Genesis chapter 47 will continue
our study in the life of Joseph. Last week in our study we saw
that Joseph bought five of his brethren with him before Pharaoh. And what a picture we have there
as Christ is our great mediator because we know that Pharaoh
asked questions of the brethren but when he commanded where they
would live, he spoke to Joseph. And so we see how Joseph is a
picture of Christ who is our heavenly Joseph and our great
mediator between God and his people. We saw how Joseph presented
his brethren to Pharaoh. Let's read verses one to six
again of chapter 47. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh
and said, my father and my brethren and their flocks and their herds
and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan. And
behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took some of
his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. Now again, what a picture we
have of Christ who will present his bride, his spotless bride,
before the Father. And remember that Joseph is presenting
his brethren to the king. Pharaoh is a king over all the
land of Egypt. And he took some of his brethren,
even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh
said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they
said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we and also
our fathers. They said moreover unto Pharaoh,
For to sojourn in the land are we to come, for thy servants
have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is sore in the
land of Canaan. Now therefore we pray thee, let
thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. So we see then that
the famine which was in the land of Egypt was actually all around,
all around. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph,
saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee. The land
of Egypt is before thee. In the best of the land, make
thy father and thy brethren to dwell. In the land of Goshen,
let them dwell. And if thou knowest any man of
activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. Note
in verse two that Joseph presents his brethren before Pharaoh.
Again, what a picture of Christ who will one day present we who
are his born-again, blood-washed people before the great King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will do that, and he will
present us before God the Father. Jude tells us this, now unto
him that is able to keep you from falling. Him, he's able,
we can't keep ourselves from falling, but he's able to keep
us from falling, beloved. and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. So Christ
will one day present his spotless bride before the Father, blameless,
with exceeding joy. It'll bring him great joy to
do that. Isn't that amazing? To present we who are sinners,
save sinners, he will present us before the Father, faultless,
and he'll do it with exceeding joy. It's incredible. That verse,
I never get tired of hearing that verse and looking at that
verse. It's just wonderful. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever,
now and ever. Amen. Spotless, without blame,
before our great King in Christ. That's a wonder of wonders, isn't
it? It's a wonder of wonders. And
last week we also saw how Joseph's family, his father and his brothers,
were separated from the Egyptians in the land of Goshen. Although
still in the land of Egypt, by God's will and divine providence,
they were separated into the land of Goshen. We also saw how
the heart of the king is in the Lord's hands. As Pharaoh gave
the Israelites the choicest land. The ocean is the choicest land
in all of Egypt. The heart of the king is in the
Lord's hands, beloved. We see it right there before
us. Our God is absolutely sovereign. And it's also the land which
is closest to the land of Canaan. And again, all this is happening
according to the purpose and will of God. This is all happening
according to His will and purpose. Again, we see Joseph as a mediator
between Pharaoh and his family. And again, this is a picture
of Christ and his bride. And also Pharaoh's trust in Joseph,
because remember, Pharaoh trusted Joseph with all the affairs of
the land, right? With all the affairs of the land.
Well, that's a picture of how God the Father trusts Christ's
surety of his people. He's in charge of everything.
He's in charge of all things. Oh my. If we have heard the word
of truth, the gospel of our salvation, then who's our trust in? It's
in Christ, in Christ alone, isn't it? And God the Father has put
all the affairs of this world, all the affairs of this world,
all the affairs of this life, in any given generation. That's
important. It didn't just all of a sudden
happen. No, Christ has been in charge for every generation,
beloved. and to the generations that will
come until He comes back. We don't know when that is. He's
in charge of all things, beloved. All things. God the Father has
put all things and all the affairs of the world and man into the
hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, our exalted Lord and Savior,
beloved. And think of this, if our God,
our Heavenly Father, has trusted Christ to be surety of His people,
Oh, how we should trust Christ. Oh, how we should just rest in
Him. Like Brother Jotaro always says, the hardest things for
us to do as believers is just to rest in Christ. Oh my. So we must not forget that it
was God Himself who purposed that His chosen people would
be bought to Joseph. God has purposed all that we've
seen. Joseph going into slavery, Joseph being raised up in Potiphar's
house, Joseph going to jail, unjustly, Joseph appearing before
Pharaoh, Joseph now having all the affairs of Egypt in his hands,
and now Joseph's family appearing before Pharaoh. All this is being
purposed by God, beloved. So we see how all things work
together for the good of the Lord's people, right? Now, Joseph
wouldn't have picked that path, would he? We wouldn't necessarily
pick the path that we've had to go through in some things,
would we? See, but God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and God's
ways are not our ways. But all things do work out for
the good for God's people. They do. Because we can look
back on our lives and go, Lord, look what you've done. It's amazing. And he doesn't do anything wrong.
He doesn't do anything wrong. Oh, my. So God himself purposed
that his chosen people would be bought before Joseph. And
it was God himself who brought the famine upon the land, too.
He's in control of everything, isn't he? You know, you listen
to religious people and they present a God who doesn't have
all power. And sometimes you If you listen
to him, you think Satan's stronger than God the way they talk, but
that's not true. Our God, he's got all power.
So it's God himself who purposed all this to come to pass. The
famine came to pass, and then they seen their need of going
down to Joseph, didn't they? It was God himself who placed
Joseph on the throne of power. It's God who did that. And it's
God himself who revealed to his chosen people that Joseph was
the only one who had the authority to minister to their needs. And
it's God our Father under the preaching of His gospel who brings
spiritual famine to our souls. at His appointed time, who makes
us to thirst after the water of life at His appointed time,
who makes us to hunger after righteousness. And the only righteousness
that God will accept is the righteousness of Christ. And so we're made
willing in the day of His power to flee the Christ. And this
all comes to pass by the sovereign will of God, beloved. So think
of that. Think of your salvation in light
of that, that it was purposed and planned and executed by God,
that you would come to Christ It's marvelous. It's God the
Father, under the preaching of His gospel, who reveals Christ
as His exalted King, the only mediator between Him and man.
And it's God the Father who reveals, by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God, that Christ is the only way, through the preaching of
His gospel. It's God who's done this. God
alone is the only one who can minister to our spiritual needs,
as well as our physical needs. Only God. And it is God the Father
who keeps us by His power through faith in Christ Jesus. Keeps
us looking to Christ. I was thinking about that this
morning. I was thinking about how left to ourselves, we just
wander away. We get caught up with the cares
of this world or something will come up in our lives and just,
woo, off we go. We're so fickle, beloved. We
think we're strong, but we're really not. We're really not.
We're gonna see an illustration in this morning's message that's
so true. You know, you throw a match in the gunpowder, what
happens? Kaboom! That's how we are with sin, beloved.
My, that's how we are. My, oh my. So we keep looking
to Christ, don't we? We keep looking to Him who's
the author and the finisher of our fate. Now let's read. verses
7 to 10 in Genesis 47. And Joseph brought in Jacob,
their father, and set him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob,
How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh,
The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years.
Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been. and
have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my
fathers and the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed
Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh." My! Jacob pictures
and typifies all of God's born-again enlightened saints. Jacob's one
of the elect of God, beloved. He's one of the elect of God.
He's one of God's covenant children. And you know what? As God's elect,
we are too. Before Jacob was even born before
he had done any good or evil. God loved Jacob, but he hated
Esau. And the same can be said about
we who are God's people. Isn't that amazing? That's pretty
incredible. Even when we were dead in our sin, we were the
Lord's sheep, and His eternal love was set upon us. Even when
we were sinning against Him, because He's the one we've sinned
against. He's the one who has to be satisfied, right? His justice
and law has to be satisfied. Let's bring it right home. When
we sin, we sin against God. That's who we sin against. So
he's the one who, he's the offended party who has to be satisfied.
And praise be to God, he is in Christ. But before we were ever
born, God loved us. He loved us. That's enough to
stretch your mind, isn't it? It's incredible. And it was purposed
by God. that Jesus Christ, the second
person of the Blessed Trinity, would become a man so that he
could redeem Jacob, so that he could redeem Jacob with his own
precious blood. And what does Paul write? That
Christ has obtained eternal redemption for who? us for his people so
the believer can say Christ came to this world to redeem me my
let that sink in beloved and he was motivated by his eternal
love for his bride to come here to purchase us God even calls
his elect by the name of Jacob. He says this, for I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are what? Not consumed
because of his eternal love that he has for his people. Jacob
knew he was a child of God and he also knew that Pharaoh was
a pagan king who who worship the gods of his own imagination.
But we see that Jacob was not filled with sinful pride, boasting
of his relationship with God, before a man who didn't know
the true and living God. No, the first thing Jacob did
is he blesses Pharaoh. John Gill said, Jacob wished
him health and happiness and prayed for his welfare. and gave
him thanks for his kindness to him, his children. And he blessed
him not only in the way of civility, as was usual when a man came
in the presence of princes, but in an authoritative way, as a
prophet and a patriarch, a man divinely inspired of God, who
had given him power and prayer with him. Jacob gave honor where
honor was due. And in doing so, he typified
God's enlightened children, and we are to do good unto all men. That's what Galatians chapter
6 verse 10 says. Especially to God's children.
Listen to Galatians chapter 6 verse 10. As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are
of the household of faith, especially to our brethren. We're to esteem
others better than ourselves, aren't we? That's what we're
to do. And Paul, writing under the divine inspiration of the
Holy Spirit of God, he says, I exhort you, therefore, that
first of all, Supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks be made for all men. That's why we pray for our government.
That's why we pray for people all around us, beloved. That's
why we do that. And it goes on. He writes, for
kings and for all that are in authority. Pray for those who
are in authority, beloved. Pray for them. It's easy for
us to say words against them, but pray for them. Lift them
up. Pray for them. Pray for them. That's what the
scripture says. For kings and for all that are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness
and honesty. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior." 1 Timothy 2, verses 1-3. So when Joseph brought his father
and set him before Pharaoh, we see that Pharaoh said unto Jacob,
How old art thou? He asked him how old he is. And
Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage
are a hundred and thirty years. 130 years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been, and have not obtained, unto the days
of the years of the life of my fathers, and the days of their
pilgrimage. So we see that Jacob confessed, as all believers do,
that he was but a pilgrim. Notice that? The days of my pilgrimage.
He's but a pilgrim. He's confessing the same thing
that we do as believers. We're just strangers and pilgrims
in this world, aren't we? We're just passing through, beloved.
And he confesses that, just like we do. A sojourner. And he also
let Pharaoh know that his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham
were pilgrims and sojourners as well. They were just passing
through this world. Just passing through this world.
We seek a better country, don't we? Whose builder and maker is
God. We do. We know this world's not
our home. We know that. No, not our home
at all. And we see that when Pharaoh
asked Jacob how old he was, Jacob said, the days of the years of
my pilgrimage are 130 years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been. And we see that even though he
was 130 years old, Jacob called the days of those years few.
He knew his life was like a vapor, which we know too. Our life's
like, we have a, every winter we have a perfect example of
that here. When you breathe out in a cold day and that vapor
goes out and it just disappears. That's what our life, that's
what James is writing about. Our lives just like a vapor,
just like a breath. I was talking to somebody this
week about how it just seems when you hit 40 and 50, and I
know I've talked to you saints who are older too, it just gets
faster and faster, doesn't it? It just flies by. What happened? My little boy is now 20 years
old. What happened? It's a blink of
an eye. Gavin, we were talking about
Gavin. We remember when Joe brought him in. And now he's three, boom,
just like that. It's incredible, it's incredible
how quickly life passes, how quickly time goes by. So the days of our life are like
a vapor, beloved, just like a vapor. So when Jacob looked back in
his life, he just saw it, he saw it like a vapor. He saw his
life quickly, how quickly it had passed. And I ask you, is
this not how we as believers see our lives? When we look back
on our lives, we see the same thing. Passed so quickly. Moses prayed to God, he said,
teach us to number our days. Teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts and the wisdom. That's so true,
isn't it? Teach us, Lord, to number our days. We don't know
the number of our days, but there's a number. And when that number's
up, We'll be with the Lord, and nobody will be able to stop it.
No one. We as believers don't want to
get stopped, do we? Let me go home! Let me go home! Oh my! Just think about that
for a little while, about being in the presence of the Lord when
you breathe your last breath. It'll make you homesick, beloved.
So we see that Jacob said to Pharaoh that his days were few
and evil. Commentators bring forth that what is meant by evil
here is many afflictions and trials that he went through.
He had evil days when he feared Esau was going to kill him. He
feared that Esau was going to kill him. He had evil days, a
great trial, when he worked seven years for the hand of Rachel.
Seven years he worked for the hand of Rachel in marriage and
was deceived by Laban and had to work another seven years to
get her. Evil days, a great trial, when
his daughter was raped by a man and his son slaughtered the Sechenites
for doing so. They just wiped, they just killed
him. Evil days, a great trial when he buried his beloved wife
Rachel. Evil days, a great trial when he thought his son Joseph
had been ripped apart by some wild beasts. And then again,
evil days, a great trial during the time of famine, not knowing
how he was going to provide for his family. And we know that
each one of God's born-again blood-washed people, we endure
the same physical trials that the ungodly go through. We do. We're not immune to the trials
and tribulations of this world. And Christians get sick the same
way as those who are not Christians, and God's children die of heart
attacks and cancer or suffer from other diseases, just as
the ungodly do. But think of this. They go through
all that without Christ. And then they perish and go into
a Christless eternity if God leaves them in that state of
spiritual deadness. But beloved, praise be to God,
we go through those trials with Christ. He's ever with us. He'll
never leave us nor forsake us. And when we do cross over the
Jordan, when we do go through that doorway called death, we
will be in the presence of the Lord forever. My oh my. God's
children, we go through painful trials. And those who live godly
in Christ, we know the scripture says, will suffer persecution.
And the world hates the true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And our Lord tells us that our own foes will be those of our
own household. But listen to these words of
the Lord Jesus Christ. In the world you shall have tribulation.
In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have
overcome the world. Hallelujah. Remember I said that's
not a bad word to say, is it? It's a good word. Praise his
mighty name. Oh my. Christ Jesus our Lord
promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us and he never
does. Our Lord Jesus Christ assures us that all things were working
together for his glory and for our good. Now think of how this
has happened to Jacob. They were in Canaan practically
starving to death. All those trials I mentioned
that he went through. thinking his son is dead in the
happy reunion that we saw. My, oh my. All by God's will
and decree. All by God's will and decree.
Romans tells us that absolutely nothing shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing, beloved. Nothing. What happens if someone gets
Alzheimer's, who's a believer, and says things that they never
would have said, or forgets even who they are, and forgets who
their family is, and forgets who the Lord is even, or still
got them, because salvation is dependent upon Him, not us. Praise His mighty name, right?
It's wonderful. It's comforting. It's comforting,
beloved. We have nothing to fear as believers
because our Lord Jesus Christ is on the throne right now. Right
now. Look at verse 10. And Jacob blessed
Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh. Jacob went out from
the presence of Pharaoh. He blessed him again, thanking
Pharaoh for his kindness and for the honor that he had bestowed
upon his family by allowing them to live in Goshen and by wishing
Pharaoh happiness and well-being. Now let's read verses 11 and
12. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren and gave them
a possession in the land of Egypt. Look at that, in the best of
the land. It's the choicest land, beloved,
in the land of Ramesses as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished
his father and his brethren and all his father's household with
bread according to their families. Again, it was all part of God's
sovereign will, all part of God's plan and purpose. that his people
would go into bondage in the land of Egypt, we know that,
and here we're seeing them go into the land of Egypt, but we
also know that he would deliver them as he promised, with a mighty
hand, and he did, didn't he? He delivered them with a mighty
hand, and we see that Joseph had authority from Pharaoh himself,
from the king, to place his father and his brother in the land of
Ramesses, which was the land of Goshen. And it's amazing to
consider that the land of Goshen, again, was the most fertile land
in all of Egypt. It's just incredible. Especially
during the years of famine. Think of that. You truly see
that the heart of the king is in the Lord's hands. He gives
them the choicest land during a famine. During a famine. It's
incredible. And this land was close to the
Nile River and this is the very place that the people of Israel
are given. Again, we see God's sovereign
hand at work. The heart of the king is in the
Lord's hand. Our great Lord does whatever He pleases. He does
whatever He pleases, beloved. And remember, always remember,
that's the one who keeps us. The sovereign God we see who's
working, we know, behind the scenes, right? But He's in full
control of everything, is the very one who has saved us, and
the very one who keeps us right now today, as believers today.
Don't let that escape you. He's the same God who's keeping
us today. Oh, it'll make your heart sing. So we see also a
loving son in Joseph as well, a loving brother, a loving son,
a loving brother, and Joseph's love for his family is put in
action. Note, he places his father and
his brother in the land of Goshen, gives them the possession in
the land of Egypt, and it all comes at the command of the king.
It all comes by the command of Pharaoh. They were given houses
to dwell in, several commentators said, land to till, pastures
and land for their flocks in the land of Goshen. This was
Israel's possession, all by the mighty, sovereign hand of Almighty
God. And it probably was not met with
the approval of some of the Egyptians. Could you imagine what some of
the Egyptians are thinking? Has Pharaoh lost his mind? I guarantee
you some of them thought that. There were some that probably
thought that. What is wrong with him? He's given them the choiceless
land and a famine. They were powerless. All by the
mighty hand of our sovereign God, this all came to pass. What
could they do? Here's another thing, too. What
could they do against Pharaoh doing that? Nothing. What can
man do if God wants to save whom he will when he wills? See, man
getting a big uproar when you start talking about how God can
do whatever he pleases. So when men fight against the
sovereignty of God and they argue against, what does that do? Nothing.
Doesn't change anything, does it? Nothing at all. Nothing at
all. Doesn't change a thing. of what
we see transpiring was ordained and executed by our great majestic
triune God, who again works all things after the counsel of his
own will, and none can stay his hand." We see it so clearly here
that none can stay his hand. No one. So clearly, isn't it?
So clearly. No one can stay his hand. And
then we see that Joseph nourished his father and his brethren,
too. Don't let that go by without thinking upon that. Joseph nourished
his father and his brethren in his father's household. with
bread according to their families. And this is the land of Goshen.
It was good grazing land for the Israelites, for their cattle. But we know because of the famine,
Jacob and his family needed to be fed as well. And all the grain
that had been stored during the years of plenty was in the hands
of Joseph. to deliver it however he's pleased
to deliver it. No one can say anything to him
at all. No one can say, what are you doing giving all that
food to your father? No, they can't say a word. They can't
say a word. He has a constant and full supply, doesn't he?
Oh, do you see where we're going with this? A constant and full
supply. Oh my. Not only to provide for
himself, but for all his family. For all of them. Joseph's the
type of Christ who supplies all the wants of his people, beloved.
He's a storehouse who never empties. Never. And what a picture again
we have of God as our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ as our
heavenly Joseph, because our heavenly Joseph is the bread
of life. He's our sustenance. He nourishes us, and we grow
under the preaching of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as we looked at in our last study, Goshen typifies the places
where we come to worship, beloved. where God's enlightened children
assemble together for public worship. The whole world is spiritual
Egypt all around us. And there's a spiritual famine
in all the land around us. But we come here, don't we? And
we are nourished with the bread of life, beloved, with the bread
of life. And our great God, the shepherd
of his sheep, is the one who makes his people to lie down
in green pastures. green pastures of His Word, in
the fertile land of His churches, beloved. Oh my! And we graze
as the sheep of God under the preaching of the gospel, don't
we? Oh, we feast. We feast under the preaching
of the gospel. And it is the Lord Jesus Christ
who's proclaimed the bread of life, our heavenly man.