I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Genesis, chapter 48. Genesis 48. I had, look, I want to look at one verse tonight. Verse 7. It's an amazing thing when a scripture grips your heart. Stay there. Stay there. Just ask the Lord to give you some understanding. We need it.

I was reading this next portion of scripture going through the book of Genesis. And I came to this verse of scripture, verse 7. Jacob is near death, and he's found out that his son is coming to see him, and he's going to be able to see his grandchildren also. Ephraim and Manasseh, and they're going to possibly meet together for the last time. And as I mused upon that thought, knowing where Jacob is in his life, he's old, and he's going to be able to see his his boy Joseph again, his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh. And I read this verse of scripture, and what it is, is Jacob is talking to his son. He's talking to Joseph. And he says in verse 7, and as for me, When I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath, the same is Bethlehem."

Now, what struck me about that passage of Scripture? is that obviously here Jacob is giving Joseph a little bit of the history of his life. He's telling him something that had happened. And as I read it, I began to think on this. If I were to be talking to one of my kids, and I'm going to just bring up something about my life and going to do it in just one statement, one sentence, where would you start? I mean, where would you go? That's what arrested me. Here is Jacob talking to Joseph. He got his two grandsons with him. He's telling him something about his life. And he starts off and he says, and as for me, when I came from Padan, now the first thing that struck me about that scripture was, and when. He didn't say an if I came, but when. I realize, beloved, we're being taught something here, that every one of God's sheep are distinctly, personally taught and led of Almighty God.

The scripture says that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Nothing happens. I know how prone we are to think that, well, what it was, I got up this morning, I had to go to work, I've got to go to the grocery store and stuff like that. None of that is haphazard in anybody's life because the Spirit of God has said that he worketh all things. after the counsel of his own will. So, let's just get it out of our mind that what we do, we just, you know, well, I think we ought to go to, you know, today or you want to go tomorrow or something like that. It's ordered. It's ordered. Almighty God is moving everything and everybody according to his mighty hand, will, purpose, good pleasure.

God's people We are the temples of Almighty God placed in this world according to His good pleasure. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 tells us, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 3, Know ye not that we shall judge angels? I'm sorry, 16, 1 Corinthians 3, 16. Who hath known the mind of the Lord? He may instruct him. We have the mind of Christ. Then he said in verse three, chapter three, verse one, and our brethren could not speak unto you unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. And he says in verse 16, Know ye not that ye are the temples of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Now, here's something that we need to remember. Everything that Almighty God has purposed eternally for us, for His people. He's working this all together. Everybody, everything, nothing is happening. God Almighty has got a purpose, a will, and He's going to accomplish what He will. And if He's purposed that I'm going to meet this one or that one or it's going to cross paths, God Almighty has to order everything.

So back in Genesis 40, 48, when Jacob is talking to Joseph, he says, as for me, verse seven, as for me, when I came from Padan, when I came from Padan, as for me, when I came to Padan, Now that was ordered. All of the things that the Spirit of God could have moved upon Jacob to say about his life, about his birth, how he was shown to be a supplanter, how he grasped hold of his brother's heel, his brother that came out, twin boys. His brother came out first and he grabbed hold of his heel and he was the supplanter, the trickster. Twin boys born moments apart and of all the things that he could have said, he could have said something about how his older brother was hungry and he wanted something to eat and he said, I'm not going to give you anything to eat unless you give me your birthright.

You see, Jacob was the second. He was the younger of the two. So the birthright was going to go to his older brother Esau. Jacob could have brought up, well, I tricked my brother. I lied to my daddy. I put on the clothes of my brother and my daddy smelled the clothes He thought it was me, and he said, are you truly my son Esau? And Jacob, with his brother's clothes on, lied to his dad. He said, yeah, yeah, I'm Esau. Could have told him how he was a cheat, a deceiver. He could have told him anything about himself, but he came to this point in his life asked for me when I came from Paydan.

Now, that statement right there, as I mused upon it, covered years and years and years when I came from Paydan. Well, how did you get there? Well, after he cheated his brother, lied to his daddy, cheated his brother, brother was going to kill him, His mama told him, Rebecca told him, you better leave and you better go to my family's house, which was in Pardan Aram, the town of Rebecca's upbringing,

and whenever Jacob got to where his mama was, I mean, where his mother was, he providentially crossed paths with a woman named Rachel. And he fell in love with this woman, Rachel, and wanted to marry her, and made a deal with her daddy, if I work for you for seven years, then I'll have Rachel's hand in marriage. Jacob thought. So he worked for him for seven years. Seven years was up, and so Jacob got ready to get his bride, and he got Leah. Daddy told him, he said, no, no, no, no, no. She's the eldest. She's the one you're going to get. And so he had to work seven more years. But he wanted to marry Rachel. So he married Rachel.

And Rachel, after they had gotten married, she couldn't have any kids. Leah had kids. And he sought the Lord, and she begged the Lord to have mercy on them, give them children. And finally, they had two boys, Joseph, and here's Jacob. He's talking to Joseph. And Benjamin was his brother. the other son. And all of these years he went through, he was afraid of his brother and he couldn't go back home because of the trouble that was there, the toil and the anguish and all of this stuff that he went through. Years of anxiety.

And he comes to tell his son He said, I'm going to die. And he starts off that conversation by saying, and as for me, when I came from Paydan, after all the trouble that he'd gone through to get Rachel, and he got Rachel finally. She couldn't have kids. Her sister mocked her and stuff like that. It was just trouble after trouble after trouble after trouble. And finally, she had a son, Joseph, and she had another boy, Benjamin. And when she was having that second child, Benjamin, she died in childbirth. And that, it just, broke Jacob's heart. This was his, the love of his life.

And so he's going to bring and he's going to tell his boy, now I'm going to sum up my life for you right now. It's all this other stuff. It's all this other stuff. But here's where I'm going to come down to.

As for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me. in the land of Canaan, in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath. And I buried her there in the way of Ephrath, the same as Bethlehem." Now, we know that of all these things that Jacob went through, this was the heaviest part that was on his mind. This is what he thought about. And here's Jacob. And here's what he's going to sum up, and he's telling his boy, and I'm going to give you some wisdom here. He said, as for me, when I came from Payton, Rachel died by me. She died by me. I was there. But here's the thing, she died, according to these scriptures right here, in the land of Canaan.

Now we learned something right here. What was the significance of Canaan? Why was Canaan mentioned? Well, if we go back to Genesis chapter nine, hold your place right here, Genesis chapter nine, And we find out the significance of a Canaanite. Genesis chapter 9, verses 18 to 25. The scripture says, sons of Noah that went forth of the ark, Shem, Ham, Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah, and all of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be a husbandman. He planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and was drunk, and he was yet uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without, and Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both of their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." So a Canaanite was a cursed race. Cursed. Cursed of God.

And here is Joseph and he's telling Jacob, he said, I'm going to give you a little history about your family. He said, I was coming back with your mama, with Rachel. when I came to pay Dan and she died in the land of Canaan. Now this is the first thing we learn spiritually. Canaan is a picture of all men born in Adam. We're born in this world with a heart of a Canaanite, a hater of God, a despiser of God, one that is disrespectful to the ways of our God and our Lord. Canaanite, Canaanite. And this is where she died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way when there was but a little way. He's going back, he's going back, he's going back to Ephrath. Ephrath is, the name of it means fruitfulness. a place of fruitfulness. This is where he's wanting to go. And he said, it was just a little way. I was, we were in Canaan, and that's where all of us are by nature. But here is, here's the heart of this man. He's wanting to go. It was a, it was a place called Ephrath. It was a place fruitfulness, and it was just a little way. We weren't there. Just a little way. We were going to Ephrath, the scripture says, which was but a little way unto Ephrath. And I buried, she died, and he said, I buried her there in the way of Ephrath, the same as Bethlehem, the same as the house of bread.

And I looked at that and I realized the picture that was being set forth. Here was Jacob, and he was summing up not only his life, but the life of every one of God's chosen people. Where are we found? Well, we're Canaanites. And God's going to bring us to Ephrath, the land of fruitfulness. Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, the house of bread.

But what happened to Rachel is that she died before they got to this place. And this is a picture of all of us by nature. We're dead in trespasses and sins. And we're, by God's grace, we're coming there, but I'm telling you, when God Almighty is pleased to save one of His own people, this is where He finds them. He finds them in Canaan. That's where we are.

Somebody said, I've always been a lover of God, but I've always been a believer. Brother Henry said one time, that's just a little bit too long. That's just a little bit too long. No, nobody's always been a believer. But he said, I was on my way. He said, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way when there was but a little way to come to Ephrath. And I read that there was just a little way to go, but she died. She died humanly speaking.

But you know, you think about us. We may not have but just a little way to go somewhere. But if you die before you get there, you didn't make it. But spiritually speaking, here was Rebecca. And she died before she got to, she was on her way. But by the grace of God, spiritually speaking, God's gonna save his people.

What a blessed reminder that we've got concerning this sure and perfect Rachel, a picture of all men, but especially, spiritually speaking, of God's elect, God's sheep. And they're traveling to Ephrath. We're traveling to Ephrath. Bethlehem, the scripture says. And there was but a little way, but she couldn't make it. Not on her own.

What happened? I'll tell you what happened before Rebecca got to Ephrath. She died. She died. She surveilled and was found to be in hard labor at the lady that was helping her. not the mistress, but the one that helps them at birth, whatever it's called. I can't think of the name of it right now. And she died in hard labor.

But that's the fruit of sin. That's the fruit of unbelief, hard labor. The effects of sin is pain. That's how God said concerning women. He said, you're going to have travail and childbirth. And this is what she was doing. You know, when Adam ate of the fruit forbidden of God, all mankind would suffer the penalty of Adam's sin. Under the woman, the scripture says, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, thy conception, and sorrow. Thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband.

Rachel's inability. to travel the path to Ephrath was not just a mere note of history. She was going to be going to the house of bread, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. When you look at Rachel and you realize, unless God did something for her spiritually, that she couldn't do for herself. She may have all the great intentions in the world. I'm going to go to Ephrath. I'm going to go to the House of Bread. I'm going to Bethlehem. But unless Almighty God is pleased to take one of his own and bring them to himself, they're not going to make it.

And so here was Jacob. and he was going to sum up his whole life, what he was telling his boy in this one statement is this. God Almighty's got a people that he has everlastingly loved in Christ. And he's going to take these people who are dead in trespasses and sins. Sinners by birth, sinners by choice. Sinners in their heart, sinners against God. And they're coming, they're coming to the house of bread. They're coming to Ephrath.

But the problem is, is that they're dead in trespasses and sins. And they're going to have to be brought by the grace of God to this place because they can't bring themselves to it. And he's telling Joseph, he said, Joseph, this is the story of my life. I've had nothing but trouble. Anxiety. I'm a liar. I'm a cheat. I'm a huckster. I lied. I lied to my dad. I cheated my brother. I've done everything in this world I could that was against God. But God Almighty was pleased to bring me home. God was pleased to bring me home.

And he did that in a beautiful illustration by taking his wife and she was going to have to be brought. She was going to have to be brought. She couldn't bring herself. Now, knowing all that happened, now we'll just read that verse 7 one time. And here he is. He said, you want to give me a personal word of testimony? You want me to sum up my life for you? Let me tell you how God saves sinners. Here it is. As for me, when I came from Padan, and how did he get there? His mama had to send him there. because he cheated his brother and lied to his daddy, and his brother's going to kill him. And she's protecting him, so she sends him to her brother's house at Laban, and he lives in that place right there, Paydan. And when I came from Paydan, after I'd gone through all that I'd gone through, when I came from Paydan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan. in the way when there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath. And I buried her there in the way of Ephrath. The same is Bethlehem.

Almighty God is pleased to show mercy and compassion on those who in themselves are dead. He's going to bring them to Ephrath. He's going to bring them to Bethlehem, he's gonna bring them to the house of bread. But they're not gonna get there by their own will, their own way, their own purpose. He's gonna save them by grace. And Joseph was told by his dad, Jacob, this is what the Lord's done for me. I pray that this, I know, illy presented passages of scripture, is blessed by the Lord to give us some hope in life and peace in Christ that has done something for his people that they couldn't do for themselves. For God's glory and for their good. Amen.