For our Bible study today, we're gonna be in
Genesis chapter 45 again, and we're gonna be
talking about what God does when his people are
too wounded to believe in his promises. I don't
know if any of you have ever found yourself in
that type of situation, right? There's a certain
kind of pain that we could find ourselves in
in our lives where we don't cry anymore. We don't...
rage anymore. We don't argue anymore. In many
cases, we don't even pray much anymore because
the pain has just gotten to be too much. It's
a pain that goes numb, where you just don't feel
anything. I call it an emotional flatline, where
you're not happy, you're not sad, you're just
numb. This is the kind of pain of deep depression,
which many of you know I've experienced myself
with in itself is an ironic thing to say because
it doesn't feel like anything. It's a hopelessness.
It's a giving up. And for Jacob, the patriarch
of the nation of Israel, he had learned to live
in this type of numbness for more than 20 years.
By the time we come to Genesis 45, Jacob had
lived thinking that his beloved son Joseph was
dead. He was told by Joseph's brothers that he
must have got killed by some wild animal, and
Joseph was just broken. Over time, the grief
didn't go away. It just kind of settled in and
became the norm. There's many of us that have
been struggling with that or maybe living in
that right now where the numbness is just how
it is. You've just kind of accepted this is how
it is. This is how it's always going to be. And
this grief for Jacob's life, it shaped his expectations.
It taught him what not to hope for. And he learned
how to survive disappointment by keeping his
heart very, very guarded. So as we come to our
text today, this is the moment where Jacob's
sons are going to stand before him. And say the
words that he never expected to hear. That Joseph
is alive. He is alive. And as we get into the
story, we'll see that when that news hits him,
he doesn't rejoice. He doesn't shout. He doesn't
respond really in any way at all. What the scripture
tells us is that he was stunned. He was stunned
because he didn't believe the brothers. And that
word stunned in the Hebrew literally means his
heart was numb. And we're going to talk about
that. Why? Because sometimes the most frightening
thing is not the bad news. When you're in the
pits of pain, the most frightening thing could
sometimes be the possibility that there can actually
be joy again. The possibility that there could
actually be hope again. Because like Jacob, That
possibility was quite unbelievable. Genesis 45
ends in a very surprising order. We're going
to see the pattern with which God works when
people are too wounded to really believe in his
promises. We're going to see that first comes
truth, then comes evidence, and finally comes
belief on Jacob's part. What does God do when
his people are too wounded? What does God do
when his people are too hurt to believe in his
promises, even though they know that those promises
are unequivocally, undeniably true? Well, today's
text is going to answer that question, not theoretically,
not theologically, not abstractly, but very practically,
because the greatest work of grace that I see
throughout Scripture, the greatest work of grace
becoming visible in someone's life, is something
the Bible calls a revived spirit. And that's
what we're going to be talking about today. But
first, we're going to spend some time worshiping
the Lord because he is worthy. And we don't do
this just to set the table. We don't do this
just to get ready for the Bible study. We don't
do this because it's just that's the first thing
you do at church. We do this because God is worthy,
because he is glorious, he is almighty. We do
this because of what he's done in our lives,
saving our souls. blessing us past that walking
with us being with us he is due the worship and
so that's what we're going to do here for a moment
before we get into the study if you guys will
join me in prayer father we trust you god for
all that you are and lord we love you lord you
are so gracious and so overwhelming god you are
Your infinite love and infinite kindness and
infinite joy and infinite peace. God, You are
everything. And Lord, You chose to create us
in Your image. And then when we fell, Lord, You
already had a plan to reconcile with us. And
so, Lord, you gave us your word and you gave
us the stories and the promises that you have
made over the history of man, God, and those
promises are true today just as they were when
you said them. And yet, God, we are so easily
swayed to lose hope. We are so easily swayed
to... to accept that things are just gonna be
terrible and that's our lot in life, even though
we have your word and your promises, God. And
I pray this morning that you would speak to us,
God, as we've come to this point in the story
where Jacob's hope becomes real in front of him.
And Lord, it is such a beautiful picture of the
work that you do in our lives, God, and even
as believers, we find ourselves in our struggles
to find ourselves losing hope. find ourselves
feeling like we're just going to give up and
stop believing, Lord. And that is not what you
want for us, God. And so I pray, Lord, for even
those in this room or watching, God, that are
struggling, that are in that place, Lord, where
they have let the hopelessness just settle in,
even though they believe in your word, God. I
pray that you would revive their spirit this
morning, that the truth of who you are, the truth
of your promises, the truth of the reality that
we can't even see. would revive all our spirits,
God, as we come back to the place of hope and
joy and trust and faith. Lord, we want to worship
you. We want to praise your holy name. We ask,
God, that you would be blessed as we worship
you today, Lord, and we ask that you would bless
us through your word. We love you so much, and
we thank you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
We are in Genesis chapter 45. We're going to
be looking at verses 16 through 28 this morning.
Last week, we looked at the first 15 verses,
and this was where Joseph had finally revealed
himself to his brothers, right? The big moment.
They had come before him guilty. They realized
that their guilt wasn't just a guilt because
they got caught with this silver cup. If you
don't know what I'm talking about, go back and
read the previous chapters. But their guilt was
they realized they were guilty men. They realized
that they were sinners before God, that just
in a general sense, they were guilty. And so
Judah confessed on behalf of the brothers. Part
of that confession was them accepting that, yeah,
we deserve punishment, and the punishment is
just, and it is due, and we accept that in full.
But that is exactly what demonstrated that they
were in the place to receive grace and mercy
and forgiveness because that's what Joseph wanted
to extend to them the whole time. And so he...
broke down in tears. The moment was finally there
where he was able to have a reconciled relationship
with his brothers that he loved and just wanted
to lavish them with grace. And so there was tears
and hugs and forgiveness and reconciliation,
right? Unity was restored. Fellowship was restored.
And then we get to the next scene where we're
going to pick it up today in verse 16. That opens
with Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh, who was the only
man more powerful, the only man with more more
authority in the very powerful empire of Egypt
than Joseph. Pharaoh was a man who was thought
by the people to be a god himself, and yet this
particular Pharaoh is a man who had come to trust
in Joseph and Joseph's God. And so we pick it
up here in verse 16. It says, when the news reached
Pharaoh's palace, Joseph's brothers have come.
Pharaoh and his servants were pleased. This is
a remarkable detail because throughout Genesis
and in ancient history, foreign kings... were
usually very threatened by the covenant family.
They were very threatened by Israel. They were
threatened by who they were and what they represented.
And so it's just a notable thing here that Pharaoh
was pleased. He was excited to hear that Joseph's
family had come upon the scene. And this just
kind of fulfills prophecy that God had given
in Genesis 12, verse 3. When he told Abraham,
or Abram at the time, that nations would bless
his descendants. And so here we have one of,
if not the most powerful empire on the planet
at that time in a place to say, we want to bless
these people, Israel. And so verse 17, Pharaoh
said to Joseph, tell your brothers, do this.
Load your animals and go back to the land of
Canaan. Get your father and your families and
come back to me. I will give you the best of
the land of Egypt and you can eat from the richness
of the land. You're also commanded to tell them,
do this. Take wagons from the land of Egypt for
your dependents and your wives and bring your
father here. Do not be concerned about your belongings
for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.
Again, impressive thing to be said from Pharaoh
regarding the children of Israel. He's like,
look, Joseph, give your brothers everything they
need. Tell them to go home and bring everybody
back. Right? Bring them all here. Come back here
to dwell in the richness of the land. And that
word richness is meant to give us a contrast.
The word in the Hebrew really means abundance,
right? And the contrast here is the opposite
of what they had been living in in the land of
Canaan, right? Jacob and his family, they're
there in the land of Canaan. It's supposed to
be the promised land. This is the place where
God has called us, and yet there's famine there.
There's famine. There's nothing. And sometimes
God will allow that type of stuff to happen in
our lives to mold us and to shape us. But it
can be a very difficult time because then you
have all the unbelievers around you going, oh,
I thought you're supposed to be the Christian.
I thought things were supposed to be a blessing.
I thought God's supposed to take care of you,
right? What's up with the famine? You're just
like us. God isn't real. And all this stuff.
And we're going to see later on in the story
how God answers that. But for the family itself,
it's like, everything is about to shift. It's
interesting that Pharaoh says, tell them don't
worry about their belongings. Leave everything
behind, right? You are about to go from the place
of lack to the place of blessing, abundance.
And when God works in our lives to bring us from
the worldly place, the worldly state, even our
times where we're like, God, I'm just following
you, but I'm in lack right now. When he brings
us to that place of abundance, it's often leave
everything behind. Leave all of your ways behind.
Leave all the stuff you've depended on behind,
right? Pharaoh's like, we don't need your ratty
shepherd clothes here in Egypt. I got new clothes
for you. I got new stuff for you. Like, this
is a place where the richness of the land is
yours. And that's just a picture of even the
relationship we have with God when we say, okay,
God, I'm just, I'm committing to you. You are
my God. You are my everything. I'm going to trust
you. God says, come. Come into this place of
provision I have for you. Come into this place
where I'm going to provide all the needs in your
life. And this is emotionally and spiritually
and it could be financially, but he says leave
that stuff behind. You don't need those old things
to come with you. Now, although Egypt is not
the promised land, it is the place of preservation
for Israel. And really, you know, we here on
this earth, we are in a place of preservation
as God's people. That we know the promised land
metaphorically is waiting for us, heaven, a real
place of perfection and paradise. But here is
a place of preservation where we have to say,
God, I just, I got to trust you. And I got to
trust you with wherever I'm at. I got to trust
you with where I'm at. And I want to live your
ways. I want to follow what you want. And so
let me do things your way in accordance to your
will. So he's like, come on, tell him to come
down. And this is, again, all in fulfillment
of prophecy. Back in Genesis chapter 15, verse
13 and 14, it says, the Lord said to Abram, know
this for certain. Your offspring will be resident
aliens for 400 years in a land that does not
belong to them. You see, Jacob's sons, Jacob,
Isaac, everybody all the way back to Abraham,
knew that one day they were going to end up in
a foreign land, resident aliens for 400 years.
They should have been waiting for this. They
should have been expecting this. But over the
years, this seems to be something that was just
out of their mind. God spoke this to Abraham
two centuries before the events we're looking
at right now in Genesis 45. 200 years before
this promise was made. And that tells us something,
that if we find ourselves in difficult places,
right because again remember jacob is back in
the land of canaan right now still full of grief
still without hope still lamenting his dead son
joseph and then it's very possible that at this
point he's going i probably lost benjamin too
i shouldn't let him go with the with with the
other brothers and he's in this place of deep
despair and and he's god's person he knows the
lord But at the same time, there's this place
in Jacob that we're going to get to in a moment
where he's not really trusting and believing
in God's word and promises anymore. Or at least
he's found it very difficult to do so because
he's learned to live with grief and he's learned
to live with just it's bad and this is the way
things are. And yet what we see here is a reminder
that God's promises were far older than Israel's
pain. The pain that Jacob, who is Israel, who
found himself in in this period of his life for
the last 22 years thinking his favorite son is
dead, God's promises were way older than that.
And the same thing applies in our lives today.
We will find ourselves in situations of difficulty,
situations of pain, situations that maybe have
gone on long enough where we've... found it more
and more difficult to believe in God's promises,
even though we go, yeah, I know it's God's word
and it's true, but it's hard to trust in that
because things have been going wrong for so long.
But we can't forget that God's promises to us
as his children are far older than our situation.
They're far older than the difficulty we're finding
ourselves in. They're far older than that season
we're in right now. And God's plan for Jacob,
it was already in motion. before they even felt
the pain of the famine. God's plan was in motion
from the very beginning to provide for them,
to take care of them, to bless them, to mold
them, and to shape them. And it's the same for
us today. It is the same for us today. God here
is fulfilling ancient promises through what are
the ordinary events of life, right? A famine.
It happens, and bad stuff. But God is working,
and we can't forget that. That's one of the things
that the devil tries to get us to forget as we
go through seasons of difficulty and pain because
if we forget that God made promises and God cannot
lie and God's promises will be fulfilled, if
we forget that, then we will look at our current
circumstances and go, woe is me. Life is terrible.
Everything is hopeless. That's just the way it
is. Now, For some of us, it's like, okay, we
find ourselves in situations and we're struggling
to have faith, but then the bad situation lasts
a year. Well, what happens when it lasts five
years? What happens when it lasts 10 years? What
happens when it lasts 22 years as we come to
the life of Jacob here in Genesis 45? It gets
harder and harder to hang on to those truths,
but we can't let them go because God's promises
are true. Always, no matter what. So verse 21,
back in Genesis 45, it says, the sons of Israel
did this. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh
had commanded, and he gave them provisions for
the journey. He gave each of the brothers changes
of clothes, but he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of
silver and five changes of clothes. He sent his
father the following. Ten donkeys carrying the
best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys
carrying grain and food and provisions for his
father on the journey. Now we see Joseph here,
you know, he is number two, so he obeys Pharaoh's
commands quite precisely, but then he adds a
little bit of his own generosity to the mix here.
But the real weight of the message here centers
around that word wagons, right? The title of
this study is When the Wagons Arrive, because
the wagons have a big part of this story and
how God ministers to Jacob. In the place where
Jacob is so wounded, he finds it difficult to
believe in God's promises. Now, that word wagons
there in the Hebrew, it's agalot. It's the first
time this word appears in the patriarchal narratives.
And, you know, just thinking about it, in the
land of Canaan, when people traveled from place
to place, they would typically walk. right? People
walked everywhere. You know, like today, everybody
has a car. And if you don't have a car, it's
like, what's wrong with you? Get an e -scooter
or something. But in those days, no e -scooters,
no nothing. It's just you walked. And people,
especially the children of Israel who were shepherds,
would walk to, you know, guide and guard the
herds. But in Egypt, they had wagons. And that
represented advanced technology. That represented
wealth. That represented like royal authority.
Like the only people that had wagons in this
time were the rich and the famous and the powerful.
And so the wagons, as we get into the story,
they're not just practical transportation. They're
meant to be evidence. Evidence that God is going
to use to help Jacob come back to his place of
belief. Now, there are evidence of Joseph's authority,
there are evidence of Joseph's goodwill, but
the important thing I want you to notice here
is that these wagons are a part of the story
before Jacob has heard a single word about Joseph
being alive and the blessing and the abundance
that God has set up for them. Jacob's still over
here, poor me, and the world's terrible. And
it's been 22 years. And my favorite son is dead.
And I'm worried my second favorite son is going
to be dead. And woe is me, woe is me. And like
I said, people around him in the land of Canaan,
hey, you're supposed to be God's person. Isn't
this the promised land? What's up with the no
food? And yet over here, God is setting up something
that is going to change his life. Now, as he
sends him out, he says he gives each of the brothers
changes of clothes. Clothing has... kind of marked
every point of Joseph's journey, right? In the
very beginning of his story, when he was 17,
we read how he was given that robe of many colors,
that robe that represented the favoritism from
his father, but what that robe was was a mark
of rejection, as it was the very thing that symbolized
how much the brothers hated him, and they ripped
it off of him. But then later on in the story,
when we read about him going to prison, it specifically
tells us in the word that he was then given prison
clothes. Why? Because that was the moment of
his life where he was experiencing humiliation.
God was taking this innocent man and humbling
him down into prison and saying, How are you
going to respond to that as my person, right?
The mark of humiliation. And then when he was
finally risen out of prison, he was given Egyptian
clothing, and that was the mark of his exaltation,
being raised up. And so now we see him giving
clothes to his brother, and it's the mark of
reconciliation. You see, throughout the Bible,
clothing is often used as this symbolic picture
of getting a new identity, having a new loyalty,
having a new destiny. In Revelation, we see that
the believers are giving new white robes of righteousness,
right? And that picture is that you are cleansed,
the stain of sin is gone, that it shows who belongs
to the Lamb and who is endured and who is ready
to dwell in his presence. And that's what this
clothing represents for the brothers. I'm sure
there was a practical application, like, you
guys stink like sheep, let's change your clothes,
right? but it was more than that. It was, I'm
sending you back home to dad to get the family,
and you guys have confessed, and you've repented,
and you've accepted the judgment that is due,
and that just created the moment where I could
say, no, I love you. It's me, Joseph. Let me
lavish grace upon you, and we're all good, and
all is forgiven, and they're new people. They
are new men. They have had a change of heart,
a change of life, and that's what this all pictures
for them. Now, Ben, it tells us, Benjamin, he
gets more. And, you know, there's still no jealousy
from the brothers. Like, why does he get silver
and more clothes, you know? Why does he get extra?
It's just Ben is still practically the favored
son of the family. But I think more practically,
it's like Joseph. is like, you guys are all my
brothers, but Benjamin's like my blood brother,
right? And so he blesses him even more, but again,
the whole picture here is that grace has done
what fear never could, right? Fear doesn't necessarily
change us. Grace changes us. You know, when they
stood before Joseph and they knew they were guilty
and they were afraid, we're going to get killed,
we're going to be executed. There was a recognition
of, okay. But what's going to radically shift
their life was the grace that was lavished upon
them. Not only did they not get execution, what
they got was new clothes and abundance and salvation.
And so on top of that, he sends all these donkeys
loaded up with goods for his dad. It's very interesting.
It specifically says 10 male donkeys and 10 female
donkeys. In the Old Testament, the number 10
often functions as representing something that
is complete or total or like sufficient for the
task or a sufficient amount of something. The
idea is that this isn't a simple gift. It's not
a token gift. This is like a royal scale gift
to his dad. It's lavish. It's abundant. It's
beyond understanding here. And the whole idea
was that Joseph wants to honor his father. He
wants to honor who his father is and all of that.
And this whole reconciliation, he's like, not
only do I want you to know I'm alive, I just
want to bless you and the family. I want to take
care of you guys. And so 20 donkeys, that would
be a caravan that would be hard to miss. Right?
Here we are going through the promised land.
All these people are like, Joseph, where's your
God now? You're starving just like us. Where
are those 20 donkeys coming from? They're loaded
up with stuff. That's riches. Look how much grain
is on those things. What is going on there? He's,
like I said, honoring his father. there's likely
a shame that had come upon his father because
of the famine. The shame of where is God and
what is God doing? And now God is showing up
to say, hey, you know, I'm going to show all
the people that I am God and this is my land
and I am blessing you. But there's also a contrast
here because where Jacob once sent down ten sons
to go to Egypt to buy food, He sent 10 sons down
to Egypt seeking salvation. Joseph now sends
back two sets of 10, not in judgment, but in
generosity. And again, I just see the picture
of salvation, right? We come to God. God draws
us to him, and we finally realize I'm a guilty
sinner. I've sinned. I've broken God's law. I've
lied. I've coveted. I've done all these things.
God, please forgive me. And then he doesn't just
respond in kind and say, great, I'm going to
forgive you of the sin. I'm going to pardon you
of the guilt. Have a nice life. He then adds
on top of that the grace of abundance. You're
in my family. You're my child. I didn't just
say, great, you're not guilty anymore. I brought
you in to the riches of my household. And know
that and believe that, and that's a picture that
we see here, that this family that went down
to Egypt in humble, anxious pleading for life
are now coming back with overflowing abundance
and grace. And again, the message to us, you
know, the famines in our lives don't have the
final word. The famine did not have the final
word over the household of Jacob. And your famine
that you're going through does not have the final
word. The wagons are coming. They're on their
way. When they're going to get there, I can't
tell you. I wish I could, but I can't tell you.
And some of you might have been like, I've been
waiting 22 years. When are the wagons getting
here? Jacob could have asked that same question.
And as far as Jacob knows, he's still going,
they're never going to show up. And yet they're
on their way. Verse 24. So Joseph sent his brothers
on their way, and as they were leaving, he said
to them, don't argue on the way. That's wisdom
right there, right? Argue, ragaz in Hebrew. It
means to stir up, to erupt emotionally, to tremble
with agitation. You see, Joseph knows that their
repentance is real. but it's fragile. He also
knows that the reconciliation is fragile. And
we have to guard these things, right? I mean,
I could imagine on the way back in their new
clothes loaded up with all this stuff, maybe
they're sensing that, gosh, we don't deserve
this. You know, this is too much. And then maybe
Reuben, like, well, I don't even want to kill
him. That was your guys' stupid idea. I was trying
to save him and get him back to dad. And Judah's
like, well, at least I sold him into slavery.
Yeah, that was great, Judah. Let's sell our brother
into slavery. And then the whole thing falls
apart. That's what the devil does. We have to
guard the reconciliations that God works in our
life. We have to make the choice to do the right
and godly thing and then continue to make the
choice to do the right and godly thing. That's
why forgiveness is such a powerful thing when
handled biblically. Forgiveness means it's done.
I no longer hold it against you. You know what
that means? Don't bring it up. Don't throw it
back in their face. This is a tough one in relationships.
I've had opportunity in counseling couples and
stuff, and sometimes there's the, well, they
did this and this and this, and we work through
that and say, have you forgiven them? Yeah. And
then five minutes later in the conversation,
well, they did da -da -da -da -da. I'm like,
whoa, I thought you forgave them. Well, I did.
No, you didn't. Because you're still holding
it against them. You're still irritated and agitated,
and you still want to throw it back into the
face. Imagine if God did that to us, how it would
wreck our relationship with him. God, I'm so
glad you forgave me. And you just, you know,
I lied to you, and Lord, your blood washed it
away, and then the next time you're in a situation,
God's like, what, you're going to lie to me again?
Just like you did last time? You know, it's like,
whoa. How graceful is that? That's not graceful
at all. That's why the Bible tells us when God
forgives us, the memory of the sin is as far
as the east is from the west. Think about that.
God, I'm so sorry I lied again. What do you mean?
lied again. What? I'm a liar, Lord. And through
the blood of Christ, no, you're not. You're my
child. You're forgiven. You're washed clean.
Wow. Try to live under that, right? God, how
can I just, oh, let me live under your grace
that way. Because when God forgives, it's gone.
He's not carrying it, so we shouldn't carry it.
And so what we see here is just don't argue,
guys. Don't let those old habits come back up.
Don't let those old patterns, you know, surface
back up in your life. You're different people.
Now live like it. Verse 25. So they went up from
Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land
of Canaan. They said, Joseph is still alive.
And he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. Jacob
was stunned. for he did not believe them. Well,
of course, Dad, look at our sweet clothes. Look
at my first generation Jordans. Dad, this is
amazing stuff we're wearing. Look at, Dad, Joseph
is alive. And he's ruler over the most powerful
nation on the planet. All right, sons, I get
that I've been a bad dad. I've taught you how
to lie, but come on. This is really stupid. He's
stunned, it says there. They're claiming something
that's absolutely impossible. Jacob had settled.
My son is dead. Maybe for the first year, couple
years, there was hope. But 22 years later, my
son is gone. And that's just how it is. And the
grief, the despair I'm living in, the hopelessness
I'm living in, that is just how life is going
to be. It was settled in his heart. The hope
that his son was alive was something long forgotten.
These were words he never expected to hear. And
if it was just Joseph is alive, that would be
difficult enough. But Joseph is alive and he's
the most powerful, you know, what do they say,
ruler over all the land of Egypt. Now, when it
says he was stunned for he did not believe them,
that word stunned means his heart became numb.
His heart became numb. This isn't rebellion on
his part. This isn't stubborn unbelief. This
is him hearing the impossible, even though it's
true, but he can't believe it anymore. He's been
just numb for so long. He's been just despondent
for so long that when the hope, the mere mention
that your son is alive, it's just... My heart
just fails me. This isn't him, you know, being
against God. It's describing weakness and collapse
and emotional paralysis. This isn't his heart
hardening against God. It just simply fails.
This is him. He doesn't even argue, right? He
just, he simply can't take it in, right? How
many of you have ever been in that place? I'm
a Christian, I believe God, all this stuff, but
I've been experiencing such despair for so long
that when the hope finally comes, there's this...
I can't even receive it. I'm unable. I want to
have faith, but I don't have faith. I've had
those places in my life many times where I'm
like, I want to want. to have faith, but I don't.
I recognize that I don't. I want it, but I don't.
And it's a place that I think the devil gets
us to where he's like, stop believing the promises,
stop focusing on the word, just focus on your
situation. And so they give him the news he never
expected to hear, and he just goes numb. It makes
sense considering the story, right? These are
the same brothers that once stood before him
with a blood -stained robe, that robe of favoritism,
and said, oh, he must have been eaten by a wild
animal. These are the same sons who watched their
father weep and wail and rip his clothes in grief,
and they did not. They didn't weep. They didn't
wail. They didn't tear their clothes in grief
because they knew what they had done. These are
the same sons that I think he possibly carried
suspicion and distrust of all these years. Dad
knew how much they hated Joseph. Dad knew, maybe
he was like, they would never go that far to
kill him, but he knew how they felt. And yet
when they come back with this robe, he must have
been killed by the wild animals. It's possible
that all these years he was like, I'm not so
sure about you guys. I kind of see that when
they came back and they said, hey, we got food
from Egypt. But the dude in charge said, we can't
come back unless we bring Benjamin. You guys
remember that story? Dad's like, you idiots.
Why'd you tell him you had another brother? That
was foolish. They're like, he kind of is number
two in Egypt, and he asked us? Oh, man, you guys
have just made everything fall down on me. Life
is terrible, and I ain't sending Benjamin with
you, and I think that's because he was like,
last time I sent a son with you, he died. But
when they told him all that Joseph had said to
them, and he saw the wagons, right? And he saw
the wagons. I imagine there's the possibility
that their tone carried a different edge to it
this time, right? There's maybe a different hopefulness.
They're like, no, we're not lying. We actually
saw Joseph, right? But those words weren't enough
for Jacob. Jacob was in the place where he's
like, I can't. The wagons were the turning point.
And again, the wagons weren't just transportation.
They were objective evidence that what the brothers
were saying was true. He saw the wagons and all
the stuff on them. Remember, wagons represented
wealth and royalty and power. Yeah, he's alive
and he's the ruler of all of Egypt and he starts
putting all the stuff together and then it just
dawns on him in that moment. Is Joseph alive?
Is my long lost hope alive? Is it real? Could
it be possible? I mean, this evidence was too
much to fake, right? They didn't show up with
like one gold coin. Look. Joseph is the ruler
of all of Egypt and he gave us one gold coin.
Dad, he's alive. 20 wagons loaded with goods
and grain and their clothes and everything. The
evidence was too much. There's no way they could
fake this. The lavish generosity was on a scale
too large to dismiss. And so when he couldn't
believe the truth, the words written, the wagons
preached it before he could believe it. The wagons
were the evidence. They were signs of an invisible
reality. And then it says the spirit of their
father Jacob revived. But notice what it says
immediately after that. Then Israel said. You
guys realize how beautiful that is? When Jacob,
deceiver, schemer, liar. At this point in his
life, hopeless, doubter. When he was overwhelmed
by fear, grief, and doubt. When he was Jacob,
the struggler, the survivor. It was hopelessness.
But when he heard the truth and said, but he
saw the wagons. He saw the evidence of God's
grace. His spirit revived. And when his faith
began to rise again, who is he? He's Israel.
He's Israel once more. He is again God wins.
The man that God wrestled with. The man who was
marked with a limp for the rest of his life of
his brokenness and his need to depend on God.
The one God claimed as his own. The one who God
knew he was struggling with faith and struggling
to believe, God knew that. And God wasn't saying,
you're an idiot, Jacob. How dare you? All this
time, God's going, the wagons are coming. But
Jacob had to go through what he had to go through,
so God didn't tell him, hey, bro, the wagons
are coming. But then the wagons arrive. And he
hears the truth, and he's like, it rings true.
But then he sees the evidence. That's God's grace.
Yes, you might say, wait a second, Pastor Nathan.
The Bible says faith is the substance of things
hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
Yes, that is faith. But God knows how weak we
are. God knows how weak you and I are. God knows
that in one second we could be like, God can
accomplish anything, and then a breath later,
oh no, my life's falling apart, God can't handle
it. And he still loves you, and he still loves
me, and he's still like, I'm here with you. I
love that. Well, if you had enough faith then,
that's why I think like prosperity preachers
and stuff, it's just so ridiculous. If you have
enough faith, God could heal you. I can't have
enough faith. That's the problem. God can move
mountains with a mustard seed of faith. Yes.
Have any of you moved a mountain yet? And, well,
a mustard seed, it's so small. But as we wrestle
back and forth in this world to trust God and
to believe God and to give Him our lives and
to commit everything to Him, and then we're constantly
taking things back and doing it our own way and
things are falling apart, and in all of this,
God is looking at us and He's going, I just love
you so much. And yeah, I want you to believe
in me without any evidence of any kind. That's
what I want. But if that was the way that God
demanded for us to know him, there would be no
evidence of anything because you're supposed
to just believe in me by faith. And yet God has
provided evidence all over the place that we
would go, oh, that truth is real. Archaeology,
prophecy. All this stuff. And Jacob in his weakness,
Jacob in his moment where I hear the truth but
I can't believe it, God in his grace says, here's
the wagons. Here's the wagons. And in that moment,
that is when Jacob's faith is rekindled and he
becomes Israel once more. You might be in that
place today. I hear the truth, but I can't receive
it for whatever reason. Maybe it's been so long,
you're just like, I'm losing hope. And maybe
the devil's then beating you up. Oh, you terrible
Christian. You're supposed to have faith. How
dare you, terrible Christian. You don't even
believe in God because, you know, this is what
it says in Hebrews. And he's right. That is what
it says in Hebrews. But then God's looking at
you and saying, you put your faith in me and
I know that and you're struggling right now and
you're falling apart right now and I get it.
And I'm okay with the fact that you might need
wagons right now to just get you to do what Jacob's
about to do and take the first step. Look at
verse 28. Then Israel said, enough. My son Joseph
is still alive. I will go to see him before I
die. Enough. I'm convinced. God has done enough
to prove his faithfulness. You know, for years,
Jacob has been saying, all these things are against
me. Poor me. Woe is me. The world hates me. It's
so tough. And now he's seeing in this moment,
as he hears the truth, and now he sees the wagons,
he sees that evidence that God gracefully provided
for him. He's like, oh, wow. God has been quietly
working behind the scenes on my behalf, faithfully
and relentlessly, behind the famine, behind the
betrayal. God has been working. My son is alive.
And in fact, he's in a place to take care of
us and to solve all of this. This isn't just
an emotional revelation of, you know, seeds sprouting
up quickly, right? You guys know the parable
of the soils. Guy went out to spread seeds in
one of the soils. It says they sink in and the...
The plants sprout up so fast. And those are the
people that, like, you know, they'll come to
an event, they'll hear the gospel, and they're
like, oh, my gosh, praise Jesus, joy, hallelujah,
everything's great. And then the first trial
hits, they're like, oh, God must not be real.
And that happens to a lot of people. This isn't
that. This is a steady, realistic, mature faith
where he's not going, oh, praise God, all my
questions are answered and everything is solved
and everything's great. He just simply goes,
at this point right now, God has given me enough
that I could get up and take the next step, that
I could get up and move. I will go see him. Let's
go. Faith doesn't always start with joy and happiness.
Sometimes it just simply starts with the strength
to take the first step. So there's a number of
truths we learn from this story. I mean, one,
you know, God's provision is abundance, not just
enough to survive. But what that means is whatever
situation you're in right now, God's Word says
He will not give you more than you can handle.
Right? And that applies to temptations and these
situations, but there's a reality is that God
takes you through life. Every situation you're
in, you know that God is in and of that because
of his sovereignty. And so there's a place where
you're like, if I'm in this situation, it's because
God knows I could do this. I have the strength
of God Almighty in me to do this. And so I'm
here and God has provided everything I need in
this moment to deal with this situation. And
you have to understand that's abundance. Because
God didn't have to provide any of that. Oh, I
have barely enough to survive. No, what you have
is abundance because you have enough to deal.
You have enough to get through. You have enough
to persevere. You have enough to endure. The
evidence that he wants us to live. an abundant
and everlasting life. And I'm not just talking
about, oh, rich, rich abundance. I'm talking
about peace and joy and truth and hope. The ultimate
evidence, it's Jesus Christ hanging on the cross.
If God wanted to abandon you and forget about
you and let you languish in just hopelessness,
why would he have sent his son to die on the
cross for you? He sent his son to die on the
cross for you so that you could receive grace
and mercy and forgiveness and salvation, have
the hope of heaven in the future, yeah. But also,
while you're in the land of preservation, that
you would have an abundance of hope and peace
and joy. Here. Jesus rose from the dead. Eyewitnesses
documented all of that. It's true. Why do we
forget that? God's blessing flows through relationship,
not merit. Right? Pharaoh blessed the brothers
entirely because of Joseph. It wasn't because
of the brothers. It was because Pharaoh knew
and loved Joseph and trusted him and all that
that was there in that relationship. And the
same thing is us, that God the Father grants
us adoption and salvation and blessing. And it's
because of God the Son, Jesus Christ. We don't
deserve or have any capacity to earn anything
from God. But God blesses us because we know
Jesus. God often restores faith through tangible
confirmation. I think it's a grace that he does.
You know, for the wounded hearts, grace often
demonstrates itself to us before we're even able
to believe. For the guilty sinner, all you have
to do to see the grace, his evidence of grace
is look up at the cross. That's the evidence.
For the believer, The devil's going, oh, you're
in a season where you need evidence. How dare
you? There's no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus and called according to his purpose.
And if you're in a really dark situation right
now and you're going, God, I'm really struggling
with just hearing the truth and believing it,
can you send some wagons? Ask him to send some
wagons. And then when you see the wagons, enough!
Enough. Let me step out of this hopelessness.
Joseph began this story numb, not angry or defiant
or any of that. He's just unable to feel hope
without pain. And I know there's some of you
that came to church this morning in that same
place. You've learned to survive disappointment
simply by lowering your expectations. And some
of you have lowered your expectations about God.
Maybe you're like, yeah, I believe in God. I
trust in Him. But your heart is still so guarded
that it's become guarded against Him. I can't
trust anymore. I can't believe anymore. It's
just too hard. You've hurt enough to know that
hope can be dangerous. If that's you this morning,
I want to remind you that God did not rebuke
Jacob for his numb heart. He sent wagons. God
was already moving to give Jacob the evidence
of life. Grace made itself visible before Jacob's
belief was fully formed and before Jacob's joy
was fully restored, he had the strength to take
the first step of faith. Let's go. And it wasn't
because every question was answered. It wasn't
because every wound was healed. It was simply
because God had done enough to prove that he
was faithful. And every single believer in this
room, if you're waiting on wagons, I say look
back to how many wagons he's sent in your life
already. That is testimony. That is proof that
God is in your life and his presence is there
and he's taking care of you. Trust him. And you're
like, but I feel like I can't. Well, if you're
there today, God knows you can because he's given
you an abundance of him. Your job is to say,
okay, God, one more day. And guess what? God's
going to show up tomorrow and the day after that
and however long it is until he knows the time
is right to change that situation, to pull you
out of that situation. And if he knows you need
wagons in that situation, I believe he's going
to send wagons. That your faith would grow. And
that yes, maybe one day you wouldn't need the
wagons anymore. You would just have that faith.
That's like, I don't need to see nothing. I want
that faith. I've been walking with the Lord for
a thousand years or something like that. It feels
like forever. Thirty years at this point. And
I still have my moments where I'm like, but God,
I'm not sure. I don't know. And I look back and
I'm like, yeah, he's never let me down one single
time. But God, right? I'm so glad he loves me
enough that when there's those times where I
need it, he'll send wagons. I don't want him
to have to send wagons, but I'm glad he does
at times. because it's exactly what I need in
that moment to take one more step towards him
and one more day of faith and believing in him
and trusting in him. And then, of course, we
know that God sent more than wagons. God sent
his son. He sent his son before we believed.
Christ died before any of us believed in him.
Before we repented, grace moved towards us. Before
our hearts can feel hope again, the tomb was
already empty. That's amazing. What do we have
to fear? God is not offended if your heart is
numb this morning. He understands. But it's not
a question this morning of whether grace has
or hasn't arrived for you, because it has. It
already has. The question is whether or not you
will let what God has already done in your life
give you enough strength to take that next step.
To take that next step of trust and faith. And
for Jacob, faith meant movement. Faith meant
moving forward. So don't demand feelings before
obedience. Well, when I feel it, I'll move. Your
feelings lie to you. Truth is what we operate
off of. Let the evidence of Christ's life revive
your spirit. Look to the cross and say it is
enough. Believe in what he has said to you. Believe
in what he's done. Have faith, trust. In those
places where you've guarded your heart from hope,
those places where you can't forgive and you've
been frozen in despair, look to what he's done.
And if you're like, I'm there, I'm struggling,
but I can't, then I pray God brings the wagons
in. and shows you the evidence of his grace,
the evidence of his truth, that you may believe
and be free from that which is shackling you.
Let's pray. Father, we love you. We love your
word and we trust you, God, in all things. And
Lord, I just pray that you would help us to move
from despair and hopelessness, God, for those
of us this morning that are in this room that
maybe we found ourselves in places where we've...
We've put faith in you, but God, there have been
circumstances that have caused us to lose hope.
Maybe instead of living in the joy and the peace
that surpasses all understanding, trusting that
God is in my circumstances, we've found ourselves
saying it's bad and it's just this is how it
is and woe is me. God, I pray this morning that
you would set us all free from that. That, Lord,
we would have a joy that is not explainable because
it's from you and your Holy Spirit. I pray, God,
that the truth of what you've done would change
us and minister to us, Lord, but if that is not
enough for us right now, Lord, I pray, God, that
you'd send wagons. Lord, that we'd be able to
look around and see the evidence of your grace,
God, and we could look to the cross. We could
also look to the many testimonies of the lives
around us, of how you have worked. Sometimes
it's a testimony of you worked quick, and sometimes
it's a testimony that you worked after years
had gone by. But Lord, I pray for those that
are struggling and suffering that you would open
their eyes to see the wagons before them, to
see the evidence before them, to see, God, all
that they need, Lord, from you to have the strength
to take that step of faith, God, because you
know our weakness. You know how frail we are.
And I thank you, God, for being so gracious and
loving towards us, so patient. God, we're here
today as we close this service with celebrating
baptism, Lord, of those that have either recently
taken that step to know you and to believe in
you as their Savior, or those that have been
saved for a while, God, but are making a fresh
or renewed commitment today to say, I want to
publicly declare that I am laying down all of
my life to Jesus. I pray, God, you bless them
abundantly. Lord, I pray for any in this room
that weren't planning on getting baptized today,
but you've spoken to them of their need to do
this. God, to make this public declaration that
I've given my life to Jesus, he has changed my
life, and I am his, and I'm committed to following
him, Lord, that they would come forward to get
baptized and let anything get in the way of that,
God. We just love you. We thank you. We trust
you. Increase our faith, Lord. Help us where
we are weak. Give us strength where we are weak,
Lord, because, God, it's only in you that we
can be strong. Be our everything. We love you.
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.