Once again then, we're going
to be reading Genesis chapter 45 and beginning at verse 16. You remember that Joseph has
revealed his identity to his brothers and now the knowledge
of that revelation has reached Pharaoh's ears. And the fame
thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren
are come. And it pleased Pharaoh well and
his servants. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
Say unto thy brethren, This do ye, laid your beasts and go,
get you unto the land of Canaan. and take your father and your
households, and come unto me, and I will give you the good
of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded this,
do ye, take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little
ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. Also
regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt
is yours. And the children of Israel did
so. And Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment
of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To all of them he
gave each man changes of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave three
hundred pieces of silver and five changes of raiment. And
to his father he sent after this manner ten asses laden with the
good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn and
bread and meat for his father by the way. So he sent his brethren
away, and they departed. And he said unto them, See that
ye fall not out by the way. And they went up out of Egypt,
and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and
told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over
all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for
he believed them not. And they told him all the words
of Joseph, which he had said unto them. And when he saw the
wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob
their father revived. And Israel said, it is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before
I die. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. The king of Egypt and his servants
and the people of Egypt all had much to thank Joseph for. God's light to Joseph in the
interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams and his wisdom in the way in
which he managed the affairs of the years of plenty and the
years of famine had saved the nation of Egypt. So the people
of Egypt had much to thank him for. All that Joseph had warned,
all that Joseph had spoken about had occurred just as he had said. And for that reason perhaps,
Pharaoh and his servants were keen to see that Joseph's brethren
had come. But it is also perhaps the case
that the Lord simply laid an affection for Joseph upon the
hearts of these people. Because God's overarching hand
and purpose stretched into the future in order to safeguard
and provide for the people of his covenant promise. And this
is the great lesson that we see in Joseph's life. Whatever the
cause, Pharaoh was eager to welcome Jacob and his sons, or as they
are called here, the children of Israel, into Egypt, even sending
wagons to bring them on their journey. Often in life we can
only stand back and watch the wonderful things God does for
his people. Who could have foreseen such
an outcome as this? The hand of God ordering, providing,
protecting his people and doing it in style. Here's a few lessons
that we can perhaps draw from the narrative, from the verses
before us today. The first thing I want to draw
your attention to was when Joseph heard from Pharaoh that the sons
were to go up and then come back again, Joseph sent them away
according to Pharaoh's command. But there was something interesting
about the way that he sent his brothers away. He said to them,
don't fall out by the way. When you're on the road heading
back to Canaan, when you're heading back to pick up my father and
your families and all your goods in these wagons that I've given
you, don't argue with one another. Don't fall out by the way. for all their blessings, for
all the good provision that Joseph had given them, he still felt
it necessary to warn his brothers not to become angry or to fall
out with one another. You know, it would almost be
funny reading this and thinking about this if it were not so
true to life. Even when the Lord blesses us,
we are prone to spoil his goodness by letting our own selfishness
get in the way of the things, the good things that he has done
for us. Joseph knew what his brothers
were like. And even after all this time,
he had not seen his brothers for many, many years. Nevertheless,
he still said to them, Don't fall out with one another. Why
would he say that? Because he knew them. After all
this time, he knew that human nature doesn't change. This reminds
us that it takes grace to convert and to renew the human heart. Getting a makeover on our old
nature never works. People try it, they try to live
better, they try to do good, they try to please those that
are around about them, and they think if maybe we can live better
lives, if maybe we can behave ourselves more appropriately,
then things will go well for us. But it takes grace to change
the human heart. The old nature remains the same. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter
12 spoke something about this. He said, if it be possible, as
much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Maybe that's a
New Testament equivalent of what Joseph told his brothers here. Sometimes it isn't possible.
Sometimes it isn't possible to live peaceably with all men.
We can't live peaceably with sin and that's why the Apostle
says if it's at all possible. But let us live peaceably with
our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Let us not fall out by
the way as we make our pilgrim journey through this world. And
let us endeavour, as much as lieth within us, to live peaceably,
especially with those that we rub shoulders with, that we share
fellowship with, and that we share the Lord Jesus Christ with. Here's another thing that we
learn from this little passage. Jacob was able to say, my son
is alive. He learned that after all these
years, thinking that Joseph was dead, actually he was still alive. Not only was he alive, he was
governor in Egypt. He was over all the land of Egypt
under Pharaoh alone. And what a wonderful thing that
was. What amazing feelings must have
coursed through Jacob's heart and his mind as he learned and
it dawned upon him what his sons were telling him. We're told
that his spirit revived. He felt joy after all these years
of sadness and trial. And speaking spiritually, that's
what conversion does for a believer. We discover new joy in the Lord
Jesus Christ when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We discover
new life. We discover that the ways of
life that we once knew, the things that we once valued had changed. and that we discover that there
are blessings that we never knew of and causes for joy and happiness
and peace that we only begin to discover. Our spirit, our
soul revives. And that doesn't mean that everything
in life is going to be rosy or to be bright. As long as we are
in this world, as long as we have sin in our lives, there
will be trials, there will be problems, there will even be
persecution and they will bring us pain. However, the Lord living
in our hearts will make this world a more joyful experience
to us as we pass through it. We will know something that this
world doesn't know. We will know a peace that passes
understanding. The Lord Jesus Christ tells his
people, because I live, ye shall live also. He's speaking here
about spiritual life, a completely new creation in the soul of a
dead sinner when the Lord Jesus Christ gives us faith to trust
and believe upon him. Paul could say, Christ liveth
in me and the life which I now live in the flesh That is, in
our bodies, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. And here's another wee point,
another little lesson that we have here. Joseph revealed himself
to his brothers. He said to them, I am Joseph. It was to his brothers that that
revelation came, and it was only for his brothers. that this amazing
revelation and transformation of this relationship was at all
relevant. It wasn't relevant to the Egyptians,
it wasn't relevant to the people who lived in Joseph's house and
who served him. It was only meaningful to the
brothers and to the immediate family of Joseph. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is our relative. He has brethren in this world,
men and women, boys and girls, who are given to the Lord Jesus
Christ by his Father for the Lord to look after them, care
for them, and bring them to glory. So that the Lord Jesus Christ
is our elder brother. The writer to the Hebrews tells
us that in chapter 2 verse 11 he says, for both he that sanctifyeth,
that is the Lord Jesus Christ sets his people apart, and they
who are sanctified, we are the people who are set apart by the
Lord Jesus Christ, who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, they
are all one, they are all one family, for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren. Our Joseph is the Lord Jesus
Christ and he is looking after his brethren. He is caring for
us. He is comforting us. He is bringing
us to glory. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
bring everyone in this world to glory. Only those who have
been given to him. Only his brethren for whom he
died and for whom he now prepares a heavenly mansion. as the wagons
made their way up from Egypt into the land of Canaan and into
the camp of Jacob and those of the brothers' families. As they
carried the family back to Egypt, to their new home, so God's goodness
in Christ bears us and carries us all our lives, all the way
to our heavenly home. The journey won't always be easy.
There will be bumps on the road and it won't be without incident. Sometimes it seems as if the
wheel falls off the wagon. but our Saviour will not lose
one of those little ones that have been placed into his care
and have been redeemed by his blood. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to our hearts. Amen.