Genesis 46-47 - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] father in heaven we bow our our hearts our lives we bow and worship before you we invite you to be our teacher tonight that your Holy Spirit through this very imperfect instrument would teach the flock of God these are your people and we remember the admonition of the Apostle to feed the flock of God which he purchased with his own blood so these are your people and we pray father that you would feed them feed us and speak to us Lord the glorious words of life even through this Old Testament book of Genesis as we gather together may our gathering be more than an examination of black words atop a white page but may it be a transformation that we would see life differently we would feel differently and act and live accordingly we ask in Jesus name Amen it would be really great if you had in your mind a little file entitled waiting for further information because as you go through life there's things that happen to you and you can't figure out why this is happening to you why am I going through this why would God if he loves me so much or that's what I hear why would he allow me the one who loves him so much to go through this painful experience and that's where we need to stop and file that experience in the file waiting for further information you don't have the whole picture yet God does you may never get the whole picture this side of heaven you might so just put it in the file waiting for further information Joseph lived his life that was a pretty big file in his own life things happen to him when he was sold as a slave as a 17 year old kid why on earth would God whom I love allowed this to happen in my life don't know file it waiting for further information he gets taken to Potiphar's house falsely accused by mrs. Potiphar of trying to rape her put in jail by mr. Potter far why don't know waiting for further information as he's there he interprets a couple of Dreams and says to one of the guys who has the dreams hey listen when you get out and I know you will put in a good word for me guy forgets about Joseph Joseph for two more years rots away in prison Lord why don't know waiting for further information then one day he gets a knock on his cell door taken into the court of Pharaoh because Pharaoh had a couple of troubling dreams now the further information comes as Joseph stands in pharaoh's presence interprets the dreams for pharaoh gets in motion a plan to save the world in an upcoming famine that would sweep through Canaan Egypt and the entire Middle East and now Joseph understood because he learned to live his life through a very important lens a lens will call the Providence of God the Providence of God simply stated is that there is a sovereign God who sees all things knows all things and has a perfect plan he won't reveal that plan to you that's where faith comes in that's where the adventure comes in you just cling tenaciously to the Lord and put your experience in the file waiting for further information and as life progresses God is moving supernaturally naturally that is he's taking the natural elements of but supernaturally coalescing them putting them together and you're a part of that so that when you look back so often you go now I understand what that episode was all about waiting for further information do you have that file if you don't create one you'll be filing a lot of things in there as days go by now Jacob unfortunately his dad didn't go by the same filing system whenever something bad happened to him it was just a bummer it was just a drag and he blamed other people for it and he he dwelt on it and he had bad things happened to him he messed his life up pretty good his sons messed his life up pretty good after selling Joseph's making up a lie that Joseph was killed by wild beasts but dad still blamed them 21 now 22 years have passed by this chapter all of those bad things had been replayed in Jacobs mind why would God allow Joseph to die why are these bad things happened to me it's interesting the first time we meet Jacob he's struggling remember the story he's in the womb of his mother struggling against his brother Esau and the Lord says to the mother two nations are in your womb that's why you're experiencing this pain they're fighting together they're struggling the first time we meet Jacob he's wrestling he's struggling with his brother toward the end of his life he's still struggling struggling with past memories struggling with the will of God struggling to feed his family in a time of famine and hunger and in between those two struggles it seemed that he never learned to create the file waiting for further information further information does come however one day he looks out and he sees 20 donkeys they just show up behind the 20 donkeys laden with all sorts of food goods and clothing our chariots and carts from Egypt carrying his boys back including Benjamin in Benjamin's sack is three hundred shekels of silver 15 times the amount that Joseph was sold for into Egypt and he goes what's up with all this stuff and they say your son Joseph is alive and he's number two he's Prime Minister he's second in command in Egypt and we're all going down to his house and he's going to take care of us now the further information comes and he understands how God has used his son unbeknownst to him all of these years God is working right now in your life oh but I don't feel that I don't see that I don't experience that it doesn't matter just put whatever you're going through in that file and watch and see what happens whether you understand it now or not is irrelevant the further information will come and God is at work God is working even in the life of Jacob though he's a whiner a complainer a manipulator all throughout his life oh he changes a little bit but not a whole lot there's a great story of the Polish maestro composer Paderewski he was in a town he was visiting to give a performance a mother found out about it and took her seven-year-old boy who was excited about learning piano to see the great master Paderewski so she brought him to the concert got front-row seats as they sat down she noticed an acquaintance a few rows back so she got up from her seat went back to talk to her friends before the show is about to start she runs back up to the front the lights are starting to dim she can't find her son meanwhile her son has snuck through a curtain on the side front of the auditorium and gone through a door marked no admittance well he didn't know what an admittance was he figured he didn't have any so it said no admittance he walked through the lights went out son wasn't around curtain went up and they're sitting at the piano bench playing twinkle twinkle little star was her seven-year-old boy she was mortified she was baffled why how just then the great master Paderewski walked onstage as the boy was playing twinkle twinkle little star sat down next to him on the bench and whispered and the boy's ear keep playing don't stop he put his left hand around the little boy's shoulder and started playing the bass notes accompanying twinkle twinkle little star put his right hand on the treble keys and started moving a quick obbligato with his right hand up the treble Keys accompanying twinkle twinkle little star and the audience was delighted and amazed and broke into applause the master and the novice playing together whenever you do anything great for the Lord whenever you whenever you have any great accomplishment instead of going I'm pretty amazing stop and listen for the voice of God who might be saying don't stop keep playing because frankly what you and I can do on our own is twinkle twinkle little star at best but when the master wraps his strong arms around your life and starts moving his fingers it's a masterpiece it's beautiful it's not you it's the master but it's you and the master working together Joseph's viewed his life that way God sent me here to preserve life God sent me here in the midst of this famine this is all God's plan the master is at work it's not me it's him now all of that is coming together as Jacob now the father meets Joseph Jacob in this chapter is a hundred and thirty years old he's lived that long in the last chapter Joseph told his brothers take this grain take this stuff bring it back to the family and go quickly to Canaan and bring my father back here that's where we left off and now we're in chapter 46 verse 1 so Israel that is Jacob took his journey with all that he had and came to bear Sheba and offered sacrifices to the god of his father Isaac Israel Jacob was living up north not far from Bethlehem in a land called heparin to go from Hebron down to bear sheba would have taken a week there sheba is mentioned for a couple of reasons number one it's the border it's the border town it's the el paso of israel but it's the the lowest border before you get into the land of egypt in fact there's a biblical term or an axiom that says from Dan to Beersheba Dan is the northernmost outpost before you get up into Syria Dan in the north Beersheba and the south from Dan to Beersheba means from top to bottom of the land so Jacob makes it to bear sheba took him about a week he's in route there he stops Beersheba was a significant place his grandpa Abraham in chapter 21 plants a tamarisk tree there and calls upon the name of the Lord his father Isaac builds an altar or built an altar in the past and called upon the name of the Lord it could be that Jacob found that same altar or may be repaired what was left of it and sacrificed to the Lord why does he do it why does he stop and why does he talk to the Lord before he goes well he wants to really make sure that this is the right move now just think about the history so far grandpa Abraham in Chapter 12 went down to Egypt was that a good move or a bad move anybody bad move why because God said I didn't give you the land of Egypt I gave you the land of Canaan stay there I'll take care of you you're lacking faith and he jeopardizes his family going down to Egypt bad move almost loses everything including his wife in his own life later on his dad Isaac in a same kind of lapse of faith leaves Canaan in a famine time and goes down to Egypt where the food is well now here's Jacob third generation on his way down to Egypt he stops it goes now wait a minute I really want to make sure this is the right move grandpa did it dad did it and it was dumb not only that but my dad brought somebody back with him or at least his mom did Sarah brought a woman named Hagar in Egyptian handmade and that's where they got her when they went down to Egypt and Sarah gave Hagar the handmaiden to Abraham and they had a child Ishmael and the middle-east has never been the same from then until this day because of it so it would make sense that wasn't the will of God for either of them is this the will of God for me so he offered sacrifices to the god of his father Isaac and God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said Jacob Jacob and he said Here I am so he said I am God the God of your father do not fear to go down to Egypt for I will make of you a great nation there I'm gonna venture to say that this particular worship service for Jacob was the most enjoyable worship service he'd ever had go back to the worship service he had when he was a young man fleeing from his own home and fleeing for his life from his brother when he's on the way to paddan-aram he stops at Bethel he gets a vision in the night of the angels of God descending and ascending into heaven and he calls it the house of God this is Beth el God is here in this place and I didn't know it it was a wonderful moment but he's uncertain about the future and he says if you will bring me back to this place then you will be my god he goes it was a memorable night but his life was uncertain about the future some years later he comes back he makes it to Gili ad he's chased by Laban when Laban and he get together and they have some pretty stern words he builds an altar puts a sacrifice on it it's not an enjoyable worship service though there's strife with father in-law he's uncertain about the future because he's gonna meet his brother who's coming to meet him from down south a few days later another worship service he calls upon the name of the Lord gives us Accra Feist but he's really afraid this is Oh God my brother's gonna kill me preserve my life a few days later as he calls upon the Lord it says a man wrestled with him all night long to the breaking of day now it's never fun to go to church and get in a fight that lasts all day and all night but this particular worship service was exciting because Joseph is alive I haven't seen him for 22 years there's going to be a reunion he's cautious but he's excited and he calls upon the Lord and Lord speaks to him and as he calls his name he says Here I am he said I am God the God of your father do not fear to go down to Egypt for I will make of you a great nation there I will go down with you to Egypt I will also surely bring you up again and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes just a side note the patriarchs Abraham Isaac Jacob those are the patriarchs the patriarchs had a very simple uncomplicated relationship with God God would speak audibly to them sometimes God would appear to them in some form or fashion they would built an altar they would sacrifice to God and they would move on it's interesting Joseph does not have the same experience with God that they do there is never a record that God speaks directly to Joseph it's a very different relationship now before you say well Joseph maybe wasn't a spiritual really as Jacob like he was some spiritual dude no not that at all in fact sometimes because we're dense perhaps God has to use more obvious methods didn't have to do it with Joseph the way God spoke to Joseph was simply through the dreams that he had or other people's dreams even a pagan Kings dreams Pharaohs no direct speaking no apparition but God is speaking to him through dreams every relationship with God is different enjoyed the one you have with the Lord by faith don't try to copy somebody else's God speaks to Jacob gives him these promises and notice what he says it's almost the same thing he says to Abraham in verse 3 for I will make of you a great nation there do you remember that promise that was given to Abraham chapter 12 it's funny then because Abraham was married but had no children at all his wife was infertile and God says I'm gonna make you into a great nation really I don't even have a kid now it's the same promise children later grandchildren later great-grandchildren later it's the same promise I'm gonna make You Jacob into a great nation and boy did he today within the borders of what is called the modern State of Israel 7.2 million people live 5.6 million are Jewish the offspring of Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the last several years the state of Israel has seen a 43% increase due to immigration alone they have presently a ten billion dollar per year economy that's pretty good very strong economy ten billion dollars per year the State of Israel is the size of New Jersey and that's their national economy the state of Israel today is the world's fourth leading exporter of citrus fruit in the world the third largest exporter of flowers in the world when I was in Israel this last time I was talking to friends of mine I said hey how's the economy here in Israel because the rest of the world it's pretty bad he said actually it's never been better so now I'm curious I go why is that our housing market has gone bad and he goes well it's interesting in your country you were able to buy a house if you could put 10 or 20 percent down you can't do that in my country of Israel our law requires you have to put down the down payment has to be 80 sent to 90% down the bank will then carry the 10 or 20% max so we grow up from our youth being people who save money not spend money we save it and save it and save it until we have enough money to put that much down so their economy is stronger and stable er here's the promise I will make you a great nation boy did the Lord make good on that one 70 souls will go down to Egypt by the time Moses the deliverer takes them into the land of Canaan once again there will be at least and these are conservative estimates 2,100,000 conservatively from 70 to that number by the time this great nation is ready to inherit the land of Canaan once again now God makes three promises in verse 4 I will go down with you to Egypt you can do anything as long as God is with you when God was sending Moses and said go he said I won't go unless you go with us that's that's a good way to that's a good way to proceed I won't go Lord unless you're coming so here's Jacob leaving the land of God but not leaving the God of the land God says I'm coming with you won't be down there alone that's the first promise and I will also surely bring you up again now when will that promise be fulfilled because he's gonna die in Egypt but his body will be carried back to the Land of Israel the land of Canaan he'll be buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron where Abraham Isaac are buried but probably the fulfillment is you're coming back as a nation the whole of you 2.1 million plus people in the future will all be coming out when you multiply back to this land again to inherit the land and the third promise is and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes when people die you know in the movies at least in the old movies people die like this they take their last breath and then they closed her eyes ago it's not how it is in real life usually when a person dies and I've watched a number of people die their eyes remain open and it's the privilege of the nearest of kin to gently put the hand on the face and close the eyes Joseph will do that for you you're gonna see Joseph and the honor and the privilege that is typically reserved for the firstborn will be the privilege of Joseph - close your eyes now I imagine that these promises are coming to Jacob because Jacob is feeling a little bit ambivalent about going down to Egypt would you think he is I think he is and here's why I think he is aside from the fact that grandpa and dad went down to Egypt and it was a real bad thing to do there's a promise that God made my grandpa and he knew about it Genesis 15 he says Abraham your descendants are gonna be slaves in a land not theirs for 400 years they're gonna be in Egypt for hundred years and they're gonna be slaves I'm gonna bring them back with great possessions but they're going into slavery I'm sure Jacob isn't too excited about leaving the land knowing that this is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prediction that grandpa had that they were going into slavery so he really wants to make sure it's God's will now here's an important principle in Romans 12 verses 1 & 2 I think you know this well Paul said I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good acceptable and perfect will of God the will of God for Abraham and Isaac was not to go to Egypt the will of God for Jacob was go to Egypt the will of God for you may not be the will of God for you or may not be the will of God for me certain things will be across the board but individually they vary whatever the will of God is for you will be good acceptable and perfect Jacob just wants to find out is this the will of God for me that's why he's ambivalent God assures him verse 5 Jacob arose from Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob their little ones their wives in the carts first-class man that Pharaoh had sent to carry him so they took their livestock their goods which they acquired in the land of Canaan and went to Egypt Jacob and all of his descendants with him his sons and his sons Sons I love that phrase now because I have a son and I have a sons son and they all went to Egypt his daughters his sons daughters all of his descendants he brought with him to Egypt Joseph would save the entire family not just one that the entire family I love that do you pray for your entire family could you be the catalyst that brings your entire family to know the Lord I'm expecting my son and my son's son and my son's sons and or daughters whatever the Lord would give them in the future to be with me forever in heaven I believe that the Lord is in the business of saving households Paul said to the Philippian jailer believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your household it's not that automatically they are but God will use the one who is saved to be the catalyst for the others God willing that will happen in our lives now these were the names of the children of Israel Jacob and his sons who went into Egypt Reuben was Jacob's firstborn okay glance over the next few verses because we just want to skip a lot of those names if you're into reading the names just have fun on your own but you're looking at a list of names it's telling you who went down and in looking at the list of names you might think well who cares about a list of names and honestly when I read through lists of names genealogies I don't get terribly excited unless my name was in the list I get terribly excited why are there these genealogies smattered throughout the bible two reasons number one they are pointing to and will lead ultimately to the most significant genealogy of the most significant person ever and that is the Lord Jesus Christ number two because there are no little people to God to God all of these names are important and I love it that they're included in Holy Scripture God's record book these names hard to pronounce that will never on this earth know really who they are what they did are all important to God jesus said concerning our Father in heaven your heavenly Father knows when one sparrow falls to the earth and even the very hairs of your head are numbered now I don't care about the hairs on your head but God does that's Jesus point there are no little people to the Lord God cares so there's a list of names they're given by division the wives of Jacob are listed now here are the divisions first of all the sons of Leah Jacobs first wife the one he didn't want the one that Laban put in the place of Rachel her children are given first then the children of Zilpah are given the handmaiden to his first wife lay out then the children of Rachel his second wife and she's called here his wife she's the only way called his wife because that's really the one he loved and then the children of Bilhah the handmaiden of Rachel are also given and it's the names of the tribes and if you're looking for names for children you're always looking for Bible names or some of you are you've got a lot to choose from here like Oh had Carmi hezron I've never dedicated a hezron or a car me but you might be the first the children's names were given look at verse 13 the sons of Issachar were Toula poovu job and Shimron some scholars believe that this job this son of Issachar one of the 70 that goes down to egypt is the job of the book of Job the others dispute on that but some lean to this being job if you take all of the genealogical records Moses will be about 55 years of age contemporary with the adult job that will be written here in this chapter he will be a contemporary of it the book of Job we don't know who wrote it it's an unknown author some believe it's the oldest book in the Bible we know that Moses wrote Genesis Exodus Leviticus and it is thought that perhaps he wrote the book of Job a lot of scholars believe he wrote the book of Job it could be that he had a relationship with that job that is written about in your Old Testament it's a thought it is disputed I thought I'd bring it up more names are given more names are given verse 19 the sons of Rachel Jacobs wife were Joseph and Benjamin to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim whom aseneth the daughter of Potiphar a priest of on board to him now if you remember we have mentioned that Jesus Christ is scene in the life of Joseph that Joseph becomes a type of Christ remember the study we did on that for communion we called it Joseph is a lot like Jesus or Jesus is a lot like Joseph what's interesting about all of these wives is that Joseph is the one who marries a Gentile bride now that's significant because so did Jesus the church which is largely non-jewish largely Gentile we're called the Bride of Christ the nation of Israel is called the wife of Jehovah there's a distinction between Israel and the church that's very important when it comes to eschatology Israel is called the wife of Jehovah the church is called the Bride of Christ we are the Gentile Bride of Christ Joseph married a Gentile bride the sons of Benjamin verse 21 are list of all of these names I'm not going to read them but there are 10 there are 10 here's what's wild 10 children he has the most Benjamin Benjamin is in his mid-20s how did he get 10 children it becomes an issue to the commentators in trying to deal with this evidently he started very young which was not uncommon in those days he could have had twins in some cases or triplets but he was a very busy young man raising this family the other tribes were given Danvers 2324 Napoli these were the sons of Bilhah verse 25 verse 26 and 7 are the summary verses all the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt who came from his body besides Jacob's sons wives were 66 persons in all so 66 that's excluding jacob joseph ephraim and manasseh the sons of Joseph were born to him in Egypt were two persons at ephraim and manasseh so all the persons of the house of jacob who went to egypt were seventy now we have a problem when you get to Acts chapter 7 and Stephen is giving the history of Israel Stephen says to the Sanhedrin the scholars who would know what's what and what numbers are what Stephen says seventy five persons went down to Egypt not seventy not sixty seventy five now he's following the Septuagint version the greek version of the hebrew Old Testament that's what the early church quoted from in the New Testament there was no dissent among those that he was talking to seventy five people so it is believed that if you count and it wasn't counted and it is counted in the seventy five the two children of Manasseh the two children of Ephraim and one of the grandsons the one grandson at the time of Ephraim that's five extra people making seventy five I'm bringing that up thinking somebody's gonna have that question so I dip it in the bud first and then he sent Judah before him to Joseph to point out before him the way to Goshen and they came to the land of Goshen remember we said Goshen was the fertile part so if you're flying over Albuquerque and you say okay I'm gonna put you in the fertile part of Albuquerque where you gonna put him you gonna put him in the valley right you're gonna put him in the valley you're not gonna go like 20 miles west you're gonna put him right right where where the water is Gaussian was 900 square miles of where all the water was the very best part of the land of Egypt was Goshen so Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel now watch this I love this and he presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while now Joseph this guy is important this guy's the Prime Minister this guy was number two in the land he was a big dog his license plate on his chariot read number two number two that was Pharaoh but number one was fair number two that was Joseph Joseph being in charge could have easily looked at Jacob and said remember that dream I had that even you would bow do it now bow rather he's getting ready and he's going up and he's going to present himself to his father this is a sign of respect I love this because I feel that sometimes as kids grow up toward adulthood they lose respect for their parents they lose respect for the older generation I think a person becomes more valuable the older they are because they have so much experience and so much to share in terms of mentoring so valuable but so often at least in our culture you know when you're growing up your parents are the smartest people on earth you're just how they know everything they're so strong and mighty and then as you grow they get Dumber until you're like in junior high and high school my parents are so dumb I mean they don't even get this modern society they don't even understand anymore and then you go away you leave home and you come back and it's amazing what your parents have learned in the time you've been away and have your own kids and you go man they're wise you get my drift there's a respect that this boy this son of jacob has for his father he presents himself and i love it he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while i just imagine for 22 years Jacob is believed Joseph is dead he understands he's alive he can't wait for this moment it's such an emotional moment to find out his son is alive and to look at him and recognize him there's a story from World War two that a father received a letter that his son was missing in action with the Allied forces during the war the belongings the personal belongings of that boy the soldier were sent to his father the war ended and a decade went by ten years went by eventually they found that that boy was alive he had long term amnesia and he had a missing identification we had a an uncertain identification and somebody eventually flagged it and he was reunited with his father Hugh imagine thinking your son is dead for that length of time only to discover he's alive and he's in charge and he's gonna take care of me too good to be true true I just won the lottery and Israel said to Joseph now let me die since I have seen your face because you are still alive you know what this reminds me of do you remember Simeon in the New Testament when Jesus is brought into the temple and that old man takes that little baby Jesus in his hands and he lifts him up and says now you are letting your servant die in peace Lord because my eyes have seen your salvation that's how Jacob felt when he saw his son the one who was saving the world from famine and Joseph said to his brothers into his father's household I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him my brothers and those of my father's house who were in the land of Canaan have come to me and the men are Shepherds for their occupation has been to feed livestock and they have brought their flocks their herds and all that they have okay we've told you before and we've outlined a couple of times how Joseph is a type of Jesus Christ number one uniquely loved by his father special treatment special coat Jesus the only begotten son of the father this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased uniquely loved the father number one number two unjustly hated by his brothers number three he was sold cruelly for 20 pieces of silver Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver number four the first time that Joseph and his brothers met Joseph didn't reveal himself to them the second time they met Joseph revealed himself to his brothers the first time the nation of Israel didn't recognize their Messiah the second time Jesus will reveal himself to them and the prophecy as they will look upon me whom they have pierced and they will mourn as one mourns for his only son they'll be that recognition here we have another type of Christ Joseph is the mediator between his brothers and the Pharaoh I'm gonna mediate I'm a Hebrew I'm one of you and I'm related to the king I'm by all standards Egyptian I'm the perfect mediator being Egyptian and Hebrew I'm gonna bring you guys together I'll mediate for you the Bible says there's one God and one mediator between God and man the man Jesus Christ perfect mediator fully man fully god fie and propose the god man bringing God and mankind together something else not only is he the mediator he's the instructor look at what it says verse 33 it shall be when Pharaoh calls you and says what is your occupation let me tell you boys how to answer them you shall say your servants occupation has been with livestock from our youth even until now both we and our fathers the that you may dwell in the land of goshen for every Shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians we explain that a few weeks ago we talked about the his scoffs dynasty the dynasty of shepherd kings that was coming to an end at this time and because the Egyptians in this dynasty were agriculture based the previous dynasty that they were trying to get away from were Shepherd based there was an abomination they were trying to make a separation so all of the shepherds would go to the best part of Egypt the land of Goshen make sure that you say that because we're glad you guys are here but we hate shepherds so you're going to the best part of the land funny how that works then Joseph went and told Pharaoh and said my father my brothers their flocks their herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan indeed there in the land of Goshen and he took five men from among his brothers we don't know which ones but Joseph knew their personalities and he got the the best reps and presented them to pharaoh and pharaoh said to his brothers what is your occupation and they said to the pharaoh your servants are shepherds both we and our fathers and they said to Pharaoh we have come to dwell on the land because your servants have no pasture for their flocks for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan now therefore please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen Pharaoh spoke to Joseph saying your father and your brothers have come to you the land of Egypt is before you have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land let them dwell in the land of Goshen and and if you know any competent men among them then make them chief herdsmen of my livestock so they instantly get a promotion to being royal herdsmen probably got a wage for it since their Shepherds and Pharaoh himself which some believe was the last of the hiss Kaas dynasty had his own private flocks and now they get to watch them now watch this then Joseph brought in his father Jacob he's a hundred and thirty and he set him before Pharaoh and Jacob blessed Pharaoh that's unusual for this old man this famine ridden Shepherd from Canaan to say I bless you in the name of the Lord would have blown Pharaoh's mind because it implies it implies that Jacob is superior to Pharaoh according to the custom mentioned in Hebrews chapter 7 the lesser is blessed by the greater that's why Melchizedek remember blessed Abraham so I'm sure ferry's going who is this old coot blessing me I'm Pharaoh but you know what you and I have the same privilege we have a covenant relationship with God as did Jacob sons and daughters of God have the special calling and opportunity to be a blessing to people in this world are you wherever you go with people that you meet are you a blessing when they see you did they look at you and go oh look it's so-and-so what a blessing or do they go oh oh here here she comes no here he comes some people are a blessing wherever they go other people are a blessing whenever they go glad he left what a menace Jacob blessed Pharaoh and that's what God wanted Abraham Isaac and Jacob be a blessing to the world He blessed him and Pharaoh said to Jacob how old are you if I tried that I get in so much trouble you ask people are like somebody'll how old are you not a good D I couldn't do it but he's Pharaoh he can do anything you want how old are you and Jacob said to Pharaoh love the answer the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years I'm 130 years old young man whew and evil have been the years of my life phew did he just say phew he's a hundred and thirty years old he goes I haven't lived very long well actually if you compare him to his great-grandfather terra who lived to be 205 years of age he was a young whippersnapper if he compares himself to grandpa Abraham died at a hundred and eighty five or dad Isaac a hundred and seventy five 130 years of age isn't that old he says phew and evil have been the days of my life forty-seven thousand two hundred and some odd days that's 130 years and they have attained and they have not attained in the days of the years of the life of my father's in the years of their pilgrimage so Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh and Joseph situated his father and his brothers and gave them possession in the land of Egypt in the best of the land the land of Rameses as Pharaoh commanded Joseph provided his father his brothers and all of his father household with bread according to the number of their families you go no wait a minute what do you mean the land of Ramses weren't they supposed to get the land of Goshen right same land why is it called the land of Rameses it's an important question because Ramses the the Pharaoh the Pharaoh at the time of Moses was called Ramses the second Ramses the first isn't even in power he won't be in power for some time it's called Ramses because this is written by Moses and by the time of Moses nobody will have heard of the land of Goshen they'll have heard of the land of Rameses if I were to say tonight here we are tonight in the great state of Texas you go Texas this is New Mexico it is now but at one time it was Texas so I may want to give an explanatory note that we were once Texas now we're New Mexico this was the land of goshen that would become the land of Ramses same land verse 13 now there was no bread in the land for the famine was severe so the land of Egypt the land of Canaan languished because of the famine we're gonna read through this pretty quickly because we have now in this next section the fulfillment of the blessing that Jacob was to Pharaoh by what his son did for Egypt his son Joseph was the blessing and Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house so when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said give us bread for why should we die in your presence for the money has failed and Joseph said give your livestock and I will give you bread for the livestock if the money is gone so they brought their livestock to Joseph and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses the flocks the cattle the herds the donkeys thus he fed them with the bread in exchange for all of their livestock sidenote you know how I like to give you first mentions in the Bible this is the first time horses are mentioned in Scripture and their horses in Egypt why is that important it really won't be important until you get to first Kings chapter 9 in first Kings chapter 9 King Solomon will have one thousand four hundred chariots twelve thousand horsemen and it says the horses of Egypt if you come with us to Israel and you go with us to Megiddo the city of Megiddo we will show you the stalls where Solomon kept the horses from Egypt you can still see the outlining stones of the stalls underneath the Temple Mount are some of the stables of Solomon he had chariot cities around the land because he took and multiplied horses unto himself something forbidden him by law but the evidence is there and he gets the horses from Egypt so it's an interesting note to tie together when that year had ended they came to him with the next year and said to him we will not hide from my Lord that our money is gone my lord also has herds of light our herds of livestock there's nothing left in the sight of my Lord but our bodies and our lands why should we die before your eyes both we in our land by us and our land for bread and we will give our land and and we in our land will be servants of Pharaoh give a seed that we may live and not die that the land may not be desolate Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh for every man so the government took it or bought it from the people for food for every man of the Egyptians sold his field because the famine was severe upon them so the land became pharaoh's and as for the people he moved them into the cities from one end of the border of Egypt to the other that's where the grain was stored if you remember the cities only the land of the priests he did not buy for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh so it was government subsidized religion as in many parts of Europe still and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them therefore they did not sell their lands Joseph said to the people indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh look here a seat for you and you will sow the land and it shall come to pass in the harvest that you will give one-fifth to Farrell twenty percent flat tax four fifths shall be your own a seed for the field and your food for those of your households as food for your little ones now look what they say they don't go to NSA twenty percent you're ripoff I said you have saved our lives let us find favor and the sight of my Lord and we will be Pharaohs servants you know why they said that they looked at a twenty percent flat tax as a great deal because the average tax in the Middle East at that time was thirty three percent plus a full one-third was given to the government part because some were vassal states part because it was exorbitant taxation so 20% you saved us we'll be your slaves they sold themselves debt slavery was very common this is how it works it was a short-term idea I don't have any money so you know it's like if you went to a restaurant you didn't have any money they're gonna make you go back and wash dishes we'll wash dishes for Pharaoh will now become your slaves we'll work this off sometimes the arrangement was one week sometimes it was one month sometimes it was several years but they worked off the food that they got at a certain price that's how it worked and they were thankful that they were alive Joseph made it law over the land of Egypt to this day that Pharaoh should have one-fifth twenty percent except for the land of the priests which did not become Pharaohs so Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt and the country of Goshen and they had possessions there and they grew and they multiplied exceedingly here's the bottom-line deal for pharaoh god blessed this pharaoh because he treated israel generously God will curse another pharaoh ramses ii under moses because he treats israel harshly because God said to Abraham whoever touches you or that's not Abraham that's the minor prophet touches the apple of my eye but I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you that's what he said to Abraham God is blessing those who bless Israel God will curse those who curse Israel and guess what the promise is still in effect for today when I look at the situation in the Middle East and I see is real surrounded by a lot of people and nations building nuclear arms and people go oh poor Israel I go poor Israel poor the other guys just get a history lesson look at all those who have cursed Israel don't want to be there so Jacob lived in the land of Egypt how long huh 17 years how old was Joseph when he was sold as a slave by his brothers 17 see the correlation for 17 years Joseph was nurtured by his father for 17 years the father will be nurtured by the son it is a privilege as parents get older to be able to pay them back a fraction by being there to help take care of them to be a blessing to them he's a hundred and thirty years old Jacob is he lives 17 more years awesome so it says the length of Jacob's life was a hundred and forty seven years time to go it's old enough when the time drew near that Israel must die he called his son Joseph and said now if I have found favor in your sight please put your hand under my thigh that's how they would give an oath back then we already covered that it's the muscle of greatest strength so swear to me by my strength is the idea that's how contracts were made you didn't have to sign pieces of paper 500 times with lawyers print all over them another 200 times and then have them notarized three times saying if you don't pay me this every month till the day you die then we'll take it back from you it was a word-of-mouth contract a handshake grab the thigh make a promise good as done deal kindly and truly with me please do not bury me in Egypt but let me lie with my father's you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place and he said I will do as you have said did Jacob make a mistake wanting to get buried in the land of Canaan after all Asians had the edge on burial techniques you can dig them up today and you can still see hair on Pharaoh Ramses the second the Pharaoh who is there who talked to Moses you can see his skin and his eye sockets and nose and lips and eyebrows still intact why would he want to get buried back in Canaan it was an act of faith that's why God didn't give the land of Egypt to Jacob but the land of Canaan that was the promised land that was the covenant land and he wants to go back so he's demonstrating his faith wanting to go back he's probably a little bit afraid also that this land of blessing this land of Goshen this land of plenty my kids are gonna love it here my grandkids are gonna prosper here in fact they might love it so much they don't want to go anywhere else could that be a problem it becomes a problem when the children of Israel later on get taken to Babylon when the time comes for them to go back to the Land of Israel Jerusalem and build the temple nobody wants to go we like it in Babylon we're comfortable here man is a great place to hang out so instead of the entire nation going back they just send fifty thousand missionaries back just a paltry sum of people to do all the building all the work they became too at ease and comfortable in the wrong place and maybe Jacob was sensing a little of that verse 31 and will close and then he said swear to me and he swore to him and Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed he couldn't he was too old to get on the ground and bow so he was just laying on bed he bowed gesture of respect and sweetness so Israel is now in Egypt what are they doing down there growing multiplying and pretty soon by the time we get to the book of Exodus there'll be 2 million 100,000 or 3 million and they'll be ready to leave Egypt because there will be a pharaoh who knows not Joseph it'll be time for them to go God's plan have you created the file waiting for further information why am I in Egypt why are we down here why this famine why these problems waiting for further information Heavenly Father you're the source of that information you might give it to us on this earth in this lifetime we may have to wait for glory to get the full picture but Lord we do believe that you are supernaturally manipulating the natural events of our lives together for our good into your glory we don't see why now Jacob didn't know why why why would this happen that my son is dead or lost Joseph in prison why this experience and then one day the further information came the picture was completed Israel safely in the land of Egypt where they will be nurtured and be able to multiply and one day take the land that you promised to give to Abraham Isaac Jacob and the twelve tribes thank you Lord how exciting to be able to go verse by verse through the books of the Bible and understand your plan and how it relates to us thank you for hungry people would you bless these your people this week in very unique ways in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 9,793

Rating: 4.7431192 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Genesis, Sermon

Id: 7hhl1bbI8-c

Length: 63min 56sec (3836 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018