WEBVTT

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I am Pastor Nathan, and today we're going to

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be in Genesis chapter 47, talking about prosperity.

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And if you just went, oh no, we're becoming one

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of those churches, we're going to pass the offering

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bag 17 times. No, that's not the type of prosperity

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we're talking about today, although that will

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be in the study. We're talking about the prosperity

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that really counts. Some of you may be aware,

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some of you may not be aware, but one of the

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most influential and successful YouTubers in

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history is a guy named MrBeast. He has over 465

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million subscribers on his YouTube channel, and

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he is quite famous for doing different contests

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and stuff, but among the many different type

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of contests he does are the, or at least were

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for a long time, the grab as much stuff as you

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can type of contests, right? He would have these

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contests where he would say, you know, everything

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you could grab in this store and fit within a

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certain square on the ground, you get to keep.

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and it's similar to you know like in you know,

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older times, I say that gracefully, where you'd

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have those, you know, shows where you'd grab

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a shopping cart, right, and run around the grocery

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store and fill the basket with as much stuff

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as you can. And, you know, he's given away so

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many millions and millions of dollars worth of

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stuff. And, you know, those are always just fun

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to watch, you know, because you see really what

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is of value to people when they're up against

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a clock or a buzzer. And, you know, when the

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buzzer sounds, you keep everything you fit in.

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the basket or the square but in games like this

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you always notice people don't waste their time

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on trivial items right it's like oh this is all

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free i have you know five minutes to to give

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and so they want to go grab the big stuff right

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the important stuff the the stuff that carries

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the most value and you know and in those moments

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you see what's really important to people right

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like i would try and grab the 120 inch tv because

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who doesn't want 120 inch tv right But are you

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going to grab the bubble gum out of the cash

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register, the little side thing of the cash register?

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No, you're not going to waste time on that when

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you're up against the clock. It's a picture,

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if you will, of what life is like. A lot of people

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live their lives. running around with a shopping

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cart, trying to grab what is most important to

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them. And the problem with living a life like

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that is we don't know when the buzzer's gonna

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sound. We don't know when the clock is gonna

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end and they're gonna say, time's up. And as

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we get into Genesis 47 this morning, the quiet

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question of this chapter is when the clock stops,

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what's gonna be in your cart? What's gonna be

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in your cart? When the time for your life to

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be over is presented before you, Are you going

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to look back and see prosperity, material prosperity,

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comfort, ease, security? Or are you going to

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see the purposes of God? in the kingdom of God,

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in faith and obedience. You see, Moses slows

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down the narrative of Joseph here in chapter

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47 on purpose, and this isn't just to fill space.

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You know, as I was studying this chapter, there's

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a lot of people and commentators and stuff that

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go, oh, 47 seems to be like a filler chapter,

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right? It's like, you know, he was going for

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a word count or something, and he had to fill

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space, but it's quite... more than that. You

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know, in this chapter, we see Joseph's diplomacy

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and administration as he literally saves the

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nation from destruction during the famine. We're

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going to see the survival of Egypt. And we're

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also going to see Jacob's dying request. Because

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what this chapter teaches us, and a very important

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lesson for us, is how God can prosper his people

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without letting prosperity become their God.

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And that's what we're going to be learning today.

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But before we get into that, we're going to spend

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some time worshiping our Lord because we know

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every blessing we have is from Him. We know every

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thing we have is from Him. We know every breath

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in our lungs is from Him. And we want to be people

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that really know what type of prosperity really

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counts. To be able to see biblically and go,

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you know, I mean, material prosperity is not

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a bad thing, but it's the riches that we have

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in Christ that matters most. It's the spiritual

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prosperity that we have as a blessing from our

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God that matters most. And that is what gives

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us the right perspective to this life, to live

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and to use what God has given us for his glory

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and his kingdom first. And so we want to just

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worship him for all that he has given us. You

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know, everybody in this room, I know we're in

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different places in our lives and in different

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places of having. not having, but we're alive.

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And we get to be here today to worship the God

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who created us, the God who loves us, and the

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God who saves us. And I think that makes us the

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richest people of all. Amen? Let's pray. Father,

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we love you. God, we thank you, Lord, for just

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your will, Lord. We know we live in a physical,

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material world, and God, there's so much in our

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lives that vies for our attention and vies for

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priority in our time. And God, really, this whole

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universe is yours, and everything you've created

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is yours, and everything that we have is yours.

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And God, I just pray, Lord, you would help us

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to live with the proper perspective on everything,

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God, to understand that you're not against. prosperity,

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Lord. There is no mandate biblically to say that

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having material wealth is at all and in any way

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bad or inherently evil. But God, it's what those

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things do to us. And so, Lord, help us to just

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learn from your word today, God, about the prosperity

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that really counts, Lord, that at the end of

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all things, Lord, and even through the life we

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live here, God, that as you bless us materially

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or don't bless us materially, we would still

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have a heart. that is connected to you and your

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promises, not connected to this world and the

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things that this world tells us are important,

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Lord. Help us to be people of faith who trust

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you in all things, Lord. And then, God, that

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if you do prosper us in a way that is beyond

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what we were expecting, Lord, that we would still

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be the people you've created us to be, to be

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people who think of others, to be givers, to

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be blessers, Lord. God, that we would be just

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like you, the ultimate giver, Lord, the ultimate

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one who prospers his people, God. And so we love

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you, we thank you, we trust you, and we worship

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you, God, now. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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All right, we are in Genesis chapter 47. And

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as we've been studying through the story of Joseph's

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life, we've touched base a couple times on the

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prophecies that God had given Abraham way back

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in earlier chapters of Genesis about the future

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for his family and his descendants. And among

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those prophecies and promises that were given

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about 200 years prior to the events of Genesis

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47 was the prophecy in Genesis 12 .3 that says,

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I will bless those who bless you, and I will

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curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and

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all the peoples of the earth will be blessed

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through you. This is one of the reasons why,

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as a church, we support the nation of Israel.

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We support the Jewish people. We pray for the

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nation of Israel and the Jewish people because

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of this prophecy, this promise that God gave

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to Abraham. It's one of the reasons why as a

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church we reject things like replacement theory,

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which tries to assert that all the prophecies

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and promises that God has for the nation of Israel

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have been relegated now to the church, that Israel

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has been replaced. And we reject that type of

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stuff. This is not to say that Israel is a perfect

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nation and Israel is completely innocent and

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sinless in behavior and activity, but it is saying

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that God said, I will bless those who bless you

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and curse anyone who treats you with contempt.

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And this applies to Abraham and his descendants.

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And so we pray for Israel and we pray for what

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God is going to do with the nation of Israel

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as history continues to move forward. And Genesis

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47 is a picture of these promises. to Israel

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specifically playing out in real time. Now, as

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we pick up the story here in Genesis 47, Joseph

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is now arranging a royal audience between his

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father and his brothers and Pharaoh. At the end

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of the previous chapter, we had seen that the

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people of Israel, this is Jacob and his family,

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have now arrived in Egypt. They have left. Canaan,

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the promised land, because of the famine that

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has created extreme difficulty for everybody,

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and they have come to the place where not only

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is there going to be abundance and prosperity,

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but for Jacob, it's the place where his favorite

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son is alive, that he's going to be reunited

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and reconnected with his son and be like, you

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know, this is going to be awesome. And it was

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mentioned to me first service, which was a detail

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I'd missed, that it's just this neat blessing

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that Joseph had 17 years with his father early

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in his life because, as we read earlier in Genesis,

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that was when he was 17 that all the stuff went

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down that caused him to be sold into slavery.

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And as we're going to see here now at the end

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of Jacob's life, that his final 17 years of life,

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he's going to be with his favorite son, Joseph,

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which is just a neat picture of God bookending

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a life with blessing. This situation here for

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Joseph's family is slightly precarious because

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they are shepherds. The people of Jacob are all

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shepherds. They take care of sheep and livestock.

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And it just so happens that shepherds are hated

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in Egypt, that they are considered an abomination

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in Egypt. And there's a history to that because

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in Egypt's past, there was a group of people

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called the Hiskos who were shepherds. And they

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had actually invaded Egypt and conquered. conquered

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the country and ruled it for a couple hundred

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years. And as a result of that occupation, Egypt

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hated anybody that was a shepherd. And so now

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here we have God's people leaving the promised

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land, coming into Egypt, the nation that is a

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type of the world, the secular world, as we would

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say. And now we're going to see how God... prospers

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them, but still maintains their separate identity

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in the midst of that. And so this is not about

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prosperity gospel or any of that type of thing,

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but it is a picture of what God can do with his

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people and then the dangers that come with that.

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And so as we see them here now in Egypt, Joseph

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is setting up this meeting. He tells his brothers,

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excuse me, don't lie to Pharaoh about being shepherds.

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All right, just tell the truth. Be honest. And

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I believe that is in the story because it's an

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important reminder to us as Christians that as

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God would move us from place to place in this

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life throughout the world, whether it's jobs

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or places we live or whatnot, that we should

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always remember to maintain our identity of who

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we are, that we're Christians, that we're...

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people called to serve God, that we're not to

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go into the world in places and water down our

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identity as God's people, as God's children,

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to water down the calling we have to stand for

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righteousness, but to just simply be honest.

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And so in that vein here, we pick up the chapter

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here in Genesis 47, verse one. It says, so Joseph

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went and informed Pharaoh, my father and my brothers

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with their flocks and herds and all that they

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own have come from the land of Canaan and are

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now in the land of Goshen. He took five of his

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brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh

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asked his brothers, what is your occupation?

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They said to Pharaoh, your servants, both we

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and our ancestors, are shepherds. And they said

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to Pharaoh, we have come to stay in the land

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for a while because there is no grazing land

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for your servants' sheep since the famine in

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the land of Canaan has been severe. So now please

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let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.

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Now, if you remember, Joseph, who had been sold

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by his brothers into slavery and had ended up

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in Egypt and had gone through many, many years,

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22 years at this point, of being in prison and

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then being raised up and all these different

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challenges and successes that he's had, he's

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number two to Pharaoh in the land. He's the number

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two guy. What that means is that his power and

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his authority and his influence are very, very

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significant. He was Pharaoh's advisor. He had

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Pharaoh's ear. And Pharaoh had come to greatly

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trust in and respect Joseph so much so that he

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said, hey, all the land is yours to do with what

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you will. And yet we see here that Joseph, who

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is a God -fearing man, a man who believes in

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the one true God, is still serving this pagan

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ruler. This man who thought himself a God, he's

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serving him with respect and honor and tact.

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And that's just an important reminder for us

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again. You know, many of us serve ungodly bosses,

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right? We serve people in our places of employment

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that hate the Lord or reject the Lord. Or maybe

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they're like, hey, I respect that you're a Christian,

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but they're still kind of ungodly in their behavior.

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And we have to always remember that, that when

00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:03.789
we're serving in a place, when God has brought

00:14:03.789 --> 00:14:05.850
us into a place, whether it's in the world or

00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:08.110
wherever it may be and the authorities above

00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:12.070
us don't necessarily share our values or share

00:14:12.070 --> 00:14:14.870
our faith, that our faith doesn't grant us the

00:14:14.870 --> 00:14:17.129
permission to be a bad worker. Our faith doesn't

00:14:17.129 --> 00:14:19.789
grant us the permission to be belligerent or

00:14:19.789 --> 00:14:24.389
grant us the permission to be just a bad witness,

00:14:24.610 --> 00:14:27.429
right? When God moves us through the phases of

00:14:27.429 --> 00:14:31.179
our life, we're called to be the people he's

00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:33.240
created us to be in every phase. We're called

00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:36.539
to be in a place of witness. And so here we see

00:14:36.539 --> 00:14:38.740
Joseph just being that example, right? He's been

00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:42.320
raised up by God to be number two in one of the

00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:46.679
most powerful empires of the world. And he's

00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:48.440
not at a place here where he's going to start

00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.659
demanding like, well, you know, my God is the

00:14:50.659 --> 00:14:52.480
only true God, Pharaoh, and you're not really

00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:54.919
a God. And in fact, your gods are stupid. They

00:14:54.919 --> 00:14:56.580
have weird heads and all this kind of stuff.

00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:00.259
And so, He doesn't do any of that. He's still

00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:03.220
serving in this place of respect. And that's

00:15:03.220 --> 00:15:05.120
one of the things I think when it comes to God

00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:08.720
raising us up in this life and giving us, you

00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.659
know, whether it's prosperity or power or authority,

00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:17.220
that we're still called to serve others as we

00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:20.470
serve the Lord. Because the witness that you

00:15:20.470 --> 00:15:23.210
have when God gives you a place of influence

00:15:23.210 --> 00:15:26.970
can be great. It can be very significant. And

00:15:26.970 --> 00:15:30.450
it's not a place to become prideful or to think

00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:35.070
that we deserve this or that. Our faith requires

00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:39.549
us to still be witnesses with what God has given

00:15:39.549 --> 00:15:42.549
us. The influence, the wealth, whatever it may

00:15:42.549 --> 00:15:45.399
be. And that's why it's there, so that we would

00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:47.740
be a positive influence. And so Joseph is that

00:15:47.740 --> 00:15:51.019
reminder to us that even when you're in a place

00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:54.919
of prosperity, you're not off the hook from serving

00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:58.340
and witnessing and using what God has given you

00:15:58.340 --> 00:16:01.860
to be honest and tactful and respectful. And

00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:05.659
even here when it's serving a pagan boss in that

00:16:05.659 --> 00:16:08.960
sense or a pagan authority over you, you're not

00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.779
off the hook from being. respectful, and honorable

00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:15.340
in all these things. And so he brings his family,

00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:17.299
and he comes to Pharaoh, and he says, hey, they're

00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:19.740
here, and it says he selects five of his brothers,

00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:22.360
right? And I know we've talked a lot about numbers

00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:24.539
over the last few weeks, and we go, oh, what's

00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:27.470
the significance of five brothers? I have no

00:16:27.470 --> 00:16:30.769
idea, okay? There's five brothers, and it doesn't

00:16:30.769 --> 00:16:33.750
tell us which five, right? And so I looked. I'm

00:16:33.750 --> 00:16:35.649
like, oh, is there some cool little thing in

00:16:35.649 --> 00:16:38.590
there? And not that I could find. Okay, so five

00:16:38.590 --> 00:16:41.210
brothers. He just selected five of those brothers

00:16:41.210 --> 00:16:43.490
to come to this audience with Pharaoh, but I

00:16:43.490 --> 00:16:46.470
still believe that when they came, they confessed

00:16:46.470 --> 00:16:49.090
the way their brother Joseph had told them to,

00:16:49.149 --> 00:16:50.929
and it was very intentional and very strategic,

00:16:50.990 --> 00:16:54.889
again, because of how Egyptians felt about shepherds,

00:16:54.970 --> 00:17:00.090
right? I believe God honors and blesses and we

00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:02.549
have far more reaching effect when we're simply

00:17:02.549 --> 00:17:05.230
honest about our beliefs and who we are, right?

00:17:05.650 --> 00:17:07.390
The Bible tells us that the world's going to

00:17:07.390 --> 00:17:08.910
hate us because we're Christians. It's going

00:17:08.910 --> 00:17:10.269
to tell us that the world's going to come against

00:17:10.269 --> 00:17:13.670
us because we're Christians. And we don't do

00:17:13.670 --> 00:17:17.049
the Lord and the kingdom any service when we

00:17:17.049 --> 00:17:20.529
try and pretend we're not who we are because

00:17:20.529 --> 00:17:22.490
when it comes out anyways that we're Christians,

00:17:23.369 --> 00:17:25.630
all that's going to do is then add to the derision

00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:27.289
that people are going to have against the Lord,

00:17:27.529 --> 00:17:29.650
right? Oh, you don't really believe it very much

00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:32.369
if you were trying to hide it. And so the idea

00:17:32.369 --> 00:17:36.130
here is just be honest. This is who we are. We

00:17:36.130 --> 00:17:39.309
are shepherds. We're here to settle in the land.

00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:42.029
And then again, the favor that they're going

00:17:42.029 --> 00:17:44.710
to get from Pharaoh is because of their relationship

00:17:44.710 --> 00:17:49.529
with Joseph, right? Our Joseph in the world today

00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:53.710
is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It is his

00:17:53.710 --> 00:17:57.910
desire and his will and his business to take

00:17:57.910 --> 00:18:01.190
care of us and to bless us and to use us as tools

00:18:01.190 --> 00:18:05.390
in this world to shine the light. And any favor,

00:18:05.470 --> 00:18:07.650
any positive thing that comes into our life,

00:18:07.789 --> 00:18:10.069
it's because of him. It's because of our relationship

00:18:10.069 --> 00:18:13.829
with him. And so we have no business trying to

00:18:13.829 --> 00:18:16.650
pretend and hide that to bolster our own needs

00:18:16.650 --> 00:18:19.230
or take care of our own needs or to boost ourselves.

00:18:19.269 --> 00:18:22.539
It's just simply I'm a Christian. I believe in

00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:25.839
Jesus. I believe in this. I believe in that.

00:18:25.859 --> 00:18:29.039
I believe in the Bible. And we let God take care

00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.099
of things. And so that's the picture that we

00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:34.220
see here. And Pharaoh goes on to let them settle

00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:36.819
in the land of Goshen, which is this very fertile

00:18:36.819 --> 00:18:40.579
land. It's a land of abundance. It's a land quite

00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:42.839
the opposite of where they're coming from with

00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:45.500
the famine that's in the land of Canaan. And

00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:48.400
all of this is God creating safety for the family

00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:52.160
of Joseph. The land of Goshen was on the very

00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.960
edge of Egyptian society, and so they were far

00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.819
enough away to be protected from assimilation

00:18:58.819 --> 00:19:01.339
into the culture, and yet they were close enough

00:19:01.339 --> 00:19:04.059
to be provided for and get the benefit of what

00:19:04.059 --> 00:19:06.920
God had there. But this whole decision of Joseph

00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:11.319
to tell them, be honest, be upfront, be respectful,

00:19:11.579 --> 00:19:14.940
it's very shrewd of Joseph, if I could say that,

00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.279
because it was a very purposeful way to suggest

00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.259
a win -win. A win -win. You guys have heard that

00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:24.140
phrase before. You know, they come and Joseph

00:19:24.140 --> 00:19:28.299
says, hey guys, come to Goshen. And then he goes

00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:30.799
to Pharaoh and he goes, well, goodness, Pharaoh,

00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:34.220
golly gee, they're already in Goshen. Maybe we

00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:37.319
should let them stay there. You know, and it's

00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:40.059
a very fertile place and all that. You know,

00:19:40.059 --> 00:19:42.480
I think he was very shrewd in how he presented

00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:45.339
this to Pharaoh because, one, he wanted to get

00:19:45.339 --> 00:19:47.500
what was best for his people and his family,

00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:51.180
but he also knew, having been a part of Egyptian

00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:54.099
leadership and stuff for so long, that in their

00:19:54.099 --> 00:19:57.720
hatred of shepherds, that Pharaoh risked angering

00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.980
his people by showing any type of favor towards

00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:04.200
this shepherd people here in Goshen. And so the

00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:07.319
way he presents all of this gives Pharaoh an

00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:11.589
opportunity to, I believe, kind of honor Joseph

00:20:11.589 --> 00:20:13.930
and who he is without angering his people. And

00:20:13.930 --> 00:20:17.410
that kind of shrewdness is something that is

00:20:17.410 --> 00:20:20.589
given to us. It's a wisdom that God gives us

00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:24.029
as we navigate in this world. We understand as

00:20:24.029 --> 00:20:26.950
believers this isn't our home, and yet we work

00:20:26.950 --> 00:20:29.869
in places where we have ungodly. co -workers,

00:20:30.049 --> 00:20:33.210
ungodly leaders who are always trying to, you

00:20:33.210 --> 00:20:35.910
know, lie and cheat and steal and, you know,

00:20:35.910 --> 00:20:38.970
and work things out in selfish ways. And that's

00:20:38.970 --> 00:20:41.150
just how the world works, right? Cheat on the

00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:43.829
contract. It doesn't matter. Lie about what we're

00:20:43.829 --> 00:20:46.250
going to do. You know, undercut, overcharge,

00:20:46.410 --> 00:20:49.670
all these types of things. And sometimes in our

00:20:49.670 --> 00:20:52.069
service and our employment and our being a part

00:20:52.069 --> 00:20:55.160
of this world, The devil tries to rope us into

00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:58.339
those ungodly activities and doing things in

00:20:58.339 --> 00:21:01.940
a shady way. And I think shrewdness is the gift

00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:04.740
God gives us to navigate how we work through

00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:08.700
the world to accomplish his purposes. And one

00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:11.339
of the things that God did here in our church

00:21:11.339 --> 00:21:17.559
years ago is... We saw an opportunity as a church

00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:19.960
to minister to people in counseling that had

00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:23.559
been arrested for domestic violence, right? And

00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:26.599
the way the system works here, at least in California,

00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.220
is you get arrested for domestic violence. Typically,

00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:32.380
the result is they order you to take 52 weeks

00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:35.319
of domestic violence counseling, right? And so

00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:37.720
we were offering that counseling for a long time.

00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:39.420
And then the state of California and the county

00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:42.220
of Los Angeles started to say, hey, we want to

00:21:42.220 --> 00:21:45.539
regulate things more actively. So they ended

00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:47.640
up coming to us and going, hey, we hear you do

00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:51.319
domestic violence counseling, but you need to

00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:53.660
do things according to our regulations, right?

00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:55.339
You need to do things according to the way we

00:21:55.339 --> 00:22:00.900
do it. And Pastor Gary was always just, he had

00:22:00.900 --> 00:22:03.420
the gift of shrewdness, okay? He was just a master

00:22:03.420 --> 00:22:06.859
at getting those win -win situations. And so

00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.880
one of the things that the state... in the county

00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:11.960
were requiring of us at that time was you have

00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.000
to teach these subjects, and you have to do paperwork

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:17.900
this way, and da -da -da -da. And one of the

00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:19.859
things we did at the time is we required the

00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:21.759
guys to come to church, right? If you're in our

00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:23.359
program, you have to come to church. And so the

00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:25.359
county said, whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't do that,

00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:28.099
right? You can't require people to come to church

00:22:28.099 --> 00:22:31.079
because that is then going to be seen as state

00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:34.420
sponsorship of faith. And so Pastor Gary was

00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:38.400
like, well, what about this? And he... posed

00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.700
to the guy that was in charge of it at the time.

00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:43.099
He said, okay, we can't require them to come

00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:46.640
to church. Now, we are required by law for charging

00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:52.480
them for classes, so how about we say if they

00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.220
come to church voluntarily, we give them a discount

00:22:55.220 --> 00:23:00.900
on their class fee? And the guy was like, yeah,

00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:04.779
we can approve that, you know? That's a win -win,

00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:06.460
right? The state's getting what they want. The

00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:08.259
people are there. The people aren't being forced

00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:10.460
into faith. And then what did we get? We got

00:23:10.460 --> 00:23:13.400
the opportunity to incentivize these guys to

00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:17.180
come to church. And many of them did. And to

00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:19.400
be quite honest, we have so many stories of people

00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:22.299
who, I'm just coming to church to get the discount.

00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:24.819
And now they're saved and they're walking with

00:23:24.819 --> 00:23:27.799
the Lord and lives are changed, right? And that's

00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:30.799
a picture of shrewdness, right? It's finding

00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.740
that, you know, shrewdness is not opposed to

00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:36.859
holiness. Shrewdness is something that God gives

00:23:36.859 --> 00:23:39.599
as we're out here in the world navigating how

00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:43.579
to live and, you know, push the kingdom and all

00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:46.599
of this stuff. And so wisdom and faith are not

00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:51.579
enemies. And so Joseph here. Comes up with this

00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:54.900
really neat idea of letting them live in Goshen,

00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:57.279
but they're not too close, so Pharaoh won't get

00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:00.079
in trouble. And in verse five here, then Pharaoh

00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:02.279
said to Joseph, well, now that your father and

00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:04.559
brothers have come to you, the land of Egypt

00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.900
is open before you. Settle your father and brothers

00:24:07.900 --> 00:24:10.339
in the best part of the land. They can live in

00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:15.059
the land of Goshen. Now, this is one of those

00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:19.480
things where it's like, If you help someone think

00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:25.119
the idea is theirs, there's buy -in, right? And

00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:28.380
Pharaoh's like, I got this great idea. Goshen.

00:24:29.859 --> 00:24:32.259
Pharaoh, that is the best idea I've ever heard.

00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:35.480
Wow, you are so wise coming up with that idea,

00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:38.660
right? And then Pharaoh, though, I believe, sense

00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:40.200
in the win -win of this. He goes, if you know

00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:42.619
of any capable men among them, put them in charge

00:24:42.619 --> 00:24:47.019
of my livestock, right? Again, I believe Pharaoh

00:24:47.019 --> 00:24:49.819
was a fairly intelligent guy. Hey, even though

00:24:49.819 --> 00:24:52.779
we don't like shepherds, if any of your people

00:24:52.779 --> 00:24:56.240
can be a blessing to my flocks, hey, hey. What

00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:00.480
we're seeing here is Genesis 12, verse 3 play

00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:04.660
out. What we're seeing here is Pharaoh is going

00:25:04.660 --> 00:25:08.859
to be blessed as he is blessing God's people.

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:12.000
And this is something that still happens in our

00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:14.559
world today. And sometimes we'll look at what

00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:16.900
the world's doing. We'll look at what the wicked

00:25:16.900 --> 00:25:19.000
and the evil are doing. And we get righteously

00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:22.119
angry. We get righteously frustrated. And you

00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:23.599
don't believe in the Lord and you don't stand

00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:26.359
for the Lord. And so therefore, we want to pray

00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:30.099
judgment upon them. And we want to pray disaster

00:25:30.099 --> 00:25:34.539
upon them. And I just think sometimes we lose

00:25:34.539 --> 00:25:38.220
focus on the fact that vengeance belongs to the

00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:43.130
Lord. For us, it's to be a people that are praying

00:25:43.130 --> 00:25:46.329
for those that are lost in wickedness, that are

00:25:46.329 --> 00:25:49.329
enslaved to sin, and to pray for them, to pray

00:25:49.329 --> 00:25:51.250
that God would break through, to pray for their

00:25:51.250 --> 00:25:54.049
salvation, to pray that somehow they would come

00:25:54.049 --> 00:25:58.529
to know truth and all of that. Because what God

00:25:58.529 --> 00:26:02.190
does is honor his promises, and sometimes God

00:26:02.190 --> 00:26:06.549
will bless Pharaoh because Pharaoh is blessing

00:26:06.549 --> 00:26:10.390
God's people. And that's okay. That's a part

00:26:10.390 --> 00:26:12.710
of God's work. We're gonna see more of this as

00:26:12.710 --> 00:26:15.529
we go forward, but it's like, how can he bless

00:26:15.529 --> 00:26:18.470
Pharaoh? Pharaoh thinks he's a god and all that.

00:26:21.029 --> 00:26:25.390
That's God's business. Our business is to be.

00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:29.019
honest and honorable and tactful. And our business

00:26:29.019 --> 00:26:31.519
is to be, you know, bold in righteousness, but

00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:33.900
to not be belligerent in all this. And so, you

00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:35.619
know, Pharaoh, he's like, hey, this is great.

00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:37.559
You know, this is a good thing. And so in verse

00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:40.880
7, Joseph then brought his father Jacob, presented

00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:44.819
him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh

00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:46.759
said to Jacob, how many years have you lived?

00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:50.859
Jacob said to Pharaoh, my pilgrimage has lasted

00:26:50.859 --> 00:26:55.869
130 years. My years have been few and hard, and

00:26:55.869 --> 00:26:57.730
they have not reached the years of my ancestors

00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:01.609
during their pilgrimages. So Jacob blessed Pharaoh

00:27:01.609 --> 00:27:06.630
and departed from Pharaoh's presence. What's

00:27:06.630 --> 00:27:10.650
very surprising about these verses is not the

00:27:10.650 --> 00:27:13.369
presentation of his father, right? That's understood.

00:27:13.650 --> 00:27:16.849
It's not the polite conversation, right? Because

00:27:16.849 --> 00:27:19.710
that's how people would conduct themselves in

00:27:19.710 --> 00:27:22.430
front of kings and dignitaries. It's the blessing.

00:27:22.589 --> 00:27:24.710
That's the important detail here. You see, in

00:27:24.710 --> 00:27:27.650
the ancient world, it was always the greater

00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:32.460
who blessed the lesser, right? And so what's

00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:35.059
happening here is Joseph brings his father and

00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:37.380
presented him to Pharaoh, and then Jacob immediately

00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:41.079
blesses Pharaoh. What that could be construed

00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:43.440
as in the culture is, you think you're better

00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:47.799
than me? You think you're greater than me? Right?

00:27:48.140 --> 00:27:51.960
I'm Pharaoh. I'm supposed to bless you because

00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:54.640
I'm the greater and you're the lesser. And yet

00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:56.920
Jacob here just very kind of boldly jumps right

00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:01.119
into it, that he blesses Pharaoh. You know, his

00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:03.180
boldness, I believe, comes from the fact that

00:28:03.180 --> 00:28:05.400
he knows who he is. What did he say there to

00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:07.299
Pharaoh? Pharaoh goes, how long have you been

00:28:07.299 --> 00:28:09.579
alive, bro? And he's like, oh, my pilgrimage

00:28:09.579 --> 00:28:14.940
has been 130 years. Pilgrimage implies that Jacob

00:28:14.940 --> 00:28:17.000
is finally at the place in his life where he's

00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:20.859
going, this isn't home. This world isn't my final

00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:24.759
destination. I'm just on a journey. I'm just

00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:27.759
passing through. And then he says on top of that,

00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:31.910
he goes, yeah, it's only been a few years. I

00:28:31.910 --> 00:28:34.029
believe Jacob at this point in his life where,

00:28:34.049 --> 00:28:36.910
yeah, he's grieved and he's had his struggles,

00:28:36.930 --> 00:28:39.450
but his son is alive, he's come, he's seen his

00:28:39.450 --> 00:28:41.769
son again. He's finally at this place where he's

00:28:41.769 --> 00:28:47.589
like, I get it. This world is nothing. This life

00:28:47.589 --> 00:28:51.529
is but a vapor. I have eternity before me with

00:28:51.529 --> 00:28:54.710
my God. I have eternity before me with the God

00:28:54.710 --> 00:28:57.349
who loves me. And so, yeah, you know, I'm 130

00:28:57.349 --> 00:29:00.170
years old. That's just a few years compared to

00:29:00.170 --> 00:29:02.650
the promise that I have in front of me. And we're

00:29:02.650 --> 00:29:05.029
going to see more of that as we go. But Jacob

00:29:05.029 --> 00:29:07.990
now is like just fully settled and convinced.

00:29:08.150 --> 00:29:10.329
And he knows who he serves. He knows what that

00:29:10.329 --> 00:29:16.880
means. And that is a... richness that God gives

00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:19.640
us when we understand our identity in Christ,

00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:25.140
right? When we know who holds the real power,

00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:27.259
and we're just, we're sure of that, we're confident

00:29:27.259 --> 00:29:29.140
of that, and we can even look around this life,

00:29:29.220 --> 00:29:32.099
and we can look at our famines and our riches

00:29:32.099 --> 00:29:33.779
and all this stuff, and we just say, you know

00:29:33.779 --> 00:29:36.319
what? None of that ultimately matters. It matters

00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:40.660
who God is. And when we understand our identity

00:29:40.660 --> 00:29:42.579
in that and what that gives us, we can stand

00:29:42.579 --> 00:29:44.660
before any human on this planet. We could stand

00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:47.420
before the most powerful rulers and the most

00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:51.460
wealthiest and influential people and just be

00:29:51.460 --> 00:29:56.220
like, what's up, bro? You need Jesus. And this

00:29:56.220 --> 00:29:58.140
is kind of what is happening with Jacob here.

00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:01.140
That's a richness. That's a prosperity that God

00:30:01.140 --> 00:30:04.250
gives those whose identity is settled. And really

00:30:04.250 --> 00:30:07.710
grounded in who we are and grounded in the fact

00:30:07.710 --> 00:30:09.769
that this life is but a vapor and grounded in

00:30:09.769 --> 00:30:12.109
the fact that forever and eternity awaits us.

00:30:12.210 --> 00:30:14.470
And it's all because of who Jesus is and what

00:30:14.470 --> 00:30:17.970
he has done. And so Jacob here, he's not standing

00:30:17.970 --> 00:30:21.430
before Pharaoh prideful or arrogant or dismissive,

00:30:21.430 --> 00:30:24.470
right? He's not here going, man, I thought my

00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:27.289
son was dead for 22 years and he's alive. God

00:30:27.289 --> 00:30:29.470
is so awesome. And you think you're a God, Pharaoh,

00:30:29.529 --> 00:30:31.630
whatever. We're gonna move in over here, deal

00:30:31.630 --> 00:30:35.029
with it. We don't have to get permits. We're

00:30:35.029 --> 00:30:38.890
the church. No, what he's doing is he's showing

00:30:38.890 --> 00:30:43.410
up and he's going, hey, Pharaoh, God bless you.

00:30:44.210 --> 00:30:46.009
And that's what that word blessing means. It

00:30:46.009 --> 00:30:49.269
means to invoke divine favor. What he's doing

00:30:49.269 --> 00:30:51.509
is saying, may God Almighty have favor on you,

00:30:51.589 --> 00:30:55.910
Pharaoh. He's praying God's favor on a pagan

00:30:55.910 --> 00:31:00.160
king. And that just comes from that whole place

00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.160
of saying, look, vengeance belongs to the God,

00:31:02.259 --> 00:31:05.619
or belongs to God, but me as a Christian, I'm

00:31:05.619 --> 00:31:08.339
going to pray for my ungodly boss. I'm going

00:31:08.339 --> 00:31:11.220
to pray that God would show himself in their

00:31:11.220 --> 00:31:14.240
life. I'm going to pray that God works in their

00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:16.319
darkness and their traumas and their tragedy

00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:18.480
because I believe Romans 2 and it says God's

00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:24.680
kindness leads us to repentance. And so, yeah,

00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:26.559
I may not like them. I may not like what they're

00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:28.400
doing. I think it's evil and wicked. And God,

00:31:28.460 --> 00:31:30.180
I believe you. I believe all of your scriptures

00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:32.140
about judgment. I believe all of your scriptures

00:31:32.140 --> 00:31:34.680
about holding the wicked accountable. And so,

00:31:34.700 --> 00:31:37.019
God, I believe you're going to do that. But right

00:31:37.019 --> 00:31:39.819
now, my part is I'm going to pray blessing upon

00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:44.940
them. God, show yourself to them. Because, God,

00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:47.099
I know if you show yourself to them and they

00:31:47.099 --> 00:31:49.440
come to see who they are in the light of your

00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:51.420
glory and stuff, that salvation is possible.

00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:54.839
That they can be saved, they can be different.

00:31:55.180 --> 00:31:58.519
And so this same God that Joseph worshiped, the

00:31:58.519 --> 00:32:01.299
same God that Pharaoh had acknowledged here,

00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:04.640
what Jacob is doing is saying, that God, Pharaoh,

00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:08.740
may he have favor upon you. May he have favor

00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:12.079
upon you for blessing us. May he have favor upon

00:32:12.079 --> 00:32:16.059
you just in general. And, you know, here's Pharaoh.

00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:19.220
I believe this Pharaoh had acknowledged Joseph's

00:32:19.220 --> 00:32:23.279
God as real, but... He had acknowledged him as

00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:26.539
one of the gods, right? So Pharaoh still has

00:32:26.539 --> 00:32:31.599
this imperfect polytheistic view, but he receives

00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:33.720
the blessing. He doesn't argue back. He doesn't

00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:36.599
say, how dare you bless me? I'm Pharaoh. He just

00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:40.460
simply receives it. And then Jacob moves on.

00:32:57.380 --> 00:32:58.380
Verse 11, And so the narrative's going on here,

00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.480
and it's just telling us essentially that they

00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:03.940
won the lottery, right? They've got property.

00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:06.160
They've got property in the best part of the

00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:07.880
land, right? They're living in, you know, Bel

00:33:07.880 --> 00:33:09.759
Air or whatever you might consider like, ooh,

00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:11.920
the fancy neighborhood, you know, and it's fertile

00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:15.079
and all this land for grazing. And it's just,

00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:19.220
I mean, imagine they've gone from we're starving

00:33:19.220 --> 00:33:23.380
to death to, oh, my gosh, we have everything

00:33:23.380 --> 00:33:27.259
here. Now, it says the land of Ramses, and that's

00:33:27.259 --> 00:33:31.500
because the area where Goshen is, interestingly

00:33:31.500 --> 00:33:34.420
enough, there was a town there named Avaris.

00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:37.779
And the town of Avaris was the capital of the

00:33:37.779 --> 00:33:40.500
Hiskos people. Remember I told you those shepherd

00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:42.579
kings that came in and conquered Egypt at one

00:33:42.579 --> 00:33:46.099
time? They were actually Semitic people. They

00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:49.059
were people that were descendants of Shem. So

00:33:49.059 --> 00:33:51.039
these were where the Jewish people came from

00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:53.539
and the Arab people came from. And they were

00:33:53.539 --> 00:33:55.839
people that had been shepherds and came down

00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:58.680
into Egypt in some centuries prior and conquered

00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:01.980
Egypt and ruled for a century. And that's why

00:34:01.980 --> 00:34:04.180
the Egyptians didn't like shepherds, right? They're

00:34:04.180 --> 00:34:07.839
like these Hiskos people. Well, Goshen, ironically

00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:12.019
enough, the city of Ramses was once the capital

00:34:12.019 --> 00:34:15.300
of the Hiskos people. And the reason they call

00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:17.920
it the land of Ramses here is because later on

00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:20.900
in the story, as we move into Exodus, we're going

00:34:20.900 --> 00:34:23.500
to find out that a different Pharaoh comes to

00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:27.099
power, and that Pharaoh then forces the Jewish

00:34:27.099 --> 00:34:31.210
people to build the city of Ramses. And that's

00:34:31.210 --> 00:34:33.369
where the slavery and forced labor starts to

00:34:33.369 --> 00:34:35.769
come into their story. But for right now, as

00:34:35.769 --> 00:34:37.969
Moses is writing this, you know, years and years

00:34:37.969 --> 00:34:39.690
later to the people, he's saying, yeah, it's

00:34:39.690 --> 00:34:41.750
in the best part of the land, the land of Ramses,

00:34:41.750 --> 00:34:44.869
the place we left, you know. Yeah, that was once

00:34:44.869 --> 00:34:49.909
this blessing for God's people. And so they were

00:34:49.909 --> 00:34:55.469
shepherds now occupying the shepherd lands of

00:34:55.469 --> 00:34:59.369
the previous shepherd kings right in the middle.

00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:04.559
of the secular world. You just see what God is

00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:08.469
doing with his people. So as the story goes on

00:35:08.469 --> 00:35:10.809
here, we can't forget that there's still like

00:35:10.809 --> 00:35:13.349
five years of famine, right? God has brought

00:35:13.349 --> 00:35:16.110
his people out of Canaan. He has brought them

00:35:16.110 --> 00:35:20.769
to this place of blessing. And so as we go on

00:35:20.769 --> 00:35:23.070
here, we just kind of get the fast forward of

00:35:23.070 --> 00:35:26.530
the story through what is taking place over the

00:35:26.530 --> 00:35:28.610
time and the rest of the time of this famine.

00:35:28.650 --> 00:35:31.690
So in verse 13, it says, there was no food in

00:35:31.690 --> 00:35:33.929
the entire region for the family was very severe.

00:35:34.670 --> 00:35:36.730
The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were

00:35:36.730 --> 00:35:39.909
exhausted by the famine. Joseph collected all

00:35:39.909 --> 00:35:42.090
the silver to be found in the land of Egypt and

00:35:42.090 --> 00:35:44.070
the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain

00:35:44.070 --> 00:35:46.230
they were purchasing, and he brought the silver

00:35:46.230 --> 00:35:48.989
to Pharaoh's palace. When the silver from the

00:35:48.989 --> 00:35:51.070
land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was gone,

00:35:51.170 --> 00:35:53.889
all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give

00:35:53.889 --> 00:35:56.909
us food. Why should we die here in front of you?

00:35:56.949 --> 00:36:00.519
The silver is gone. But Joseph said, Well, give

00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:02.579
me your livestock then since the silver is gone

00:36:02.579 --> 00:36:04.300
and I will give you food in exchange for the

00:36:04.300 --> 00:36:06.820
livestock. So they brought their livestock to

00:36:06.820 --> 00:36:08.900
Joseph and he gave them food in exchange for

00:36:08.900 --> 00:36:10.980
the horses, the flocks of sheep, the herds of

00:36:10.980 --> 00:36:13.860
cattle and the donkeys. That year he provided

00:36:13.860 --> 00:36:15.860
them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:19.199
When that year was over, they came the next year

00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:21.639
and said to him, we cannot hide from our Lord

00:36:21.639 --> 00:36:23.780
that the silver is gone and that all our livestock

00:36:23.780 --> 00:36:26.380
now belongs to the Lord, or our Lord, speaking

00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:29.199
of Pharaoh. There is nothing left for our Lord

00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:31.900
except our bodies and our land. Why should we

00:36:31.900 --> 00:36:34.280
die here in front of you, both us and our land,

00:36:34.340 --> 00:36:39.099
by us and our land in exchange for food? Then

00:36:39.099 --> 00:36:41.860
we with our land will become Pharaoh's slaves.

00:36:42.710 --> 00:36:44.969
Give us seed so that we can live and not die

00:36:44.969 --> 00:36:47.510
and so that the land won't become desolate. In

00:36:47.510 --> 00:36:50.389
this way, Joseph acquired all the land in Egypt

00:36:50.389 --> 00:36:52.869
for Pharaoh because every Egyptian sold his field

00:36:52.869 --> 00:36:55.849
since the famine was so severe for them. The

00:36:55.849 --> 00:36:58.710
land became Pharaoh's. And Joseph made the people

00:36:58.710 --> 00:37:00.670
servants from one end of Egypt to the other.

00:37:00.929 --> 00:37:03.289
The only land he did not acquire belonged to

00:37:03.289 --> 00:37:05.250
the priests for they had an allowance from Pharaoh.

00:37:05.349 --> 00:37:07.409
They ate from their allowance that Pharaoh gave

00:37:07.409 --> 00:37:10.090
them and therefore they did not sell their land.

00:37:13.500 --> 00:37:15.360
Jacob and his family, they get to the land of

00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:17.280
Goshen, they acquire property, they have all

00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:20.679
this abundance, but this famine that had overtaken

00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:23.699
the world just got worse and worse and worse.

00:37:24.019 --> 00:37:26.760
And so we see Joseph's administration unfold

00:37:26.760 --> 00:37:30.360
in steps as things got worse, right? The first

00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:32.539
step was people started to come to Egypt with

00:37:32.539 --> 00:37:34.579
money and say, hey, can we buy grain so that

00:37:34.579 --> 00:37:36.840
we could plant and have food? Well, eventually

00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:38.699
all the money ran out. Can you imagine that?

00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:43.019
Everybody's like, there's no more money. because

00:37:43.019 --> 00:37:45.780
we've given it all to you for grain, and yet

00:37:45.780 --> 00:37:48.099
the famine is still here, and man, we're gonna

00:37:48.099 --> 00:37:50.440
die. What are we gonna do? And so Joseph's like,

00:37:50.539 --> 00:37:54.900
well, then let's barter. Let's trade your livestock

00:37:54.900 --> 00:37:57.159
in exchange for grain. And they're like, great.

00:37:57.539 --> 00:38:00.280
So they give him all the sheep and the horses,

00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:02.699
and golly gee, isn't it kind of cool that God

00:38:02.699 --> 00:38:05.019
had already provided a whole family of shepherds

00:38:05.019 --> 00:38:08.179
to be a part of the nation here in Israel, or

00:38:08.179 --> 00:38:10.420
in Egypt, and so eventually all the livestock

00:38:10.420 --> 00:38:12.820
runs out. And the people are like, the famine

00:38:12.820 --> 00:38:14.579
is still here. Now we don't have any livestock.

00:38:15.420 --> 00:38:18.699
All we have is the land we live on and ourselves.

00:38:20.199 --> 00:38:26.360
And so, buy us. Put us to work. We'll sell you

00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:28.300
our land. We'll sell you everything. And then

00:38:28.300 --> 00:38:31.300
we'll work the land as indentured servants. And,

00:38:31.320 --> 00:38:35.539
you know, this is just business going along here.

00:38:35.579 --> 00:38:37.079
Now, some people look at this and they go, wow,

00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:40.000
didn't Joseph take advantage of them? Right?

00:38:41.980 --> 00:38:44.320
It's like, yeah, I'll sell you grain. We're out

00:38:44.320 --> 00:38:46.679
of money. Can we still get food? Well, what else

00:38:46.679 --> 00:38:50.400
you got? Livestock, all right. I'll take that.

00:38:50.739 --> 00:38:52.679
We're out of livestock. What else you got? My

00:38:52.679 --> 00:38:56.039
home? All right, I'll take that. What else you

00:38:56.039 --> 00:39:00.480
got? I'll work for you. All right, right? And

00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:02.460
some people look at this and they go, man, this

00:39:02.460 --> 00:39:05.900
is really ungodly or this is really exploitive,

00:39:05.900 --> 00:39:08.719
but... That isn't what's taking place here, and

00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:10.280
I'm gonna explain that here in a moment. This

00:39:10.280 --> 00:39:13.840
wasn't exploitation, this was preservation. There's

00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:17.300
multiple things going on here. One, God is honoring

00:39:17.300 --> 00:39:19.800
his promise to bless those who bless Israel,

00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:25.500
as Pharaoh literally is being blessed and enriched

00:39:25.500 --> 00:39:28.099
through this time, but this isn't the people

00:39:28.099 --> 00:39:30.639
going, oh no, we're being taken advantage of.

00:39:30.659 --> 00:39:33.940
This is literally a real situation of life or

00:39:33.940 --> 00:39:38.539
death. Like this is how bad this famine was that

00:39:38.539 --> 00:39:41.420
the people were in a place of saying, you know,

00:39:41.480 --> 00:39:45.239
we're gonna die if something doesn't happen.

00:39:45.300 --> 00:39:47.619
In verse 23, we see this unfold where Joseph

00:39:47.619 --> 00:39:50.980
says to the people, understand today that I have

00:39:50.980 --> 00:39:53.659
acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here

00:39:53.659 --> 00:39:57.920
is seed for you. Sow it in the land. At harvest,

00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:00.079
you're to give a fifth of it to Pharaoh and four

00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:02.679
fifths will be yours as seed for the field and

00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:04.500
as food for yourselves and your household and

00:40:04.500 --> 00:40:09.460
your pendants. Verse 25, you have saved our lives,

00:40:09.739 --> 00:40:13.360
they said. We have found favor with our Lord

00:40:13.360 --> 00:40:17.559
and will be the Pharaoh's slaves. Now that is

00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:19.719
not a people going, dang it, you're taking advantage

00:40:19.719 --> 00:40:22.579
of us and you're stealing from us. This is a

00:40:22.579 --> 00:40:25.460
desperate people saying, look, we had two opportunities

00:40:25.460 --> 00:40:32.300
in front of us. Die or live. And this was a famine

00:40:32.300 --> 00:40:35.659
that God allowed in the realm. And so this situation

00:40:35.659 --> 00:40:38.300
here is what we see Joseph not taking advantage

00:40:38.300 --> 00:40:42.019
of people, but being very shrewd and very wise

00:40:42.019 --> 00:40:45.860
in his business dealings. Now again, some of

00:40:45.860 --> 00:40:47.440
you may look at this and you go, that's not fair,

00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:49.659
and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and tax the

00:40:49.659 --> 00:40:55.139
rich, and all that silliness. The point is here

00:40:55.139 --> 00:41:00.139
is what Joseph is doing is saving lives. In a

00:41:00.139 --> 00:41:03.139
very, very, very desperate and difficult situation.

00:41:05.739 --> 00:41:08.420
And the fact that he says, okay, you know, money

00:41:08.420 --> 00:41:11.800
for grain. Great. Oh, the money's gone. There's

00:41:11.800 --> 00:41:15.139
still an exchange going on here. And the exchange

00:41:15.139 --> 00:41:18.500
is not a bad thing. The exchange is not something

00:41:18.500 --> 00:41:20.840
to be condemned. The exchange is something God

00:41:20.840 --> 00:41:24.619
is allowing for a purpose. And these people,

00:41:24.699 --> 00:41:27.800
when they come, they go, thanks, Joseph. You

00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:30.949
took everything. This is terrible. No, they say

00:41:30.949 --> 00:41:37.409
you've saved our lives. We found favor with you

00:41:37.409 --> 00:41:41.829
and with our Lord. So for those that read this

00:41:41.829 --> 00:41:43.989
and go, oh my gosh, Joseph is being this ungodly

00:41:43.989 --> 00:41:46.449
guy, that is not how the people felt about it.

00:41:47.590 --> 00:41:49.730
That is not what's taking place here. And on

00:41:49.730 --> 00:41:54.010
top of that, the reason Joseph is not exploiting

00:41:54.010 --> 00:41:56.909
people is because he's not enriching himself.

00:41:58.280 --> 00:42:01.320
through the situation here. You see, exploitation

00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:04.860
and whatnot, it's always seen where people want

00:42:04.860 --> 00:42:07.800
to enrich themselves at the expense of others,

00:42:08.099 --> 00:42:12.599
right? That's not what he's doing. He's not making

00:42:12.599 --> 00:42:14.920
himself wealthy at the expense of the people.

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:17.340
He's not hoarding his own power. He's acting

00:42:17.340 --> 00:42:19.800
very transparently and very justly here because

00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:22.300
we saw there right in verse 23, he says very

00:42:22.300 --> 00:42:26.480
clearly, understand, everybody, what is going

00:42:26.480 --> 00:42:30.639
on. There's no fine print here. There's no terms

00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:34.099
and conditions hidden on page 173 of this thing

00:42:34.099 --> 00:42:38.579
written in font size two, right? There's transparency

00:42:38.579 --> 00:42:41.480
here that this is what's going on. I've acquired

00:42:41.480 --> 00:42:43.400
you in your land for Pharaoh and here is seed

00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:47.960
sowed in the land. And then the wisdom of still

00:42:47.960 --> 00:42:51.539
saying, look, we don't know how long this, well,

00:42:52.059 --> 00:42:54.360
Joseph knew exactly how long the situation was

00:42:54.360 --> 00:42:56.460
gonna go, but as we've been giving out grain

00:42:56.460 --> 00:42:59.099
over the years, and now you are still able to

00:42:59.099 --> 00:43:00.960
live and still have your home and still eat and

00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:03.500
everything, there's this 20 % tax on the grain

00:43:03.500 --> 00:43:05.579
because we're still gonna continue to contribute

00:43:05.579 --> 00:43:08.639
for the betterment of our society. If Joseph

00:43:08.639 --> 00:43:11.179
didn't do this, it's very likely Egypt as a whole

00:43:11.179 --> 00:43:14.599
and as an empire would have just collapsed. There

00:43:14.599 --> 00:43:19.920
would be nothing. And so, again, this is wisdom

00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:23.599
on Joseph's behalf. The 20 % tax, that was incredibly

00:43:23.599 --> 00:43:27.480
low by ancient standards. And so the end result

00:43:27.480 --> 00:43:31.320
of this is that Egypt survives. The end result

00:43:31.320 --> 00:43:35.239
of this is that the people live. The end result

00:43:35.239 --> 00:43:37.880
is that lives were preserved. And yeah, you go,

00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:39.739
well, but Pharaoh's prospering and all that.

00:43:41.260 --> 00:43:43.519
It's simply a fulfillment of what God said in

00:43:43.519 --> 00:43:47.519
Genesis 12 .3. But what we can't miss here is

00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:49.760
this whole picture is a picture of the covenant,

00:43:49.860 --> 00:43:54.860
God's covenant being fulfilled. Pharaoh blessed

00:43:54.860 --> 00:43:57.139
Abraham's descendants. God is blessing Pharaoh

00:43:57.139 --> 00:43:59.900
through them. Jacob blesses Pharaoh with words,

00:43:59.940 --> 00:44:02.579
right? Jacob said, may God's favor be upon you.

00:44:03.380 --> 00:44:06.639
And what is happening? God's favor is upon Pharaoh

00:44:06.639 --> 00:44:09.909
through this situation. Jacob blesses with words.

00:44:09.929 --> 00:44:12.929
Joseph blesses Egypt with deeds, managing all

00:44:12.929 --> 00:44:15.050
of this to make sure that everybody is taken

00:44:15.050 --> 00:44:20.090
care of. And the whole thing is just, it's faithfulness

00:44:20.090 --> 00:44:26.010
being acted out. Now, God's people, I believe,

00:44:26.070 --> 00:44:30.949
in general, are blessed to bless others. That's

00:44:30.949 --> 00:44:33.309
why God would give God's people prosperity. That's

00:44:33.309 --> 00:44:35.670
why God would put God's people in a place of

00:44:35.670 --> 00:44:39.809
being blessed, as God brought Jacob and his family

00:44:39.809 --> 00:44:42.070
to Goshen to be blessed, to have abundance, to

00:44:42.070 --> 00:44:44.309
all this. All of that is about being a blessing

00:44:44.309 --> 00:44:47.809
to others. That is why the encouragement is you

00:44:47.809 --> 00:44:50.090
go and you pray for the ungodly and you pray

00:44:50.090 --> 00:44:51.650
for them and you pray God's favor in their life

00:44:51.650 --> 00:44:53.769
because we want to see that they would come to

00:44:53.769 --> 00:44:57.750
know the Lord. But in the midst of Pharaoh blessing

00:44:57.750 --> 00:45:00.070
Israel, Israel is going to thrive as we're going

00:45:00.070 --> 00:45:04.449
to see in the story to come. And Pharaoh is blessed

00:45:04.449 --> 00:45:08.380
because of his blessing. We can't look at that

00:45:08.380 --> 00:45:11.099
and go, oh, this is a terrible thing God did.

00:45:11.760 --> 00:45:15.480
Because this is what God is allowing here. And

00:45:15.480 --> 00:45:17.880
so in verse 27, it says, Israel settled in the

00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:20.440
land of Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired

00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:23.340
property and it became fruitful and very numerous.

00:45:24.860 --> 00:45:28.119
This is what's happening over this time. As God

00:45:28.119 --> 00:45:30.119
is allowing this famine and allowing all this

00:45:30.119 --> 00:45:32.840
stuff to take place, God is fulfilling his intent

00:45:32.840 --> 00:45:37.909
and his will and his desire for people. Now,

00:45:37.929 --> 00:45:40.230
Israel settled in the land of Egypt. They acquired

00:45:40.230 --> 00:45:42.550
property. They became fruitful. This is where

00:45:42.550 --> 00:45:45.130
prosperity can become very dangerous for God's

00:45:45.130 --> 00:45:49.730
people. You see, they came from the promised

00:45:49.730 --> 00:45:54.429
land that was barren, that was destitute. They

00:45:54.429 --> 00:45:56.789
couldn't feed their flocks. They couldn't feed

00:45:56.789 --> 00:46:00.750
their families. That's the promised land, and

00:46:00.750 --> 00:46:03.409
then they come into Egypt, and in the middle

00:46:03.409 --> 00:46:06.960
of this famine, we have everything we need. In

00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:10.460
this moment, in these years for, excuse me, Egypt

00:46:10.460 --> 00:46:14.280
or Israel, Egypt is the safe place. Egypt is

00:46:14.280 --> 00:46:16.699
the abundant place. Egypt is the comfortable

00:46:16.699 --> 00:46:21.340
place. It would be very easy in their prosperity

00:46:21.340 --> 00:46:23.960
in the midst of this difficulty to say, Egypt

00:46:23.960 --> 00:46:30.860
is way better than the promised land. And that's

00:46:30.860 --> 00:46:34.360
always the temptation. That's the temptation

00:46:34.360 --> 00:46:37.420
with prosperity and wealth here, and that's why,

00:46:37.480 --> 00:46:40.579
quite frankly, I think God says, that's not my

00:46:40.579 --> 00:46:43.780
calling for some people. I mean, we all want

00:46:43.780 --> 00:46:47.639
to be wealthy if we had the choice, right? Who

00:46:47.639 --> 00:46:49.199
would turn down a billion dollars right now?

00:46:49.320 --> 00:46:53.079
Anybody? Okay, one of you, all right. I'll take

00:46:53.079 --> 00:46:59.989
your billion, that's fine. The reality is we

00:46:59.989 --> 00:47:01.929
live in this material world. We live in this

00:47:01.929 --> 00:47:04.869
world where, yeah, resources are real and paying

00:47:04.869 --> 00:47:06.989
bills is real. And if we didn't have to pay bills,

00:47:07.010 --> 00:47:09.730
that'd be great. I saw this video a while ago,

00:47:09.829 --> 00:47:12.050
and I don't know if it was comedy or not, but

00:47:12.050 --> 00:47:14.909
somebody was interviewing Mariah Carey. And in

00:47:14.909 --> 00:47:17.409
the conversation, something came up about having

00:47:17.409 --> 00:47:20.469
to pay for electricity. And she goes, you don't

00:47:20.469 --> 00:47:24.650
have to pay for electricity. It's free. And the

00:47:24.650 --> 00:47:27.860
interviewer's like, what? Now, again, I don't

00:47:27.860 --> 00:47:29.920
know if it was a bit or whatnot, but I just remember

00:47:29.920 --> 00:47:31.900
seeing that and going, oh, man, you know, like,

00:47:31.940 --> 00:47:34.079
isn't that the problem with prosperity and riches?

00:47:34.159 --> 00:47:36.460
You kind of get out of touch, you know? I think

00:47:36.460 --> 00:47:40.300
it's why Jesus said that it's easier for a camel

00:47:40.300 --> 00:47:41.679
to go through the eye of the needle than for

00:47:41.679 --> 00:47:43.480
the rich to enter heaven because when you have

00:47:43.480 --> 00:47:45.199
everything and you have no needs and you think

00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:46.960
electricity is free because you've never seen

00:47:46.960 --> 00:47:49.880
an electricity bill maybe, you're not really

00:47:49.880 --> 00:47:53.300
in a place of saying, God, I need you. God, please

00:47:53.300 --> 00:47:57.119
provide. I'm trusting you. God, I need you for

00:47:57.119 --> 00:47:58.739
this and I need you for that. It's like I have

00:47:58.739 --> 00:48:03.019
no needs. Everything is fine and this is the

00:48:03.019 --> 00:48:06.639
temptation now that Israel and his family are

00:48:06.639 --> 00:48:09.940
going to be facing. Wow, it seems to be so much

00:48:09.940 --> 00:48:13.619
better here in Egypt than in the promised land.

00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:19.739
There's so much more comfort and ease. here in

00:48:19.739 --> 00:48:22.360
the world than there is living for the Lord.

00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:26.159
There seems to be so much blessing here just

00:48:26.159 --> 00:48:31.119
in this place that denies God than there is in

00:48:31.119 --> 00:48:36.480
the place that is where God said stay here and

00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:39.179
be in this place. And that's always the temptation

00:48:39.179 --> 00:48:43.940
in our life now. Right, God is doing this thing

00:48:43.940 --> 00:48:46.719
here through this whole story about look how

00:48:46.719 --> 00:48:49.380
I'm prospering my people in the midst of this

00:48:49.380 --> 00:48:52.340
worldwide devastation. And then we go, oh my

00:48:52.340 --> 00:48:54.800
gosh, God is still saving people, saving lives.

00:48:54.860 --> 00:48:59.579
Yes, he is, but the subtext, as you will, is

00:48:59.579 --> 00:49:01.380
while this famine is going on, look what's happening

00:49:01.380 --> 00:49:04.099
to God's people. He's blessing them in an abundant

00:49:04.099 --> 00:49:09.360
way. And yet the temptation for them is to be

00:49:09.360 --> 00:49:11.599
like, wow. Why should we ever go back to the

00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:14.539
land of Canaan? Why should we ever go back to

00:49:14.539 --> 00:49:16.360
God's way of doing things? But as we close this

00:49:16.360 --> 00:49:18.619
chapter, we're gonna see Jacob, now at the end

00:49:18.619 --> 00:49:20.280
of his life, finally has the right perspective

00:49:20.280 --> 00:49:23.639
on prosperity. Verse 28, now Jacob lived in the

00:49:23.639 --> 00:49:27.059
land of Egypt for 17 years, and his lifespan

00:49:27.059 --> 00:49:31.820
was 147 years. When the time came... Or when

00:49:31.820 --> 00:49:33.659
the time approached for him to die, he called

00:49:33.659 --> 00:49:35.920
his son Joseph and said to him, if I have found

00:49:35.920 --> 00:49:37.880
favor with you, put your hand under my thigh

00:49:37.880 --> 00:49:39.659
and promise me that you will deal with me in

00:49:39.659 --> 00:49:42.400
kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in

00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:45.539
Egypt. When I rest with my ancestors, carry me

00:49:45.539 --> 00:49:47.659
away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.

00:49:48.380 --> 00:49:50.420
Joseph answered and said, I will do what you

00:49:50.420 --> 00:49:53.679
have asked. And Jacob said, swear to me. So Joseph

00:49:53.679 --> 00:49:55.820
swore to him and then Israel bowed in thanks

00:49:55.820 --> 00:50:00.699
at the head of his bed. Now, We have this picture,

00:50:00.780 --> 00:50:04.980
right? Famine, devastation, prosperity and blessing

00:50:04.980 --> 00:50:07.900
for Jacob and his family. Blessing for Pharaoh

00:50:07.900 --> 00:50:11.380
for blessing God's people. And then we get all

00:50:11.380 --> 00:50:13.500
the way to the end here where instead of saying,

00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:19.739
Joseph, the land of Canaan is terrible. Bury

00:50:19.739 --> 00:50:24.159
me here in Egypt. Egypt got it right. Obviously

00:50:24.159 --> 00:50:28.639
God is blessing this place. Jacob has come to

00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:30.280
the place at the end of his life where he's finally

00:50:30.280 --> 00:50:32.619
understanding and he's like, look, all this prosperity

00:50:32.619 --> 00:50:36.320
and all this wealth and all of this stuff, this

00:50:36.320 --> 00:50:38.960
is fine, this is great, this is taking care of

00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:43.760
us, but this isn't the promise. This isn't what

00:50:43.760 --> 00:50:46.739
it's all about. This isn't forever. And Jacob

00:50:46.739 --> 00:50:49.260
is really preaching to future generations here

00:50:49.260 --> 00:50:52.840
without saying a lot of words that material prosperity

00:50:54.000 --> 00:50:57.320
is not necessarily the marker of God's presence

00:50:57.320 --> 00:51:02.139
and it doesn't erase God's promise. Sometimes

00:51:02.139 --> 00:51:05.280
we could get caught up in the thinking that prosperity

00:51:05.280 --> 00:51:08.679
means I'm doing right with God and lack means

00:51:08.679 --> 00:51:12.940
God's mad at me or I'm doing wrong. And that's

00:51:12.940 --> 00:51:17.079
not the case. Material wealth and prosperity,

00:51:17.300 --> 00:51:22.400
it's a tool. It's a tool to be used to further

00:51:22.400 --> 00:51:26.079
the kingdom. It's not a marker of whether you're

00:51:26.079 --> 00:51:30.699
good with God or not. I mean, you just look around

00:51:30.699 --> 00:51:32.320
the world today, there are so many people that

00:51:32.320 --> 00:51:35.119
have untold wealth and riches and material prosperity,

00:51:35.340 --> 00:51:38.559
and they're not good with God at all. And then

00:51:38.559 --> 00:51:40.000
on the flip side of the coin, you'd have some

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:43.159
of the most destitute people languishing in poverty,

00:51:43.260 --> 00:51:46.420
and yet spiritually, they're the richest people

00:51:46.420 --> 00:51:51.440
you could possibly imagine. And Jacob here at

00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:55.739
the end, he's like, look, this is fine. You know,

00:51:55.760 --> 00:51:57.639
it's not that wealth is evil. It's not that it's

00:51:57.639 --> 00:52:01.019
a sin to have wealth and prosperity. But that

00:52:01.019 --> 00:52:04.599
prosperity didn't cause him to forget about the

00:52:04.599 --> 00:52:07.920
promise. What really matters is God and his promises.

00:52:08.500 --> 00:52:10.360
So even though I'm going to die here in this

00:52:10.360 --> 00:52:12.920
land, this is not my home. I'm a pilgrim. Take

00:52:12.920 --> 00:52:15.739
me back. Bury me with my ancestors because that's

00:52:15.739 --> 00:52:18.739
the promise. That's what's eternal. That's what

00:52:18.739 --> 00:52:23.460
matters. You know, material prosperity, it doesn't

00:52:23.460 --> 00:52:25.539
erase the promises of God, and comfort does not

00:52:25.539 --> 00:52:29.840
cancel the covenant. Material wealth is great,

00:52:30.059 --> 00:52:34.119
but it's not the point. And if God knows that

00:52:34.119 --> 00:52:36.139
that material prosperity is going to be bad for

00:52:36.139 --> 00:52:39.039
you, guess what? You could have the best business

00:52:39.039 --> 00:52:41.159
plan. You could have the best ideas. You could

00:52:41.159 --> 00:52:42.980
have perfect planning. You could have all of

00:52:42.980 --> 00:52:44.980
that. You could have the most talent in the world,

00:52:45.059 --> 00:52:51.010
and it cannot happen. Because God says, nope,

00:52:51.090 --> 00:52:57.730
not for you. And that's okay. You could be an

00:52:57.730 --> 00:53:04.090
uncle head and not make any plans. And boom,

00:53:04.309 --> 00:53:08.170
the Lord blesses you with a billion dollars.

00:53:10.289 --> 00:53:12.730
And that's because God knows what he's doing

00:53:12.730 --> 00:53:14.369
in your life and how you're going to handle that.

00:53:16.519 --> 00:53:18.800
But the focus isn't on those things. We can't

00:53:18.800 --> 00:53:21.300
look at that and say, oh, that means I'm walking

00:53:21.300 --> 00:53:23.880
with the Lord. That means God is blessing me.

00:53:23.980 --> 00:53:27.639
That means I'm doing right. Those things are

00:53:27.639 --> 00:53:31.320
simply tools to be used to live in this world.

00:53:31.440 --> 00:53:33.480
And when we live in this world, it's not about

00:53:33.480 --> 00:53:35.980
just enriching ourselves. It's not about, you

00:53:35.980 --> 00:53:38.000
know, making my life comfortable. It's not about

00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:41.179
all of that stuff. I mean, can and does God bless

00:53:41.179 --> 00:53:44.989
his people with material prosperity? Yeah. Can

00:53:44.989 --> 00:53:47.489
God prosper his people without compromising his

00:53:47.489 --> 00:53:51.750
purpose? Yeah. Psalm 105, 24, speaking of this

00:53:51.750 --> 00:53:54.090
story in Egypt, it says, the Lord made his people

00:53:54.090 --> 00:53:55.869
very fruitful and he made them more numerous

00:53:55.869 --> 00:54:00.849
than their foes. But I think prosperity here

00:54:00.849 --> 00:54:03.530
on earth is meant to be an outflow of our distinctiveness

00:54:03.530 --> 00:54:08.250
as God's people. As a separate and a different

00:54:08.250 --> 00:54:11.289
people. It's meant to flow outward from a constant

00:54:11.289 --> 00:54:14.539
reminder that we deserve nothing. Because we're

00:54:14.539 --> 00:54:17.179
sinners. We deserve judgment. And yet instead

00:54:17.179 --> 00:54:20.199
of that, God has allowed us to live and God has

00:54:20.199 --> 00:54:23.039
still allowed us to work and to earn and everything

00:54:23.039 --> 00:54:26.559
we have is his. And so prosperity in the life

00:54:26.559 --> 00:54:28.619
of a believer, it's not about, oh, this means

00:54:28.619 --> 00:54:30.659
I'm right with God. It's simply a tool of God

00:54:30.659 --> 00:54:36.860
saying, hey, go use this to bless others. Go

00:54:36.860 --> 00:54:42.130
use this and be like me. Where I will bless according

00:54:42.130 --> 00:54:45.309
to my will so that others can be blessed through

00:54:45.309 --> 00:54:49.070
that. That's the idea here. When prosperity causes

00:54:49.070 --> 00:54:52.590
us to become complacent or too comfortable, that's

00:54:52.590 --> 00:54:54.769
when we're faced with the challenge to forget

00:54:54.769 --> 00:54:58.230
God's promises. To look around at Egypt and go,

00:54:58.289 --> 00:55:01.469
this place is great. Forget that. Forget Canaan.

00:55:03.869 --> 00:55:07.880
And we forget that true prosperity isn't Wealth

00:55:07.880 --> 00:55:11.219
and things and all that, true prosperity is alignment

00:55:11.219 --> 00:55:17.960
with God's will. True prosperity is peace in

00:55:17.960 --> 00:55:20.159
the midst of whatever the circumstances are because

00:55:20.159 --> 00:55:22.800
we know that God is in control. We know that

00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:24.980
God is leading and guiding our lives. It's not

00:55:24.980 --> 00:55:29.320
accumulation of ease and comfort. And so when

00:55:29.320 --> 00:55:31.199
the buzzer sounds in your life, what is your

00:55:31.199 --> 00:55:39.110
cart gonna be full of? 120 -inch TVs? Think about

00:55:39.110 --> 00:55:41.329
it. We're going to get to heaven, and it's going

00:55:41.329 --> 00:55:47.809
to be an infinity -inch TV of all creation, interactive.

00:55:48.349 --> 00:55:55.550
I mean, right? It's going to be amazing. What's

00:55:55.550 --> 00:55:57.170
your cart going to be full of? Comfort, ease,

00:55:57.289 --> 00:56:03.210
pleasure, things? Or is your cart going to be

00:56:03.210 --> 00:56:06.409
full of obedience, whether or not you had things?

00:56:07.849 --> 00:56:10.730
Is your cart going to be full of what the world

00:56:10.730 --> 00:56:12.510
would call success, or is your cart going to

00:56:12.510 --> 00:56:17.190
be full of faith? Regardless if God's given you

00:56:17.190 --> 00:56:19.949
stuff or hasn't given you stuff. You see, Jacob

00:56:19.949 --> 00:56:22.829
had everything Egypt offered, but he knew that

00:56:22.829 --> 00:56:26.449
it just paled in comparison to the promise. It

00:56:26.449 --> 00:56:28.309
meant nothing according to the promise, and so

00:56:28.309 --> 00:56:31.070
he chose the promise. It's not that he rejected

00:56:31.070 --> 00:56:33.670
God's blessing there. I mean, it sustained him

00:56:33.670 --> 00:56:37.579
and his people. But he still said, this isn't

00:56:37.579 --> 00:56:43.619
it. And so when I die, take me home. Joseph,

00:56:43.679 --> 00:56:45.260
on the other hand of the coin, he had power,

00:56:45.340 --> 00:56:47.639
influence, and authority, and he used all of

00:56:47.639 --> 00:56:49.559
that to preserve life, not to enrich himself.

00:56:50.619 --> 00:56:53.579
He used that to take care of people, not to make

00:56:53.579 --> 00:56:56.800
sure that he had more things and one more dollar.

00:56:56.860 --> 00:57:00.659
No, he handled things in a very wise way to make

00:57:00.659 --> 00:57:02.780
sure that people's lives were preserved, the

00:57:02.780 --> 00:57:07.960
nation was preserved, that... that all this continued.

00:57:11.340 --> 00:57:14.039
So on one hand, it's like be distinct as God's

00:57:14.039 --> 00:57:18.119
people even if it risks comfort and ease. Don't

00:57:18.119 --> 00:57:20.420
compromise your holiness for the prosperity that

00:57:20.420 --> 00:57:23.980
the world offers. Let God be the one who places

00:57:23.980 --> 00:57:27.800
you in Goshen if that's his will. If God places

00:57:27.800 --> 00:57:31.579
you in Goshen, hallelujah. If God places you

00:57:31.579 --> 00:57:34.400
in a place where you have material wealth and

00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:39.500
abundance, praise God. Now use that to bless

00:57:39.500 --> 00:57:46.840
people. But if God doesn't place you in Goshen,

00:57:46.920 --> 00:57:50.920
hallelujah. Because that's where he wants you.

00:57:52.420 --> 00:57:56.099
And still use everything he's given you to bless

00:57:56.099 --> 00:58:02.199
people. It's regardless of the circumstance,

00:58:02.400 --> 00:58:06.340
be a blessing wherever he has placed you. Do

00:58:06.340 --> 00:58:09.440
it like Jacob through words. Just pray God would

00:58:09.440 --> 00:58:11.559
bless you with his favor. I pray you would know

00:58:11.559 --> 00:58:15.659
God. You are a mean, wicked, evil person. You

00:58:15.659 --> 00:58:18.039
think yourself a God. Well, you're going to have

00:58:18.039 --> 00:58:23.719
to talk to God about that. But I just pray. God

00:58:23.719 --> 00:58:25.360
is the one who said, oh, if they curse my people,

00:58:25.420 --> 00:58:27.119
I'm going to curse them. Sweet, let God do that.

00:58:28.119 --> 00:58:32.710
Let God handle his business. But bless people

00:58:32.710 --> 00:58:34.889
through your sacrificial deeds that preserve

00:58:34.889 --> 00:58:37.630
life. As God has given to you, just how do I

00:58:37.630 --> 00:58:40.769
bless others, God? How do I be faithful? How

00:58:40.769 --> 00:58:42.469
do I be generous? How do I take care of those

00:58:42.469 --> 00:58:45.110
in need with what you've given me? I have a little,

00:58:45.190 --> 00:58:48.170
so I can't go build an orphanage, but maybe I

00:58:48.170 --> 00:58:51.409
could take a meal to that one family or whatever

00:58:51.409 --> 00:58:55.309
it may be. But it's keeping your priorities straight

00:58:55.309 --> 00:58:59.969
because... If and when and how God prospers his

00:58:59.969 --> 00:59:02.130
people here on earth with material prosperity,

00:59:02.570 --> 00:59:07.070
all of that can very subtly and very quietly

00:59:07.070 --> 00:59:13.409
replace our hope in the Lord. And I would rather

00:59:13.409 --> 00:59:16.190
have full faith and hope in the Lord than a billion

00:59:16.190 --> 00:59:23.429
dollars any day. So ask yourself, if God changed

00:59:23.429 --> 00:59:27.739
your circumstances today, Would you still trust

00:59:27.739 --> 00:59:33.820
his promises? If God dropped a billion dollars

00:59:33.820 --> 00:59:36.420
in your lap today, would you still be like, God,

00:59:36.519 --> 00:59:41.360
I'm nothing without you? God, I can't pay my

00:59:41.360 --> 00:59:43.539
bills without you. Or would you be like, well,

00:59:43.599 --> 00:59:45.639
now I kind of got a billion dollars. I could

00:59:45.639 --> 00:59:50.079
pay some bills. I don't need you, God. I'll talk

00:59:50.079 --> 00:59:52.949
to you later when I need you, right? God will

00:59:52.949 --> 00:59:55.190
use famine and fullness. He'll use hardship and

00:59:55.190 --> 00:59:58.289
prosperity. He'll use power and weakness to shape

00:59:58.289 --> 01:00:01.630
his people. And my prayer for us as a church

01:00:01.630 --> 01:00:03.690
is that when the buzzer sounds in your life,

01:00:03.809 --> 01:00:06.329
that your cart would be full of what lasts, that

01:00:06.329 --> 01:00:09.309
your cart would be full of what truly has value.

01:00:09.550 --> 01:00:12.070
And if God has blessed you with things along

01:00:12.070 --> 01:00:14.590
the way, great, hallelujah. But if he hasn't,

01:00:14.590 --> 01:00:17.590
hallelujah, because God is what matters most.

01:00:18.960 --> 01:00:20.960
And if you haven't trusted in Christ as your

01:00:20.960 --> 01:00:23.920
Lord and Savior this morning, yeah, I pray God's

01:00:23.920 --> 01:00:28.719
favor upon you. May you be prosperous and successful

01:00:28.719 --> 01:00:32.820
by the world's standards, but not to the point

01:00:32.820 --> 01:00:35.659
where you trust in those things for your life.

01:00:37.019 --> 01:00:39.219
I pray you come to the place where you don't

01:00:39.219 --> 01:00:42.239
miss the prosperity that truly counts. If God

01:00:42.239 --> 01:00:45.460
has blessed you in business and things and wealth

01:00:45.460 --> 01:00:48.960
and all that, hey, great. But none of that goes

01:00:48.960 --> 01:00:50.940
with you to the other side. If you die without

01:00:50.940 --> 01:00:55.000
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you're

01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:57.360
just as destitute as anybody else who dies without

01:00:57.360 --> 01:01:01.739
the Lord. And so while you still have time and

01:01:01.739 --> 01:01:05.960
while you still draw breath, recognize material

01:01:05.960 --> 01:01:11.619
prosperity doesn't go with you. It doesn't pass

01:01:11.619 --> 01:01:13.179
to the other side. You're not going to be able

01:01:13.179 --> 01:01:14.880
to get to the gates of heaven and buy your way

01:01:14.880 --> 01:01:19.940
in. The only riches that matter is the riches

01:01:19.940 --> 01:01:25.480
of Christ, a saving relationship with him. Everything

01:01:25.480 --> 01:01:30.800
else is just about how can I bless people? And

01:01:30.800 --> 01:01:33.400
if you don't know Jesus this morning, especially

01:01:33.400 --> 01:01:35.719
if you've been in a place and you've been blessed

01:01:35.719 --> 01:01:38.139
and you have riches and wealth, I pray that you're

01:01:38.139 --> 01:01:39.760
listening to the Holy Spirit right now that says,

01:01:39.800 --> 01:01:41.300
hey, that's great, I've given that to you, but

01:01:41.300 --> 01:01:44.119
it means nothing in the big picture. You need

01:01:44.119 --> 01:01:51.880
me. Because without me, you really are nothing.

01:01:54.380 --> 01:01:56.599
And when you die, and if you should die today,

01:01:56.900 --> 01:01:59.360
none of that material wealth means anything.

01:02:01.039 --> 01:02:03.340
But today you can give your life to Jesus Christ.

01:02:04.059 --> 01:02:06.880
Today you can know that you have salvation. Today

01:02:06.880 --> 01:02:08.519
you can know that if you pass from this earth

01:02:08.519 --> 01:02:11.820
today, that you have the most prosperity you

01:02:11.820 --> 01:02:14.000
could possibly have in the fact that God has

01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:17.019
forgiven you. and set you free from sin. And

01:02:17.019 --> 01:02:18.980
then every moment and every day afterwards here

01:02:18.980 --> 01:02:21.280
now, all the blessings that God has given you,

01:02:21.380 --> 01:02:26.900
it's about being a blessing. Let's pray. Father,

01:02:27.039 --> 01:02:32.500
we love you. We thank you, God, for your word,

01:02:32.539 --> 01:02:34.800
and we thank you for just what you do, Lord.

01:02:35.920 --> 01:02:38.599
God, I pray that just your people, all of us,

01:02:38.599 --> 01:02:43.280
we would have a proper biblical view of prosperity.

01:02:47.639 --> 01:02:51.119
Lord, riches and wealth and things, Lord, that's

01:02:51.119 --> 01:02:56.500
nothing to you. And Lord, even as believers,

01:02:56.579 --> 01:02:58.900
we can find ourselves filling our basket with

01:02:58.900 --> 01:03:01.400
these things because we think those things are

01:03:01.400 --> 01:03:03.000
going to bring happiness and those things are

01:03:03.000 --> 01:03:04.960
going to bring fulfillment. And so, God, instead

01:03:04.960 --> 01:03:07.300
of grabbing what matters, we want to fill our

01:03:07.300 --> 01:03:14.059
basket with these temporary things. And Lord,

01:03:14.139 --> 01:03:16.489
there's... There's nothing inherently wrong with

01:03:16.489 --> 01:03:19.809
the temporary things, God, but Lord, we don't

01:03:19.809 --> 01:03:23.170
want a people who prioritize those things over

01:03:23.170 --> 01:03:30.170
you, over the promises. And so, God, I pray,

01:03:30.230 --> 01:03:35.170
Lord, that you would bless your people. I pray,

01:03:35.250 --> 01:03:37.090
Lord, that you would bless each one of us according

01:03:37.090 --> 01:03:41.750
to your will. For those that you choose to bless

01:03:41.750 --> 01:03:44.070
with material prosperity, God, I pray, Lord,

01:03:44.190 --> 01:03:48.670
that they would be wise and a blessing to others

01:03:48.670 --> 01:03:50.789
with what you've given them, Lord. For those

01:03:50.789 --> 01:03:53.070
that don't have a lot, I pray that they would

01:03:53.070 --> 01:03:55.349
still be a blessing to others, God, because every

01:03:55.349 --> 01:04:01.449
single thing we have is from you. But that, Lord,

01:04:01.489 --> 01:04:04.590
we would never let prosperity cause us to forget

01:04:04.590 --> 01:04:10.739
about the promise. That, Lord, we would trust

01:04:10.739 --> 01:04:12.900
that you can prosper us if that's your will,

01:04:13.019 --> 01:04:15.920
but, Lord, we wouldn't pursue that at the expense

01:04:15.920 --> 01:04:18.460
of pursuing you and pursuing faithfulness and

01:04:18.460 --> 01:04:23.900
holiness and obedience. God, we pray for those

01:04:23.900 --> 01:04:27.760
around us that we serve, Lord, even the ungodly

01:04:27.760 --> 01:04:30.639
bosses. And, Lord, we, as Jacob, we follow that

01:04:30.639 --> 01:04:32.960
example. And, Lord, I just pray, God, that you

01:04:32.960 --> 01:04:39.940
would show favor in their lives. Favor such that

01:04:39.940 --> 01:04:44.300
they would come to know you. That the kindness

01:04:44.300 --> 01:04:46.400
that you may extend to them, Lord, would lead

01:04:46.400 --> 01:04:50.760
them to repentance, Lord. And God, I pray that

01:04:50.760 --> 01:04:55.360
we would trust in and leave judgment and vengeance

01:04:55.360 --> 01:05:00.199
to you, God. But let us be a people that are

01:05:00.199 --> 01:05:06.179
about blessing others in every way, God. trusting

01:05:06.179 --> 01:05:08.699
that whether we have or have not, we are blessed.

01:05:09.820 --> 01:05:12.079
That God, because we have you, we are the most

01:05:12.079 --> 01:05:14.420
prosperous people that could possibly be, Lord,

01:05:14.519 --> 01:05:16.960
and that we simply want to share that hope with

01:05:16.960 --> 01:05:19.940
others. And while we're here on earth, Lord,

01:05:20.019 --> 01:05:23.780
just use us to be a blessing to people. Lord,

01:05:23.860 --> 01:05:26.159
like Joseph, with his power and his influence,

01:05:26.360 --> 01:05:28.320
Lord, it was about saving lives and protecting

01:05:28.320 --> 01:05:31.059
life, not enriching himself, Lord. May we be

01:05:31.059 --> 01:05:34.329
people. Who have that attitude in whatever it

01:05:34.329 --> 01:05:38.949
is that you've given us in this life, Lord. Because

01:05:38.949 --> 01:05:40.889
God, we want to have an effect on this world

01:05:40.889 --> 01:05:44.909
for the kingdom. We want to have an effect on

01:05:44.909 --> 01:05:48.610
this world for eternity. Not for ourselves, not

01:05:48.610 --> 01:05:50.730
for this temporary life that is but a vapor,

01:05:50.809 --> 01:05:57.829
but Lord, for forever. And so help us, Lord,

01:05:57.909 --> 01:06:01.630
to live for you and to glorify you and to magnify

01:06:01.630 --> 01:06:04.889
you in all things. That, Lord, if it's your will

01:06:04.889 --> 01:06:07.429
to prosper us materially, we're no different

01:06:07.429 --> 01:06:11.590
than we were before. Because we're grounded in

01:06:11.590 --> 01:06:17.250
you. Lord, we thank you. We love you. We worship

01:06:17.250 --> 01:06:20.909
you. Be glorified, God, in Jesus' name. Amen.