How many of you have been guilty
of reading the list of genealogies and you read over them real quick?
So you know that you've at least read them and not skipped them,
but you didn't pay any attention to what they said. You just read
the words and there they are. I've done that many times. I read that passage of scripture
in second Timothy chapter three, verse 16, all scripture. is given by inspiration of God. Question, does that include the
genealogies? The main purpose of the genealogies
is to show the lineage of the Messiah, and in the book of Genesis There is enough time devoted
to the genealogies that would take more space than 23 of the
66 books in the Bible. That is how much time is devoted
to genealogies. The New Testament begins with
what? Genealogy. First words of Matthew. The generations,
the genealogy from Abraham to Christ. And then in Luke, we
have the genealogy of Christ all the way back to Adam. That's
a lot of genealogies. I know that, uh, Paul talked
about those who are taken up with endless genealogies. I questioned
whether he was speaking of the genealogies of scripture. Now
these names that I just read are names of real people who
lived and died at a certain time with real histories. The genealogy
of Jacob's family that went down to Egypt, 70 souls. And it was
prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 15 that this would take place,
that his seed would go into Egypt. And they would spend 400 years
there and they would come out several million. And that's when,
uh, Moses would be used by the Lord to bring them out of the
land of Egypt. Now, if you've heard these messages
through Genesis, I've been preaching through Genesis three or four
years now, one thing that has struck me. is that the patriarchs
were like you and I, sinful men. That's obvious. As a matter of
fact, we read some things that are quite scandalous in the lives
of the patriarchs. They were sinful men like me
and you. Now this family was a family
with many half brothers and sisters that came from Jacob's two wives
and two concubines. And you can imagine how complicated
life could be with a family like that. You think your family is challenging?
This family is more challenging. And this genealogy is divided
into four sections. The sons that come from Jacob
and Leah, 33 souls, the sons of the concubine, Zilpah, 16
souls, the sons of Jacob and Rachel, 14 souls, and the sons
of Jacob and Billah, seven souls, 70 souls. Now you will remember
how Pharaoh sent wagons into Egypt. filled with the good things
of Egypt to bring back Jacob, bring him down to Egypt. You
see, Pharaoh loved Joseph. He was a big Joseph fan, and
he was going to do everything he could that would be helpful
to Joseph. So he's going to save all of
Joseph's family. He didn't know it. The Lord was
the one who saved Egypt, but he thought Joseph did. And he's
going to try to reward Joseph for all the things that he'd
done. So he brought those wagons to Canaan to bring them back. I don't know if I've ever brought
a message like this, but I'm going to give the names of all
that were brought down to Egypt, give the meaning of their names.
And it's my prayer that the gospel would be preached through this.
I'm not going to spend much time on any of these names, but I'm
going to give the meaning of each name. And in doing that,
the gospel will be preached. Now, Jacob had two names, you
know, that Jacob and Israel, Jacob, supplanter, heel, deceiver. That's what the name means. Israel
as a Prince, you have power with God and have prevailed. And that's true of every believer.
I'm a Jacob. You are too. And I'm an Israel. Leah means weary. You know anything about that?
weary. Rachel means a lamb. The Lord said, I laid down my
life for the sheep. Zilpah means a fragrant dropping. Smells good. And billah means troubled. In this world, you shall have
tribulation. Now, like I said, this genealogy
found in Genesis chapter 46 is divided into four different groups,
the sons of Leah and her handmaid, the sons of Rachel and her handmaid. Now, the first name of the name
of the first son of Leah is Reuben. Look in verse. Eight. And these are the names of the
children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons,
Reuben, Jacob's firstborn. And his name means behold a son.
First son, behold a son. And isn't that what we proclaim
in preaching the gospel, the son of God, the son of man, behold
a son. And his sons are then named the
sons of Reuben, Hainock, that name means dedicated. Every believer has been dedicated
to God by God. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. And Phil Ear, the second son
means distinguished. Now, when we think of distinguished,
we think of a distinguished person, but that's really not what the
word means. Uh, it's the same word used in Exodus chapter 11,
verse seven, where God said against the children of Israel, shall
not a dog move his tongue against man or beast that you may know
how that the Lord death doth put a difference between the
Egyptians and Israel. If you're saved, the Lord has
distinguished you. He's done something for you.
1 Corinthians 4, 7 says, who makes thee to differ from another? A believer does differ in so
many ways, but who made that difference? Nothing they did.
This is the sovereign grace of God. Who made thee to differ? We know the Lord made us to differ.
We can't give ourselves the credit or our will or our works or our
worth. The Lord made us to differ. And
the next one's name is Hezron in verse nine, surrounded by
a wall. That is the security of the believer,
surrounded by a wall. And Carmi is the next, my vineyard,
my vineyard. Truly, we are the Lord's vineyard. And then verse 10, and the sons
of Simeon, Simeon means herd. Faith cometh by what? Hearing. And hearing by the word
of God. Simeon means heard. And his sons,
Jemuel means the day of God. You know what that's referring
to? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the hour for which
Christ came. That's the day of God. And Jamin
means right hand. Christ is seated at the right
hand of the Father, and so is every other believer in him.
Right now, I'm seated with him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
Somebody says, I'm looking at you now. How can that be? Because
I'm united to Christ. And wherever he is, the believer
is as well, seated at the right hand of God. And ohad means united. united. And this is the hope
of every believer being united to Jesus Christ, one with him.
Both he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all
of one. Not just close, one. And that's why John says in 1
John 4, 17, as he is, so are we in this world right now. However he is, because I'm united
to him. Is he righteous? I'm righteous. Is he holy? I'm
holy. Is he beautiful to his father?
I'm beautiful to his father because I'm united to the Lord Jesus
Christ, one with him. The next name in verse 10, Jacob,
he will establish. You know, the reason you're established
in the gospel in Christ, because he established you. And then the next is Zohar. I
love this. Zohar means whiteness, whiteness. What about the garment, the wedding garment
of the church? It's the righteousness of fine
linen, clean and white. This represents the righteousness
of Jesus Christ is every believer's personal righteousness. Are you
heavy over your sin? You should be, but you shouldn't
be in this sense. You have the very righteousness
of Jesus Christ as your personal righteousness before God. Shale,
I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right, shale in verse 10 means
desired. Desired. Now this is a, this
is a hard thing to get hold of because we have a tendency to
think that the Lord tolerates us for Christ's sake, but that's
not what the believer is. He's desired of God, desired
every single believer. And then in verse. 11 and the sons of Levi. Levi means
joined to. That's our hope that we're joined
to Christ. I really, that's my only hope is that I'm joined
to Christ. Jesus Christ is the difference between being saved
and lost. Jesus Christ is the difference between heaven and
hell. Not your works, not your efforts. Jesus Christ joined. And here's his son's name. The
first one in verse 11 is Gershon, which means an exile. You know,
we're exiles in this world, aren't we? We're strangers and pilgrims. This world really isn't my home.
I'm passing through. I'm a sojourner. I'm a stranger. As a matter of fact, when Jacob,
in the next chapter, Pharaoh asking how old he is.
He says, I'm 130 years old and few and evil have been the days
of my sojourn, my pilgrimage. We're pilgrims. Are you a pilgrim?
I'm a pilgrim. This world is not my home. I'm
a pilgrim passing through. And the next word is in verse
11 is Kohath. That means an assembly. What
is the church? The called out assembly. That's what a church is. A called
out assembly, part of the church. I love when our Lord taught us
to pray. He taught us to pray, our father,
not my father, our father, which art in heaven. The we, we know
that all things work together for good. The church, it's the
us. If God be for us, who can be
against us? These are the individual members
of the called out assembly. That's what a church is. And
the next word is mirari. And that means bitter,
bitter. How bitter is sin? How bitter
is sin? It's bitter to the believer. Verse 12, and the sons of Judah. Judah is praised. Thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise. Judah is the one who Christ came
through. You remember Judah as the surety?
Judah is the one who will be praised. I love to read in Revelation
5 of Christ being the lion of the tribe of that prevailed to
open the book and loose the seven seals thereof. Now his children,
air, E-R, air means awake, awake, not asleep, awake to hear the
gospel. And the next son's name is Onan,
strong, be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus. Then
there is Sheila. Sheila's name means protected. Don't you love being protected
by the Lord? You can't protect yourself, but every believer
is protected by God himself. If God before us, who can be
against us? May that wash over our soul right
now. We really are protected. And then Phares, you remember
Phares when we considered that scandalous story. And yet the
Lord comes, it means breach. And the Lord comes through that,
Phares. And Zerah means rising, rising. The rising of the dead. And in
the Bible, the three resurrections. There's the physical, bodily
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The heart and soul of the gospel
is the resurrection. I mean, you can't preach the
gospel and not preach the resurrection. We're witnesses of the resurrection,
the rising. There's the bodily resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was delivered for our offenses.
He was raised again for our justification. When he died, he never went through
the process of decay because when he died, full satisfaction
was made and he was raised from the dead. And then there's the
spiritual resurrection. If I'm a believer, I've been
raised from the dead, spiritual death and given spiritual life.
And then there's that final resurrection of the last day when believers
are raised up to be uncorruptible, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. The next. Son's name in verse
12 is Hezron and Hamel. Hezron means enclosed. Enclosed. You know, I'm enclosed in Christ.
I can't get out. Don't want to get out. I love
the way Noah and his family were shut in to the ark. shut in,
enclosed while the wrath of God came down in the rain. They were
in the ark enclosed, safe and secure. I'm enclosed in Christ. There's my standing in the Lord,
Jesus Christ enclosed. And the next word is Hamel in
verse 12. Hamel means spared because he
spared not his own son. He spares me. You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for your
sakes, he became poor, that you through his poverty might be
rich. Verse 13, and the sons of Issachar,
Issachar means there is recompense. You see, the Lord is going to
be paid for the travail of his soul. He's not gonna lose one
person that he died for. There is recompense. And every
believer, when I'm saved, yes, I'm saved by grace, but God is
paying me for perfect obedience. That is the obedience of the
Lord Jesus Christ. There's recompense. It's a just
thing. And then there is tola. That word means worm. What a
name, worm. Well, did God not say, fear not
thou worm, Jacob? Why did he say, fear not thou
worm, Jacob? Why was this worm not to fear? Because Christ said,
I am a worm and not even fit to be called a man. That's what
he said from the cross. He said, I'm a worm and no man. FUVA is next in verse 13, means
splendid. Splendid. What every believer
is in Christ. Christ is splendid, isn't He?
And every believer is the King's daughter, all glorious without
and within. Christ's righteousness is their
righteousness. The new birth, being born of
the Spirit. FUVA. And JOB. JOB means persecuted. Persecuted. Blessed are they
who are persecuted for righteousness sake. And Shemron, that means
heights. Oh, the height of every believer
seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Verse 14, these are the
sons of Zebulun. Zebulun means exalted, exalted. He that humbles himself shall
be exalted. And how highly exalted is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Part of the gospel is the exaltation
of Christ and the exaltation of every believer in him. The next name, Sered, means fear,
the fear of God. And let me remind you, the fear
of God is not the fear of punishment. It's not the fear of God getting
you because there's something you didn't do. It's the fear
of God. That's the respect, the reverence
of God that makes you look nowhere. But Christ, that's the fear of
God. When you have faith, faith in Christ, that's the true reverence
and respect and fear of God. Just fear of bad things happening
to you. That's not the fear of God. That's the fear of unbelief.
But Sered means fear. Elon. Mighty, my grace is sufficient
for thee. Do you know the same power that
was used in the resurrection of Christ was used in your spiritual
resurrection? What might is used. And the next is Jehiel. God waits is what that means. God waits, God waits to be gracious. That's a scripture. God waits. These be the sons of Elah, which
he barren to Jacob and to Paddan Aram with his daughter, Dinah.
Dinah means judgment. Oh, the judgment of the gospel.
It's perfect. Verse 16, and these are the sons
of Gad. Gad means a troop. The church
is the army of God. Ziphion, verse 16, it means keep
watch. Didn't the Lord say watch? I
know a pastor is called a watchman. I don't think that that's what
this is a reference to though. Watch, watch what I say into you. I
say into all the Lord said, watch, watch out for yourself. Watch
over yourself. You, you have every reason to
be suspicious of yourself and your own thoughts. Watch. Haggai
means Festive. Festive. The joy of the Lord
is your strength. Sunai means rest. Can you see
how every one of these names go with our experience in the
gospel? There remaineth a rest for the people of God. What a
joy it is to rest in Christ. What do you do when you rest?
You're not working. You're resting in what he did and what a joyous
rest it is. Ezba means haste. Now listen to me. The time to
believe is right now. Don't wait to get your life straightened
out. Don't wait till you get better. The time to believe is
right now. Haste. Don't wait. Don't wait
to, you know, a false refuge is tomorrow. You don't even know
if you have tomorrow. Haste right now. Look to Christ. Eri is the next, and that means,
Malware said that, watchful, do not trust yourself. Erodi means I shall subdue. He shall subdue our enemies,
whatever they are, he shall subdue. Areli, these are hard to, forgive
me. The last word in verse 16, areli
means the lion of God. Our hope is in the lion of the
tribe of Judah, isn't it? The mighty roaring lion, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 17, the sons of Asher. Asher means blessed, happy. I couldn't help but think of
the beatitudes. Blessed are they. that are poor. Blessed are they
that mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed
are the peacemakers. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed. And then Jim Nah, which means right hand where
Christ sits. And here is the result. Yeshua, He will resemble. You know what that's about? Predestination. I'm gonna be perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. Whom he did foreknow, then he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Remember this about predestination.
It's not just God predestinated that to happen. Well, he did,
but that's not what predestination is about. Predestination is about
being predetermined by God to be just like Jesus Christ. And if he predestinated it, it
must happen. Yeshua and is you, I hard to read my writing. Um,
uh, it means this is the end of freeze. These are the words
of Christ in predestination. He resembles me. That's what
the Lord's going to say of all of his people. They resemble
me just like me. Bariah means friend. Abraham was the friend of God.
You know who else is? Every believer. Every believer. God counts you his friend. Somebody says, I don't have enough
friends. Well, you can never have enough
friends. I realize that, but to be the
friend of God, that's what counts. A friend of God. And Sarah, princess,
the king's daughter. And the sons of Bereiah, well, I'm, I should be in, no, Heber. Heber
means comrade. Michael means my king is God. Verse 18, these are the sons
of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these
she bare unto Jacob, even 16 souls." So we've gone through
49 of them already. Let's go on reading. The sons
of Rachel, Jacob's wife, Joseph and Benjamin. And unto Joseph,
his name means adding. The Lord added to the church
daily, such as should be saved. And to Joseph in the land of
Egypt were born Manasseh. You know what Manasseh means?
Forgetting. I will not remember your sins.
That's God's promise. Forgetting. You remember them.
He doesn't. How's that? Because there's nothing
there to remember because Christ blotted them out and they're
gone. Forgetting. Ephraim means fruitful. Listen to me, every believer
is fruitful. Somebody says, well, he's a non fruitful Christian.
No, every believer has the fruit of the Holy spirit because they're
born in the spirit. And every believer is fruitful, which assonant
the daughter of Potter for priest alone bear unto him verse 21. And the sons of Benjamin, the
son of the right hand is what that means. The sons of Benjamin
were Bela. Bela means devouring a thing
swallowed. That's an unusual name, but think
of what the Lord swallowed when he swallowed the contents of
that cup in Gethsemane's garden. That's when he took my sins in
his own body on the tree, a thing swallowed. Beter means camel. What's the significance of a
camel? Well, a camel bears burdens. Bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ. Asbel means a man in God or a
man in Christ. Isn't that what we are? In the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's my standing before God,
a man in Christ. And gina or gira means grain,
Christ, the bread of from heaven, our necessary food. And Naaman means pleasantness.
Oh, how beautiful and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity. Ehi means my brother. You know, that's a special name,
brother. Brothers and sisters in Christ
Jesus. And I love this scripture. Both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one for the witch cause. He's
not ashamed to call them brethren. He said, I go to my father and
your father. He acknowledges all of his people
as his brethren. And Rosh in verse 21, Rosh means
head. Christ is my head. He's the head of the church.
We are his body. Mupim means serpent. Well, the Lord said, be as wise
as serpents and harmless as doves. And Ard. to wonder. Again, this world
is not where we plant our roots, we're wondering. Verse 22, These are the sons
of Rachel, which were born to Jacob. All the souls were fourteen,
and these are the sons of Dan. Dan means judge. Shall not The
judge of the earth do right. And this is one of the things
that I find so comforting with regard to everything. People
have all kinds of questions about what takes place. How could God
let this happen? How could God let that happen?
Listen, I trust this character. And whatever, I know his character
is always right. And so even if I can't see it,
I know it's right because of who he is. We trust his character. Like Abraham said, shine off
the judge of all the earth, do right. That's why I don't get
troubled over things. Oh, I do. I'm lying when I say
that. I get troubled all the time. But when I got, when the
Lord gives me grace to understand, to shut off the judge of the
earth, do right. Whatever he does is right. I might not understand
it, but he does. And we rest in that today. And, uh, who sin, that means
to enjoy or be excited. What a blessing it is to enjoy
being in Christ, to enjoy his gospel, to enjoy fellowship with
his people. And the sons of Naphtali. Naphtali
means wrestling. Wrestling. The flesh lusts against
the spirit. The spirit lusts against the
flesh. These are contrary one to the
other. That's a wrestling match. Naphtali, wrestling. Jaziel, God divided. Now I love that scripture. There
was a division because of him. And there always is. He said,
don't think I came to send peace on the earth. I came not to send
peace, but a sword. There is a, wherever the gospels
preach, there will be division. And God is the root of that division. Gunai, my defender. My defender is the Lord. He said,
my sheep, they're in my hand. They're in my father's hand.
Nobody's able to take them out of my father's hand. If God be
for us, who can be against us? The next name is Gezer Forming. Well, here's the only scripture
I could think of. I travail in birth until Christ be formed
in you. Now they, he said in that same
context, he said, I tell you, he said, tell me you, the desire
to be under the law. Don't you hear what the law says?
Are you, what he's saying is, are you crazy? Uh, I travail
in birth until Christ be formed in you. Uh, Shillam means repaid. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. He's going to have everybody
he died for. Now these are the sons of Bila,
which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bared them
unto Jacob. All the souls were seven. And all the souls that
came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides
Jacob's sons and wives, all the souls were threescore and six.
And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were
two souls. And all the souls of the house
of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were Three score and 10, 70 people
went down to Egypt and they dwell there for 400 years, exactly
as God told Abraham they would be there for 400 years in Genesis
chapter 15. And that is where we have the
glorious Exodus where Moses, God brought him out through Moses.
And we have the Passover, which we're getting ready to celebrate
when we take the Lord table. What was the difference between
Israel and the Egyptians? They were in the house with the
blood over the door. That was the difference. And
God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Everybody under the blood, He
passed over. That's the gospel. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. Lord, your, your gospel is in
every phrase and every scripture. Give us grace to see that. And Lord, we thank you for these
70 people you brought into Egypt and that you caused your people to expand to millions,
brought them out through the Red Sea. Lord, we stand amazed
at your gospel and the greatness of your gospel, and we give thanks.
And Lord, as we prepare to take the Lord's table, Lord, enable us to truly do this
in remembrance of thy dear son, just as he said, this do in remembrance
of me. Somebody asked me this morning.