There's a place in the heart
of the earth, where we find peace and joy and hope. There's a place
in the heart of the earth, where we find peace and joy and hope. Genesis chapter forty-nine. I feel compelled to move on from
these studies in Genesis. I have thoroughly enjoyed them,
but it's time to Go to a different portion of God's Word. As I started writing these notes
down, I said we'll try to finish up tonight, but I couldn't. I
didn't. I was going to try to get all the way through chapter
50 tonight, but I couldn't. I hung up on Joseph, the fruitful
bough. So we'll dwell there tonight,
and chapter 50 will end it up Sunday morning. I'm going to
touch the high points, it's impossible to deal with all this fully in
one message, but we'll just hit the high point. Now each of these
twelve tribes of Israel, Jacob's sons, Jacob's prophecies concerning
them, in some way each of them represent
our Lord Jesus Christ, as all of Scripture. To a degree, though,
certainly not fully, because there are many judgments pronounced
on these. But the prophecies concerning
these, many, most have their fulfillment in Christ, because
he is the spirit of prophecy. The testimony of Jesus, it says
in Revelation, is the spirit of prophecy. Get right into it. Verse 13. This is where we left
off. You know, we dwelt on the other
suns, particularly Judah. Zebulun. Zebulun. Shall dwell at the haven of the
sea. He shall be for an haven of ships.
His border shall be unto Zidon. The other verses of Scripture
speak of the Zebulun. That's the name of the church
in Pikeville, Kentucky. Good name, isn't it? Haven of
the sea. A haven of ships. Well, this
speaks of Christ. Christ is our haven abreast. He is that high tower, that fortress,
that lighthouse, as it were, on the rock that points us, keeps
us from going astray. He is the haven for ships, and
we have our fellowship in him. Verse 14, Issachar, Issachar,
and each of these names have a meaning. You ought to look
back sometime and remember when they were born. You'll find them
earlier on, but I'll not mention them now. Issachar is a strong
ass, couching down between two burdens. And he saw that rest
was good, the land that it was pleasant, bowed his shoulder
to bear, became a servant unto tribute." That's Christ, isn't
it? The one who bears our burdens. It says a strong ass couching
down, or that he is weighed down with a burden. Scripture says
the Lord hath laid on him a pretty heavy burden, the iniquity
of the soul. How our sins burden us. Multiply
our sins infinitely. That's the burden that Christ
bore. But he's able. his strong shoulders. That's why he came. He's a servant.
He's a sin bearer. The sin bearer. He's a servant
unto whom we pay tribute. Unto tribute. Verse 16. Dan shall judge his people. That's what the name Dan means.
Judge. He shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
Christ is the judge. All judgment has been committed
into his hands by God the Father. Dan shall be a serpent by the
way, an adder in the path, that bideth the horse's heels, so
that his rider shall fall backward." That's a prophecy concerning
this tribe, which dwelt at the latter part of the nation of
Israel there and had to do raiding tactics and so forth. Let's move
on. And why this is in here, I don't
know. I do know, but I don't know. All of a sudden, Jacob just up
and says, I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. Reminds me of Hebrews 13, where
he just up in the middle of it says, Jesus Christ the same,
yesterday, today, and forever. But Jacob, this is his dying
bed. And he's giving these blessings and all of a sudden he utters
this. This word of prayer, I have waited for thy salvation. Oh
Lord, how that pertains to Dan, I don't know. Neither did John
Gill, so I ain't so dumb after all. Verse 19, Gad, Gad, a troop
shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last. That's Christ, the one who overcame,
isn't it? The overcomer of our sin. A troop, a host encamped against
him, but he overcame. Verse 20, Out of Asher his bread
shall be fattening. Bread of Asher shall be fattening.
He shall yield royal dainties. You all see this, see Christ
in that without me commenting on it, don't you? Verse 21. Not to lie is a hind
let loose. Or some kind of cow or cattle
or maybe a goat. What about a scapegoat? A hind
let loose in the wilderness. He giveth goodly words. Christ
is the word. Now, Joseph. Joseph. I know at least two people
in here whose ears, three, whose ears perked up when that name
meant Joseph. Four, five, a whole family. So should all the sons of God.
But this speaks of our heavenly Joseph, Christ. Joseph, and it's
the title of this message, Brother Terry. fruitful bough. Joseph is a fruitful bough. A
fruitful bough. Christ said in John 15, He said,
I am the vine. I am the vine. In other places, He's called
a tree. Who bears fruit? Christ said, here is my Father
glorified that you bear much fruit. Who in here can say that
he's born one little green apple worth of fruit? One grape. Have you done anything you think
is worthy of notice or truly given God the glory? Christ is,
though, a fruitful bough. His whole life, from cradle to
grave, a fruitful life, bearing fruit to the glory of God. Christ
is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well. Like I love Psalm 1, that blessed
man is like the tree planted by a river of water. Those trees
that are going to bear the most fruit are the ones that have
the most water. Generally trees that are down
by the river, Even the pig rivers are huge, towering, beautiful
trees. We have some big old, seem like
virgin timber down there, some hemlocks, big old beech tree
down there. Beautiful. Just a haven of rest
down there. Well, Christ is that blessed
man. He is that tree planted by the
rivers of living water. And it says here, read on. A
fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over a wall. A fruitful
bough by a well whose branches run over a wall. This reminded
me of a—I love gardens. Some of you do, too. This reminded
me of a—I just pictured a scene of a beautiful fruit-laden apple
orchard. or multi fruit orchard, apple
trees and pear trees, just abounding fruit hanging low. You know how
Christ, he said, I'm meek and lowly because he bore much fruit. And a fruitful life, a man, someone
said, corn that is at its ripest hangs its lowest, or a tree that
has most fruit hangs bows its head. Well, Christ said, I'm
lowly, I'm meek and lowly. He bore much fruit. But a fruitful,
beautiful, fruit-laden garden. I remember as a child sneaking
into an apple orchard and it had a fence all around it, but
that won't keep a kid out when he's I did it most of the time
on the way to church. Snuck over that fence and stole
one of those beautiful apples. I'm sorry, I confess, but I had
to have one. My brothers and I, they made
me do it. But it was such a beautiful place, those apple trees, boys,
so nice. This reminded me of a beautiful
garden like that, of fruit trees, shading. an oasis area, it says,
by a well. Can you imagine this picture?
Beautiful fruit trees hanging over maybe a little pond or an
oasis area, a well, spring water, a place of rest. Doesn't that
make you want... Nancy's sitting there. A place
you want to just lie down, you know, and just eat apples. Or a place of repose and peace
and tranquility. That's Christ. That's Christ. He's God's garden of glorious
things. Fruitful trees, the scripture
describes Christ as a fruitful tree, as water, as lilies. In
this garden, that is Christ, there's fruitful trees, there's
waters that abound, there's lilies of the valley, there's roses
of Sharon. It says that like a fruitful bough that runs over
the wall. Any of you see that movie, The
Secret Garden? You girls see that? I got news for you. That's one of my favorite movies.
It's actually one of the only movies worth watching. It really
is. I've seen it twice. Not ashamed
of it. Nice movie. Beautiful. But that's
what the whole movie's about, this secret garden. Well, that's
what Christ is to the believer. A secret place. The world knows
not thereof. A secret garden. Overabounding,
abundant of fruits. A place where all his children
love to resort. And they've got a key to enter.
Right here. And they go in. Branches. That's
what the word branches means. Daughters. Daughters. His daughters. The king's daughters.
They resort to this garden and they find Sweet repose there
and wonders and adoring things that delight the soul. A veritable wonderland of glory
is the person of Christ in the gospel. Verse 23, the archers
have sorely grieved him. They shot at him. They hated
him. Yea, he was wounded. The archers
wounded him. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was laid on him, and by his stripes we're healed. The archers, yea,
they shot at him and they wounded him. They even killed him. But
he rose from that grave, didn't he? He rose from that grave. Verse 24 says, His bow abode
in strength. His bow abode in strength. That's the right arm of the Lord. His mighty arm, the scripture
says, has gotten him the victory. The arms of his hands were made
strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. The arms of his
hands. He is the hands of God. Any mention
in the scripture, listen to this, you may never have thought about
this, but any mention in the scripture of hands is Christ. Any mention of the arm, the right
arm of the Lord, that's Christ. God's Spirit. And if you won't run with it,
if nobody will misconstrue this, in that sense, God has no hands. He's Spirit. Doesn't need them.
Sure doesn't need mine. But he has hands. He has flesh
and blood hands, and they're Christ, his servant. who would do his bidding, by
whom he made the world. In that sense, Christ is the
hands of God. You know, any mention in Scripture
of the hands, the arm of God, that's Christ. Every time you
see something, by whom he made all things, who upholds all things,
it says the right arm of the Lord hath gotten him the victory.
What's that? Christ. Who upholds all things were in
his hands. Who's that? The Father had placed
all things in Christ's hands, and we are in his hands. Who we lean upon, leaning, we
love that song, leaning upon the everlasting arm. Who's that?
It's Christ. He's that arm. Who giveth and
taketh away, and giveth, receive everything from the hand of the
Lord. Who's that? Christ. Because God had given him all
things. All things are committed unto
the Son, who giveth," it says, the keys of hell and death are
at his side, and all things, "...giveth it to him, and taketh
away, who ruleth, controleth, and directeth all things." Christ
is the hand, the right arm, the hand of God, made strong by the
mighty God. He is the mighty God of Jacob.
Look at this, just in parenthesis, what a glorious, parenthetical
statement. from fences, the shepherd, the stone of Israel, the shepherd,
the shepherd. And he's alluding to Joseph there,
this fruitful bough. He's a shepherd. Joseph became,
as it were, the shepherd to his brethren, didn't he? He gathered
them. Joseph's the one. To him shall
the gathering of the people be. Well, Joseph was the one that
gathered his people, gathered his brethren to himself, like
a shepherd calling his sheep. He called them, didn't he? He
called them. And they came to him. He's the
rock, too, the stone of Israel. Joseph, you see, these twelve
tribes of Israel are the stones or the foundation. Remember the
priest had these twelve stones in his breastplate. Remember
that? They are, as it were, the foundation
stones of the nation Israel. They are the ones whom God built
this building, this Israel, from these twelve brothers. OK? Joseph
is the one the builders rejected. Isn't he? He's the one that the
builders rejected. He's the one that the rest of
his brothers rejected. Well, he became the head of the corner. He became the one. Man, he was
seated on a throne. And they were just about rooted
up. These stones just about didn't become stone. They were little
pebbles compared to this big rock. See, they came between
a rock and a hard place. And they came to Joseph like
Christ said, If you fall on this stone, you'll
be broken. And they fell on Him, didn't
they, for mercy? But if stone falls on you, you'll be crushed
to powder. If Joseph had come down on them, if they hadn't
been humbled and broken before Him, He'd have crushed them to
powder, done away with them. There would be no Israel today. But they were broken before this
stone, the stone of Israel. Verse 25, even by the God of
thy father who shall help thee. How did all this take place with
Joseph? And I jump ahead a little bit. Joseph said, you meant it
for evil. God meant it for good. To bring the past as it is this
day, to save much people alive. There, I didn't hold anything
back. That's the whole, that's the climax of the whole story
of Joseph. And that's how Joseph came to
be where he was, and the Almighty helped him. And how did Christ
come to be where he was? Of God are you in Christ, who
of God is made unto us. Wisdom. Joseph became their wisdom,
didn't he? Their righteousness. filthy bunch
of scallywags, the rest of this bunch. Joseph became their righteousness,
they were accepted in him. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
he cleaned them up, gave them new garments, and redemption. He's all those things to them.
Well, that's Christ to us. All right, verse 25, and who
shall bless thee? The sons of Jacob were blessed
through Joseph, weren't they? who shall bless thee with blessings
of heaven above." The Almighty who shall bless thee with blessings
of heaven above. God blessed Joseph and in blessing
Joseph blessed his son, or his brethren. Christ is that blessed
man, blessed by God, from whom all blessings flow. He's the
head, isn't he? I love Psalm 133. It says that
precious oil that flowed down on the head that ran down on
the beard and the garments of Aaron. That's the blessings of
God that come through Christ, isn't it? Christ is the head,
and God hath anointed him, and all blessings flow through. And
because of him, they come down on the beard and on the garments. We are his body, and we receive
those blessings, and so did Joseph's brethren. They received all blessings
because of Joseph. and Joseph received them from
the Father above. Blessings from above, who shall
bless thee with blessings of heaven from above. Christ is
the rain that falls, sun that shines. I love Isaiah 45. Turn
over there real quickly. I'm going to get finished real
fast tonight, so you can look this one up. Isaiah 45, Christ
is the blessings of God that come
from above and from beneath, from the deep. Isaiah 45, I love
this whole chapter, along with the previous 44 and the next was 21. Drop down,
verse 8, drop down ye heavens from above. He did. He came down. Heaven came down and glory filled
my soul. Let the skies pour down righteousness."
They did. He did. Let the earth open up. Let them bring forth salvation.
That is, the heavens and the skies bring forth salvation. That's Christ. And let righteousness
spring up. He shall grow up as a root out
of dry ground. Spring up, the righteous one.
I, the Lord, have done this. I've done this. Christ is the
blessing from above. Blessings of heaven above. And
the next line says, in Genesis 49 and 25, blessings of the deep
that lieth under. The deep that lieth under. Christ was buried in the grave, wasn't
he? Buried in the recesses of the rock. But oh, the blessings
of that one who came out of that grave. Now, all blessings come
from Him, because of that. Blessings from below, and life
on earth. Blessings of the earth, blessings
of the sea, and all deep places, Scripture says. Christ is the
sun that shines down, He's the plant that grows up. Read on. Blessings of the breasts. Blessings
of the breasts. Christ is, as it were, the breasts
of God from which we are satisfied. the milk of his word. That's
what Isaiah 66 says. It says, The church shall suck
the breasts of consolation, whereof we receive all that we need. Some of us were talking about
breastfeeding the other night, and talking about that's why
the Lord made breasts. People balk at it today in our
modern society. That's why they're made. And
a child at birth receives those things that need from what's
the name of that colostrum? That precious substance that
comes from a woman's breast to a child at birth is absolutely
vital to that child's immune system. And if the child doesn't
have it. I was just reading a story about
sheep. And most lambs won't make it
that their mother doesn't give sup to right off Most of them
don't make it. They get all sorts of maladies
and diseases and so forth and just don't make it. But the ones
that do, the little lambs that suck from their mother, they
make it. They're generally robust and
healthy. So are the little lambs, the sheep of God, who suck the
breast of this consolation. Scripture says they'll be dandled
on his knees. That's what a mother does. on breastfeeding a child, and
the milk of his word. Let us desire the sincere milk
of the word, that we may grow thereby. Blessings of the womb. Christ is, as it were, the womb
of God, isn't he? He said, I am the life. That's
where life begins, in the womb. We have Christ, we are born from
him. We're born from Him. He is, as
it were, that womb of life. In Him we live and move and have
our being. You know, little children, why
is it so hard to give birth? They don't want to come out.
Ladies, you had a hard time, didn't you? You had to push them
out. And I don't blame them. If they
knew what this world was going to be like, Why, every birth
had to be Caesarean. Well, I don't want out of Christ
either. There's warmth in there, there's safety in there, there's
consolation, there's protection, there's food in there, there's
comfort in there, there's rest in there, in the womb, blessings
of the womb. Verse 26, the blessings of our
Father have prevailed. The blessings of thy Father hath
prevailed," and this is old Jacob making a prophecy of Christ,
saying, "...the blessings of thy Father hath prevailed above
the blessings of my progenitors." The blessings of thy Father hath
prevailed. The blessings, the unsearchable
riches, the unspeakable, and the blessings of Christ. Now,
he's talking about Christ here. The blessings from God the Father
that come through Christ, far above, over and above, the blessings
of, Jacob says, my progenitors, or my ancestors, or my fathers. In other words, Jacob's saying,
I'm your father and the blessings that God has bestowed upon me
because of you. far exceed and superabound above
the blessings of my father, Isaac. Isaac had one blessing to give,
didn't he? Didn't he? Isaac had one to give.
He was going to give it to Esau, but Jacob got it, and there was
no more. And Esau, remember Esau started
complaining, well, but blessed be, he said, I've already I've
already blessed. I've got no more. Jacob had twelve
because of Joseph. And oh, the blessings of God
fall upon us, many children. He's the firstborn among many
brethren, and we are blessed, too, by the Father because of
Joseph. The blessing of unsearchable
riches, the unspeakable, unseen, unheard, unfelt, Scripture says,
I haven't seen, The heart hadn't felt it. The blessings of God
in Christ for his people, and the Queen of Sheba said the half
has never been told. He said they're far and above,
far and above earthly blessings, the blessings of this life. I've
received as a son, I'm the third son, the fourth child, and I've
received many, many blessings from my progenitors. And, uh,
but oh, the blessing unspeakable, unsearchable blessings I've received
because of my older brother. And I don't mean, his name's
not Robert or Daniel. It's Jesus Christ. And I haven't
seen him. Someday I will. I will see them.
And that's the reason I'll spend eternity talking about my older
brother. far and above any and all blessings
of this life for my earthly father, under the utmost bound," it said.
Under the utmost bound of the everlasting hill. Turn over to
Numbers 13. The utmost bound of the everlasting
hill. Numbers 13. I thought of, I immediately thought
of those spies that went in to see the promised land. Numbers
13. You know, the scripture says,
I hadn't seen here, hadn't heard. Well, these spies went into the
promised land to spy it out and came back. God told them, didn't he? It's
a land flowing with milk and honey. I can't, I'll describe
it to you, but you wouldn't believe it. Christ said that in a word. He said, I have many things to
say unto you, but you're not able to bear them now. Well,
these spies came back, Numbers 13, verse 23, and they said,
Let's take something back to show them this place. They won't
believe it. Well, let's take a bunch of grapes. Let's cut,
let's take some fruit from this fruitful land. What will we take?
Let's take a bunch of grapes. One bunch of grapes. One. Nancy, you and I thought
those grapes were something out here at the vineyard. Two men
cut one bunch of grapes and carried it on a pole between them to
take it back. They said, it is a land flowing
with milk and honey. Look, everybody take a grape. They couldn't finish one grape. The grapes of Esko, verse 24.
Verse twenty-three, they came, and at the brook of Eskil, and
cut down from the fence a branch of one cluster of grapes, and
bear it between two upon a staff. They brought her the pomegranates
and the fig. One man, I guess one man, carried one fig. Well, you know, I've told, before
we've looked at Isaiah sixty-five, a new heaven, a new earth, and
I said, let me use a little sanctified imagination. But we'd throw it away compared
to those things. Well, what's the profit in that?
Just to say that how God our Father has done all things so
well, the unsearchable riches and the new heaven and the new
earth, the former thing, you know, as beautiful as this earth
is, as much as I enjoy God's creation, and I do, and there's
nothing wrong with it because God said it was good. God said it was good. Some religious
people make you feel guilty for enjoying these things. Don't love them above God and
make sure you give glory where it's due. Don't worship the creature
rather than the Creator. But enjoy these things. And I do. As much as we enjoy
these things, as much as I admire the beauty of this earth, it
pales in comparison. to the new earth that God is
going to create. He said, in Jerusalem shall rejoice. And above and beyond all that,
he says, there's not going to be a sun anymore. Not going to
need it. Because Christ, the light, is
going to dwell right in the midst of it. And the former things,
he says, shall not come to mind nor be remembered because of
the magnitude and the glory and the beauty of this new heaven
and this new earth. Under the everlasting hills, like those spies that were looking out over
that promised land, you know, we think the Blue Ridge Mountains
are beautiful. Those that come through the desert
land, you know, and cross the top of those hills of Jordan,
looked out over that way we cross over Jordan. Oh, my. The Blue Ridge Mountains
would look positively ugly. compared to that Mount Zion,
the uttermost, everlasting hills. And we'll be like those cattle
upon a thousand hills. God's people will be as a cattle
on a thousand hills, clothed in white, enjoying those things. And those, he say, to the uttermost.
That's what it said there. Look back at the text. It says
back in the text, 26, under the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills. We will be those like cattle
on a thousand hills, whom He saved to the uttermost, who are
bound to give thanks to God. The utmost bound. All praise,
honor, glory, blessings belong on the head, the crown of the
head of him who is, look at it, shall be on the head of Joseph,
the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."
Scripture says, "...Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sinners, Jesus Christ the Lord, from whom all blessings flow."
Christ the Lord. All right, that's it. We'll stop
right there. All right, Sherry, come up and
I'll lead us in another one. 497. 497. All right, let's sing. 497. When I can read my title clear
to mention in the sky, I'll bid farewell to every tear and wipe
my weeping eyes. And wipe my weeping eyes. And wipe my weeping eyes. and light my weary eye. Last verse. There shall I bathe
my weary soul in Caesar's heavenly I lost my peaceful breath. I lost my peaceful breath. I lost my peaceful breath. And by the way, my trouble roll,
I lost my peaceful breath.