Today we're going to be back
in Genesis in our study in the life of Joseph. Now in our last
study in the life of Joseph, we looked at the wonderful reunion
between Joseph and his father Israel. We also looked at how
Joseph told his brothers that they must appear before Pharaoh. They had to appear before Pharaoh.
And he instructed his brothers how to conduct themselves before
Pharaoh. Turn if you would to Genesis chapter 46 and we'll look at verses 33 and
34. And we'll see here that Joseph
instructs his brothers how to speak to Pharaoh. And it shall come to pass when
Pharaoh shall call you and shall say, what is your occupation?
That ye shall say, thy servant's trade hath been about cattle
from our youth, even until now. Both we, and also our fathers,
that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd
is an abomination unto the Egyptians." So, even though shepherds were
an abomination unto Egyptians, Joseph's brothers were to openly
confess their trade and their profession. They were to openly
confess their occupation from their youth before Pharaoh. They were to tell Pharaoh that
they were shepherds, we see very clearly here, and all their lives. And knowing even that this is
an abomination to the Egyptians, they were still to tell him their
occupation, not to hide it from them. And again, this is all
God's sovereign purpose. Remember, we mentioned how Goshen
is in the land of Egypt. Last time we met, Goshen is in
the land of Egypt, But the Israelites were separated by God into the
land of Goshen. They were in Egypt, but they
were separated. Beloved, we're in Egypt, this
world, but we're separated. We're separated by God. We're
separated, beloved. We're not of the world. We're
looking for a better country. And also Goshen was was in proximity,
it was closer to Canaan than all the other lands of the land
of Egypt. So they were separated from the Egyptians within the
borders of Egypt again. So again, it's a picture of the
church in the world within the borders of Egypt, but separate
from the Egyptians in the land of Goshen. And they stopped in
the land of Goshen. Again, that part of Egypt was
not only the closest part of Egypt to the land of Canaan,
But it was the land where God had sovereignly purposed that
they would be. Now think of that even in our lives. We are sovereignly
purposed where we will be in this world. Isn't that wonderful? God's in full control, beloved. This is His vineyard. This world
is His vineyard. And He places His people and
His preachers wherever He's pleased to place them. So we're right where we're supposed
to be. It's amazing. It's amazing. Listen to the words. Let's turn, if you would, to
Exodus chapter 6. Exodus chapter 6. Listen to these words, which
the Lord speaks to Moses about the deliverance of Israel from
the land of Egypt. Exodus chapter 6, verses 6 to
8. Excuse me. Exodus chapter 6 verses 6 to
8. Wherefore say unto the children
of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians. Who's doing all the work in these
verses? Look at this. And I will rid you out of their
bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, with
great judgments. And I will take you to me for
a people. He's done that for us, hasn't
he? Everything we see here that he's doing for the Egyptians,
beloved, he's done for us. He's done for us, because again,
Egypt's a picture of the world. And I will bring you to a God,
and I will be to you a God, and you shall know that I am the
Lord your God. We know that, don't we, beloved?
It's wonderful. Which bringeth you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians, And I will bring you into the
land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it you for an heritage. I am the Lord." Why? There's a lot of I wills in there,
isn't it? People talk about their supposed free will, but that's
just a We make choices. We do. We make choices all the
time. And you've heard me say this
so many times. But our will is bound to our nature. And if we
have a dead nature, all we're going to choose is sinfulness.
We're born again, we who are God's people. We have a new nature
guiding us now. We desire different things than
we desired before we were saved. But it's all because of God said,
I will. I will. You be my people. He
said that to us in eternity. But He chose us in Christ. And
so, seeing all these I wills, we realize that there is one
supreme free will, isn't there? And He does whatever He pleases.
He's the one who separated the Israelites from the Egyptians.
He's the one who separated Abraham from all his family and kin in
the land of Ur. And He's the one who separated
us, beloved, from our loved ones and from people we know. He did
it all. Praise be to His name. Praise
His mighty name. And it's good for us to be constantly
reminded of that, isn't it? It really is. And so remember,
they were in Egypt, the Israelites, but they were separated from
the Egyptians being in the land of Goshen. Now, this will become
evident that their separation of their separation from the
Egyptians when the plagues start hitting that land. When the plagues
start hitting that land. Turn, if you would, to Exodus
chapter 8. Exodus chapter 8. This separation becomes very
evident when the plagues start hitting the Egyptians and the
Israelites were spared from them. And it shows that the wrath of
God will fall on those who are outside of Christ, beloved. those
who are outside of Christ, but all in Christ will be safe and
secure. All in Christ will be safe and
secure because the wrath that was rightly deserved us fell
upon our great substitute, fell upon our King, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and he bore it all for us, beloved. He bore it all. Look at this in Exodus chapter
8, look in verses 22 and 23. And I will, again, here's God
exercising His will. And I will sever in that day
the land of Goshen in which my people dwell, that no swarms
of flies shall be there. Look at that. That's a miracle. Right? To the end that thou mayest
know that I am the Lord. in the midst of the earth, and
I will put a division between my people and thy people. Moral
shall be, shall this sign be. Now we who are believers, we
suffer, we suffer things in this world just like the people in
the world do, don't we? But beloved, the Lord has separated
us by his choice, by his distinguishing grace, We're chosen people in
Christ. And again, those things he promised
the Egyptians. Remember too, all the promises
to Israel are for the church, beloved. Are for the church. When you find a promise in the
Old Testament, get a hold of it. Oh my, those are for God's
people, beloved. Those are for God's people. Cling
to it. Look in one chapter over in Exodus chapter nine. Look
at verse four. The fifth plague hits the cattle
of Egypt. And note the words of the Lord
in Exodus 9, verse 4. And the Lord shall sever between
the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt. And there shall
nothing die of all that is in the children of Israel. Nothing.
Separated again. Look at verse 26. The sixth plague
of hell hits. And note what happens there.
Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were,
there was no hell. Again, do you see how God sovereignly
separated the Egyptians and the Israelites? When they first came
into the land by His sovereign will, and now we see the reason
why, don't we? They are spared, beloved. Well,
the judgments which picture the wrath of God, they hit all Egypt,
don't they? Other than Goshen. God's people are spared. Look
at Exodus chapter 11. Look at this. The final plague. The final plague. And look at
these words in Exodus chapter 11 verse 7. But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. against man or beast,
that they may know how the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel." Look at that. It's clearly stated
right there, God's distinguishing grace, isn't it? Were the Israelites
any more deserving that those plagues wouldn't hit them than
the Egyptians? No, the only reason they didn't
hit them is because they were God's chosen people and God had
separated them from the Egyptians, beloved. He is the one who makes the difference. So bring it home. Bring it home,
beloved. He's the one who's made the difference
between us and the people we know, our friends, our family
who do not know Christ, our co-workers who do not know Christ, people
we meet every day who do not know Christ. It's God who's made
us to differ. Brother John, even what we were
talking about with stopping somewhere and maybe an accident happens
down the road. That's all God's protecting hand
on his people. That's all God's protecting hand.
He watches over us, beloved. He takes care of us. And the
only one who made the Israelites to differ from the Egyptians
was God. And so what a clear picture again we have of the
Israelites with the Israelites of the born-again children of
God, the blood-washed saints. And notice the protection of
Israel. They were protected from the
wrath of God. Beloved, we are protected in Christ, we're safe
in Christ. Glory to His name. We're safe
in Him, secure in Him. Oh my, now let's read Genesis.
With that as the setup, let's read Genesis now, chapter 47.
We're starting the first two verses. Here's Joseph's brothers
now. They're going to appear before
Pharaoh, who's the king. And Joseph takes five of his
brethren with him. Genesis 47, verses 1 to 2. This is where we will see God
sovereignly separate again the people of Israel from the Egyptians,
even though they're in the borders of Egypt, they're going to be
separated. 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.
So we see in these first verses that Joseph appears before Pharaoh
as the representative of his entire family. And he speaks
to Pharaoh and then he presents five of his brethren to Pharaoh.
And Joseph typifies the Lord Jesus Christ, beloved. He typifies
Christ as our Lord and Savior. He's risen from the grave. He's
appeared now in the presence of God. as the true representative
of his entire bride, his body, his whole household, all of his
promised purchased possession, the elect of God. He is their
representative with God before the king. Well, Joseph is the
representative of his family. He appears before Pharaoh first,
and then he brings five of his brethren So what wonderful deliverance
we have in Christ, beloved. He's delivered us from the power
of darkness and he will one day present us faultless before the
king, faultless before God, the sovereign king of the universe. And we will be presented as monuments
of the grace of God. I just can't get over that, can
you? Monuments of the grace of God.
That's what we're being, beloved. It's incredible. Let's read verses 3 and 4 now.
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 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 here in these two
verses we see Pharaoh asked what their occupation is. And we see
by their reply, again, that they will be separated from the Egyptians. They will be in the borders of
Egypt, but they will be separated from the Egyptians. Again, because
shepherds are an abomination unto the Egyptians. Again, this
is all falling out according to God's sovereign plan and His
will. his sovereign plan and his will. And that is the promise that
he gave to Abraham, remember? That his seed would be a stranger
in the land, in another land, and that they would be delivered
by a mighty hand. And they were, right? By the
mighty hand of God. They were delivered by the mighty
hand of God from bondage. Well, what about us, beloved?
Have we been delivered by a mighty hand? from bondage? Amen, we have been, haven't we?
Oh my, my. And here we actually have the
actual account of some of Joseph's brothers standing before Pharaoh
and Pharaoh asking them the exact question that Joseph told them
he would ask. Isn't that amazing? Oh. And you know what that tells
us? That tells us Joseph was very familiar with the ways of
Pharaoh, doesn't it? He knew him. He knew him really
well. That tells us that. That he knew Pharaoh very, very
well. Very, very well. Well, it shouldn't be too difficult
to see Joseph instructing his brothers how to speak before
Pharaoh as a type of Christ. Because our Lord instructs us
how to pray, doesn't He? He instructs us how to pray.
To our Heavenly Father, He says, if we ask anything according
to His will, He's here with us. Oh, my, but he instructed us
how to how to speak to a father, didn't he? Yeah, he did. And
he's the king. He's the king. Note also in verse
four that they're quick to identify themselves as feral servants.
Because they were in his country. They were in his country. They
were foreigners there. They were foreigners there. And
they're in need of pasture land for their flocks and for their
livestock. And they're in need of a place
for their family to live. And in need of daily bread to
sustain them during the years of famine that were yet to come. And so they were at the mercy
of Pharaoh, weren't they? Who are we at the mercy of? Our
great king, aren't we? We're at the mercy of God. We're
at the mercy of God. And when the Lord draws us to
him, oh, we cry, Lord, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me, Lord. Oh, please have mercy on me.
The sinner. We see ourselves as the chief
of sinners. But we're foreigners here, beloved.
And we pray that God will have mercy on us and guide us and
protect us and take us through this land, right? And one day
we're gonna see our King face to face. Oh, what a glorious
day that'll be. They were God's chosen people,
Will. And He was caring for them. Remember our God cared for them
while they were in the land of Canaan. He sustained them, didn't
He? He sustained them. And He sustained them while they
were on their journey to Egypt. He sustained them, we know, through
all their captivity in the land of Egypt, and He sustained them
in their deliverance, and He sustained them when they went
back to the land of Canaan, didn't He? Oh, what mercy our great
God has on this people. Truly, again, we have a very
clear picture of how our Heavenly Father cares for His chosen blood-bought
people with the people of Israel. We have such a clear picture.
Let's read verse 4 again. They said, Moreover unto Pharaoh,
For to sojourn in the land are we come. For thy servants have
no pasture in 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 here, they
confess their need before the king, don't they? They confess
their need before Pharaoh. He's the sovereign monarch over
all of Egypt. And they confess their need.
They also acknowledge that they're only in the land of Egypt by
the permissive will of Pharaoh. Right? Pharaoh didn't have to
let them in that land. But remember what the scriptures
say? The heart of the king is in the Lord's hands. And he turns
it whatsoever way he pleases. Right? We see that right here,
beloved. These shepherds are an abomination
to the Egyptians, and yet, yet, Pharaoh's gonna give them the
choicest land in all of Egypt? Oh my, beloved. Oh my. They also confess that it was
not their intention to remain in Egypt permanently. And look,
because look what verse four, it says, for to sojourn in the
land are we come. Now the word sojourn there in
Hebrew means it's a verb to mean to sojourn, to dwell as a foreigner. In a reflective sense, it's to
seek hospitality with them. So they're seeking hospitality
with Pharaoh. But they're admitting that they're
foreigners. They're just sojourners. They're just sojourners. They
didn't think, little did they know that they'd be in bondage
for 400 years. They didn't know that. So think upon this as a spiritual
application. This should be our attitude and
our conduct before our great majestic God, right? Just to
come before Him. Oh, humbly before Him. Just bowing before Him. Asking
for mercy. Because we confess, Do we still
confess our daily needs to our King? Absolutely we do, don't
we? Do we find ourselves crying out in the day to Him? Oh yeah,
we do. My. We acknowledge that our God
is able to supply all our needs. All our needs. We cry out to
Him for grace. We cry out to Him for strength.
Daily. Why? And we confess that we're
just strangers, aren't we? And pilgrims in this world, we
know that. We're living on this earth only for a little while.
Only for a little while. And like Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, we look for a city which has, whose foundations and builder
and maker is God. We look for Him. We look to Him.
And confess that we're just but strangers and pilgrims on this
earth. We desire a heavenly country, beloved. A heavenly country. Knowing that we have risen with
Christ by His grace. We seek those things which are
above. We look to Christ who is seated
on the right hand of the Father. Let's read verses 5 and 6 now.
And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren
are come unto thee. The land of Egypt is before thee,
and the best of the land. Look at that, the best of the
land. Make thy father and brethren to dwell. So God had just put
him in a section of Egypt by his sovereign will, but he had
him put in the best of the land, beloved. Oh my goodness, isn't
that amazing? Who would, who, who, who, you
know, think, and this is just me, who in their right mind as
a leader would think a bunch of strangers come into your land,
I'm going to give them the prime land? Who in their right mind
would think that, right? But see, the Lord just moves
how he's pleased. That king's heart is like putty
in his hands. Oh my. It's pretty amazing, isn't
it? Look at that. The best of the
land, too, not just the second and the third, but the best.
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. Now
also, too, think of this. What would some of his top advisors
think? Who maybe were eyeing that land
of Goshen. Oh my. Oh my. There's no uprising
though when the king says something, is there? No, that's what happens.
That's what happens. And notice in verse 5, Pharaoh
could have spoken personally to Joseph's brethren, but take
note that he did not do that. He spoke to Joseph, his prime
minister, over all the land of Egypt. And remember that he had
already put a decree that those who wanted anything must go to
Joseph, they must go to Joseph, they must go through Joseph.
So we see that even though Joseph's brothers had appeared before
Pharaoh himself and asked for permission to dwell in the land
of Goshen, they had to recognize and acknowledge Joseph's authority,
Joseph's authority. And Pharaoh had entrusted all
things to Joseph, to Joseph in the land of Egypt, all things.
had been put into the hands of the Prime Minister, Joseph. And
he could do whatever he was pleased to do with it. Who has all power,
beloved? The Lord Jesus Christ has given
Christ all power and all authority, hasn't he? He's got it all. He's
got it all. He's got it all. So we see again
clearly that the life of Joseph once again points us to the Lord
Jesus Christ as the one mediator between God and man, who has
power over all the affairs of this world, which is spiritual
Egypt. Oh my, all power in heaven and
earth have been given, have been given to Jesus Christ who redeemed
his chosen people when he died on Calvary's cross, all power All power. And He can do whatever
He pleases, can't He? He can do whatever He pleases.
And you know the same God who moved in Pharaoh's heart, and
who bought the Israelites into the land of Canaan, and who delivered
the Israelites out of the land of Canaan. You know it's the
same God who watches over us. Each one of us. who are his people,
the same God, the same God, the same God who parted the Red Sea is the same one who's our shepherd.
Oh, my. See, we need to bring it home
sometimes, beloved. And Vicki and I were talking
about this week, you know, we're both sick and laying around and
can't do anything. And just how the Lord says, I'll
never leave you nor forsake you. He's ever with us. Even when
we're laid out in bed, can't do nothing. Can't even help one
another. Oh my, it's amazing. But He's
ever with us, isn't He? He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. Never, ever, not ever. Never. Never. And our Father, He won't speak
to anyone, including the nation of Israel, except through
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the exalted mediator of
the new covenant, beloved. The king won't speak to anyone
except through Christ. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
12. Hebrews 12, excuse me. Hebrews chapter 12, 3 verses
22 and 24. Paul writes these words, but
ye are come unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written
in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to Jesus, this is who we come to,
the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Beloved Jesus Christ,
by the supreme sacrifice of himself, he obtained eternal redemption
for his people. He obtained it. Those who are
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, We acknowledge now what
the Lord's done for us, don't we? We acknowledge that it was
by the shedding of his precious blood that we're redeemed. And
we acknowledge that without him dying in our place as our substitute,
we'd never be saved. We'd never be saved. Oh, what
mercy. What mercy. How does a sinner
come to Christ? Well, by faith, by God-given
faith. by God-given faith. We looked
at that a few weeks ago in the message on free grace. For by
grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. That
God-given faith has one object, And that's the Lord Jesus Christ
and that faith is a gift from God. We can't earn it. We can't we don't seek it. We
don't seek it is given to us is amazing. God's amazing grace
and then it says no man shall come to me except the father
which has sent me draw him. And I'll raise him up the last
day is written in the prophets and they shall They shall, again,
there's another imperative, right? They shall, they shall be all
taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father shall, the Father cometh
unto me. And see, we come to Christ. Just
as Joseph was the mediator between the king and the Israelites,
Christ is the one mediator between God and man. There are no other
mediators. None. None at all. And it is God, our Father, under
the preaching of his gospel, who brings spiritual famine to
the souls of his people, makes us thirst after the water of
life, which is Christ. He makes us hunger after righteousness,
when at one time we never did. It's amazing. God's grace is
amazing. In verse five, we see Pharaoh
speak again unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are
come unto thee. Then in verse 6 he says, The
land of Egypt is before thee, in the best of the land make
thy father and 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. So we see that which has been
stated and reaffirmed that Pharaoh had decreed that he had put all
affairs into the hands of Joseph by saying this to Joseph. All the land of Egypt was before
Joseph to do whatever he's pleased to do with it. And then, now Pharaoh's given
Joseph the authority to have his family settle in the land
of Goshen, the best of the land. The best of the land. Most fertile
land, several commentators said it's the most fertile land in
all of Egypt. And think of that, especially
during the times of famine. My goodness. John Gill stated
in his commentary that the land of Goshen was the best part of
the land, the most fertile and fruitful, and the fittest for
cattle. Look at that. fittest for cattle,
being full of pastures, building the River Nile and the canals
of it, and Goshen being the most fertile portion in the land.
It just happens to be that, no, it doesn't just happen to be,
you know that, they're placed in the land which is the best
land for cattle. Oh my. Isn't God amazing? Isn't he amazing? He's amazing. He's truly amazing. So God, by
a sovereign and wise will and purpose, had reserved the land.
Think of that, that land being reserved for the Misrites. It
being reserved for them. Oh, reserved for them, for His
chosen people. So we see that nothing happens.
Let us remember this too. We see clearly here that nothing
happens apart from the permissive will of our great God and King. It's true. And then think of
how the church is a picture of the land of Goshen. We meet here
for public worship, don't we? Church is like the land of Goshen
for God's people. We meet here for public worship.
We come here. It's the most fertile and fruitful
of all the land, isn't it? You can't get from the rest of
Egypt what we get in here. Oh, it's fertile and fruitful
land, isn't it? To be in a gospel church. And
think of it, all around us is a land of spiritual famine. Spiritual
famine all around us. Oh, we come in here and we just
feast on the word, don't we? We just feast on it. So what
a blessing and a privilege it is that we can gather together
in a place that has been, remember, ordained by God. There's a church
here because God ordained a church to be here. It's amazing, isn't
it? It's incredible. It's incredible. Ordained by God and that a people
who are separated for Him will gather together and will worship
God and will praise God. That's all by the will of God
too. And then He gives us ears to hear and to understand that
which is being preached and proclaimed. And the truth is being preached
and proclaimed by a man who's being converted under the same
gospel as everyone else. Isn't that amazing? It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. And
we come here and we rejoice in the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We can't get that outside in that world. It's wonderful,
beloved. And then we see Pharaoh also
say to Joseph, if thou knowest any man of activity among them,
then make them rulers over my cattle. If you know anyone who
knows how to do cattle real well, send them my way. They can take
care of my cattle, the king's cattle. The king's cattle. King's livestock. So, Pharaoh
has complete confidence in Joseph, doesn't he? Well, God has complete
confidence in the Son. The Father has complete confidence
in the Son, doesn't he? He does. He does. Oh my. And all who are in the Son, I
got more but I'm not going to get to it. All that are in the
Son are safe. They're safe. They're safe. Oh
my, I'm going to close with this. We have every reason to trust
our Savior. Every reason to trust our Savior,
because our Lord Jesus Christ is on the throne right now. And
we have every reason to rejoice, because our Lord Jesus Christ
is on the throne right now. And we have absolutely no reason
to fear, do we? Because our Lord Jesus Christ
is right on the throne right now. Glory be to His name. Praise
His name.