Joseph Pt 5

Q: What does the Bible say about God's love for His people?

The Bible describes God's love as rich in mercy, even towards those who are dead in sin (Ephesians 2:4). The Scriptures portray God's love as a profound, unfathomable emotion for His people, originating before their birth and extending even when they are spiritually dead in their sins. Ephesians 2:4 states that God is rich in mercy and has great love for us, highlighting how His affection remains unwavering. This love is not contingent upon our performance or state but is instead a part of His covenant promise, showing a commitment to redeem those whom He has chosen for Himself. Constantly, throughout Scripture, the theme of God's yearning for His people emerges, indicating that His heart longs for their salvation often to the point of Divine intervention.

Q: How do we know that God's intentions are good for us?

God's intentions towards His people are ultimately good, as seen in His providential guidance and promises throughout the Bible (Jeremiah 29:11). Throughout Scripture, we encounter numerous affirmations of God's good intentions for His people. Jeremiah 29:11 assures us that God has plans for our welfare, not for calamity, but to give us a future and hope. This assurance illustrates that, despite the trials and tribulations believers may face, God orchestrates events in our lives to fulfill His divine purpose and demonstrate His love. The narrative of Joseph, as described in Genesis, serves as a powerful demonstration of God's overarching plan, where what was meant for evil was turned for good, highlighting that God’s providence always seeks to preserve and bless His chosen ones.

Q: Why is the fear of God important for Christians?

The fear of God is foundational for understanding His holiness and leads to wisdom and salvation (Proverbs 1:7). The fear of God serves as the beginning of knowledge and wisdom among believers. Proverbs 1:7 states, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.' This healthy fear acknowledges God's holiness, power, and authority, which creates a proper posture in our relationship with Him. By fearing God, believers recognize their dependence on His grace and their need for salvation in Christ. Furthermore, this fear cultivates a reverential respect that compels individuals to turn from sin, leading to a genuine understanding of God’s redemptive love and His desire to save those who are lost.

Q: How does Joseph's story point to Jesus Christ?

Joseph's experiences serve as a foreshadowing of Christ’s suffering, rejection, and ultimate reconciliation (Genesis 45:4-8). Joseph's life encapsulates themes of suffering, betrayal, forgiveness, and restoration, which parallel the narrative of Jesus Christ. Just as Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and later reconciled with them, so too was Christ rejected by His own people, ultimately leading to His crucifixion. However, through His suffering, both Joseph and Christ were positioned to save many lives—Joseph saved his family from famine, while Christ brings salvation to all who believe. The story of Joseph is a rich typology that invites believers to see the redemptive work of Christ woven throughout biblical history, emphasizing that God works all things together for good for those who love Him.

Q: What is the significance of God's grace in our lives?

God's grace is essential for salvation and sustains believers throughout their lives (2 Corinthians 12:9). The significance of God's grace in the lives of believers cannot be overstated. It is through grace that we are saved, as Ephesians 2:8-9 proclaims, 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.' This divine grace provides the foundation for our relationship with God, allowing us to grow in faith, experience forgiveness, and navigate life's challenges. Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 12:9 reveals that God's grace is sufficient for us, reinforcing that in our weaknesses, His strength is made perfect. Ultimately, God’s grace assures us that He actively participates in our spiritual journey, nurturing us as we walk in faith and rely on His mercy.

Genesis chapter 45. We have taken somewhat of a lengthy
study. I had no intentions of studying
at such length. But here we are. It's been studied. Basically now we went from pictures
of salvation to looking at Joseph's life. But it's been very interesting. I hope that you've enjoyed it.
We'll probably take this tonight, and we'll go ahead and leave
it. There's a few more lessons here that's very good, but we'll
probably look at this this afternoon. And you can read it. It's a very
interesting story and very easy to read, this whole story of
Joseph. Last week, you remember that
his brethren came to him. He made himself known to them.
And they rejoiced. And that's where we're going
to pick up this afternoon. And here in chapter 45 of Genesis,
and let's look in verse 1 and 2. Then Joseph, if you young
people are following this, that's on page 57 if you haven't found
it in your Bibles. Then Joseph could not refrain
himself before all them that stood by him, and he cried, caused
every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him,
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud, and the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I am Joseph, doth my father yet live? And his brother could not
answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said
unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you, And they came
near, and he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold unto
Egypt." Now, I thought he was very interested in that first
verse where he said Joseph could not refrain himself before all
them that stood before him. He could not refrain himself.
He was so overwhelmed with emotion, overwhelmed with love for his
brethren, that he could no more refrain himself. He had to reveal
himself to them. He had to fall upon their necks,
we are told in this chapter, and kiss him. Now I want to,
just for a minute, and I've got a reason for doing this, I want
to look at what a contrast it was in the way Joseph's brethren
felt about him as opposed to the way that he felt about them.
We know that they hated him. The Bible says they could not
speak peaceably to him. It was almost an unnatural hate
that they had for their brother. And you remember when He told
them that He was going to be exalted over them, that they
would bow down before Him and worship Him. The Scripture says
they hated Him the more. That was found there in chapter
37. And this hate that they had for
Him caused them to commit crimes against Him. They betrayed Him. They were going to kill Him.
Reuben talked them out of it. They put him in a pit, sold him,
finally went home and lied about it. And all of this came out
of this hatred that they had for their brother. Then we studied
about for years how they suppressed this lie, their guilt. They suppressed it. They hid
it from their dad. Can you imagine how difficult
it was to keep this a secret? Those ten boys, grown boys, going
about keeping this a secret from their dad and from servants,
and had to suppress that. And if somebody had told them,
if somebody had come and told them, Joseph is alive and he's
a governor in Egypt, they'd have never believed that. And if they
had, they'd have never went down there and bowed down before him.
They still hated him. They were sorry. I'm sure they
were sorry in part for what they had done. But still, they would
not go bow before Joseph. That's how much they despised
him and how jealous they were of him. There's three things
regarding their attitude towards Joseph that I thought about,
and I probably brought these out sometime in past due, but
there's three things regarding their attitude, and that's one
thing that you and I have been talking about. Their unnatural
hatred of Joseph. And it was almost unnatural to
lead them to do what they did to him, to sell their own flesh
and blood. And secondly, their mistrust
of him. They mistrusted him before they
knew him. They mistrusted him. Remember
when he brought them in to eat dinner with him? And they didn't
know who he was, but they said, then he's brought us here so
he can fall on us and take us for slaves. But after he made
himself known to them, They still mistrusted him. They did not
know Joseph. They didn't know him before,
and they really didn't know much about him afterwards. You remember
when their dad had died, and remember they got a servant and
sent him up to Joseph and said, go up there and tell Joseph,
your dad wanted you to promise that after he died, that you
wouldn't repay the evil that they did to you. Now, that was
their idea. That was their mistrust. This
was several years later. Seventeen years later, as a matter
of fact. And they still didn't know very
much about Joseph. And their whole problem was,
and this relates to us and our attitude towards the Lord, the
whole problem was they were judging him according to their own feelings. They were judging him according
to their own thoughts. Why did they think that there
would come a time that maybe his anger would be stirred up
and he would fall on them and repay them? Why did they think
that? Because that's the way they thought. That's the way
they thought. So they thought, he's like us.
He's like us. So they didn't really know Joseph. And that brings us to the third
thing, their ignorance of him. Their blatant ignorance of him. We're told here in verse 1 and
2 in chapter 45 about Joseph could not refrain himself any
longer. And this is the second time that
this has happened. You remember over in the 43rd
chapter that it was said that his bowels yearned upon his brother. And he couldn't reframe himself. He was ready to just bust out
crying and fall on his neck and kiss it. He had to run into another
room and he wept there and washed his face and his eyes and come
back in. He couldn't contain himself. So this shows us that
his attitude towards them was not like theirs were to him. But here's the question that
arises, doesn't it? If he yearned to make himself
known to them, if he loved them that much, that finally he was
overwhelmed with emotion, why did he treat them so roughly?
He spake roughly to them. He made them afraid of him. He
bounced them in right before their eyes and hauled them off
to jail. And he said, don't you ever let me look in your eyes
again if you don't have your little brother with you. And
he let them go not knowing, as a man, if they would ever come
back or not. Why did he treat them like he treated them, if
he loved them that much? Well, there is a good reason.
We dealt with this just a little bit last week. But let me deal
with it just a little bit again. These men did not respect Joseph.
They hated Joseph. had to be broken. They had to
be brought to willingly bow before Him. They had bowed, but ignorantly. They had to be brought after
they know Him, then to say, I still bow. Now I bow knowing who He
is. This hatred in their hearts had
to be confronted. What is it sometimes, what it
was in their case, that finally broke them. Was it not fear? Was it not fear? They were afraid
of Him. It was fear that finally broke
Him. Listen to what the Scripture
says about fear. The fear of the Lord is the beginning. That is the beginning, isn't
Paul was preaching at Antioch, and here's the way he began his
message. Men and brethren, and whosoever among you that feareth
God to you is the word of this salvation. If a man is not brought
to fear God, and he does it by nature, but if he's not brought
to fear God, he'll never know the salvation that's in Jesus
Christ because he'll never feel his need of it. So what had to
be done here? Joseph had. For their sakes,
for their good, put them in fear. They had to be broken. The Lord
is near them of a broken heart, and he saveth such as be of a
contrast spirit." Now, I'm saying this. There's never been an elect
soul who truly understood that when he lay dead in trespasses
and sins, The heart of a triune God yearned after His salvation. We don't know that, do we? Why
don't we know that? Because He's not revealing that
to us. He speaks to us roughly, doesn't He? John Bunyan used
to play some kind of little It wasn't a guitar, but he said
when we go to tune our tires, whatever those things were, he
said we begin with the heavy strain. And when the Lord goes
to set a heart in tune with Himself, He begins with the heavy strain. And you know our opinion of Him
then is usually one that we're scared of Him. We're afraid of
Him. But that gets our attention,
doesn't it? It gets our attention. But really, the Lord Jesus Christ
all along, though we can't perceive Him all along, He's having to
refrain Himself from falling upon our necks and kissing us
and revealing His redeeming love to us. That's what we see in
Joseph. Let me tell you two or three
stories. Let me quote you a scripture, a verse of scripture that's one
of the most precious verses of scripture that teaches this very
thing. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4, let me quote this to you.
He just finished telling about what we are even by our nature,
how full of wrath our minds towards God was. And then in verse 4
of Ephesians 2, he says, But God, who is rich in mercy for
his great love wherewith he loved us, even when Now listen to how
the Holy Spirit says that. For His great love, even when
we were dead in sins. When we were dead in sins, God's
great love was towards us. His heart was open. He was for
us. Isn't that a wonderful call?
And like I say, we don't realize this. He hides this from us. We don't need to know it at this
time. No more than Joseph's brother needed to know that was Joseph
on that throne. They had to be broken. When the
Lord Jesus was 12 years old, you want to know how His heart
yearned for His people? You want to know how much His
heart yearned to go to the cross to secure His people and bring
them home again to His Father? When He was 12 years old, this
is what He said, Don't you know that I must be about my Father's
business? What was that business? What
was that will of God? What was the work of God for
him to do? Redeeming his people. Securing his people. And at 12
years old, his heart was yearning then for his people. Yearning
to call Peter. Yearning to call Paul. Yearning
to Two thousand years, Glenn, when he saw you come from your
mother's womb. How could he not fall upon your neck? Do you know
he yearned to do that? When Glenn Whitehead came from
his mother's womb, Jesus Christ in heaven saw that and said,
there's one of mine. I gave my blood to. And he had
to refrain himself from falling upon Glenn's neck and embracing
him and putting him like he did that lost sheep around his neck.
Rejoice! Joseph is a beautiful picture
of Christ. And when, in the sense that I'm
speaking of it, that he can refrain no longer, he stopped Saul of
Tarsus on the Damascus road. And he said, I'm overwhelmed.
And he falls upon his neck. And he kisses him. And he never
gets over it. And Saul of Tarsus never gets
over it. Years later, he said, the life I now live, I live by
faith in the Son of God who loved me. How do you know He loved
you, Paul? He fell on my neck. Well, I was
His enemy. Well, I hated Him. He brought
me down. He put me in the dust. Oh, but
when He did that, I saw that was for my good. And I saw there
He loved me. He loved me. I love that old
hymn. that says none of the ransomed
ever knew the depths of the waters crossed, nor how dark the night
the Lord passed through before he found his sheep that was lost.
Lord, what are these blood drops along the way that mark out the
mountain tracks? They were shed for one who had
gone astray before the shepherd could bring him back. But all
through the mountains thunder-riven and up from the rocky steep There
rose a glad cry to the gates of heaven, Rejoice! I have found
my Sheep." There rose a glad cry up to the gates of heaven. Who was it crying? It was Christ. What was He saying? Rejoice!
Come rejoice with me! I have found my Sheep. And the angels echoed round the
throne, Rejoice for the Lord! brings back his own. Now, did
you know that when he began to deal with you? You didn't, did
you? You didn't see behind the scenes
any more than Joseph did. But that's what's taking place.
That's what was taking place. Look in Zephaniah. In Zephaniah. If you have trouble finding it,
it's way over towards the back part of the Old Testament. If you go
to Zechariah, if you go to Matthew and start turning back to your
left, you'll find it. Zephaniah. This is a passage of Scripture
that pertains to that. You young people, it's on page
1018 in your pew Bible. This verse explains what I've
been saying. Zephaniah chapter 3, and look
here in verse 17. Look in verse 18 first. Look
at this. Look at what he's doing. I will gather them that are sorrowful
for the solemn assembly. In verse 19, Behold, at that
time I will undo all that afflicts you. I will save her that hauled
up and gather her that was driven out. In verse 20, At that time
will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you,
for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of
the earth. When I turn back your captivity
before your eyes, saith the Lord." The Lord was going to bring the
children of Israel back out of captivity, and that's what He's
talking about. But in verse 17 tells us how
He's going to feel when He puts it in their hearts to return.
Look in verse 17. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over you with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over you with sin. That's the way it is. All the
time, He's smiling your conscience. All the time, He's making you
feel your guilt and your lostness. What's He doing? He's singing.
He's rejoicing. He says, I found my sheep that
was lost. But He does it with saving. Even when He deals roughly with
us, His heart yearns over us. Even when He chastens us sore,
brothers and sisters. This is something you and I forget.
Sometimes when the Lord chastens us sore, we think it's out of
awful anger, don't we? But do you know what it's out
of? Love. Love. He loves those that He
chastens. Look in one more passage of Scripture.
Look in Jeremiah chapter 31. Page 859. Jeremiah chapter 31. Look at this. Look in verse 18.
The Lord had a lot to say about Ephraim. You remember the
one time that, I may tell you when you read it, and I imagine
when the tribe of Ephraim read this thing, it probably scared
them to death. There was a time when the Lord wrote to the prophets.
They couldn't do anything with the tribe of Ephraim. Man, they
were a bunch of rebels. And the Lord came to the prophets and
said, let them alone. Man, that's scary, ain't it? Let them alone. Leave Ephraim
alone. He is like a wall of coal sacks.
Nobody can tame Him. Leave Him alone. They did. But thank God the Lord tamed
Him. The Lord tamed Him. And look
what He says about Him in verse 18 of Jeremiah chapter 31. I
have surely heard Ephraim be mourning himself. Now He is mourning. This is what He is mourning about.
You have chastised Me. And I was chastised. as a bullock
unaccustomed to the yoke. Can you imagine, I've never seen
this, I've seen this with horses, but when they train those big
bulls and steers and they put those yokes, wooden yokes around
their necks and man, I've read some stories about them, they
would start running back and forth and they'd just gall their
necks. They weren't accustomed to that
yoke. And that's the way they broke them sometimes. That's
what he said. That's what happened to me. God
put a yoke on me and it just thawed my neck. Turn thou me. Here's what it led to, though.
Turn thou me and I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord my God. Surely, after that I was turned,
I repented. And after that I was instructed,
I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,
because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Now, if you would
have seen this tribe, I mean, laying out there with their mouths
in the dust, you thought, man, a lie. God? Is God going to destroy
this bunch of people? Is He going to destroy them?
That's not His intention at all, is it? Look what He says in verse
18. Look what He says. Dear Quokka, the Lord says, Is
Eid for him, my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since
I spake against him, I do earnestly remember Him still, therefore
my bowels are troubled for Him. My emotions, my heart is troubled
for Him. I will surely have mercy upon
Himself." I bet you Ephraim didn't have a lot of confidence that
he was going to obtain mercy. He was pleading for it, but he
couldn't see behind the scenes, could he? He couldn't see the
Lord's bowels, the Lord's heart yearning upon Him. Why am I making
such a point off of this, and I'm ready to leave this? Verse 3, we'll have to look at
it later, big man. Verse 3 of that, oh yeah, everlasting love. Yeah, that's a good verse. But
I'm making a point at this for this reason. Sometimes the Lord uses extreme
means to bring His people to themselves. Initially, I don't
know how he brought you to himself or what means he used. He brought me out of the hills
of Tennessee, stuck me up here in the factory. That worked me
to death that a guy in there could tell me about the Lord
Jesus Christ. I don't know what means God may use to bring us
initially to the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know what means he may
use to bring us to him daily. He sometimes uses extreme means. Look at what He did to the nations. He sent a famine for seven years
that, as far as we know, was worldwide. They ran out of food. There was suffering. There was
heartbreak. And in all of this, God's purpose was to bring Joseph's
brethren down there to Himself. And I'm saying this, brothers
and sisters, whatever means the Lord uses, He may break your
heart. He may lay you up in the hospital
bed. He may take some of your loved
ones from you. I don't know what means He may use. All means are
available to Him. But listen to this. If you're
being brought to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, If
you are being brought to a knowledge of the truth, if you are being
brought to bow to the Lord Jesus, to believe in Him and love Him
and follow Him, no matter how extreme the means may seem, no
matter how broken you are, the heartache you may have, if the
Lord is bringing you to Himself, behind all that extremity is
a smiling face. Behind all that suffering and
heartache is a smiling God, is a yearning Christ to fall upon
your back and reveal Himself to you in redeeming love. That's
what we see in Joseph and his brethren. Oh, they thought, oh,
he's going to fall on us. You guys don't know him. And
when we thank the Lord, He's ready just to fall upon us and
destroy us, or He's against us, or He's... No! Look deeper than
that, brothers and sisters. Look beyond the trouble. Is it
bringing you to Him? Then, behind all of that is a
smiling face. So bless Him for it. Bless Him
for it. And I'm telling you now, He reframes
from doing that. He reframes from doing that.
If you and I just knew how much this night the Son of God's heart
yearned upon us. If we knew the depths of His
love. But He doesn't make it known now for our good. Now is
the time for you and I to live by faith. Now is the time for
us to walk humbly before Him. Now is the time for us to confess.
But I'm telling you there is coming a day when He will fall
upon us. And He'll kiss us with the kisses
of His mouth. And He'll reveal redeeming love
and kindness and tenderness to us like none of us could have
ever known in this life. But that's His feelings towards
us now. We're His sheep. We are His sheep. That's the
first thing. Turn back over our text right
quickly. My time is quickly getting away from me. Back over in Genesis
chapter 45 once more. And look in verses 4 through
8. I've done read verse 4 to you.
Page 57, young people, if you have a few Bible. Genesis 45. Verse 4, Joseph said unto his
brethren, Come near unto me, I pray you. And they came near,
and he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom your soul teacheth.
Now therefore, be not grieved, don't be angry with yourselves,
that you sow me hither. For God did send me before you
to preserve life. For these two years has the famine
been in the land, and yet there are five years in which there
shall neither be earing," there won't be any plowing or harvesting,
and God sent me before you to preserve you a prosperity, a remnant in the earth, and to
save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent
me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father
to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout
all the land of Egypt. Haste you, and go up to my father,
and say to him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me
Lord over all the land of Egypt. Come down, and tarry ye not."
Now, this is an amazing thing that he said here, and he said
almost the same thing over in the 50th chapter. Turn over to
your right to the 50th chapter, and look how he says it here.
This is where they came back, and they were so fearful that
He was going to destroy them. And let's begin here in verse
15. Look at this. This was 17 years later. In Genesis
chapter 50, verse 15, look at this. And when Joseph's brothers
saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will preadventure,
hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did
unto him. And they sent a message unto
Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive I pray thee now the trespass
of your brethren and their sin. For they did unto thee evil,
and now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants
of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spake
unto him. And his brethren also went and
fell upon him before his face, And they said, Behold, we are
your servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear
not, for I am in the place of God. As for you, you thought
evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring the past
as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear
you not." You know, what I thought as I
studied this, What a sad and difficult world
that you and I live in. And you know what makes it so.
It's our sin, isn't it? And sometimes we get so down
on ourselves. We get so greed with ourselves,
we even get angry with ourselves. Did you ever talk down to yourself?
Did you ever tell yourself what a sorry self you are? But sometimes
it gets so serious that we almost despair. We not only get down
on ourselves, we get down on others. But here's the comfort
and here's the help. Out of all of this sin that you
and I feel, and out of all this sin around us and within us,
God has a purpose behind it. If there's any good that can
come out of sin, and the fall of humanity, it has to be this,
that God has a purpose in it. That is the only good I can think
that comes out of the fall of man. If sin had not entered as
horrible as that is, we would have never known God in His redeeming
love. We would have never known the grace
of Jesus Christ in putting away our sins. We'd have known nothing
of covenant mercies. We'd have known nothing of the
kindness and gentleness of the Son of God. And we could have
never known what it will be to be with Him and in His likeness
in heaven someday. All of this came out of the fall. If we had not have fell into
sin, as horrible as that is, If we were still upright today,
if we were still standing in our original righteousness that
God created us in, oh, we'd be well off. We'd be well off. We wouldn't be sinners. We wouldn't
have these awful thoughts that we have now. But you know something? Every hour we would be standing
in jeopardy because we would still be subject to fall. And
if Adam, our first father, ever sinned, we'd all fall. And we'd
not only fall, but not having a Savior, we'd perish everlastingly. So here's the blessing, as awful,
brothers and sisters, as sin is, here's the good thing in
it. That God has purpose to redeem us from this sin. When I look at myself, All I
see is evil. I see evil in my birth. I see
evil in my nature. I see evil in my thoughts. I
see evil in my life, my deeds, my felons, and it grieves me
to death. We grieve over sin in every realm
of our society. But when we look outside ourselves,
when we look away from sin, when we look away from society, And
when we look to the Lord God and His purpose that overrode
our sins and that brought good out of our evil, we rejoice to
think that we have a saving interest in such a God. Yes, our first father fell. He
fell. But out of that fall came a great
redemption. Now, look back over in chapter
45 for one last thing. We'll close our study with this. Here's the message that Joseph
sent to his daddy, who was still living back in Canaan. Here is
what he told his brethren, chapter 45, verse 9. Haste you, and go
up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph,
God hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me. Now you talk about some amazing
things that just happened right here in this passage. When Joseph's
brethren, went back and told their daddy just what Joseph
said. The Bible says he fainted. He
fainted in his heart. Why? Joseph is not only alive,
he's the Lord of Egypt. You know what? His daddy said when he came down
and saw him, Joseph was standing there with Ephraim on one side
and Manasseh on the other, his two sons. And his daddy walked
up and looked him in the eyes and looked at his two sons on
either side of him. And he said, I never thought
to see your face again, but God has showed me your sons. Wasn't that wonderful? That was
wonderful. But look what else he said. In
the last part, in verse 10, Come down unto me, Tarinath,
and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. Well, there's another
blessing. I was talking to Terence about
this the other day. I got on the internet, and I took a tour,
a video tour, from the southern part of Egypt, where they got
on up through the pyramids and through Cairo, and went right
on up into the land of Goshen. and Ramses, and you talk about
a beautiful place, still beautiful today. They got the huge, it
reminded me, you sent me a picture from Alaska, Wayne, it reminded
me of that a little bit. They got the deep bottoms, just
miles of flat bottoms. Then they got the rolling hills,
then beyond that is the beautiful mountains. They got the rich
delta from the Nile River that runs down right through the land
of Goshen, really. This was the richest land in
all of Egypt. And it's amazing to me, the Egyptians
didn't like it. They liked the desert. They liked
the rocky places. They liked to build these silly
pyramids. Pharaoh couldn't even get his people to go tend his
cows up here. He told Joseph, if you've got
any brother that likes to tend cattle, let them take my cattle
up there and feed them, because I can't get my people up there.
That was the most beautiful place you've ever seen in your life.
Topsoil. I measure my topsoil in my garden.
I think it's five or six inches deep, land topsoil. Their topsoil,
up in the Glenda Goshen, is from 25 to 75 foot deep. And you go up north to the Mediterranean
coast, still to this very day, some of the best fishing in all
the world. And here's where this old man
spent the last 17 years of his life. In that beautiful place. The land of Goshen. The land
of Goshen. Look here at what Pharaoh told
him in verse 20. Look here in verse 19. He sent
all these wagons and packed up 20 mules for the goods of Egypt
and everything. And in verse 19, Now thou art
commanded, this is Pharaoh commanding Joseph's brother, Take your wagons
out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your
wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your
stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. Don't regard your stuff. Leave
it there. Don't pack up your furniture,
Wayne. Don't even try to sell it. It ain't worth nothing. All
the good of this land of Egypt is yours. Come on down here. And look what else he said in
verse 10 of chapter 45. And look at this. Oh my, look
at this. Thou shalt dwell in the land of Gosia, and thou shalt
be near unto me. I tell you, he was Jacob's favorite
son anyway, wasn't he? Now, after all these years, he
said, you're going to spend the rest of your life near to me. And thy children, and your children's
children, and your flocks, and your herds, and all that you
have, and there will I nourish you. Oh my, that's wonderful,
isn't it? The last seventeen years, of
Jacob's life, he lived here in this place, and saw Joseph, Joseph's
children, and Joseph's grandchildren. And the Lord made him of a great
nation down here in the land of Egypt. This poor old man,
I mean to tell you, he had it tough. We studied something about
the things that had come upon this man, how he suffered. A
lot of it he brought on himself. But he suffered. This old man
had suffered. When he came and they introduced
him to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said, ìHow old are you?î He said, ìIíve
been here a few years, and itís been full of evil.î But boy,
things changed, didnít they? Things changed. The next seventeen
years, the sunset of this old manís life, he spent watching
Godís blessings upon his family. And he was afraid to go down.
He said, I'm going to see Joseph. I believe he's alive. But he
was still afraid to go down. And look what the Lord said to
him in chapter 46. And look in verse 1. And Jacob,
Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba
and offered sacrifices unto the Lord God of his father Isaac.
And God spake unto him in a vision of the night and 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 unto Egypt,
for I will there make of you a great nation, and I will go
down with you unto Egypt, and I will assuredly bring you up
again, and Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes. This one exhortation to you this
afternoon. If the Lord Jesus has brought
you to Himself, if He has brought you to bow to Him, and He's brought
you to reveal His redeeming grace and love to you, then He'll nourish you. He will nourish you. Don't regard
your stuff. Don't set your heart upon your
stuff. All the treasure of heaven is yours. You are not only heirs
of God, but you are joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. And brothers and sisters, here
is a wonderful thought. We serve Him in our youth. We
trust Him in our youth. And He is able to do this for
us. Even in our gray hairs, in our
old age, He not only is able to nourish us and keep us, but
He can make our old age the best years of our life. I asked a
dear old preacher friend of mine not long before he died, I said,
the things get any easier as you get older? He said, they've
gotten tougher for me. It don't have to be that way.
It may well be that way, but it wasn't that way with this
old man in the sunset of his life. was the best days of his
life. That's why we ask you, young
people, we seek you kids to come to Christ. Not make a decision
for Jesus, not accept Jesus as your personal Savior, but in
your heart, come and bow to Christ. Know Him. Believe on Him. And I'm telling you, He'll nourish
you all your life. Remy, He'll take care of you
all your life, buddy. All your life. And then when you're my
age, you're old, He'll still be with you. And he'll nurse
you. Just like he did this old man.

Joseph Pt 5

What does the Bible say about God's love for His people?

How do we know that God's intentions are good for us?

Why is the fear of God important for Christians?

How does Joseph's story point to Jesus Christ?

What is the significance of God's grace in our lives?

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Joseph Pt 5

What does the Bible say about God's love for His people?

How do we know that God's intentions are good for us?

Why is the fear of God important for Christians?

How does Joseph's story point to Jesus Christ?

What is the significance of God's grace in our lives?

Sermon Transcript

About Bruce Crabtree

Comments

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