Genesis chapter 48. Looking at
this study, I think we've got maybe three or four more lessons
in this life of Joseph. This will be number 32, so we've
been spending quite a bit of time, almost over Three quarters
of a year on this study and it's been such a blessing to see God's
sovereign hand at work in the life of Joseph and also in the
life of Jacob. Today the name of the message
is constant care, constant care. Now one thing I want us to keep
in mind that what we're going to look at today is true for
every born-again blood-washed believer in Christ. God constantly
cares for his people, constantly. constantly, and it's incredible.
And even before the Lord saves us, He's taking care of us. We
don't see it, we're blind as bats, aren't we? And then after
the Lord saves us, we just see a few things, but He's constantly
at work in our lives. And the things we see make us
marvel at God's constant care for us, doesn't it? It makes
us marvel as we see His hand in our lives. So let's read Genesis
chapter 48 here, verses 1 to 7. And it came to pass after
these things, that's after Joseph swore an oath to Jacob that he
would bury in the land of Canaan. So that's after that, when it's
come to pass. And it came to pass after these
things that one told Joseph, behold, thy father's sick. And
he took with him his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim. And one
told Jacob and said, behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee. And Israel strengthened himself
and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God
Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan and
blessed me. It said unto me, Behold, I will
make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and I will make of thee
a multitude of people, and will give this land to thy seed after
thee for an everlasting possession. And now thy two sons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt
before I came into Egypt, are mine. As Reuben and Simeon, they
shall be mine. And thy issue, which thou begettest
after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name
of their brethren in their inheritance. And as for me, when I came from
Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way.
And yet there was but a little way to come into Ephra. And I
buried her there in the way of Ephra. The same is Bethlehem.
So one truth that has been absolutely evident through this study on
the life of Joseph is God's constant care for his people. It's been
evident, hasn't it? We've seen it in Joseph's life
when he was sold to slaves and how God constantly took care
of him all through the time that he was in Egypt. And we've seen
it even in Jacob's life too. God constantly caring for Jacob
and taking care of him. Another truth that has been absolutely
evident in this study too is the absolute sovereignty of God.
It's undeniable in this study. It's been undeniable. How God
is constantly ordering things to come to pass according to
his will and purpose. Would Joseph think it was a good
thing for him to be sold into slavery? and to go to Potiphar's
house and eventually move up to, well, we know by the providence
of God, he became the head servant. And then to be pursued by Potiphar's
wife and falsely accused and cast into the prison at Potiphar's
house. Do you think that would be Joseph's
ideal for things working out for good? No, he probably thought
sometimes, I don't understand what's going on, Lord, but I'm
gonna trust you, right? Just like it happens to us too,
doesn't it? It's evident. God's sovereignty is evident.
and his constant care over his people is evident as we went
through this study. And never forget, as we've seen
all through this study, that it was God himself who purposed
Joseph to be sold by his brethren into slavery. God purposed that.
Now, some folks say, what are you talking about? He purposed
that. He purposed that to work out his way. What does God have
to do for us? I was thinking about this today,
this morning. What does God have to do for men to just act in
their depravity? Just leave them alone, right?
Just leave them alone. We know that in our own lives.
But he moves things to occur according to his will and purpose.
And people think, well, I'm doing this on my own free will. I'm
doing this because our will is bound to our nature. Brother
Steve and I were talking about that this week. Our will is bound
to our nature. Therefore, if one has a dead
nature, a sinful nature, all they're going to do is desire
sin. They not seek God. They're not understand the things
of God. But when you're born again by
the Holy Spirit of God, oh my, now everything's new, right?
Everything's new. The Bible's new to us. The Gospel's
new to us. Who Christ is is new to us. And
we rejoice, don't we? We rejoice in these precious,
precious truths. So God himself purposed that
Joseph would be sold by his brethren into slavery, taken down to Egypt,
be in Potiphar's house. Again, and Potiphar is the keeper
of the king's prisoners. He specifically, he's the captain
of the guard, he's the keeper of the king's prisoners, and
he has a prison we saw attached to his house, or nearby, very
close, and it just happens to be No, it's by God's divine decree
and purpose. He ends up, Joseph ends up in
prison with the baker and the butler, the king's baker and
the king's butler. My oh my. And remember, one would
die, the baker, one would die, and one would receive mercy.
The baker died and the butler received mercy, right? They were
both deserving to die. They were both deserving to die,
but one died, the baker, and the butler was restored to where
he was by the king. Right? Beside the king as his
butler. Well, there was two thieves on
the cross. One received mercy and is now
in eternal joy. And the other got what he deserved,
right? One didn't get what he deserved
and is in glory. Today thou shall be with me in
paradise. And the other one got what he deserved. See, we don't
get what we deserve as believers. The other one got what he deserved
and now he's in eternal torment forever. My. One receives mercy,
and one receives wrath. My oh my, what a clear, clear
picture. And then Joseph was spoken, remember
it was a whole year, then Joseph was spoken about by the butler
to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh had a dream, and
his wise men couldn't interpret it. And Joseph interpreted it,
he's called to be in Pharaoh's presence, in the presence of
the king, and he interprets the dream. And he's made prime minister
over all of Egypt for the rest of his life. That's for the rest
of his life. For the rest of his life. And
he prepared corn stores during the seven years of plenty for
the coming seven years of famine. And Joseph's brothers were starving
in Canaan. And they came before Joseph at
the command of their father to go and buy corn in Egypt. And
so then after a remarkable set of events, Israel is reunited
with his son Joseph, whom he thought was killed by wild animals. And you know what? God's purposing
all that. God's in control the whole time. He's not abdicated
his throne. He's having all that come to
pass to accomplish his eternal purpose. Again, you've heard
me mention this before. For each of us. There was a day
when we were at the place we were supposed to be, to hear
the gospel of God's salvation in Christ alone, to hear it preached
and proclaimed, and the Holy Spirit made it effectual, and
we were born again, right? And we believed the gospel. And
you know that was purposed. That moment for you and I was
purposed, just like all this was purposed for Joseph. Isn't
that amazing? The same God that purposed that
which was occurring in Joseph's life and Jacob's life is the
same God who's purposed that to happen in our lives. Our salvation,
the day of our salvation, that's pretty amazing, isn't it? See,
we look at these Bible characters sometimes and we vault them up,
but they're just like us. Sinners saved by the grace of
God. Now, God used Joseph mightily, didn't he? And he pictures Christ
But we can say, reading Jacob, going, we're just like Jacob.
Oh my, it's incredible. So after a remarkable, amazing
set of events, Israel's united with his son Joseph, who he thought
had perished at the hands of wild beasts, and Joseph cares
for his father and his family. by putting them in the land of
Goshen, again, the choiceless land in Egypt, at the command
of Pharaoh, at the command of the king. And again, never forget
that it was God who purposed all this to come to pass. It
was God who purposed His chosen people would be bought to Joseph,
and then He is going to deliver them 400 years, plus years, with
a mighty hand, like he said, out of a strange land, which
is Egypt. And never forget, it's God who
bought the famine. He bought the famine to the world then.
And he made Jacob and their son see the need of going down to
Joseph, didn't he? Well, does not our great God
make a famine in our lives? And we see our desperate need.
We see that we're sinners before God. We see that we're sinners
before God. And we see that there's only
one. only one who can fulfill all our needs. You know how everybody's
freaking out about this coronavirus? They're all freaking out, everywhere
you go. Now, we should be aware of it, right? But people are
absolutely... Freaking out, we went to the
store just to buy a little thing, a hand sanitizer, and the whole
shelves cleaned out. All we wanted to get was one.
And they said people are selling them on eBay for outrageous amounts
of money. Don't you wish that people, John and I were talking
about this, don't you wish that people feared God more than they
fear the coronavirus? Because God is the God of the
coronavirus, isn't he? That's under his control, beloved.
If he's absolutely sovereign, then everything in this world
is under his control. But people fear a virus more
than they fear God. You see man's natural depravity,
don't you? And you know what? If the Lord
hadn't saved us, we'd be the same way. We'd be freaking out
just like everybody else. But the believer has a peace,
no one who's in control, don't we? We know who's in full control,
and that's our God. We've seen it in the scriptures.
We've been taught it by the Holy Spirit of God. Again, I'm not
saying we should put our head in the sand, because I'm not
like that. But we need to be aware, but we also need to continuously
remind ourselves of who's absolutely in control. Our great God. He's in absolute control, beloved.
Absolute control. And we see it so clearly in the
life of Joseph and in the life of Jacob in our study here. And
it's God the Father who under the preaching of his gospel brings
spiritual famine to our souls, doesn't he? Showing us our desperate
need for Christ. Spiritual famine to our souls.
Who makes us thirst after the water of life. He makes us hunger
after the righteousness of Christ. Which is the only righteousness
that God will accept. And it's God our Father under
the preaching of his gospel who reveals the Lord Jesus Christ
to us. He must be revealed to us. He must be. as the exalted
King, as the only mediator between God and man, as the only savior
of sinners, the one and only hope of gaining favor with God,
is the Lord Jesus Christ, in Him and through Him. And it's
God alone who can minister to our needs, both physical and
spiritual. And it's God, our Father, who
keeps us by His power, beloved. He keeps us by His power, through
faith. He keeps us looking to Christ,
doesn't He? He keeps us looking to Christ,
who is what? He's the author and the finisher of our faith,
beloved. It all comes back to Him. And we have every reason
to trust our Savior, because He's on the throne right now.
And God sent his darling son. Think of that too. God the Father
sent his darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ to this earth to die for our sins. And beloved, right
now, right now, he is seated on the right hand of glory, right
now. And he's constantly caring for his people, constantly watching
over us, even before we're saved. Well, someone could say, well,
why? Because he's loved us with an everlasting love. He's loved
us with an everlasting life. You know, the scripture says
it's the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. When
I think that my God has loved me from eternity and that he
left heaven to die in my place, to save my soul, that's the goodness
of God on display, isn't it? That's mercy to a sinner, oh
my. And you know, he's not cast away
anyone who's ever come to him, not one. Not one. He's such a
merciful God. And we have every reason to rejoice
because the Lord Jesus Christ is on His throne right now. We
have absolutely no reason to fear because our Lord Jesus Christ
is on His throne right now. And we have every reason to trust
the Son of God because right now He is on His throne. Right
now. He's on His throne. And Jacob... Joseph's father,
Jacob, typifies all of God's born-again, blood-washed saints. Because Jacob's one of God's
elect. Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, remember?
And that's before they're even born! That's before they're even
born. Now that, and we who are the
people of God, Jacob typifies us. That's amazing grace, isn't
it? To know that the Father has loved
me from eternity in Christ. And I know you can say this,
and every believer can say this, the one who is so undeserving,
the one who has no merit at all for this grace and mercy, and
yet it's being bestowed upon us in Christ. It's marvelous. It's absolutely marvelous. And
before, Before Jacob was ever born, before he'd done any evil
or good, right? God loved Jacob, but he hated
Esau. Well, so then it's God who's
made the choice, isn't it? And every believer just says,
praise be to God, he chose me in Christ. What a great blessing. And the same can be said about
every one of us. 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 with his own precious blood. And the Lord Jesus Christ obtained
eternal salvation for Jacob, and he did the same for every
single one of his sheep. Praise be to God. That's incredible. And that's the truth. And marvel
at this fact. Our great God even calls His
elect by the name of Jacob. In Malachi chapter 3 it says
this, For I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. He calls us the sons of Jacob.
My, my, oh my. Let's read verses... one to seven
again in Genesis chapter 48, keeping in mind that our great
God has cared for Jacob all his life. And we know it's so for
every single one of us who are his people. Keep that in mind
as we read this. He has cared for us, beloved,
from from the moment we were conceived. Well, he cared for
us in eternity, didn't he? Because we're chosen in Christ.
But from the moment we're conceived. until the day we die and go to
be with Him in glory. We are constantly cared for and
then we're provided for in glory by our great God. We get to see
Him face to face. Let's read verses 1 to 7 again.
And it came to pass after these things that one told Joseph,
Behold, thy father is sick. And he took with him his two
sons Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob and said,
behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee, and Israel strengthened
himself and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God
Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan and
blessed me. And he said unto me, behold, I will make thee
fruitful and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude
of people, and will give this land to thy seed after thee for
an everlasting possession. And now thy two sons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt,
before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine. As Reuben and
Simeon, they shall be mine. And thy Isshu, which thou begettest
after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name
of their brethren in their inheritance. And as for me, when I came from
Pat-Anne, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan, in the way,
and when yet there was a little way to come into Ephra, and I
buried her in the way of Ephra, the same is Bethlehem." So today
we'll look at some of the final words here of Jacob to his son,
Joseph, concerning the Lord's promises to him, which are the
same promises he made to Abraham and Isaac. In spirituality speaking,
these promises have to do with God's eternal covenant God's
eternal covenant of grace, and these promises apply to all of
God's covenant people. That's all the elect, beloved.
That's all the elect of all the ages. Who are God's people? Well, they're particular people,
aren't they? There are particular people who
were chosen in Christ by God the Father before time began. Again, no merit in us, no merit
found in any of them. The only merit we have before
God is in Christ. They have eternal life through
the perfect, again, the perfect redeeming work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They have eternal life through
Christ in his perfect work. He is the promised Messiah who
met all the conditions of God's everlasting covenant for his
chosen people in their place on Calvary's cross. And even
in his life, he lived the perfect life that we never could. He's
met all the conditions of God's everlasting covenant for his
chosen people. And who are God's people? Well, they are a people
are regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit of God under
the preaching of his glorious gospel, because it is a glorious
gospel, isn't it? It's glorious, beloved. by the
power and life-giving work of God the Holy Spirit. It's God
the Holy Spirit who does this work at God's appointed time
of love. At the exact time when God has
ordained for us to be born again, we are born again under the preaching
of the Lord. It's incredible. It's absolutely
incredible. And they are people who are granted
faith in Christ. He's the object of our faith
and thereby being given life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
they are people of God. They are the Lord's chosen bride. They're the Lord's chosen bride.
Now, when a man gets married, he chooses his bride, doesn't
he? He chooses her above all other women in the world. He
chooses her. So why can't God choose his bride, right? If we
who are human can choose our brides, we men, then why can't
God choose his bride? See, people, they object to the
election of God, the choosing of God. of his people, not knowing
that they make choices in their own lives, and they choose their
bride, but, oh, no, God can't choose whose bride it is. Well,
the Song of Solomon does away with that. If you read that book,
it's all about Christ and his bride, and it's one of the, it's
such a wonderful book. Oh, my, how Christ loves his
people. Oh, how he loves his people.
Look at verses one and two again. And it came to pass after these
things that one told Joseph, behold, thy father is sick. And
he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, And the
one told Jacob and said, Behold thy son Joseph cometh unto thee.
And Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed. So we can
see from this text that Israel probably, he's getting older,
probably his vision's going on him. He can't see as well as
he used to. And he's told that Joseph is coming in unto him.
He strengthens himself upon the bed. Some time has passed after
Jacob sent for Joseph and spoke with him about his burial in
the land of Canaan. We see that because it came to
pass after these things. So some time has passed after
Jacob made Joseph swear an oath that he would bury him in the
land of Canaan. We're not told how long, but it definitely is
a time. And now Jacob is drawing near
to Diane. He's drawn near dying. And one
tells Joseph that his father is sick and he wanted him to
come to him and bring his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim. So
Joseph does that. Now Manasseh's name in the Hebrew
means cause to forget. Cause to forget. And several
commentators bring forth that the name was given to Manasseh
by Joseph because Manasseh's birth helped Joseph to forget
his family. Not to forget them out of his
mind, but forget the pain that he was going through being separated
from them. And it would have been hard. It would have been
hard. He missed them. And an Ephraim means double ash heap,
or I shall be doubly fruitful. And this is the second son of
Joseph. Turn, if you would, to Genesis chapter 41. And we see
here that the names are brought forth. So that second name is
is again double ash heap or I shall be doubly fruitful. And it's
a it's a name in a in a dual form. And it indicates fruitfulness,
fruitfulness. Look at Genesis chapter 41, verses
50, 51 and 52. And Joseph called the name of
his firstborn Manasseh, for God said he hath made me to forget
all my toil in all my father's house. So it was comforting to
Joseph to have a son, his firstborn son. And then look at the next
verse. And it came to pass the name of the second called Ephraim,
for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
And oh my, hadn't he? He was now prime minister over
all of Egypt. You think Joseph, when he was
sold into slavery, would think that all this was gonna happen?
He had no idea, did he? Probably wondered sometimes,
well, like I said, well, Lord, I don't know what's going on,
but I'm gonna trust you. I'm gonna rest in you. He's been
caused to be fruitful, hasn't he? Oh my, he has, he has. Oh, it's incredible. So let's
go back to Genesis chapter 48. And we see that Jacob recognized
the two boys by his adoption. Look at verses 5 and 6 of Genesis
chapter 48. And now thy two sons Ephraim
and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt
before I came unto thee, unto Egypt, are mine. As Reuben and
Simeon, they shall be mine. And thy issue, which thou begottest
after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name
of their brethren. in their inheritance. So Jacob
recognizes Joseph's two boys as his by adoption. Look at verse
7. And as for me, when I came from
Padon, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way when
yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephra. And I buried
her in the way of Ephra, the same as Bethlehem. Let's go back
to verses 3 and 4. And we see, what do we see here?
Jacob testifies, look at this. I love this. Jacob testifies
of the constant care of God for him. He's testifying to his two
grandchildren and to Joseph. Now remember, those two grandchildren
didn't have the privilege of growing up close by Jacob. For
the last 17 years they have, we found out that there was 17
years that Jacob got to spend with Joseph before he was sold
into slavery and 17 years now after, they'd be reunited. So
they didn't get to see and hear Jacob constantly saying how the
Lord provided for them. And look at this testimony. Jacob
testifies of God's constant care for him, which again is what
every believer does. Don't we? We testify that it's
the Lord who takes care of us. He's the one who watches over
us. Look at this. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God
Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan and
blessed me. And he said, behold, I will make
thee fruitful and multiply thee and I will make of thee a multitude
of people. and will give this land to thy
seed after thee for an everlasting possession." Now Jacob, he's
sick. His natural state, his strength
is waning. It's waning, beloved. He knew
his end was near and he testifies to Joseph and to his two grandchildren
of God's constant care for him. Constant care to his chosen people. And beloved, all the scriptures
are written for our learning. They're written for our learning.
That's what the scripture says. They're written for our learning,
for our comfort, and to encourage our hope in Christ. Therefore,
as we look at these scriptures, as we have in this study, we
see the grace of God in the life of Jacob, in the sons of Jacob,
and we see the hand of God's grace in our own lives, don't
we? In our own lives. Knowing it is the same grace
and the same great God who cared for them and cares for us. Look
at Genesis chapter 28. Turn over here to Genesis chapter
28. Look at this. This is wonderful. We're gonna
read the context of this verse. The main verse I want us to focus
on is verse 15, but I wanna read the context of it. Genesis 28,
verses 12 to 16. Really keep in mind 15 when we
hit that. Genesis 28, verse 12. And he dreamed, and behold, a
ladder, this is Jacob, set up on the earth, and the top of
it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God
ascending and descending on it. So this is Jacob's dream. And
behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God
of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon
thou liest to thee will I give it to thee and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as dust
of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and
to the east and to the north and to the south in thee. and
in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Look
at this verse 15, and behold, I am with thee, I'm with thee,
and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will
bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken of thee. Oh, what a promise,
beloved. What a promise. That's for every
believer, right? He's the author and the finisher
of our faith, right? The work that he's begun in us,
he will finish, beloved. He will finish. And look at this
promise. Behold, I am with thee and will
keep thee in all places. Oh, does he not do that for each
of his people? Oh, it's wonderful. Whither thou
goest and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not
leave thee until I have done that which spoken to thee of.
Oh, let us never forget that God's grace is present grace,
beloved. It's present grace for the believer.
He has promised never to leave his people nor forsake us. He
promises that in Hebrews chapter 13. I'll never leave thee nor
forsake thee therefore God's grace is set upon us is is grace
for the present time Grace for the not only grace to cover all
our sins, but grace for the present time beloved for whatever comes
our way Oh, and is it not true have we not can we not look back
say my that's so true The Lord's constantly taking care of me.
Constantly. Look at what the Lord says to
his servant Jacob. We can take these words to us
too. Behold, I am with thee. God's with us. What does Paul
write? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Oh, with that in mind, these
words just sound out. Behold, I am with thee. Right
now, beloved. Right now, our Lord constantly
watches over us. constantly. And we know God's
grace is eternal, right? Because God's eternal. Because
God's eternal. And so this grace is an ever-present
grace with the believer. So delight yourself in this wonderful
truth, we who are the children of God. Whether you're sick or
in good health, whether you're in trial or in a trial or coming
out of a trial, whether you are facing persecution or have faced
persecution in the past, for your faith, God's grace is ever
present with you in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my. Delight your heart in the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His blood purchased for His
people an eternal inheritance. And in Christ, grace is our purchased
possession, beloved. It's a present possession. And
we thank our God for the past experiences of His grace, don't
we, as we can look back and see what He's done for us? Oh, but
He will forever show grace to His people in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. So think upon this. And this
is true for every born-again blood-bought believer. We have
attained mercy. God's grace has been shown and
manifested to us, and it is continually manifested to us, isn't it? Continuously. Think of this. God's grace called
us from Death to life in Christ Jesus our Lord. God's grace by
the power of the Holy Spirit of God revealed Christ to us
and gave us faith in him. God's grace caused us to come
to Christ in the beginning by drawing power of the Holy Spirit
of God. And grace keeps us coming to him. It's the goodness of
God that leads a man or woman to repentance. And we see his
goodness manifested in our lives. We cannot live on yesterday's
bread, right? We must have bread today. We
must have bread today. The heavenly manna which came
down from heaven for the Israelites had to be gathered each morning,
didn't it? Each morning it had to be gathered. And never forget
that God's grace is sufficient for us. Sufficient for us. And
his mercies to us are what? New every morning. We feast on
Christ, who is the fountain of God's grace, and we rejoice in
these words of promise of God's constant care to Jacob for his
people. And he proclaims these words
to Jacob. Take him to heart, beloved. Take
him to heart. Let him grip your heart. Behold,
I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou
goest, for I will not leave thee. Amen and amen.