Genesis 49-50 - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] let's pray father in heaven we're in your house because your people have gathered where two or three gathering your name you are in their midst as you're in our midst tonight you're with us Lord individually wherever we are all day long but in a special sense whenever we gather like this there's a mutuality and a commonality that we enjoy the Scriptures are a common nourishment the Savior is our common sustenance in salvation and so truly we are brothers and sisters in the purest sense of the word strengthen us help us to learn help us to grow spiritually to grow intellectually and to grow in a way Lord that our lives reflect the very principles that we read so that they won't go in one ear and out the other that we won't be like the man as James said who looks in the mirror and then goes away forgetting what he looks like but the we would be doers of the word in Jesus name Amen so there were a group of father's expecting fathers in the waiting room of a hospital there were three of them and they're waiting for their wives who were in the delivery room to have their children and a nurse walks into the waiting room and says to one of the men are you mr. so-and-so yes I am your wife just had twins and he said that's wonderful and it's very coincidental for you see I'm a third baseman for the Minnesota Twins he just thought that was great twenty minutes went by and another nurse came into that room and said where is mr. so-and-so he said that's me said congratulations your wife just had triplets you have three babies and he went oh my goodness that's that's that's a huge announcement but it's wonderful and by the way what's really amazing is that I happen to work for the 3m company well as soon as all that happened the third man fell out of his chair laid completely flat on the ground and just started moaning and moaning and the nurse said are you okay he said yeah but I want you to know I work for the 7up company what do you think Jacob felt like after twelve boys and one daughter 13 children I had one son we tried to have more wanted to have more the Lord gave us one son he's a wonderful boy we wanted to have more it doesn't matter if you have one or thirteen all parents have a responsibility to the children that God has given the Psalms speak about children like olive branches around a table and then the psalmist says blessed oh how happy is the man whose quiver is full of them Jacob had a full quiver of children of course if you have 13 children you might just quiver like the rest of your life but now they're gathered around him that quiver of children those olive branches are gathered around him on his deathbed and he pronounces on them a blessing and a warning and an admonition as we'll see as we finished chapter 49 but again if you have one child if you have 13 kids my mom was one of eleven parents have the responsibility to as Paul said Ephesians chapter six parents bring up your children in the training number one and the admin number two of the Lord the word admonition is a powerful word new Thessia it means to play something before the mind and it's the idea of if need be confronting warning the idea of admonishing urging it seems that Jacob never did the first part of that verse in Ephesians Ephesians 6:4 never trained his children but now on his deathbed he's deciding to warn them it's a little it's too little too late but it's more than a warning it's more than just well I I didn't do it while I was younger so now I'm gonna say something before I die we discovered that though he says something before he dies it is actually a prophetic testimony that he brings to his children what he does and he goes child by child from the oldest down to the youngest he remembers he's 147 years old but he remembers all of his children's name and their birth order and he remembers their character and it's like as if he isolates a single trait of each child and he says something about that child as if to appraise the life and then predicts the future so that is why if you have noticed so far in Genesis it's written in a narrative style now when we get to chapter 49 it's a poetic style do you just look at your Bible and look at the difference look back a chapter and see how the words are laid out on the page in chapter 48 for the most part and then in chapter 49 see how they're sort of staggered because that's Hebrew parallelism or Hebrew poetry so he's giving this beautiful poetic Oracle to his children one by one to outline our study tonight and we're again in the last two chapters of the Bible we've covered half already of chapter 49 we have blessings in chapter 49 and we burial in chapter 50 so chapter 49 are the blessings proclaimed in Egypt he's on his deathbed in Egypt he's gonna die in Egypt but he's going to be buried in Canaan so blessings pronounced in Egypt chapter 50 burial performed in Canaan and that's the bulk of where we're going tonight now chapter 47 beginning in verse 28 all through chapter 48 all through chapter 49 verse 32 maybe even 33 is the final scene it's the deathbed scene it's one scene in and of itself so we've already gone through some of the kids including Judah we left off at Naphtali verse 13 I'm sorry Zebulon one of his children his boys named Zebulon Zebulon says jacob shall dwell by the haven of the sea he shall become a haven for ships and his border shall a join Sidon if that were me that would be an exciting prophecy I love the ocean grew up around it always loved it here's the problem it's the problem with Zebulon when he comes into the land and occupies his portion of the land he doesn't get any beachfront he's landlocked he has neighbors who have beachfront property but he has nothing he's in a beautiful little Valley by Mount Carmel but he's landlocked so what's up with this prediction Zebulon shall dwell by the Haven of the sea commentators have tried to figure this out one suggests that Zebulon as a tribe merged with a sacar as another tribe Issachar was by the Sea of Galilee not the ocean but the lake the Sea of Galilee so because they merged he's guessing he doesn't know perhaps that they had access to the Sea of Galilee as a tribe and were involved in working for the Phoenicians in their maritime pursuits that's a suggestion I don't buy it it's a puzzlement he's landlocked but to have this prediction furthermore Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 33 is going to make another prediction he pretty makes predictions of the tribes Moses in Deuteronomy 33 says that Zebulon will take possession of the abundance of the Seas or enjoy the abundance of the Seas plural and whenever you see it in the plural it usually speaks of the oceans he's going to enjoy or partake of the abundance of the Seas so you have Jacob saying it you have Moses saying seize and partake of the abundance but there's no record in history of ever having any access to the ocean or the Sea of Galilee you can suppose anything you want here's my take on it if you just keep reading in the Bible you'll come to the Book of Ezekiel ooh thunder in the Book of Ezekiel which is the kingdom age it's the Millennial age the thousand-year reign on earth with Jesus Christ it gives the borders of the twelve tribes of Israel and in the Millennium the border for this tribe of Zebulun includes a huge stretch of beachfront property all the way up to Sidon that's when it's going to be fulfilled has never yet been fulfilled in the kingdom age in the Millennium that's when they get their ocean they'll enjoy it because in the new heaven and the new earth they'll be no see bummer verse 14 it's a car is a strong donkey how'd you like to be it's a car listen neither that son you're a donkey lying down between two burdens he saw that rest and was good that he saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant he bowed his shoulder to bear a burden and became a band of slaves it's not an insult it's a compliment donkey was the pickup truck he's saying son your tribe is gonna be the tribe of hard workers you're gonna be known for being hard workers they didn't have a huge tribe they didn't have a huge population but they were the backbone of the workforce of Israel the blue-collar tribe of Israel a group of hard workers like a donkey between two burdens now the valley itself is beautiful its agrarian they were outside they planted like so many other tribes they planted lots of beautiful produce here's what's interesting if you drive through the area of Zebulun through the tribe area of Zebulun and I just did it a few months ago in Israel as you drive from north to south on the main road which was part of the ancient way even back then you noticed two Hills on either side on the border one is Mount Gilboa and the other is the hill of Mireille and my tour guide a friend of mine said now notice what you see as you're coming through this big valley and you see these two huge heaps or burdens and he says that's the meaning of the prophecy you're gonna be the valley that beautiful valley sandwiched in between these two burdens of Earth or Hills Mount Gilboa and Mount t'ai bore one on the left one on the right he bowed his shoulder to bear a burden and became a band of slaves verse 16 Dan is the next boy Dan shall judge his people now that's a play on words because the word Dan means judge so if we were translating it fully into English judge you're gonna judge her people make sense he'll live up to his name dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel Dan shall be a serpent by the way a Viper by the path that bites the horses heels so that its rider falls backwards you say that doesn't sound like a great prophecy well it could be viewed positively or negatively I believe first of all it's a positive thing it's a prophecy because there's a book in your Bible called the book of Judges the book of Dan's the book of Judges and it lists those deliverers or those local judges that God used during that very dismal period of Israel's history one of the prominent most prominent judges was a guy named Samson he was a Danite he came from the tribe of Dan and he single-handedly gave stomach problems and nightmares to the Philistines this guy was able single-handedly for a period of time to keep the Philistines from an incursion and an invasion and taking more land for example very creative terrorism that he resorted to he took a 300 foxes and tied their tails together so he take a bunch of foxes like a few of them tie their tails a few more tie their tail and did all these bunches of foxes with their tails tied together and he lit the tails of the Foxes on fire and them scattered through the fields of the Philistines at harvest time when it was dry so it's just like in five minutes the entire set of fields went up in flames I need to sat back laughing all the way home very inventive then he took a jawbone of a donkey and walked around with and just started popping people in the head with it and killed tons of people with it and just an amazing judge it could be that he's referring to during that period of judges he'll judge or this can be viewed negatively for you see later on in Israel's history there's the kingdom there saw there's King David there Solomon and then he has a son named Rhea Boehm but there's this other guy named Jeroboam unrelated they're not like Miss Jerry and REE Boehm they're not like brothers two different guys Jeroboam rebels against the kingdom of David and Solomon Andrea Boehm and he takes two golden calves and he puts one at Bethel right in the middle of the country and one way up north at Dan the tribe of Dan so the tribe of Dan is what introduces idolatry into northern Israel while Bethel introduced it down south a viper by the way a stumbling block and he stumbles the entire nation if you ever do come with us to Israel I'll take you to a place called Tel Dan or the hill of Dan they've done excavations there and they have uncovered the very altar or the base of the altar itself where that statue stood thousands of years ago we sat on it had our picture taken on this idolatrous altar where the golden calf stood at Dan it could be that that is that what the prediction refers to and then verse 18 is just this utterance of worship I have waited for your salvation Oh Lord I think he knows soon he's going to die and he well verse 33 verse 19 the next boy GAD GAD zukes gat a troop shall upon him but he shall triumph at last now that's a play on words it's a play on words because the word GAD means troop remember when dad was born and she said or he said look troop is coming and there's so many kids coming so he called him troop so here it says a troop shall upon him but he shall triumph at last the plan words the best rendition would be this a troop was attacked by a troop of attackers but he attacked them so it's basically saying this guy's gonna be a warrior he's gonna be a fighter he's gonna hold his own why does it say it of him look on the map and look over GAD is you see those three tribes on the east of the Jordan River GAD was isolated from the rest of Israel being on the eastern side and the border that's not adjoining the rest of the nations of Israel you see all of them had two borders the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River very natural borders but those on the eastern side didn't have the natural borders the other guys had so many raids border raids they were called by the people who lived around them these incursions into their territory were very numerous for the gadites so jacob says not to worry your kids are gonna hold their own in that land across the Jordan River a prophecy fulfilled verse 20 Asher bred from Asher will be rich and he shall yield Royal dainty's Asher is in my opinion the most beautiful part of the land of Israel as you can see it's on the northwest coast of Israel and it's way up north by Lebanon and I took a car and drove there not this trip but last trip because there's some beautiful place is to photograph its lush it's green the dirt is brown it's the breadbasket in the north Judah is in south it's the breadbasket up north when I lived years ago in Israel on a kibbutz my kibbutz was in the ancient tribe of Asher and I worked those fields and I saw the richness of the soil so I always loved this verse because I was able to hold the dirt from the tribe of Asher in my hands for months bread from Asher is rich and he shall yield Royal dainty's Naphtali is a deer let loose he uses beautiful words NAFTA ly is north of Galilee in judges chapter five we'll get to it in the next millennium it takes us a while in these Bible studies but it'll take us when we get to the book of Judges that was a joke Deborah Deborah will praise the Warriors from the heights of Naphtali who were able to help in that war now we come to Joseph verse 22 Joseph occupies the greatest area of a pronouncement of blessing and the greatest blessing in fact Joseph gets the double portion because he has two children and you remember what grandpa said those two kids are mine and I'm gonna not give you one tribe I'm giving you two tribes in Israel named ephraim and manasseh your two boys so he gets the double portion and this is the important thing Joseph gets the blessing of the firstborn Reuben was born first he doesn't get the blessing of the firstborn none of the kids get it except Joseph this is the blessing of the firstborn in fact I'll turn to a scripture in 1st chronicles chapter 5 you can just jot it down unless you have speedy thumbs this is one verse two verses first chronicles five one and two now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel he was indeed the firstborn but because he defiled his father's bed his birthright was given to the son of Joseph the son of Israel so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright yet Judah prevailed over his brothers that's the second born and sent from him came a ruler although the birthright was from Joseph's so Judah becomes the head of the tribes but the birthright blessing is given to Joseph and that's what we're about to read verse 22 now here's we're gonna slow down a little bit in these verses because what what Jacob effectively does is give to us the secret of Joseph's life how did he do it well in a beautiful metaphorical picture he tells us how Joseph was able to handle all the bad stuff that happened to him his brother selling him as a slave into Egypt false accusations by Potiphar's wife the temptations she threw at him that being forgotten by the Butler and Baker for two years how did he deal with that how did he handle it verse 22 Joseph is a fruitful bough a fruitful bough by oh well his branches run over the wall the archers have bitterly grieved him shot at him and hated him but his bow remained in strength and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob look at verse 22 here's some of the characteristics of Jacob I'll give you our of Joseph I'll give you four and this was his secret number one Joseph was fruitful while he was away he was away from home he was away from the land of Israel the land promised the land of Canaan he's in a foreign country but he's fruitful he gets married he has two kids one is named Ephraim what does Manasseh Ephraim means fruitful because he says the Lord made me fruitful in the land of my affliction and he was fruitful for the rest of the world and coming up with that wonderful government program to save and it was a wonderful government program he saved money that something government's don't like to do I see these days but he did it he saved up for seven years tighten the reins so that in in the time when it really got bad he was able to provide he was fruitful while he was away notice it also says a fruitful branch by ah well by a well here's the second mark in characteristics he was faithful while he was alone you ever think about this who were around Joseph could he have fellowship with who around Joseph believed in the same God of Jacob of Isaac of Abraham no one he had no brothers around there no one in covenant relationship he was the only guy so his solution is to move his life closer and closer and closer to God and stay there stay there get as close to God as you can and while you're alone be faithful to God that was a secret and that's part of that picture he's a fruitful bough or branch by oh well now whenever a tree or a plant is growing by a well it has a special relationship with its water source you don't have to water it every day you don't have take a hose out there you don't have take a bucket out there you don't have to sprinkle to get a sprinkling system it's growing by a well it's just got a continual water source so here's Joseph he moved his life so close to God and that was the secret of his fruitfulness you know what this ruins may have Psalm 1 blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly nor stand in the way of sinners nor seat sit in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that brings forth its fruit in its season Jesus put it this way abide in me and you will bring forth much fruit abide in me stay close to me one of the things I love about this Fellowship one of the things I love about you is that you bring friends to church and that's why when we have altar calls like we did last Wednesday night yet 50 people sometimes that come in hundreds and hundreds of people this last year have given their lives to Christ I love that however though I love seeing the quantity of converts my concern is for the quality of those converts are they really applying God's truth well you can see once they get into a jam and say get into a mess are they applying it take personal inventory tonight of your life how close to God are you rooted where are your roots are you roots far from him are you so close to him that there's that continual abiding and feast and joy so that that fruit is just natural you don't have or it is natural this grows so he's a fruitful branch and he's a fruitful bough by oh well notice the next part of that poetic phrase his branches run over the wall so here's the third characteristic Joseph was bountiful while he was affluent he was bountiful while he was affluent he got rich he became prime minister of Egypt he had it made in the shade and he could have consumed all of it upon himself didn't do that number one he thought how can I use the abundance of Egypt to bless others in the world and then when his brothers and family came how can I use my position to get them a good gig and they game the best of the land the land of Goshen so that's what happens when you have a plant a tree planted by that kind of a water source so close to God it grows and grows and grows so large that the branches go over the wall it speaks of a fast a prolific growth pattern when I lived in Huntington Beach California many moons ago when I was young and single I lived four blocks from the ocean and my neighbor had well he grew he had a lemon tree big limb couple of them in his backyard I had a little patch of artichokes I was growing it didn't have much of a garden but I loved artichokes so I grown he had a lemon tree his lemon tree got so big because he watered it so much the branches went over my side of the fence branches went over the wall according to state law anything that grows on your side of the fence belongs to you so you got to know I had like lemonade all the time just all and every time it produces pull out a few lemons thanks make lemonade your life my life is mature when we live close to God and we're bearing the kind of fruit that doesn't just bless ourselves but blesses other people our life becomes a blessing to people now I believe that's the meaning of what Jesus said in John chapter 7 he said if any man thirst let him come to me and drink for as the scripture says out of his heart will flow torrents of living water out of his heart he will not be satisfied himself merely he'll become a vessel to bless other people I love this his branches go over the wall I did a series on the life of Joseph and I was particularly struck by that verse so fruitful while he was away faithful while he was alone bountiful while he was affluent whatever you have in your life it's been given to you by the Lord do you ever see yourself as a vessel to give it to others the ancient rabbis used to say your life is either like the c/f north of the sea down south the only two bodies of water inland in Israel are the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea and they would say your life is either like the Sea of Galilee can eret or the Dead Sea the Sea of Galilee is verdant lush crops grow all around it the Dead Sea nothing grows around it nothing grows in it there's a reason for that the Sea of Galilee has an inlet and an outlet water comes in water comes out the Dead Sea has no outlet only an inlet it just takes takes takes takes takes never gives anything and because of that it's dead that's what the rabbi's meant if you're only taking in and you're never blessing people with your growth your spirituality what you learned your principles your finances your money you're dead Joseph was very much alive and then notice verse dutchess verse 22 verse 23 boy I got a scoot I gotta scoot quickly the archers have bitterly grieved him shot at him and hated him but his bow remained in strength and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God here's the fourth characteristics Joseph was steady while he was attacked he had a lot of arrows shot at him mostly by his brothers when he said hey brothers I had a cool dream you know the story they shot arrows of jealousy I hate that kid I hate that Cody's wearing when he came to visit them when they were in the wilderness tending their sheep and he was out there to check out on him they shot arrows of treachery and said let's sell this kid to somebody else let's get rid of him when he's down in Egypt Fars wife shot arrows of temptation at him and arrows of accusation and while he was in prison the chief Butler shot arrows of forgetfulness as he rotted in jail for two more years and yet he was steady while he was attacked and the secret is that last part of the verse I love this the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God you dad's if you've ever taught one of your children to shoot a bow and arrow you know what this is like they grab the bow they grab the arrow and they go like this is they put tension on it it's all over the place so you as a parent having the greatest strength take your arms around and you grab the wrists or the hands of the child and you steady them and you help them you don't do it for them give me that bow this is how you shoot at kid you don't do that you lovingly place your hands and steady their wrists and then you say okay sweetie now let it go that's the picture here he realizes Joseph did that God was in his life and around him and God steadied him because he'd live like that tree planted by the water and was fruitful even when he was attacked and the last part verse 25 by the God of your father who will bless you or help you and by almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above that's rain that comes on the crops blessings of the deep that lies beneath that's the streams in the wells that will be in his territories blessings of the breasts and of the womb that's you're going to have lots of offspring blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors there's a lot of blessings here aren't there you know why one of the sub-themes of the book of Genesis is blessing it's a key word in the entire book of Genesis blessing it appears 88 times in the book of Genesis alone and look at all the times are mentioned in that verse so if you look at the book of Genesis as a fireworks display of blessing this is the grand finale blessing here blessing there blessing here blessing there blessing buzzing buzzing buzzing go have a nice blessing the blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestor DUP to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills they shall be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers boy he was Benjamin last last one on the list Benjamin is a ravenous wolf in the morning he shall devour the prey at night he shall divide the spoil I believe this speaks of the aggressive nature of the Benjamites example there were some warriors that came out of the tribe of Benjamin a hood eh ud ever heard of that name in the book of Judges a hood the left handed Benjamite a skilled warrior King Saul a warrior from the tribe of Benjamin his son Jonathan and Malka schewe the other sons all from this tribe however I think there's more here when we get to Judges chapter 20 we find the worst part of the history of Benjamin in one chapter here's the story in a nutshell a Levite is traveling through the area Benjamin stops at it's principal city the city of Gibeah to spend the night the men of Gibeah want to have sexual relations with the Levite the man and they almost rape him instead they rape his concubine and the next day she's dead and seeing what the Benjamites did to that woman the Levite cut her up she's dead cut her up in 12 pieces and sent one piece to all the tribes of Israel and told them what happened the Bible says in judges 20 all of Israel came together as one man to destroy Benjamin to destroy the tribe and they mourn today a tribe will be no more in Israel foot soldier army gathers down south to fight against Benjamin and they completely wipe out Gibeah destroy most of the Benjamites in fact at the end they feel so sorry they go you know that like there's no more left how are they going to have how are we gonna even have any kind of a tribe of Benjamin so they bring in some of the woman from jabish Gilead up north so those gals can marry the men and they can have more Benjamites in that tribe so with that in mind Benjamin Benjamin is a ravenous wolf in the morning he will devour the prey at night he will divide the spoil it could speak of that incident that is yet to come so here's the summation all these are the twelve tribes of Israel and this is what their father spoke to them and He blessed them and he blessed each one according to his own blessing and then he charged them and he said to them I am to be gathered to my people bury me with my father's in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite the sons of Jacob were judged and/or blessed by their father whatever they had done years before may be covered it up for 40 50 60 years it comes to light in this deathbed scene now you know one day we're gonna stand before our Father every Christian will stand before judgment not judgment for our sins that's done period past on the cross over with you and I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ Paul calls it the Baima seat of Christ and we will either be rewarded for what we did or the reward will be taken away and our position in place in the future Kingdom depends on what we have done with what God has given us here will stand before that's why Paul said don't you know that everyone 1st Corinthians 9 verse 24 all those who run in a race they all run but only one receives the prize so run so that you may obtain the prize live your life in a way as if to get the prize because God's gonna reward you he's gonna bless you at that judgment-seat or refrain from the blessing a lot of Christians don't even think about that or live that way that there's a future judgment seat of Christ where God evaluates our work for him on the earth or lack thereof and we get a blessing a reward or lack thereof that's why Jesus said listen carefully store up for yourselves treasures in heaven is it possible to store up treasures in heaven because if it is I want to know how to do that I want to do a lot of that because I'd like to get there when it's all over and just like have a really cool place in heaven how do I do that by what we're suggesting heaven will be the time of enjoyment I look forward to it earth is the time of employment let's get busy about his business the famous CT stud quote only one life will soon be passed only what's done for Christ will last an evaluation is coming like for these sons we charged them and he said to them verse 29 I am to be gathered to my people bury me with my father's in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place we already know about that that's up in Hebron there they buried Abraham he's saying to them there they buried Abraham Gramps and Sarah his wife and there they're buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife and there I buried Leia interesting bury me next to Leia why not Rachel Rachel was the one he said he loved he favored he loved the two sons of Rachel Joseph and Benjamin Rachel was buried by Bethlehem we covered that she's buried at Machpelah Leia it's because he's tying himself into the Covenant that God made with Abraham and Isaac who's buried there and now himself Jacob bury me there it's a statement of faith that's the land God gave to us the field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth when jacob had finished commanding his sons he drew his feet up into his bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people now you might just read that verse and leave it alone but to me it's very suggestive first of all he's a hundred and forty seven years old and he's drawing his feet up from the ground up into his bed that means his feet were on the ground when he's given this he's probably sitting up in bed or leaning on a staff presumably and now he gathers and puts his feet back in the bed now he sort of lived that way you know he came out of the womb sort of running in all sorts of directions running away to padana ram running away from his uncle running away from his brother he's on his feet he's holding a staff you say I'll ask you why is he holding his staff you could say well he's a hundred and forty seven years old give him a break that's not why he's leaning on his staff he had a wrestling match with an angel and the angel dislocated his hip and he walked with a limp ever since and that's what that's all about that constant reminder of the life change and then it says he was gathered to his people that speaks of life after death it's the hope and the belief of the afterlife the future the resurrection of the Dead now this is exactly the point Jesus makes I want to tie two thoughts together in the New Testament a group of Sadducees remember the Sadducees they didn't believe in the resurrection and they know Jesus believes in the resurrection so they said Lord you know the law of Moses says that if a man has a wife and he can't have any offspring or he doesn't have any and he dies that his brother has to marry her and produce offspring for his dead brother which is the law of Moses there was this group of seven brothers and the oldest married a woman but the old guy died then his brother married the gal and he died and are all trying to have kids you know for the dead brother and then the third married her and he died in the fourth married her he died in number five died and six died and they all died it's a really stupid analogy because you who's gonna do what brother is gonna I'm not gonna marry you you're gonna kill me what are you putting in your eggs but it's a hypothetical it's a hypothetical so likewise they all died and then they give the question so in the resurrection Jesus whose wife will she be because they didn't believe in the resurrection they denied life after death you know here's how jesus answered him you're ignorant that's what he said you're ignorant not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God he went on to talk a little bit but he said but so you know that the dead do rise have you never read where the scripture says I am the God of Abraham the god of Isaac and the God of Jacob it's a great argument closed case he didn't say I was the God of Abraham I am present tense the only way God in heaven can be the God present tense of Abraham Isaac and Jacob is if they're alive with him if there's life after death and a future resurrection to come there's a beautiful argument and that's ties into this ok then Joseph fell on his face or his father's face and he wept over him and kissed him and Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father so the physicians embalmed Israel forty days were required for him for such are the days required for those who are embalmed and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days and when the days of his mourning were pass Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh saying if now I have found favor in your eyes please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh saying my father made me swear saying behold I am dying in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Cain and there you shall bury me now therefore please let me go up and bury my father and I will come back and Pharaoh said go up and bury your father as he made you swear they more in seventy days two and a half months it's a long funeral that was an Egyptian custom did you know that when a pharaoh dies a pharaoh dies there was a 72 day mandatory period of mourning so Jacob dies and because of Joseph's position he gets the highest state funeral possible and they mourn him just two days less than they would have Pharaoh you think when Jacob was running around padana Ram trying to find a wife and running him from his brother and all he'd ever have this kind of a funeral do you ever think of your funeral what it's gonna be like who's gonna miss you what they'll say about you okay they embalmed him because that's what the Egyptians do they embalmed him I'll do it quickly would you like to know how the Egyptians embalmed people yes or no because I don't want to gross you out I need your permission for this okay is that a yes okay okay so here's what they did real quickly first of all they would extract the brain through the nasal cavity with a crooked wire they go inside dig out the brain piece by piece yank it out through the nasal cavity pretty cool huh then they make an incision in the left lower quadrant of the abdominal cavity take all of the organs out and either place them in vases separately or clean them and put them back in once all the organs are out they would clean the inside of the peritoneum the peritoneal cavity with antiseptic with palm wine and with cedar oil and then they would they would pack it with cloth soaked in myrrh and cinnamon because that smells good and decaying bodies don't so to take away that smell to mitigate against that it was stuffed with that and then the body was sewn up and for 30 days it was steeped in an a night or compound for preservation so we're already a month after death month has gone by and they're still preparing the body then they would take a cloth that was soaked in a lime compound that's formed an encasement and they would put this hard shell clot encasement over the body and a wooden casket that would conform to the body if you were a pharaoh it would be a gold casket placed into a limestone sarcophagus or a pyramid and if you've ever seen the face mask of King Tut the elaborate gold face mask that's for royalty that was placed over the face very very elaborate and it worked if you ever go to the British Museum if you're ever tooling down the street in London you got a few hours going to the British Museum there you will see what they say was the Moses or excuse me the Pharaoh from the time of Moses the guy who looked into Moses baby blues and said I'm not letting these people go he's there in England he lives in London now that Pharaoh as a mummy his hair is still preserved you can see his hair he has his teeth his skin is on him I mean he looks pretty bad but he has his teeth I know people that are that are in their later years that don't have their teeth well there he's a couple thousand few thousand years old he's got his teeth really well preserved so I think if you could ever go to Hebron where Jacob is buried in Israel and dig up Jacob you'd probably find him as preserved you probably be able to see his skin and his hair and everything that well preserved I asked for permission so Joseph went up verse 7 to bury his father and with him all the servants of Pharaoh the elders of the house and all the elders of the land of Egypt now it's been 39 years since Joseph has seen the land of Canaan as well as all the house of Joseph his brothers his father's house only their little ones their flocks and their herds had left in the land of Goshen and there one with him both chariots and horsemen and it was a very great gathering and they came to the threshing floor of atad which is beyond the Jordan and they mourn there with a great and very solemn lamentation he observes seven days of mourning for his father when the inhabitants of the land the Canaanites saw the morning of the threshing floor of atad they said this is a deep mourning of the Egyptians therefore its name was called a bel meats that ayam or the mourning of Egypt meats that I aim is the ancient name for Egypt which is beyond the Jordan so his sons did for him just as he had commanded them read a little further before I say anything I'm looking at the time for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre which Abraham bought with a field from Ephron the Hittite is property for a burial place and after he buried his father Joseph returned to Egypt and his brothers and all who went with him to bury his father why did they take the body that far away why not just bury him in Egypt it's dead I mean he's dead why bury him in Egypt he's not gonna feel anything why did he may take my body at their own review brand and they did it why not just dis bury me here you could ask another question it sort of ties into that I just I'll just whet your appetite for it why not just burn his body why not just cremate the body it's interesting the Egyptians never believed in that the Hebrews never believed in it in fact you'll never read of of that kind of body disposal in all of the scriptures for this reason it ties together the reason Jacob wanted to go back is because it was a statement of faith not this land that land is the land of promise and I believe the future generations will inherit that land take me back to my land it was a statement of faith plant me in that land when it comes to Christian burial and I am NOT dogmatic about this I'm just throwing out a thought to you when it comes to Christian burial the language of the scripture is such that it speaks of burying the body your sown the Bible says in dishonour you are raised in glory the idea of sowing a body in the ground is the statement of faith that like I'm planting a seed first Corinthians 15 it will be raised in glory I believe in the future resurrection that is why ancient Hebrews Old Testament New Testament you never find a record of them disposing of the body and cremation you find it in pagan cultures in fact in early America there was never a cremation in the early part of this country it was until the rationalist and the atheistic movements was sort of like a fist in the face toward belief in God that they just said it doesn't matter just get rid of the body again I am dot not dogmatic about this and somebody could say well God's God I mean he can find the molecules of somebody who has been cremated or he can find the molecules of somebody who has been thrown out in the ocean and sharks a hundred sharks went a hundred different directions after eating them you can find the remains of somebody who's been killed in a bomb blast can't God do that that's not the issue of course God can do anything but why would anyone want to place God in the position of having to do that the statement of faith is I believe in the future of the resurrection sure give it 30 40 years in that body in the casket will look just like the the molecules that remain from cremation but the statement of faith is simply I'm sown in dishonor and I believe in the future resurrection that's just a little historical perspective again if you're indeed you if you cremated your relatives or you want to be cremated have at it when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay us evil for which we did to him so they sent messengers to Joseph saying before your father died he commanded saying thus you shall say to Joseph I beg you please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin for they did evil to you now please forgive the trespass of the servants of God your father and Joseph wept as they said this to him and his brothers also went and fell down on his face and said Behold we are your servants Joseph said to them don't be afraid for am I in the place of God but as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive now therefore do not be afraid I will provide for you and your little ones and he comforted them and spoke kindly to them in those verses you have the personal practical theology of Joseph God is sovereign God his providential doesn't matter what happens no matter what happens in my life I'm not gonna turn away from God if bad stuff happens to me I still believe in the overruling providential and the sovereign will of God in my life period I've lived that way I'll always live that way don't be bummed out you guys I love you spoke kindly to them so Joseph dwelt in Egypt he and his father's household and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years so 54 years after Jacob dies he dies Joseph saw Ephraim's children - the third generation the children of mahir the son of Manasseh were also brought to Joseph's knees and Joseph said to his brethren I am dying but God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham Isaac and Jacob then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and you will carry up my bones from here so Joseph died being 110 years old and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt the book closes with the promise God will visit you you're gonna leave this place someone is going to come to deliver you that will be Moses but ultimately that will be Jesus God will visit you he's Immanuel God with us so we read the book of Genesis we finished the whole book I want to congratulate you we've seen the beginning of creation the beginning of man kind the beginning of marriage the beginning of sin the beginning of God's plan to rescue people from sin the beginning of a nation notice how it begins and ends Genesis begins with the blaze in the heavens Genesis ends with bones in Egypt Genesis begins with life Genesis begins with or ends in death in the book of Hebrews your homework is to read Hebrews chapter 11 we're not covering it next week but read it these all died in faith not having received the promise but they looked for the place God had prepared for them they knew they believed that God had prepared something for them that would even out last this life do you believe that tonight do you have a relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ because God is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob Jesus is saying they're all still around they're alive there's an afterlife they still exist and here's my point finally every one of you will live forever every single human being will live forever where you will live forever is dependent upon what you do with Jesus Christ God sent Jesus and that is the fulcrum he made it easy trust in him come to him and you'll be saved so that anybody anywhere can do that father in heaven we thank you for the last many weeks in the book of Genesis we pray that the things that we've learned even tonight would comfort would correct would strengthen would admonish so that we are conformed to your image rather than living as if you ought to be conformed to ours Lord I pray for anyone here tonight who has never made a personal commitment to Christ and never called out personally to Jesus Christ or oeis straight away and fallen away from walking with Christ that they will come back and be accepted by you so that all things become new in their lives in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 10,134

Rating: 4.7024794 out of 5

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

Id: 8sUK7zaOeOE

Length: 60min 45sec (3645 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018