he said, I will do as you have said. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:47.279 Very much a tradition in their time, when you're going to make a promise to somebody, make a covenant promise to somebody that you will indeed follow through with, uh, to put their hand under their thigh. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:50.400 In our day and age, I'm really glad we shake hands. 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:53.119 That's all right with me, I'm sure it's all right with you. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:27:03.680 Uh but it does show the sacred, you know, the the level of uh seriousness, the promise that's being made. 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:09.680 Um, how important that was eye to eye making this promise. 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:13.920 Uh and he said, swear to me, and Joseph swore to him. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:16.799 Then Israel bowed, and this is fascinating to me. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:24.960 Jacob bowed, and in your, uh if you have a new American standard, it's in italics, which means it's not actually there, but it's implied. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:31.759 Uh he bowed in worship at the head of the bed. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:37.279 Uh, and so there he is, and he's we'll read about his actual death uh next week. 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:39.920 But here it is, he's getting ready to die. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:53.519 He understands um how important it is that God's promises to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob be realized and fulfilled, and that he actually's actually in a foreign land right now. 00:27:53.599 --> 00:28:07.759 He's an alien and a stranger, and God's promise needs to be fulfilled, and so he wants the promise from Joseph that his bones will be carried back and buried with Abraham, Isaac in the cave there at Makpila, and indeed that will happen. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:11.119 It'll be a really powerful thing the way that goes. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:15.839 Uh and we'll read about, we we we would read about that uh a little bit later. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:17.680 So, what do we learn here? 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:18.960 Well, let me just throw a few things. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:21.680 I'll just give you three things here today, or three or four things today. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:30.079 This is a sojourning reunion, as I said, this is a this is a temporary uh residence for them, and the reunion happens there, and it's beautiful. 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:36.000 But Jacob reminds us that seeking after God and worshiping God equips us to be able to hear from God. 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:40.240 And that happens at the very beginning of chapter 46, does it not? 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:46.000 When he goes to Beersheba, upon receiving this great news, Joseph's alive. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:48.079 Come on down to Egypt and live there. 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:52.960 We have everything you need, and you'll be able to live there because there's famine everywhere. 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:55.279 But God has made a way for you. 00:28:55.519 --> 00:29:05.440 So here's what we get: Jacob, this guy who we've probably, as we all studied this, probably identified at one point or another. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:12.640 Jacob, who, you know, is kind of a heel grabber, a thief in some ways, and part of his life. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:16.000 And yet at the same time, we saw the curve of his spiritual life. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:20.960 We saw him beginning to uh pray and to put a priority on God. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:28.640 And here, when he gets toward the end of his life, here, this is his first natural instinct, is I get this good news. 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:31.680 It's this opportunity to stay alive and to feed my family. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:36.880 Oh, let me give thanks first, let me worship first. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:40.640 And what happens is he hears from God. 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:44.240 And I don't know what you do when you're trying to hear from God. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:56.640 We tend to, in desperate moments, we tend to turn to God and often try to hear from God, but sometimes our ears haven't been tuned to hear from God. 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:07.039 Because we aren't really coming to him as God, we're just coming to him as somebody who's just a lifeguard that might rescue us from the drowning thing that we're experiencing right now. 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:08.640 Does God turn us away? 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:09.519 No, he doesn't. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:11.359 That's the beauty of grace. 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:18.640 But why would you wait until things got desperate to tune your ear to the Lord? 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:20.319 And of course, you're here. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:21.440 We're worshiping him. 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:23.200 We want to hear from him. 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:33.759 But let me remind us that that kind of seeking the Lord, that kind of worship is meant to be a way of life for us. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:37.359 Not just something that happens on Sunday morning for an hour. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:52.160 Because there's no way that Sunday, one hour, hour and a half, whatever it is, is gonna push back and the the tide, the the landslide, the tsunami of influence that is hitting you every single day. 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:58.319 From either media sources or just the culture flow sources or whatever. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:01.680 That's all trying to shape and influence you not to trust God. 00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:07.839 That's all trying to tell you you should be proud or angry or fearful or whatever. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:18.880 And here we have a God that's saying, no matter what happens, no matter where you end up having to go, no matter how difficult the famine is around, I am God. 00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:22.880 I will be with you. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:25.680 Do not fear. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:27.440 See, that's beautiful. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:30.480 I'll take that any day of the week. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:36.240 In a life with God, his guidance, provision, and protection are important, as Jacob and the psalmist knew. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:45.200 But in all such experiences, the center and the source is God's presence with us. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:51.759 And that's what we've been told as we studied the life of Joseph, that God was with Joseph. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.480 And now here we find Jacob reaching out to God and the Lord speaks to him. 00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:04.799 To discover, as Balcom continues to say, that God is with us is probably the most important discovery anyone can make. 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:10.160 For once made, it colors all of life's experiences. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:14.559 Think again about the images of Joseph's storyline. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:22.640 Whether you're in the pit or the palace or the prison or back in the palace again. 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:25.839 God was with him. 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:33.759 And here's a beautiful promise from Jesus that he will never leave us or forsake us. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:36.880 Jesus, the much greater Joseph. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:52.480 Jesus, the one who left the comforts, the comforts of heaven, came to the dark world that we live in on a rescue mission to show us that God desires to be with his people. 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:56.400 And we're gonna celebrate that like crazy in the Advent season. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:01.440 Because the incarnation is not just a sweet little romantic sort of syrupy little thing. 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:03.039 It's not just about nostalgia. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:09.920 I love, I am a I'm at heart a romantic and I do like nostalgia and all that sort of all that stuff. 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:19.680 But there is an incredibly powerful event that happened when God came to live among us and to walk this planet. 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:24.640 And uh, and it's really powerful that he would even make that move in our direction. 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:31.279 So Jacob does remind us that seeking after God and worshiping God does equip us to be able to hear from God. 00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:38.720 Secondly, Jacob Joseph reminded us that sometimes God uses believers to bless non-believers. 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:46.880 Joseph's interpreting of dreams, management skills here, as we just read, his business sense became a blessing to Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:34:02.720 Pharaoh set up, or Joseph rather, set up a system that strengthened his immediate boss Pharaoh, but also provided infrastructure, security, and resources to meet all the needs of the Egyptian people, as well as his own family that have just moved in to Goshen. 00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:10.960 And then also when Jacob had a personal audience with Pharaoh, Jacob blesses Pharaoh. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:15.440 So God again using his people to bless those who are non-believers. 00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:19.039 I think there are some religious people that don't like that idea. 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:26.880 Um, they think God doesn't want to bless anyone other than the people from their particular denomination who think act and look precisely the way they do. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:32.719 I, on the other hand, am convinced that on the first day in heaven, the most often heard statement is gonna be, what are you doing here? 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:38.000 And it will be said of me, and I've said that over and over again, I'll continue to say it. 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:43.119 I think that the first day of heaven is going to be stunning and shocking. 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:44.960 Um I kind of look forward to that. 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:48.639 I don't know about you, but I I kind of like to be stirred in that way myself. 00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:59.119 And and uh I think the stories are gonna come back on such a day that some humble believer reached out with a kind word uh or uh or a loving deed. 00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:10.000 Some wise advice was given and they did something to bless somebody who did not expect it, and that God used that word or that deed to draw someone to himself. 00:35:10.960 --> 00:35:20.559 Because one of his people was willing to give away a part of their life or be inconvenienced or give away some resource for another person? 00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:23.760 Unbelievers are drawn to God by humble believers. 00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:29.840 Uh I'm unaware of anyone who ever became a believer because they lost the argument. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:45.199 Behind the questions about faith in the mind of every unbeliever is this question Does the God you want me to believe in actually care about me or my family or my situation? 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:48.559 Does that God you're trying to convince me to believe in care? 00:35:48.880 --> 00:36:03.920 And that's why Jesus said this shockingly but really beautiful and amazing thing from John 13, 35 that all people would know you're my disciples if you have love, thank you. 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:06.880 If you have love for one another. 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:07.519 Okay. 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:12.400 Um of my favorite Bible teachers has been Steve Brown over the years. 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:19.679 Um he was a pastor and affiliated with the uh Reformed Theological Seminary down Florida. 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:30.960 He said, when we feed the hungry, only because once fed they'll listen to the gospel presentation, we betray the very teaching of the one who had compassion on people because, well, just because he was compassionate. 00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:36.960 And around here we like to feed the hungry simply because, well, simply because they're hungry. 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:40.719 And that's what God's called us to do. 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:52.320 So if we want them to hear the gospel as well, we'll be wrapping it in a sandwich first, as Charles Spurgeon used to say. 00:36:52.559 --> 00:36:58.880 Jacob and Joseph remind us that sometimes God uses believers to bless non-believers. 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:06.159 And interestingly enough, if I could just twist that back around, Pharaoh reminds us that sometimes God uses non-believers to bless believers. 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:08.880 Again, some religious people don't like this. 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:14.960 They want to live in a little religious bubble, don't want to accept anything that might be touched or tainted by an unbeliever. 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:26.400 They only work with other believers, only read Christian books, only watch Christian movies, only listen to Christian music, and they like to make sure that they buy all their kitty litter from Christian kitty litter stores. 00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:41.599 Jacob and Joseph and family are strangers and aliens in a foreign land, but they interacted with Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and God blessed Jacob's family as it grew in size to become a nation within a nation. 00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:44.000 I love it that they brought their stuff with them. 00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:45.039 Did you notice that? 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:46.960 That's just something you don't want to miss. 00:37:47.199 --> 00:37:53.679 It sounds like some trivial thing, but it was Pharaoh that said, don't worry about bringing anything with you. 00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:55.039 You don't have to do that. 00:37:55.280 --> 00:37:57.199 We'll have everything here for you. 00:37:57.920 --> 00:38:03.039 And yet Jacob and maybe Joseph and maybe the family talking and all of that. 00:38:03.119 --> 00:38:09.599 I don't know how it exactly went down, but I just I don't think it's insignificant that they brought their stuff with them. 00:38:11.840 --> 00:38:19.519