Genesis 47, 29. And the time
drew nigh that Israel must die. I've entitled this message, The
Time Israel Must Die. And there's a time that you and
I must die. It's fixed. It's appointed. You can't change that date. It
may be tonight, it may be in 20 years. There's a time you and I must
die, and I would like us to think of this message in the light
of my and your death. What will be on our mind? I want us to see how Jacob dealt
with this when he saw that the time for him to come, the time
had come for him to die. The time Israel must die. Verse 27, and Israel dwelt in
the land of Egypt in the country of Goshen. And they had possessions
therein and grew and multiplied exceedingly. Now, I think it's
glorious the way they're named Israel. The children
of Israel. They all have this one name. God refers to them as Israel. And if I'm a believer, if you're
a believer, God refers to you as Israel. Every believer is a true Jew,
a true son of Jacob, a true Israelite, and this is the name God selected
for this special nation, Israel. We all have the same name. Now
what this speaks of, first of all, having the same name, and
I think of the name of the Lord, this is the name wherewith he
shall be called, the Lord of our righteousness, and it says
a few chapters over in Jeremiah, this is the name wherewith she
shall be called, the Lord. our righteousness. We love that
as the name of our Redeemer, but you know that's the personal
name of every single believer. The Lord, our righteousness. And this is a reminder of us,
of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We all are in Him. If we're believers, we all have
the same name. Now, They grew and they multiplied
exceedingly. We don't know how much in that
17-year period. In another 400 years or so, it
would be several million. but we don't know how much they
had grown and multiplied, but they had become quite a number
during this 17-year period. You'll remember in the book of
Exodus, Pharaoh says, I'm afraid they're gonna be stronger than
us and they'll join sides with our enemies and destroy us. That's
why we need to do something about their size and their numbers
and their strength. Well, verse 28. And Jacob lived in the land of
Egypt 17 years. So the whole age of Jacob was
147 years. Turn back in to Genesis 46 for
a moment. This is when he first entered
the land And Israel took his journey, verse one, with all
that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the
God of his father Isaac. And God spake to Israel in the
visions of the night. And he said, Jacob, Jacob. And
he said, here am I. And he said, I am God, the God
of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt,
for I will there make of thee a great nation I will go down
with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again
back to this place, and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine
eyes." Now, remember, he was going to see Joseph, and he gives
him this assurance, Joseph is gonna shut your eyes when you
die. What a blessing. Now, 17 years later, the time
had come to die. Verse 29. And the time drew nigh that Israel
must die. And he called his son Joseph
and said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight, put,
I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly
with me. Bury me not, I pray thee, in
Egypt. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry
me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. You remember
in Genesis chapter 23 when Abraham purchased that cave that he and
Sarah and Isaac and Rebekah Jacob says, that's where I want to
be buried, that place that was purchased by Abraham. Now this
wasn't just sentimental, although I'm sure it was sentimental.
He didn't wanna die in Egypt. He'd rather die in his homeland, but
this is given to teach us something of the gospel. What does he want
when he's facing his death? And I want to face death the
same way that Jacob did. Let's say you're gonna die in
the coming week. Well, let's see what Jacob requested. Now remember, Joseph is perhaps
the greatest type of Christ in all the Old Testament. I have
loved preaching through this man's life. And the way Jacob
speaks to him as he faces death is how I want to speak to the
Lord at my time of death. He knew he was gonna die, and
I love the scripture, the time he must die. There was a day,
there's a day for me, there's a day for you, where we must
die. And you know, this life is so
fleeting. It's so temporary. And the things
that we get upset about really just aren't that important in
the grand scheme of things, are they? The time of Israel, he
must die. Now I want us to look carefully
at the way he dealt with Joseph as a type of Christ. But let
me say some things first about the death of the believer. Now,
these things can't be said about the death of the unbeliever,
but these things can be said about the death of the believer.
I want to quote three scriptures to you. Revelation 14, 13. I'm sure you're familiar with
it. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. There's where I want to die,
in the Lord. Yea, from henceforth saith the
Spirit that they may have rest from their labors. Now what's
that talking about? This life's a labor. It's a labor
with sin. It's a labor with conflict. It's
a labor with myself. And I'm looking forward to getting
to be rid of this labor. I'm looking forward to dying.
It's not because I don't appreciate and love life, but I'm more looking
forward to dying because when I die, I won't have to deal with
me anymore. I won't have to deal with my
sin anymore. I will be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
and how I long to see his face. David said, as for me, I'll behold
thy face in righteousness. Without shame, I'll be satisfied
when I awaken thy likeness. I like what else John said when
he said, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. He says
their works. Don't miss this. Their works
shall follow them. Now, what's that mean? Well,
notice the position of the works they follow. They don't come out front as
the cause of their salvation. They don't walk alongside as
evidence. Well, I must be saved, look at
this, look at that experience, look at that work. No, not at
all. They're not in the front. They're
not on the side, but they do follow them. And this is true
with regard to everybody that believes there will be evidence
that they really love Christ with regard to every one of them. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord. And then I love what the Psalmist
said in Psalm 116.15, precious in the side of the Lord. is the death of his saints. When
I die, it's going to be precious to Jesus Christ. You know the
way he stood up for Stephen? He's going to stand up for you
that way. He's going to stand up for me that way, every one
of his people. He's glad they're there. He rejoices
that they're there. It's precious in his sight. He
loves his bride. An ode to think of death. When
the Lord thinks of the death of his people, precious. Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. And then
I love what Paul said. For me to live is Christ and
to die is gain. The best day of your life, if
you're a believer, is the day of your death. You believe that? I really do. I know it's so.
To die, the best thing to ever happen to any child of God is
when they die and they're ushered into the very presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the time for Israel, Jacob,
that precious man that the Lord loved. Don't you love that passage
of scripture where God says, Jacob, have I loved? And that same verse, he said,
he's all have I hated. And I understand that. I do. People have problems with that.
I have no problem with that at all, because I understand how God
could hate me apart from Christ. I believe that. But thank the
Lord, he said, Jacob, have I loved. The time for Jacob to die, when
he must die, has come. Now, as Joseph is a type of Christ,
when Jacob makes this request, Jacob mirrors every believer's
desire before death. Now look what he says. And the time drew nigh that Israel
must die, and he called his son Joseph and said unto him, if
now I have found grace in thy sight. Now here is the great
desire at death, grace. And he's not presuming on it.
He doesn't say, I've had grace. No, he says, if now I have found
grace in thy sight. He didn't have a presumptuous,
cocksure attitude about it. Now I believe he had assurance.
And every believer ought to have assurance. If Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead, meaning you ought to have assurance.
Because our assurance doesn't have anything to do with our
works, but his work. But when Jacob is facing death
and he speaks to his son, he says, if now I have found grace
in thy sight, my great need at death is grace. Salvation by the grace of God. Look back at Genesis chapter
six. Verse five. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, were they worse back then?
No. When we read that description,
is Noah included in that? When we read that description,
am I included in that? Are you included in that? Is that what God sees when he
sees you? Verse six, and it repented the
Lord that he'd made man on the earth and it grieved him in his
heart. And the Lord said, I'll destroy man whom I've created
from the face of the earth, both man and beast. and the creeping
thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I've
made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now I know this, the only way
I can be saved, the only way I can be brought into heaven
when I die is if salvation really is all of grace. You believe
that? This was Jacob's great desire
at this time. If now I found grace in thy sight. This is what
Moses said to the Lord. He says, remember there in Exodus
33? He said, if I found grace in
thy sight. Not a presumptuous attitude.
I love the humility of this. And this is the only way to come
into the Lord's presence. If I found grace in your sight. Now God's grace is always sovereign
grace. He gives it to whom he will. It's always free grace. There's
nothing you do to earn it. And it's always saving grace. Now this was his great desire
at this time. If I found grace in your sight. Now look what he says next. Back
to Genesis 47. Verse 29, the time drew nigh
that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph and said
unto him, if now I found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee,
thy hand under my thigh. Now that was the way they said,
give me your promise. Remember when Abraham sent Eleazar
to look for a bride for his son Isaac. He said, I want you to
go, Let me put my hand under your thigh and I want you to
promise me that was a binding promise. Now, when I say, if
I found grace in your sight, I say, I want a promise. I want
a promise from you. I have to have this by your promise. There's too many things that
can go wrong. I must have this by your promise. Galatians 3.18, if the inheritance
be of the law, it's no more promise, but God gave it to Abraham by
promise. I say, Lord, I need a promise.
I need a promise from your word. Now, I'm not gonna hear him audibly,
I realize that, but I wanna see from the scriptures that this
is what he has promised to me. I need a promise. I don't have
any confidence if I don't have your promise that this is the
way it is. I need your promise. And what does he ask him to do?
He says in verse 29, if I found grace in thy sight, but I pray
thee thy hand under my thigh and give me this promise, this
absolute promise that you can't go back on. And here's what I
want you to do. Deal kindly and truly. with me." And that word kindly,
that's the exact same word that David used in Psalm 51.1 when
he said, have mercy upon me, O Lord, according to thy loving
kindness. Somebody once said that's the
Old Testament word for grace. Now, I love what David asked
at this time. He doesn't say, have mercy upon me according
to how sorry I am and how I promise I'll never do anything like this
again and I'll really change. No, have mercy upon me according
to thy loving kindness. And that's what I need. I need
mercy. extended, promised to me by God
according to his loving kindness. That's his grace for Christ's
sake. And look what else he says, deal
kindly and truly with me. That's very important. deal kindly
and truthfully. This is not just added words.
I want to be dealt in a way which is in accordance with the truth,
the truth of who you are. I don't want Grace ends up not
being real. I want grace that's true grace,
that's saving grace, that's real grace. When I stand before God,
I don't wanna pretend. I don't wanna have a pretend
justification where I'm brilliant. I want to be truly justified
and stand before your holiness without guilt in truth, absolute
truth where there's no question about it. It's either in here In the study, I can't remember
which, we heard the scripture read that God might be just and
justify the ungodly. To where he's truly just, absolutely
just, and yet declares every one of his people to be just,
perfect, without guilt, having never sinned. Now that's what
I want. I want him to promise me. If
I found grace in a sight, I want him to promise me to deal kindly
and truly with me. And look what he says next. Bury me not, I pray thee, in
Egypt. Now he was a long way from Canaan.
And he said, when I die, I don't want to be placed, I don't want
you to place my body here. Don't bury me here, bury me in
my homeland. Now, he'd been in Egypt for 17
years and they'd prospered in Egypt and he'd seen his family
prosper. But like I said earlier, this is much more than a sentimental
desire to be buried in his homeland. Although I'm sure that was involved,
no doubt. But Egypt, and we're gonna see
this more in the book of Exodus, Egypt represents bondage. That's what Egypt represents.
Hard bondage. Working hard. I think it's very
interesting in the book of Revelation in chapter 11, verse 8, when
John was speaking of Jerusalem, the place where our Lord was
crucified, he called it this. He said, which spiritually is
Egypt and Sodom. Now put those two things together.
Egypt, bitter bondage, making bricks without straw, salvation
by works, forever impossible. Sodom, what Sodom is known for,
it cannot produce life. And salvation by works will never
produce life. That's the issue of that. It cannot produce life. It can't
produce life physically, and it certainly cannot produce life
spiritually. And that's what Jerusalem is
called spiritually, Egypt, and Sodom. I don't want to die. and have my body left in Egypt,
let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. Now look what he says in verse
29. Bury me not, I pray thee, in
Egypt, but I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry
me out of Egypt. I need to be carried. I need to be carried out of Egypt.
I'm like Mephibosheth. I love that passage of scripture
where David says, is there any of the house of Saul that I can
show him kindness to for Jonathan's sake? And the servant says, yeah,
there's one, but he's lame in both of his feet. He can't do
you any good. He can't work for you. He can't
fight for you. He's lame in both of his feet.
Mephibosheth. David says, go fetch him. He
had to be carried there. And I have some understanding,
I need to be carried. Now, when I'm around anybody
else, I'm on my own. I don't need you. I'll do it
myself. But before the Lord, oh, how
I need carried. I can't move if he doesn't carry
me. How dependent was Jacob on Joseph
carrying him into Egypt. He was 100% to be his dad. The
only way he could be there is if he was carried there. And
I want the Lord to carry me into heaven. He says, I'll lie with my fathers
and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying
place. Now let's go back to Genesis
23. I preached on this a couple of years ago, but let's look
at this passage of scripture. Jacob said, this is where I want
to be buried. A whole chapter is devoted to
the burial of Sarah. And it's a glorious gospel type. And Sarah, I think it's interesting,
Sarah is the only woman in the scripture where we're given her
age. That's interesting, isn't it? Sarah, what a... What a special
woman. I love Sarah. I love it when she said to Abraham after he
had gone into Hagar, and she told him to do it. And he did
it. And she said, this is on you.
You're the one that did wrong. I don't care if I did tell you
to do it. You shouldn't have listened to me. I mean, she was something else. I love Sarah. I have a lot of
respect for her. But she finally died. 107 and 20 years old, and these were
the years of the life of Sarah, and Sarah died in Gerjoth, Arbuth,
the same as Hebron in the land of Canaan. Hebron will one day
be a city of refuge. And Abraham came to mourn for
Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from before
his dead and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I'm a stranger
and sojourner with you. Give me a possession of a bearing
place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight. And
the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear
us, my lord, thou art a mighty prince among us. In the choice
of our sepulchers, bury thy dead. None of us shall withhold from
thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. And
Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even
to the children of Heth. Don't you love the way Abraham
carries himself at this time? He acts with such humility. And
he communed with them, saying, if it be your mind that I should
bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me to
Ephraim, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah,
which he hath, which is in the end of his field. For as much
money as it's worth, he shall give it to me for possession
of a bearing place amongst you." Now, he didn't say, y'all offer
discounts to churches, did he? He said, I'm gonna give a full
price. You know, I can't, when I worked in printing, I loved
it when people said, Do y'all give discounts to churches? No.
They were shocked, you know, the way I'd act like this. Somehow
that just irritated me when people, you know, whatever. He wanted to pay the full price,
the full price. Verse 10, and Ephraim dwelt among
the children of Heth, and Ephraim the Hittite answered Abraham
in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went
in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me, the field
give I thee, and the cave that's therein, I give it to thee in
the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you, bury
your dead, I'm not gonna take a dime from you. And Abraham
bowed down himself before the people of the land, and he spake
unto Ephraim in the audience of the people of the land, saying,
But if thou will give it, I pray thee, hear me, I will give thee
money for the field. Take it of me, and I'll bury
my dead there. And Ephraim answered Abram, saying
unto him, My Lord hearken unto me, the land is worth 400 shekels
of silver. What's that betwixt me and thee?
Bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephraim,
and Abraham weighed to Ephraim the silver which had been named
in the audience of the sons of Heth, 400 shekels of silver,
current money with the merchant. He gave the full price. I love
that current money. There wasn't anything underhanded. He gave the full price. And the field of Ephraim, which
was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave
which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field,
that were in all the borders round about, were made sure.
They were made sure. unto Abraham for a possession
in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went
in the gate of the city. And after this Abraham buried
Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before
Mamre, the same as Hebron in the land of Canaan, And the field
and the cave that's therein were made sure unto Abraham for a
possession of a burying place by the sons of Heth. Now isn't
it interesting that God, the Holy Spirit, devotes an entire
chapter to this burial? And this is not to teach us ancient
burial rites, but I know this. Jacob said, that's where I want
buried. That's where I want buried. I
want to be buried alongside my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. We believe the same gospel. I
want to be buried in their burial place. Now, Machpelah means double. And here's the only place I can
rest. It was called Machpelah. I don't know if I'm pronouncing
it right, but it means double. Double. She hath received of
the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Not only are my sins
forgiven, I don't have any sins. I stand before God justified.
Not only am I forgiven, I've received more than the forgiveness
of sins. I've received the complete justification that Christ wrought
out for me. I've received of the Lord's hand
double for all my sins. That's where I want to lay. That's
where I want to be buried. where the Lord doubles all things. That's where I can rest. Now
let me, Mamre also, it's called Magpula and Mamre. Mamre is later
going to be called Hebron, and that's one of the cities of refuge.
And you remember in the Old Testament, the six cities of refuge, that
if you killed someone accidentally, that person's relatives had the
right to kill you. And you were to run into that
city, six different cities. And if you got in the city, you
were protected. They couldn't get to you. But
if you got outside of the city, you know what? You were fair
game once again. You stayed in the city. And that lets us know
something about staying in the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want
to be seen anywhere else. Now, that's where Jacob says,
I want to be buried. Now, let me give you four things
in closing about this place that Jacob wanted to be buried. Not
in Egypt, but in Canaan, the land God had promised to Abraham
and to his seed. I want to be buried in the place
God has promised His blessing, Christ, His grace. I don't want to have anything
to do with anything that is not totally according to His sovereign
promise. I love David's dying words, although
my house be not so with God, yet hath He made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And David said, this
is all my salvation. Is that all your salvation? All
my desire. I don't want anything else. though
he make it not to grow. Now, the next thing that I would
notice about this place that Jacob wanted to be buried in,
it's a place where the full price had been paid. Seven or eight
verses are dedicated in Genesis chapter 23. Abram said, I want
to pay the full price right down to the current money. I'm going
to pay every cent of it. And the thing that is the only
place that I can be buried The only place I can rest is the
place where the full price of my salvation has already been
paid. You know, I love the song, Jesus
Paid It All. I'm glad we don't sing Jesus
paid a half the other half I owe. Aren't you glad we don't sing
that song? Jesus paid it all. And this is the only place I
can rest in assurance in death. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. I can lay down in that cave where
the debt is completely paid and I owe nothing. I stand before
God without guilt because of the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The full price was paid. Now this place would later be
a city of refuge, Hebron. one of the six cities of refuge. And what that reminds me is I
want to be in a place that I don't go out of. I want to be in Christ
and I don't want to be out of him under any circumstance because
I know if I'm outside of him, the avenger of blood will get
me. I want to be in a place where I stay in. I don't want him to
move my body after I'm buried. I want to stay right there in
that cave, that city of refuge. where I will find complete safety. And you'll find this interesting
in Genesis chapter 23 verse 20. And the field and the cave that
is therein was made sure unto Abraham for possession of a bearing
place by the son of Heth. Now you'll find this interesting.
This word made sure is usually the word risen. It's the word
with reference to the resurrection. You know the only thing that
makes my salvation sure, and I hope we can get hold of this,
you know what makes my salvation sure? The resurrection of Jesus
Christ. That's it. I don't need anything
else. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he was raised. That is my ground of assurance. the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So back to our text, let's read
the last verse. But I will lie with my fathers,
and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying
places. And he said, I will do as thou
hast said. Now, is that what you want? You know what he says? I will do
as thou hast said. And he said, swear unto me. I need another promise. I understand that, don't you?
He already said he'd do it, but he says again, swear unto me.
And he's swearing to him. And Israel bowed himself upon
the bed's head. Now, that word bowed is the exact
same word that is translated in Genesis 22 5 and is usually
translated worshipped. You know what he did after he
heard that, after he heard that promise? He worshipped. Now understand this, with regard
to worship, What is the chief, I don't even wanna use the word
ingredient, I don't know what, what is the chief necessity that
I have to understand to worship? The sacrifice. When that word
is used in Genesis 22, five, I and the lad will go yonder
and worship the sacrifice. and come back to you. Do you
know Abraham knew that after he killed his son, God would
raise him from the dead? He knew it because God had promised,
the seed's gonna come through this boy. And this was worship
through the sacrifice. And there's only one, there's
only one way to respond to the Lord doing this for us in our
death, worship. May the Lord grant us all this
true worship that Jacob experienced at the time of his death. Let's
pray. Lord, how we thank you for this
sure purchase possession that we have in Christ. that we can
face death with joy and anticipation, knowing that we'll have rest
from our labors. Lord, we say with Paul to live
is Christ. And Lord, we ask that as long
as we're alive, that might be our only thought to live is Christ. The Lord calls us to know, to
die is gain, because precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of your saints. Lord, bless this message according
to your will, for your glory. In Christ's name we pray, amen.