So we turn in our Bibles now to
the 47th chapter of Genesis.
Joseph has been sold by his brothers as
a slave to the traders going to Egypt.
In Egypt he is resold and purchased by
a man named Potiphar who was the chief
captain of the Pharaoh's Guard.
God prospered him and blessed him in Potiphar's
house.
Potiphar's house was blessed because of Joseph's being
there.
He made Joseph the head over everything he
had.
But Potiphar's wife set her eye upon Joseph,
sought to seduce him.
When he refused her seductive ways, she became
angry, accused him of attempted rape, and Joseph
was placed in prison in Egypt with an
indeterminate sentence.
There in prison God blessed him and he
came in favor of the captain over the
prison and he turned the whole prison over
to Joseph.
And Joseph ran the affairs of the prison.
And while he was there in prison, the
king's butler, chief butler, and the chief baker
of the Pharaoh both got into trouble with
the Pharaoh.
Perhaps there was an attempted assassination plot, maybe
a poisoned bit of bread or something that
the chief butler brought to the Pharaoh and
the taster who tasted it dropped over dead
and so they don't know who did it,
the baker or the butler, and so they're
both thrown in prison until the matter can
be determined.
While they are in prison they meet Joseph
and Joseph becomes acquainted with them.
They, both of them, one morning look very
sad and when Joseph questions the reason for
their sadness, they inform him of these dreams
that they have had.
The butler seeing a vine with three branches
and clusters of grapes and he squeezed the
grapes into a cup and carried it to
the Pharaoh.
Joseph said, oh that's a good dream.
It means in three days you're going to
be restored to your old position and you'll
be bearing the Pharaoh's cup to him once
again.
And when you come before the Pharaoh, tell
him about me, will you?
I've got a bum rap.
I don't deserve to be here.
I'm a Hebrew.
The woman lied about me and try and
help me out if you would.
So, the baker said, oh I had a
dream too and I had three baskets of
dainties that I had baked for the Pharaoh
and I was carrying them on my head.
But as I was carrying them to the
Pharaoh, the birds came and ate the dainties.
Joseph said, you're in trouble man.
Three days and the Pharaoh will have your
head.
And so evidently the baker was the one
who put the poison in the bread or
whatever the plot was and he was discovered.
The baker was put to death, but the
butler was returned to his position as the
chief of the butlers bearing the cup to
the Pharaoh once again.
But the butler forgot all about Joseph for
two years.
But then after two years, the Pharaoh had
a weird dream that troubled him.
And he called in all of his wise
men and astrologers, soothsayers to interpret for him
his dream, none of them being able to
do so.
Suddenly the memory of the butler was triggered
and he said, oh I've done a horrible
thing.
There's a beautiful fellow down in jail.
He's a Hebrew and this fellow is able
to interpret dreams.
He interpreted the dream of the butler and
the baker and myself and it came out
just like he interpreted and he can interpret
your dream for you.
And so they sent for Joseph who shaved
and took a bath and came in before
the Pharaoh.
And the Pharaoh said, I understand you can
tell dreams.
He said, well I'm in touch with God
and God knows everything and God can reveal
the dream and the secret to the Pharaoh.
So the Pharaoh explained his dream, which was
in double.
There was first of all, the seven fat
cows grazing by the Nile river.
And as they were peacefully grazing, seven skinny,
scrawny cows came up out of the river
and ate up the fat cows and they
weren't any fatter after they ate them.
And then he saw the seven stocks of
wheat.
They were full corn and beautiful.
And then there came up after them, seven
blasted and withered ears of corn and the
seven blasted wither ones ate up the healthy
ones.
Now you can almost understand cows eating up
each other, but it's hard to understand wheat
eating up other wheat, but that's the way
he dreamed it.
And of course, dreams do weird things and
it doesn't have to make sense in a
dream, you know.
And so uh Joseph said, the Lord has
showed to the Pharaoh that which is going
to transpire in the land of Egypt.
The dreams are one, though they are diverse,
yet it's one meaning.
And the reason for the repetition is that
it is sure God is confirming it to
the Pharaoh.
There are going to be seven years of
plenty in which the earth is going to
just really produce plenty, but it'll be followed
by seven years of famine and the famine
will be so great that it'll eat up
all of the surplus of the good years.
Now he said the Pharaoh should appoint a
wise man over the kingdom that during the
years in which the surplus exists, that he
might gather together all of the surplus of
the good years into barns and into granaries,
in order that during the lean famine years
that are coming, they'll be able to distribute
it to the people and thus survive the
great famine that is coming.
The king appointed Joseph himself second in Egypt
and over this project, because he said no
one is wiser than you, no one else
was able to tell me the meaning of
the dream.
And so Joseph became second in Egypt.
During the seven years, he gathered together and
kept the record of the amounts of grain
until they gathered such an abundance, they couldn't
even keep record anymore.
They just piled it in and didn't even
try to count the bushels anymore.
And then began the seven bad years and
the famine extended beyond the borders of Egypt
and up in Canaan where Joseph's family lived.
Jacob looked at his sons and he said,
why are you guys looking at each other?
I understand they have wheat down in Egypt,
go down and buy us some.
And so ten of Joseph's brothers came down
to Egypt to buy wheat.
Joseph recognized them when they came in, they
didn't recognize him.
He gave them a bad time, accused them
of being spies, kept one of them hostage
while he sent the other nine back and
said, don't bother to come again.
Unless you bring your youngest brother with you
the next time and prove you are not
spies.
After a lot of haggling, Jacob, first of
all, totally unwilling to let Benjamin go, finally
relented and Judah became surety for Benjamin.
And they came down again to Joseph to
buy wheat.
And after a series of incidences, Joseph revealed
himself to his brothers who he really was.
And he told them to bring their father
down to Egypt because there were five more
years of famine that were yet to follow.
And Joseph said, I will nourish you and
take care of you here.
And so that brings us up to chapter
47.
Then Joseph came and told the Pharaoh and
said, my father and my brothers and their
flocks and their herds and all that they
have are come out of the land of
Canaan and behold, they're in the land of
Goshen.
Now the land of Goshen was actually near
the Nile Delta.
It was actually in the Nile Delta and
it was in the northeast part of Egypt.
For the most part, the Egyptians had populated
the south and western part of Egypt.
But up here in the Nile Delta was
a very fertile land.
It was great for cattle grazing and the
Egyptians didn't care much for cattle grazing or
sheep herding.
And so it was a area that wasn't
very populated as far as the Egyptians went
and yet very fertile areas.
So Joseph placed his family there in the
area of Goshen.
And he took some of his brothers, that
is five of his brothers, and he brought
them before the Pharaoh.
And the Pharaoh said unto his brothers, what
is your occupation?
And they said unto Pharaoh, your servants are
shepherds, both we and our fathers.
Now the shepherds were an abomination to the
Egyptians for some reason or other.
And yet there is a period in Egyptian
history where they had pharaohs that were called
the Hyksos kings.
Hyksos meaning shepherds.
And it is felt that it was at
this time that Joseph and the children of
Israel were in Egypt that the dynasty of
the Hyksos kings existed.
And thus there wasn't at this particular time
such a feeling against shepherds as there usually
did exist in Egypt.
And they moreover said to Pharaoh, for to
sojourn in the land are we come.
In other words, we aren't coming as immigrant
status.
We're not trying to move in and take
over your land.
Our purpose isn't to stay here.
We're just coming down to sojourn in the
land.
Pointing out the fact that they were shepherds,
pointing out the fact that they had brought
their own herds and their own cattle and
not to immigrate into the land, but just
to sojourn in the land.
Now, they may and they may not have
known how long the sojourn was going to
be.
It all depends on whether or not they
read the scriptures.
Now, if they themselves had read the scriptures,
they would know that they're going to be
in Egypt for 400 years.
That's a pretty good sojourn.
But you remember back in the 15th chapter
of Genesis where Abraham saw this vision, he
cut up these pieces of the rams and
so forth and laid them out before the
Lord.
And he fought the birds off all day
that tried to eat the carcasses.
And then in the night, a fear of
darkness came upon Abraham and he saw the
fire as it went between the pieces of
the sacrifice.
And then the Lord explained to Abraham what
was going on, how that his descendants were
going to go down into Egypt and they
would be there for 400 years, but then
God would bring them out with great substance
and so forth.
So, the 400 years in Egypt was actually
something that God had already revealed to Abraham.
It was a part of the record, a
part of the scriptures.
And had they been up in the scriptures,
they would have known that the time of
the sojourn in Egypt would be 400 years.
This, of course, is the fulfillment of that
prophecy that God did give to Abraham back
there in Genesis.
And so, we've come to sojourn in the
land.
For thy servants have no pasture for their
flocks, for the famine is sore in the
land of Canaan.
Now, therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants
dwell in the land of Goshen.
So, they are making now the formal request
from the Pharaoh that they might dwell in
the land of Goshen.
Because of the famine in their own land,
they ran out of pasturage for their flocks.
And Pharaoh is speaking to Joseph saying, thy
father and thy brothers are come unto you.
And the land of Egypt is before them.
In the best of the land, make your
father and brothers to dwell.
In the land of Goshen, let them dwell.
And if you know of any of them
who are experts in their occupation, actually, as
herdsmen, then put them over all of my
flocks.
For the Pharaoh also had a great deal
of cattle.
And Joseph brought in then Jacob, his father.
And he set him before the Pharaoh.
And Jacob blessed the Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, how old are
you?
So, he brought in now his ancient father.
And Jacob immediately sort of takes command.
Jacob blesses the Pharaoh.
Now, the Bible declares that the lesser is
blessed by the greater.
In referring to how that when Abraham came
back from the victory over the five kings
and Melchizedek came out from Salem to meet
him, how that he blessed Abraham.
And in the book of Hebrews, it is
pointed out that the lesser is blessed by
the greater.
And so, Jacob in blessing the Pharaoh, as
he comes in, he blesses the Pharaoh, pronounces
a blessing upon him.
And thus, immediately his position is recognized.
And the Pharaoh says, how old are you?
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of
the years of my pilgrimage, beautiful way to
express it, are a hundred and thirty years.
Few and evil have been the days of
the years of my life.
And yet I have not attained to the
years of the life of my fathers in
the days of their pilgrimage.
I'm a hundred and thirty years old.
My days have been few and evil, hard
days.
But even so, I haven't attained the years.
Evidently, he was weakening and he knew he
would never make it as long as his
dad did.
His dad lived to be a hundred and
seventy-five and his great, and his grandfather
a hundred and eighty.
So, I'm not going to make it as
far as they did.
Actually, we see now a declining of longevity.
Each generation is living shorter and shorter after
the flood.
Those that shem and those that survived the
flood seemed to live for a long period.
But immediately we see a drop off in
the longevity, probably as the result of this
protective canopy of water being removed from around
the earth.
As long as there was that protective canopy
of water in space, it no doubt protected
the earth from much of the cosmic radiation.
It is the theory today of many of
the scientists that the aging process is actually
caused by this cosmic bombardment that our bodies
are subjected to daily.
All of these cosmic little neutrinos and all
that come shooting through the earth and come
to us from outer space, they go right
through your body.
But somehow they upset your cell structure so
that in time they begin to create mutant
cells and they begin to create the aging
process.
If it weren't for this cosmic bombardment, it
is possible that the body would continue to
rejuvenate itself for much longer periods of time.
But such was the case prior to the
flood.
After the flood, there was a definite diminishing
of the lifespan.
And so now here at 130, Jacob's an
old man.
Whereas before the flood, he had just been
thinking about getting married at that point and
starting to raise his family.
And Jacob blessed the Pharaoh.
So again, he blessed him and he went
out from before the Pharaoh and Joseph placed
his father and his brothers and gave them
a possession in the land of Egypt, in
the best of the land, in the land
of Ramesses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
So the area of Goshen where later on,
under slave labor, the Israelites would build the
city of Ramesses.
And so in this area, on the delta
of the Nile River, the good land for
pasturage, especially, there's where they established themselves.
And there was no bread in all the
land for the famine was very sore.
So that the land of Egypt and all
the land of Canaan fainted by reason of
the famine.
And Joseph gathered up all of the money
that was found in the land of Egypt
and in the land of Canaan for the
corn which they bought.
And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
That is, he's selling the grain and so
forth.
He soon depleted.
The people didn't have any more money.
So when their money failed in the land
of Egypt and Canaan, the Egyptians came to
Joseph and said, give us bread.
Why should we die in your presence?
We don't have any more money.
And Joseph said, all right, give me your
cattle.
And I will give you for your cattle
if your money fails.
And so they entered into a bartering process
where Joseph would give them wheat in exchange
for their cattle.
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph.
And Joseph gave them bread in exchange for
their horses and for their flocks and the
cattle and the herds and for the asses.
And he fed them with bread for all
their cattle for that year.
The following year, they came to him again
and they said, we'll not hide it from
our Lord.
Our money is gone.
You have all of our herds and cattle.
There's nothing left but our own bodies and
our lands.
So why should we die before your eyes,
both we and our land?
Buy us and our land for bread.
We and our land will be your servants
and give us seed that we may live
and not die, that the land not be
desolate.
And so Joseph bought all of the land
of Egypt for Pharaoh for the Egyptians sold
every man his field because the famine prevailed
over them, so that the land became Pharaoh's.
And as for the people, he removed them
to cities from one end of the borders
of Egypt even to the other.
Only the land of the priest he did
not buy, for the priest had a portion
assigned them of Pharaoh and did eat their
portion which Pharaoh gave them.
Wherefore, they sold not their lands.
Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I
have bought you this day and your land
for Pharaoh.
Here is seed for you.
Now you will sow the land.
And so it came to and it shall
come to pass when you have your increase,
you'll give a fifth part to Pharaoh and
four parts shall be your own for seed
in the field and for your food and
for them of your households and for food
for your little ones.
And they said, You have saved our lives.
Let us find grace in the sight of
my Lord.
We will be Pharaoh's servants.
So Joseph made it a law over the
land of Egypt unto this day.
That would be the time of Moses writing
this account, that Pharaoh should have a fifth
part except the land of the priest only,
which became not Pharaoh's.
So having sold or having spent all their
money for food, then they traded all their
cattle, their herds.
When that was gone, then they traded their
land.
Now Joseph made quite a equitable arrangement with
them.
It all now belongs to the Pharaoh.
Now you stay on the land, you plant
it and whatever you receive, one fifth or
20 percent goes to the Pharaoh.
You keep the rest.
If you figured out how much you pay
in taxes, hidden and otherwise, you'd find that
they have a pretty good deal.
Just having to pay 20 percent and that
was all.
They had no investment.
They didn't have to even purchase the seed.
The seed was given to them of the
Pharaoh and they got to keep four fifths
of it.
Whereas one fifth or 20 percent came to
the Pharaoh.
And so the taxation then in Egypt became
a general 20 percent across the board tax.
That was it.
No more.
And it should be enough to run any
government.
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt
in the country of Goshen and they have
possessions there and they grew and multiplied exceedingly
even now while they are in Egypt.
God's hand of blessing is upon them as
they grow and are multiplying exceedingly.
Multiplying exceedingly.
Yes, they multiplied at the rate of about
six percent a year for a time and
then it slowed down.
They remained in Egypt for 400 years.
When they left Egypt, there were about two
million of them that left.
So 70 came down to Egypt.
400 years later, two million of them marched
out.
So when it says multiplied exceedingly, you can
see that yes, indeed, that is what happened.
But in dealing with population ratios, if they
increased the population at the rate of five
percent a year, in 200 years they would
go from a hundred to over two million.
Now five percent a year isn't that much.
It means only five children per 100 people.
And that is not at all an unlikely
kind of a population growth factor.
And so they increased at a, probably at
about a three percent rate during the period
of time that they were in Egypt.
So that by the time they left Egypt
400 years later, the 70 that came down
with Jacob multiplied into a great host of
two million people led by Moses.
600,000 adult males above the age of
21.
So that figures in the women and for
each man there's probably a woman.
And then all of the children that they
would have estimated about a two million population
leaving Egypt under Moses.
So multiplied indeed.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt
for 17 years so that the whole age
of Jacob was 147 years.
When he appeared before the Pharaoh he said,
how old are you old man?
He said, I'm 130 years old.
And so he lived another 17 years there
in Egypt.
So his total years being 147.
And the time drew near that Israel must
die.
And he called his son Joseph and said
unto him, if I have now 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 in Egypt.
But I want to be buried with my
fathers and you shall carry me out of
Egypt and bury me in their burying place.
And he said, I will do as you
have said.
And he said, swear unto me.
And so he swore unto him and Israel
bowed himself on the bed's head or on
the headboard of the bed.
Now Jacob about ready to die.
He's first of all concerned with his burial.
He doesn't want to be buried in Egypt.
His grandfather Abraham had bought a parcel of
land.
A great grandfather.
And he wants to be buried back there
where Abraham had bought the parcel of land
in the cave of Machpelah.
Now, he asked Joseph to swear unto him,
putting his hand under his thigh.
This is the same kind of an oath
that Abraham demanded of Eliezer or his chief
servant when he sent him back to Haran
to get a bride for his son Isaac.
He said, swear to me, put your hand
under my thigh and swear to me.
Now, the same thing is asked of Joseph
by Jacob, that he would swear to him,
don't bury me in the land of Egypt,
carry me back where my fathers are buried,
actually.
Where Leah was buried and the rest of
his grandfather and grandmother and father and mother.
So, it came to pass after these things
that one told Joseph, behold, your father's sick.
He's dying.
And so Joseph grabbed his two sons to
go and visit his father for the last
time.
Manasseh and Ephraim.
And one told Jacob and said, behold, your
son Joseph is coming unto you.
And so Israel gathered together his strength and
he sat up on the bed.
And Jacob said to 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 into the land
of Egypt, are mine.
Even as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be
mine.
And thy issue, whichever you have after them,
will be yours and will be called after
the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
And as for me, when I came from
Paddam, Rachel died by me in the land
of Canaan in the way.
And when there was yet but a little
way to come to Bethlehem and I buried
her there in the way of Ephraim, the
same as Bethlehem.
And Israel beheld Joseph's sons and said, who
are these?
And Joseph said to his father, they are
my sons whom God has given me in
this place.
And he said, bring them.
I pray thee unto me and I will
bless them.
So as Joseph comes into his father, Jacob,
first of all, rehearses to Joseph the fact
that God met him in the area near
Bethel, Luz, which was later called Bethel, the
house of God.
And it was there that God promised to
give unto Jacob and to his seed that
land as an everlasting covenant.
Now it is interesting that God gave to
Abraham the promise, to Isaac the promise, and
now to Jacob God spoke and gave the
promise of this land.
After Jacob, there is no account of God's
appearing to any of the sons of Jacob
to confirm the promise that he made.
God made the promise to Abraham, confirmed it
to Isaac, confirmed it to Jacob.
But now Joseph hears it from his dad,
not from God directly.
But now his father is relating to him
the promise of God, how that God promised
to me and to my seed that land,
everlasting covenant.
And so he is relating it unto Joseph.
Now he said, the two sons that have
been born from you here in Egypt, I'm
claiming them.
They're going to be mine.
If you have any more children after this,
they can be named after you.
But these two I'm claiming for me, they're
going to be just like Reuben and Simeon,
and they will get their inheritance in the
land.
Now it was customary that the oldest son
receive a double portion of the inheritance.
But here Jacob is promising to Joseph the
double portion.
The double portion will be in Ephraim and
Manasseh.
So he gets the double portion of the
blessing from Jacob in that Ephraim and Manasseh,
the two sons born of Joseph, will become
tribes and will inherit the land as tribes.
By which we then see that there are
more than 12 tribes of Israel, because Ephraim
and Manasseh became tribes and received their inheritance
in Israel.
So Joseph becoming two, Ephraim and Manasseh, in
reality there are 13 tribes in Israel.
Now Jacob also said, any that are born
after this, they're yours, but these two are
mine.
So it is interesting that in one of
the listings of the tribes, there is actually
a listing of the tribe of Joseph.
So if indeed there were descendants of Joseph
and there was a tribe of Joseph, they
did not receive any actual inheritance in the
land, but the inheritance went to Ephraim and
Manasseh.
But the land was divided into 12 portions
and apportioned out to the 12 tribes.
But the 13th tribe was the tribe of
Levi.
They did not receive any portion in the
land, but actually dwelt in about 48 cities
that were given to the tribes of Levi,
but no portion of the land was apportioned
out to them.
But it is interesting that we always read
of 12 tribes.
You never read of the 13 tribes of
Israel, but of the 12 tribes of Israel.
And whenever there is a listing of the
tribes, there are always a listing of only
12.
At some times one tribe or another is
deleted from the listing of the 12.
For instance, when we read of the 12
tribes of Israel that are sealed in the
book of Revelation chapter 7, the tribe of
Dan is missing from that list.
Usually in the listing of the tribes, the
tribe of Levi is missing from the list.
But Levi is inserted in Revelation chapter 7
and the tribe of Dan is deleted from
the listing of the tribe as those who
will be sealed during the great tribulation, the
144,000 sealed to be spared a portion
at least of the great tribulation that is
coming.
12 is a symbolic number.
It is the number of human government.
And that is the reason why you have
12 apostles, 12 tribes, though there may be
more than the 12.
In talking about governmental purposes, there are always
12 listed and only 12 for the purpose
of human type of government.
12 is the number of human government.
So, the 12 tribes of Israel, though in
reality there were 13 actual tribes or possibly
if indeed the tribe of Joseph existed separate
from Ephraim and Manasseh, you had 14 tribes,
but never a listing of 14, only of
12.
So, here he claims the two sons, Ephraim
and Manasseh.
They are just going to be like Reuben
and Simeon and they shall receive their inheritance
in the land.
And so then Israel and no doubt his
eyes were failing him and he saw just
the shadowy figure of Joseph's two sons who
at this time were probably in their 20s.
They weren't just little kids.
They were probably in their 20s at this
time because Joseph by this time was 56
years old.
And so his sons are in their early
20s at this point.
And so Jacob sees these two others and
he said, who are these?
And Joseph answered, these are my two sons,
Manasseh and Ephraim.
And Joseph thought that they bring them near
to him and he kissed them and he
hugged them.
And Israel said to Joseph, I had given
up ever seeing your face and lo, God
has even shown me your children.
He had really figured that he had never
be able to see the face of Joseph
again, but God in his grace, not only
did he get to see Joseph again, but
Joseph's children.
And Joseph brought them out from between his
knees and he bowed himself with a face
to the earth and Joseph took them both.
Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left
hand and Manasseh in his left hand toward
Israel's right hand and brought them near unto
him.
And Israel stretched out his hand and laid
it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger
and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding
his hands wittingly for Manasseh was the first
born.
So as Joseph brought the two sons up
to his father in order that they might
receive a blessing from his father, he brought
them up so that Jacob's right hand would
rest upon Manasseh and his left hand would
rest upon Ephraim because Manasseh was the older
and thus the first blessing to go to
the older son.
But as he brought them up in this
order that the old man might just lay
his hands on the two boys, the old
man crossed his hands and he put his
right hand over here on Ephraim and his
left hand over here on Manasseh and began
to bless them.
And Joseph said, wait a minute, you've got
a mistake here.
And he said, let me alone, son, I
know what I'm doing.
And so Ephraim was then blessed and given
a place of prominence over Manasseh, though he
was not the first born.
Now, this is not the first time this
happened.
Even with Jacob himself, the old man that
was doing this, he was not the first
born.
His brother Esau was first born and yet
the blessing had come to him.
And so now he is doing the same
thing with his grandsons, crossing his hands and
pronouncing the greater blessing upon Ephraim.
And he blessed Joseph and said, God, before
whom my father Abraham and Isaac did walk,
the God which fed me all my life
long and to this day.
That's an interesting phrase, isn't it?
Recognizing that his provision, the bottom line had
come from God.
Sure, he'd been out there working.
Sure, he'd been out there taking care of
the cattle and the sheep and so forth.
And yet, when it comes right down to
it, I depend upon God for my sustenance.
If God doesn't sustain me, I'm not going
to be sustained.
God has fed me all the days of
my life.
And the angel which redeemed me.
Now, this is interesting.
He blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom
my father Abraham and Isaac did walk.
That is, God the Father.
The God which fed me all the days
of my life to this day.
That would be the work of the Holy
Spirit in the ministry to the saints.
The angel which redeemed me from all evil.
That would be the work of Jesus Christ,
the Redeemer.
And so, here you actually have the Trinity
of God being mentioned in the prayer of
Abraham.
God of my father, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The God who has fed me.
The angel of the Lord who redeemed me.
Bless the lads.
And let my name be named on them.
In the name of my fathers, Abraham and
Isaac.
And let them grow into a multitude in
the midst of the earth.
And when Joseph saw that his father had
laid the right hand on the head of
Ephraim, it displeased him.
And he held up his father's hand to
remove it from Ephraim's head, to Manasseh's head.
And Joseph said to his father, Not so,
father, for this is the firstborn.
Put your right hand on his head.
And his father refused and said, I know
it, my son, I know it.
And he also shall become a people.
And he also shall be great, but truly
his younger brother shall be greater than he.
And his seed shall become a multitude of
nations.
And he blessed them that day, saying, In
thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee
as Ephraim and as Manasseh.
And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am
dying, but God shall be with you and
bring you again unto the land of your
fathers.
Moreover, I have given to you one portion
above your brothers, which I took out of
the hand of the Amorite with my sword
and with my bow.
And so one portion more, two portions going
to Joseph, and thus the birthright being passed
unto Joseph, his receiving of the two portions.
And Jacob called his sons and said, Gather
yourselves together, that I may tell you that
which shall befall you in the last days.
This is probably the grandest hour of the
old man Jacob.
He had had some pretty rough hours.
Life had been hard.
As he said to the Pharaoh, My days
have been 130 years, and few and evil
are the days of my pilgrimage.
They have been tough years, but he rose
to the grandest hour in the hour of
his death.
Gathering his sons together just before he dies
in order that he might prophesy to them
and of them that which should befall them
in the years to come.
Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of
Jacob, and hearken to Israel your father.
Reuben, and the boys now standing around the
bed, probably in order of their births.
Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might and
the beginning of my strength, the excellency of
dignity and the excellency of power.
It should have been, Reuben, the firstborn, and
yet you are as unstable as water.
You will not excel.
And it is true that none from the
tribe of Reuben ever did excel in anything,
just wasn't there.
Later on, Reuben desired to receive his portion
and his inheritance really outside of the land,
and he never did excel.
The tribe never did excel.
Because you went to thy father's bed and
you defiled it, you went up to my
couch.
Actually, you remember that earlier in the story,
it tells how that Reuben went to his
father's concubine, Bilhah.
And though Jacob didn't say much about it
then, here at his death he brings it
up and points out this characteristic of weakness,
which will be a mark and a trait
of Reuben, unstable as water, keeping him from
excelling.
Simeon and Levi are brothers.
They are instruments of cruelty in their house.
O my soul, come not thou into their
secret, into their assembly, my honor.
Be not thou united, for in their anger
they killed a man, and in their self
-will they digged down a wall.
It is also translated in the Revised, they
hand-strung an ox.
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,
and their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob and scatter
them in Israel."
So, the tribes of Simeon and Levi were
not to dwell together.
They were brothers.
They seemed to be closer than any of
the other brothers.
These two seemed to pair off together.
But the common bond between them wasn't a
good bond.
It was the fact that they were both
ill-tempered, violent tempers.
Cursed be their anger and their self-will.
But that seemed to bind them together.
But when you come into the land, you're
going to be scattered.
The tribe of Simeon was really scattered through
the land.
And of course, Levi never did receive any
inheritance within the land, but dwelt in the
48 cities that were appointed unto Levi.
And so, the prophecy was fulfilled.
Now, when he gets to Judah, Judah, thou
art he whom your brothers shall praise.
The word Judah does mean praise.
Thy hands shall be at the neck of
thine enemies.
Thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
So, he's now prophesying really that from the
tribe of Judah shall come the kingly reign.
Your father's brothers will bow down before you.
Evidently, with Judah, there was a real change
of character.
Now, when Joseph's brothers were thinking about killing
him and just leaving him in the pit
to die, when they saw the caravan coming
towards Egypt, it was Judah that suggested that
they sell him to the people in the
caravan.
Probably, not knowing Reuben's plan to come back
and to get him out of the pit,
and knowing the brother's full intention to just
kill him, figured to save his life by
selling him, and at least he'll be alive.
He can be sold as a slave to
Egypt, but at least he'll be alive.
And the suggestion of Judah was probably to
spare the life of Joseph.
But even over this, he no doubt had
remorse.
And later on, when Jacob said, I won't
let Benjamin go down, Judah said, Dad, I'll
be the surety for him.
I'll hold me responsible.
And he was probably the most responsible of
the sons.
Now, when they came to Egypt and Joseph
put his silver cup in Benjamin's sack, and
when they came and they unloaded the sacks
and they saw the cup and they said,
we don't want you all.
We'll just take this kid back and let
him be the slave.
Judah came back and he said, look, he
said, I'll give myself for my brother.
I'll become your slave.
Let him go back to his dad.
And Judah became the spokesman.
And he stepped up and showed really a
lot of courage, a lot of real metal
at this point.
So that this is beginning to develop in
Judah.
And now Jacob carries it on in the
prophecy.
And begins to prophesy the fact that Judah
shall actually become a ruling tribe.
The father's children will bow down before thee.
Judah is a lion's wealth.
And from the prey, my son, thou art
gone up.
He stooped down, he couched as a lion
and as an old lion who shall rouse
him up.
And so Judah became really the symbol of
Judah was the lion.
And there began then to be the prophecy
of the lion of the tribe of Judah
that would come.
Of course, it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor
a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come.
And unto him shall the gathering of the
people be.
Now this prophecy was fulfilled, fulfilled Shiloh indicating
or be speaking of the Messiah that was
to come.
The Savior.
The word Shiloh came from the root of
peace, shalom.
And until peace comes.
And the peace, the prince of peace, of
course, Jesus Christ.
Now the scepter did not depart from Judah
until the coming of the Lord.
But 30 years after Jesus was crucified or
40 years after the scepter departed from Judah.
So that means that the Messiah would have
to have come sometime before 70 AD in
order that this prophecy of Jacob be truly
fulfilled.
Otherwise, the whole prophetic thing is off.
So we know that Shiloh did come.
The peace of Israel did come.
Even Jesus Christ.
And when he came, he said, if you
only knew the things that belong to your
peace in this thy day, but they are
hid from your eyes.
The day of his coming as the Messiah,
the official day of his coming as the
Messiah, his proclamation, as the disciples were crying
Hosanna, Hosanna, as he came to the city
of Jerusalem, looking over the city that day,
weeping over the city.
He cried, if you only knew the things
that belong to your peace, Shalom, till the
Shiloh, Shalom come.
And so unto him shall the gathering of
the people be.
Actually, he will be the ruler binding his
fall unto him.
That is the Shiloh unto Christ, the gathering
of the people, binding his fall into the
vine and his asses colt into the choice
vine.
He washed his garments in wine and clothes
in the blood of grapes.
His eyes shall be red with wine and
his teeth white with milk.
Zebulun the next shall dwell at the haven
of the sea or towards the sea and
shall be a haven of ships and his
borders shall be unto Sidon.
So Zebulun was given that area in the
northern part of Israel, portion of which is
now Lebanon.
However, he never did take the full portion
that was promised.
Ishkar is a strong ass couching down between
two burdens and he saw that rest was
good in the land.
It was pleasant and he bowed his shoulder
to bear and became a servant unto tribute.
In other words, he's strong as an ox,
but he's lazy.
And thus a characteristic of the tribe of
Ishkar was though they were strong, yet they
were lazy and thus became a servant to
tribute.
Dan shall judge his people as one of
the tribes of Israel.
The word Dan means judge.
Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
an adder in the path that biteth the
horse's heels so that his riders shall fall
backwards.
Now, Dan, of course, inherited the northernmost part
of the land in the area just at
the base of Mount Hermon and the area
which is today the Hula Valley, which lies
between the mountains of Lebanon and the Golan
Heights.
This valley of the upper Jordan upwards from
the Sea of Galilee in this area of
upper Jordan was the area where the tribe
of Dan settled.
Clear enough that the ruins of the city
of Dan is just about four or five
miles from the base of Mount Hermon.
So, you're clear up in the upper end
of the valley.
And Dan was a tough tribe and did
protect the nation Israel from the attacks of
those nations coming down from the north.
Now, here in the midst of the whole
thing, verse 18, not related to any of
the prophecies to his sons, Jacob cried, I
have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.
The word salvation, O Lord, or translated salvation,
O Lord, is actually Yahshua or the name
Jesus.
I have waited for Jesus, Yahshua, or the
Lord's salvation or Jehovah's salvation.
And so, it's very interesting.
This is the first mention of the word
salvation in the Bible.
And its mention is just in the prophecy
of Jacob as he cries out now in
the midst of his prophesying over his sons,
I have waited for Yahshua.
I have waited for Jesus, or later Joshua,
but Yahshua is the Hebrew word here.
And it's translated thy salvation, O Lord.
The tribe of Gad.
Gad means a troop, but a troop shall
overcome him, and he shall overcome at the
last.
Gad, again with the Reubenites, took up inheritance
outside of the land of Israel.
And they were overcome early, but yet the
prophecy is in the end they will overcome.
Out of Asher, his bread shall be fat,
and he shall yield royal dainties.
And so, the baker tribe, those that would
go into the baking industry, yielding royal dainties,
great pastries.
And some of the tribe of Asher are
no doubt over there today, because man, some
of the greatest bread and pastries you've ever
eaten in your life.
Naphtali, his hind let loose, he giveth goodly
words.
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful
bough by a well, whose branches run over
the wall.
The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot
at him, and hated him, but his bow
abode in strength.
And the irons of his hands were made
strong by the hands of the mighty God
of Jacob.
From thence is the shepherd, the stone of
Israel.
Even by the God of thy father, who
shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who
shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings
of the breast and of the womb, the
blessing of thy father hath prevailed above the
blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound
of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of
him that was separate from his brethren."
Joseph separate from his brethren, a beautiful individual,
the great blessing that was pronounced upon him.
He was a fruitful bough, he would be
a fruitful person.
Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh became great and
fruitful tribes.
A bough whose branches run over the wall.
So, not only being blessed, but becoming a
blessing to others.
And though he was to go through great
trials and did endure great trials, the archers
have sorely grieved him, shot at him, hated
him.
All of those arrows of hatred and bitterness
and jealousy and envy and temptation and false
imprisonment and lies shot at him, and yet
his bow abode in strength.
No retaliation, no striking back.
Willing to commit judgment to God, to whom
judgment belongs.
Turning the other cheek, his bow abode in
strength, and the secret of his strength was
that his hands, the hands of his arms
were strengthened by the mighty hand of Jehovah.
God was holding his hand.
God was giving him the capacity to restrain.
His capacity was not a natural capacity, it
was a supernatural capacity.
He was being held by God in restraint.
And God can hold us in restraint.
I think that we as Christians too often
are willing to excuse the demonstrations of our
old nature, saying, well, that's just me.
Yes, that's just you.
Curse you.
God wants to make anew you.
God wants to help you.
God wants to strengthen you.
And we're not to just live in a
peaceful coexistence with our old nature and with
our old man.
We by the Spirit are to mortify the
deeds of the flesh.
And we just can't pass things off as,
well, that's just the way I was born.
That's the way you were born in corruption
from your parents.
But you've been born now by incorruptible seed.
You're supposed to be different.
And if you're not different, something's wrong with
you.
Or wrong with your experience with God.
Because anyone who is truly born of God
is going to manifest a changed life and
a changed nature.
The purpose of being born again is that
you might have a new nature, a nature
now after the Spirit, no longer after the
flesh.
That which was born of the flesh is
flesh.
Crucify it.
Renounce it.
Learn to hate it in order that we
might live and walk now after the new
nature, the nature of Christ, born of His
incorruptible seed.
I now have a new nature.
For if any man is in Christ, he's
a new creature.
The old things are passed away.
Everything has become new.
And if you're still going around manifesting the
old nature all the time and giving way
to the old nature and giving place to
the old nature, something is definitely wrong with
your relationship with God.
And you need to repent and reckon that
old man to be dead.
Don't coddle it.
So many people are proud of their nasty
temperaments.
Proud of their ability to tell people off.
And they've given away so many pieces of
their mind.
There's very little left.
Nothing to be proud of.
It's something to be ashamed of.
God, forgive me.
I reckon that old man, that old nature
to be dead.
I don't want him.
I don't want any part of him.
I desire that new nature after Christ, that
nature of love and tenderness and forgiving and
kindness and compassion.
I desire that Christ be formed in me
and His likeness within me and thus give
no place to the flesh, make no provision
for the flesh to fulfill its desires.
And as Christians, unfortunately, too many are making
provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires.
And you're not really walking after the newness
of life in Christ Jesus, walking after the
Spirit.
And thus, you are a monstrosity.
You're still a spiritual infant, though maybe you
trace your born again experience back some 15,
20, 25 years.
You have never developed spiritually.
You still don't know how to talk.
You still can't walk.
You're still there rattling your crib and demanding
that people bow and acquiesce to your wishes
and your demands, feed you when you're hungry,
rock you when you're upset, and just to
take care of you as a little infant.
And you've never grown.
You've never developed.
And that's all right for a stage of
your Christian experience when you're first coming into
Christ and all.
That's fine that you be coddled and taken
care of and be fed and all, but
it's time that you grow up.
But spiritual immaturity is a great tragedy.
And as the Scripture said, at the time
when you should be actually able to eat
meat, you still have need of milk, because
you've not been able to take meat up
till now.
And even now, He said, you're not able
to bear it.
So, I still have to feed you with
the milk of the Word.
But at the beginning, you are to desire
the sincere milk of the Word that you
might grow.
But there comes a time when we grow
beyond the bottle itself and we need nourishment
other than just the bottle.
You need to grow up.
You need to renounce the old nature and
the old man.
And we need to begin to seek that
nature of Christ to be perfected in us,
that we might be what God wants us
to be.
And so, Joseph, the secret of his strength
was God was holding him.
God will hold you.
God will help you.
God will give you control.
You don't have to be Simeon and Levi.
You can have the control of God.
Joseph, blessed, special blessings, the blessings of your
father have prevailed.
The blessings of the progenitors unto the utmost
bound of the everlasting hill, they'll be on
the head of Joseph.
Benjamin shall raven as a wolf.
In the morning, he shall devour the prey
and at night he will divide the spoil.
Benjamin was tough.
It was one of the toughest tribes in
Israel.
They were the greatest fighters.
Their career was marked by disaster.
They were almost eliminated at one time as
a tribe in Israel because of wickedness.
All of the tribes of Israel gathered against
Benjamin and were scarcely able to defeat them.
They were so tough.
From Benjamin came the first king of Israel,
even Saul.
From Benjamin came the great apostle Paul.
Tough characters indeed.
Able to endure just far beyond the normal,
enduring capacity of a person.
A tribe of Benjamin.
And these are the twelve tribes of Israel.
And this is it, that their father spoke
unto them and blessed them.
Every one according to his blessing, he blessed
them.
And he charged them and said unto them,
I am to be gathered unto my people.
Bury me with my fathers in the cave
that is in the field of Ephron the
Hittite.
In the cave that is in the field
of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the
land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the
field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession
of a burying place.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife.
And there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his
wife.
And there I buried Leah.
The purchase of the field and of the
cave that is therein was from the children
of Heth.
And when Jacob had made an end of
commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet
into his bed and he yielded up his
spirit and was gathered to his people.
So, this was his dying act.
This pronouncement of the future of his sons.
And then even as he had told Joseph,
swear to me you'll bury me, not in
Egypt, but back in my own land.
And Joseph swore.
Now he's demanding the same thing from his
sons.
He's saying, look, bury me back there in
the cave that Abraham bought where I buried
Leah.
I want to be buried by her.
Put me back there.
It is interesting that the love that he
had for Rachel, that he didn't desire to
be buried in the tomb of Rachel that
still existed near Bethlehem.
But bury me next to Leah actually there
in the cave of Machpelah.
Having said this, the old man pulled his
legs back up into bed and that was
it.
He was gone.
And Joseph fell upon his father's face and
he wept upon him and kissed him.
And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to
embalm his father.
And the physicians embalmed Israel.
And forty days were fulfilled for him.
For so are the days which they take
to embalm them.
And the Egyptians mourned for him for seventy
days.
Now embalming processes took forty days and the
period of mourning in Egypt for a great
person was seventy days.
And so they fulfilled the traditional things.
Now it would be interesting if you could
find the cave of Machpelah because though you
wouldn't find any remains of Abraham and Isaac
and their wives, you should find a coffin
and the mummified body of Jacob still existing
there.
And so it would be interesting if you
could come across the cave of Machpelah and
go down in and see the mummy of
Jacob.
Because of the embalming of Egypt, he would
be preserved like King Tut and some of
the others who were embalmed by the Egyptian
arts of embalming.
Also, Joseph was embalmed, so you ought to
be able to find Joseph too.
That is, if you're interested in looking for
mummies.
One thing you'll never find, that's the body
of Jesus.
And when the days of his mourning were
over, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh,
saying, If now I have found grace in
your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the
ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me
swear, saying, Lo, I am going to die,
and in my grave which I have digged
for me in the land of Canaan, there
shall you bury me.
Now therefore let me go up, I pray
thee, and bury my father, and I will
come again.
And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your
father according as he has made you to
swear.
Now though he was buried in a cave,
and they didn't need to dig the grave
that way, yet in these caves they dug
niches in the walls, and they would lay
the bodies in these niches in the walls.
If you've been to the catacombs in Rome,
you've seen it there, the niches in the
walls that they have dug out for the
bodies.
And the same is true in Israel.
There are caves right up at the top
of the Mount of Olives, just below the
Intercontinental Hotel, there is an interesting burial cave
there, and all of these niches in the
wall of the cave that they dug out
for the various people who in times past
were buried in them.
And so he had dug out his own
niche, and so that's what he means in
the grave which I dug, he had dug
out his niche.
In this cave when he dug out Leah's
niche, he probably no doubt dug out his
own niche to be buried by her in
the cave.
And so Joseph is now asking the Pharaoh
for permission, and of course they at this
time have become an important part of the
whole Egyptian prosperity, and the Egyptians probably did
not want them to leave at this point,
and so to ensure the fact that they
aren't just migrating back now to Canaan.
He's asking permission to go and to bury
his father, but with the assurance that we
will come back again to the land.
And I will come again, he declares in
verse 5.
And Pharaoh said, go up and bury your
father according as he made you to swear.
And Joseph went to bury his father, and
with him the servants of Pharaoh, the elders
of his house, and all of the elders
of the land of Egypt, and all of
the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and
his father's house, only their little ones and
their flocks and their herds, they left in
the land of Goshen.
So they didn't take the children, but the
adults all went.
Of course, leaving their children in their herds
is one of the greatest guarantees that they're
not immigrating back, but they're just going for
the burial.
Now a great multitude went.
There went up with them both chariots and
horsemen, and it was a great company of
people.
And so they came to the threshing floor
of Etad, which is beyond Jordan.
And as they came up, they actually came
up on the eastern side, crossing above the
Red Sea, coming up on the eastern side
of the Dead Sea into the area about
where Joshua crossed in the area of Jericho.
And from Jericho, coming up the pass towards
Jerusalem, veering to the left, coming up through
the area of Bethlehem, across through the valley
of Eshkol and to Hebron, where the cave
existed.
So they came up on the east bank
of the Jordan because there are more fresh
water supplies on the east bank.
Coming up the west bank of the Dead
Sea, it would have been a long, hard
journey without water because there are very few
water tributaries coming in to the Dead Sea
from the west side, but there are some
good streams and springs on the east side
of the Dead Sea.
So that's why they made their journey up
that way, then crossed the Jordan River on
the north side of the Dead Sea, and
then on up, as I said, that valley
towards Jerusalem, cutting across to Bethlehem and down
to the valley of Eshkol to Hebron, where
Jacob was to be buried.
But they stopped for a little celebration on
the east side of the Jordan River, and
there they mourned with a very great and
sore lamentation, and he made a mourning for
his father for seven days.
And when the inhabitants of the land, the
Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of
Etad, they said, this is a grievous mourning
to the Egyptians.
Wherefore, the name of it was called Abel
Mizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
And so, they, of course, didn't know, probably,
that it was actually Jacob that his sons,
Joseph, they just figured they were all Egyptians.
And his sons did unto him according as
he commanded them, for the sons carried him
into the land of Canaan and buried him
in the cave of the field of Machpelah,
which Abraham bought with the field for a
possession of a burying place away from the
Hittite before Mamre.
And Joseph returned unto Egypt, he and his
brothers, and all that went up with him
to bury his father after he had buried
his father.
Now, this was Jacob's desire, and it was
probably a desire, it did express faith, the
faith of Jacob that this is the land
God has given us up here.
And so, by faith, Jacob made mention, you
know, of his bones before he died, asking
him to bury him back in the land.
It was a mark of faith, but really,
it was putting upon the family certainly an
unnecessary burden.
To carry that body all the way from
Egypt, clear on up to Hebron, to bury
it there, what an unnecessary strain and burden
he's putting upon the family.
But there was a special purpose for it,
and so it was an expression of faith,
this is the land that God has promised,
this is the land where I want to
be buried.
But let me tell you something, God hasn't
promised me any land, and I don't care
where they bury me, because I think that
we make much too much fuss over the
old house.
Once the spirit has departed, all it is,
is an empty shell, it's the tent in
which the person used to dwell.
But they now have a building of God,
not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
And I think that we make much too
much fuss over the old tent.
Sure, we sorrow, and there's nothing wrong with
sorrowing.
Surely, we grieve, and that's only natural.
We're going to miss them, we can't help
but miss them, and there's nothing sinful or
wrong with sorrowing or grieving because a loved
one has been taken from us.
But to make a big fuss over the
body, to get all upset, because the casket,
you know, just isn't what you wanted, or
the florist didn't fix the flowers just right,
and, you know, to have a big old,
you know, thing, that's such a shame.
My wife said to me the other day,
what do you want me to do with
you if you should go before I do?
I said, I really don't care.
Cremate me if you want and scatter my
ashes in a big surf.
You know, it really doesn't matter.
Once I leave this old tent, it really
doesn't make any difference.
You say, oh, but cremation, can a Christian
be cremated?
I look upon cremation as just a speeding
up of nature's process.
Cremation will do in 37 minutes what nature
will do in 37 years.
I see no problem with it spiritually.
You know, in time, if there were going
to be time, the body is just going
to go back to the dust again, the
tent.
But the tent is me.
It has never been me.
It has only been the place where I
have been living.
Now, we learn to relate people to the
body, and that is rightfully so.
But once the person's spirit leaves the body,
we shouldn't relate them to that body anymore.
Behold, I show you a mystery, though.
We're not going to all sleep.
We're all going to be changed in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
I'm looking forward to that.
Now, when Joseph's brothers saw that their father
was dead, they said, aha, Joseph will now
hate us, and he'll certainly require from us
all of the evil which we did to
him.
He's going to get even now.
He's going to requit us all of that
evil.
And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying,
Your father did command before he died, saying,
So shall you say to Joseph, Forgive, I
pray thee now, the trespass of thy 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 thy father.
And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him.
They sent messengers to Joseph, saying, Your dad
Jacob, before he died, said, Hey, treat your
brothers all right, will you?
And the brothers came in and said, You
know, Hey, we're the servants of your father's
God.
Please, you know, forgive us the things that
we've done.
And Joseph wept before them.
And his brothers also went, and they fell
down before his face, and they said, Behold,
we'll become your slaves.
And Joseph said unto them, Don't be afraid,
for am I in the place of God?
Now, this is a very illuminating phrase, because
it shows that Joseph has a right estimate
of things.
That is, that judgment belongs to God.
Am I in the place of God?
Am I in the place of bringing retribution?
Am I in the place of bringing judgment?
Am I in the place of bringing vengeance
upon you?
God said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay,
saith the Lord.
Therefore, it is not up to me to
bring judgment or vengeance upon a person who
I feel has wronged me.
That's God's place.
It isn't my place at all.
And Joseph, recognizing it as God's place, then
had the right attitude towards his brother in
this whole thing.
Am I in the place of God?
That shows us, actually, the secret behind his
attitude is his commitment to God and that
area to God.
And we also need to commit to God
that area of judgment.
There are people that will say horrible things
against you if you do anything.
If you don't do anything, no one's going
to say anything.
But if you dare to do anything for
the Lord, you're going to get your critics.
Now, you can waste your time going around
trying to answer all your critics, or you
can just go on doing the work of
the Lord and let the Lord take care
of the critics that rise.
And if you have the right perspective, you'll
just leave that in the hands of the
Lord.
You'll not try to defend yourself or whatever.
But, you know, I think it's one of
Satan's tricks, really, to get us off of
the real work of God and into the
area of apologetics and defense.
Get us fighting.
Fighting communism, fighting liberalism, fighting, you know, so
many different things.
And we're no longer really proclaiming the power
of God and the love of God and
the work of God.
But we're fighting now all of these entities
that are out there, fighting the devil.
I think that it's a trap that it's
easy to fall into.
But as for you, Joseph said, you thought
evil against me, but God intended it for
good to bring to pass as it is
this day, the salvation of many people alive.
Now, your intentions were evil.
You were wrong.
Your motives were wrong.
But even behind it, God was working.
The Bible says that God uses the wrath
of man to praise his name.
It is interesting to me how so many
times God turns the tables on the devil.
He'll prepare a trap for the children of
God, and God will just turn the tables
on him.
Now, here are the brothers of Joseph.
Their intentions were evil.
No getting around that.
But behind it, God was working for good.
And this is true all the way through
life.
For no weapon that is formed against you
will prosper.
This is the heritage of the children of
the Lord.
Though man may intend to evil and to
hurt you, and all God is able to
turn it around and to bring good from
it.
We need to have that kind of confidence
in God that all things are working together
for good to those who love God and
are called according to his purpose.
And even though a person might maliciously seek
to malign you and hurt you, God can
turn it for good.
You meant it for evil, but God has
intended it for good for the salvation of
many people.
Now, therefore, don't be afraid, for I will
nourish you and your little ones."
And he comforted them and spoke kindly to
them.
And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his
father's house.
And Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.
So, another fifty-four years after his father's
death.
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third
generation.
And the children also of Machir, the son
of Manasseh, were brought up on Joseph's knees.
So, he was a great-grandpa and brought
up his grandkids on his knees, you know,
bounced them around and had the joy of
seeing not only his grandchildren, but his great
-grandchildren.
And I don't know, grandkids are great.
And I suppose great-grandkids are just that
much more.
So, he had the joy of bouncing his
great-grandkids on his knees.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, and it
would indicate that some of his brothers were
still alive, perhaps at the time that he
was going to die, I'm going to die
and God will surely visit you and bring
you out of this land unto the land
which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and
to Jacob.
And Joseph took an oath of his children,
of the children of Israel, saying, God will
surely visit you and ye shall carry up
my bones from here.
So, Joseph died being 110 years old and
they embalmed him and he was put in
a casket in Egypt.
Now, Joseph didn't put them to all the
trouble of carrying his bones back immediately or
the body back immediately, but he, at least
when you leave here and you go.
And so, some 300 years later, when they
left, they took this casket of Joseph and
the children of Israel carried it out of
the land of Egypt and they brought it
into the land and buried him in the
land of promise.
So, Joseph again expressing that same faith of
Jacob.
This isn't my land.
I'm a stranger in a pilgrim here.
I want to be buried in the land
that God has promised unto us.
And so, the Jews' love for the land
isn't something that has arisen lately.
It isn't something that has arisen because of
the persecution in Germany, or the persecution in
Russia or elsewhere.
That love for the land has been something
that has been planted in them from the
beginning.
Even before they possessed the land, that love
for the land was there in their hearts.
And Joseph said, hey, keep me here for
a while, but when you leave, take me
with you.
I want to be buried in the land
that God has promised unto our fathers.
And surely God will visit and bring you
out.
Now, as I said, if they had been
reading the scriptures, they would have known that
their time in Egypt would be quite a
while.
Four hundred years they were to sojourn in
Egypt.
But yet, the faith and confidence that one
day God is going to bring them out,
bring them into the land.
When he does, take me with you.
And so, again, beautiful faith in the promises
of God.
So, now we jump a period of some
three hundred years.
As we leave now, Joseph, and as we
begin next week the book of Exodus, we
are leaving three hundred years unaccounted for in
their history.
Because the next important event of their history
is their coming out of the land of
Egypt.
And now, under new leadership, a man named
Moses, who was of the tribe of Levi.
Cruel, short-tempered, hot-tempered Levi.
And yet, of Moses it is said, of
all the men upon the earth, he's probably
the meekest.
So, surely he did not have the characteristics
of Levi, except in the beginning.
You see, he had forty years to learn
meekness.
In the beginning, he did display that hot
temper of Levi.
That's what got him into trouble.
He was out and he saw the Egyptian
mistreating one of the Israelites, and he killed
him.
There's Levi again.
But by the time God was through with
him, after his forty years out in the
backside of the wilderness, there was a real
change wrought in Moses, and he became one
of the meekest men who ever lived.
The changes that God is able to make
in a human personality are really glorious.
Taking a person from a fiery, hot-tempered,
no control, to a meek, quiet kind of
a spirit.
The work of God in Moses' life.
So, we get into Exodus next week, the
first five chapters.
Shall we stand?
May the Lord be with you and bless
you.
May his hand be upon your life this
week.
And may God work in your life, in
the changing of your nature with open faiths.
May you behold the glory of the Lord.
And as you gaze into his glory, may
his spirit work in you, changing you from
glory to glory into his image.
That God might conform you into the image
of Christ.
That you might become the person that God
wants you to be.
Not governed by your own will, but governed
by the Spirit of God.
Reacting and responding, not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit.
That your life might be a testimony in
your home, in the office, at your place
of work, wherever you are.
As that nature and character of Christ is
revealed in you.
And thus may men be drawn unto our
Lord.
And may your life be used as a
witness for God's glory.
In Jesus' name.