I am Pastor Nathan, and today, believe it or
not, we are going to conclude our study of the
book of Genesis. Right? Wow, you're like, do
we clap for that or not, you know? It has been
two years and 75 messages, but we are at the
end of the book of beginnings. And as we conclude
this book today, we're going to be talking about
viewing life. from the end. You know, I read
this story about an angel that appeared to a
businessman and he said, hey, I'm going to give
you one wish. And the businessman was like, really?
He goes, what I want is the business section
of the newspaper from one year from today so
that I could see who's doing well or not. And
his whole idea was he's going to be able to invest
now and take advantage of knowing the future.
And so an angel goes, poof. The newspaper's in
front of him. He's like, oh, it's the whole newspaper.
Cool. And so he starts flipping through it real
quick to find the information he wanted, imagining
the fortune he was going to make. And as he was
flipping through that newspaper, though, he came
by the obituary section, and he saw his name
in it. Everything changed in that moment. In
that moment for that man, the profits didn't
matter. The fortune didn't matter. The success
didn't matter. Investments didn't seem nearly
as important. His perspective completely changed.
Why? Because he knew the end was near. You know,
the end has a way of forcing us to shift our
perspectives, to look at things slightly different,
to adjust maybe what's important to us. And,
you know, nothing really clarifies life like
the certainty of death. In the book of Genesis,
way, way, way, way, way back then, we began with,
in the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth. But this book ends, as a verse we'll
see today, that says simply this, and Joseph
died, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
So when you look at the book of Genesis as a
whole, it goes from creation to coffin. That's
a pretty exciting message, right? But isn't that
the snapshot of every single one of our lives?
Every single one of us go from creation, where
God knits us together in the womb of our mothers,
to the coffin, to the end of our life here on
this earth. And you know, although that is a
snapshot, it's not meant to be something that
causes us despair. It's meant to be something
that teaches us how to live faithfully. It's
meant to be something that teaches us how to
face suffering in this life as we live. And it's
meant to be something that causes us to face
death with hope. Because for the believer, death
is not the end. It's simply a transition. And
yet preparing for that moment really is a life
that God gives us. And so this is what we're
going to be looking at today as we close the
book of Genesis. Looking at the death of Jacob.
and the death of Joseph, and talking about what
the Lord wants us to see from the end of this
book of beginnings. But first, we're going to
worship God. And so, like I said a couple weeks
ago, I do have the opportunity to drum with you
guys today. And so if it's too loud, I'm so sorry.
All right? But I pray with all of us, anytime
we enter into worship together, it's an opportunity
to praise Him, to let Him know how much we appreciate
Him. to sing our hearts and our gratitude and
our thankfulness to him. And it's his name that
we bless. And so we're going to do that now.
Let's pray. Father, we love you so much. We thank
you, God, for the lives that we have here on
this earth. We thank you, God, for the opportunity
to know you. And Lord, as we have studied this
book over two years, Lord, you've taught us so
many things. And God, this book that is literally
named Genesis, Beginnings, God, Lord taught us
that from the very beginning, you wanted us to
know about the certainty of death so that, Lord,
we would prepare for that moment to be sure of
the most important possible truth, God, that
we would know where we're going to go after this
life, Lord, that we would know about the the
place you've prepared for us and the path you've
laid before us to know you, to be reunited with
you, our creator. And so, God, as we reflect
today on the end of the lives of two major figures
in the history of salvation, God, that it would
cause us to know that when our time comes, Lord,
that we want to make sure we can look back to
the beginning of our lives and see you. to see
your blessing, to see your presence in our lives,
all of that, God. Because, Lord, you are what
matters. And so we bless your name today. We
love you. We thank you. It's in Jesus' name we
pray. Amen. All right. We are finishing the book
of Genesis today. And in our last study, we looked
at the blessing that Jacob had given to his sons,
his final words, gonna be passing on to be with
the Lord. And in Genesis 49, 28, it just summarized
it and said, these are the tribes of Israel,
12 in all. And this is what their father said
to them. He blessed them and he blessed each
one with a suitable blessing. And so... You know,
as we're transitioning to the end of the book,
that is kind of the handoff, right? This is where
the 12 sons of Jacob are going to transition
into the time where they become the nation of
Israel. And so the words that he spoke to them
weren't just words of, you know, Oh, I love you
so much, and da -da -da -da -da. They were words
of prophecy. They were prophetic blessing and
words of God that shaped the future of not only
these men's lives, but then the tribes that came
from them and ultimately the future of the entire
nation. And so in these blessings, we saw that
God continued to work the history of salvation
in the blessing to Judah. as he was given the
tribe or the scepter and the staff and told that
it would not depart from Judah until the one
whose right it is comes. And we know that is
Jesus Christ. And so each one of these 12 sons
got a blessing that reflected their character
and their future tribal destiny. And it's just
a neat picture of when we're talking about the
end here, as we're at the end of this book, that
even though Jacob's life had been very messy,
it had been full of deception, full of lies,
full of favoritism, full of family conflict.
At the end of his life, he was able to bless
his sons and speak of the future that God had
prepared for them. And it just reminds us, you
know, the most flawed life, the most challenged
life can still become a vessel for God's blessing.
And don't ever forget that, you know. All of
us struggle. All of us have issues. All of us
make mistakes. All of us have times of doubt.
All of us have times of faithlessness. All of
us fall into sin. And at the same time, all of
us have the opportunity to confess and to come
back and to repent and start walking again. And
God loves us because he loves us. Right? God
saves us because we just simply come to the place
of saying, God, I believe you are real. And I
am messed up. And can you please forgive me?
And that is when salvation happens. And so it
doesn't matter how messed up your life is. You
are not beyond being a vessel of blessing to
be used by God, especially in your family, to
your kids, and so on and so forth. And so Jacob,
here at the end of his life, he had this messed
up life, but he still is this vessel for God's
word and God's blessing to carry forward. And
then in chapter 49, verse 29, this is where we're
gonna pick up the story today. It says, then
he commanded them, I am about to be gathered
to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the
cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite. The
cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre
in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham
purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property.
Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there.
Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there.
And I buried Leah there. The field and the cave
in it were purchased from the Hethites. So these
are very specific instructions Jacob is giving
to his sons, but they show us something that
is just incredibly encouraging. He's saying,
here's the cave. I want you to take me back,
not just to the promised land. I want you to
take me back specifically to this exact place,
right? It's like, here's the plot. We prepaid
for the plot. This is the one at Forest Lawn.
Make sure I get buried there. But it's far more
than just make sure I'm buried in the right place.
He's reminding his sons about the legacy that
their family holds, the legacy that has been
given to them by God that is carrying forward
through the generations. And so he's like, hey,
this is the cave that Abraham purchased. The
one who God spoke to originally, the one who
God spoke these promises to in Genesis 23, he's
like, look, this is where I want you to bury
me. Abraham and Sarah are buried there. Isaac
and Rebecca are buried there. I buried my first
wife Leah there. And so, you know, you might
think, well, I mean, why a detail like this,
right? It seems like, you know, a small insignificant
detail, but it reveals something very important
to us about Jacob, something we learn from the
end of his life. And it's this, even though Jacob
had lived for, at this point, 17 years in Egypt,
that's how long it's been since they arrived
to this point, although he's lived in this land
of wealth and abundance and prosperity, I mean,
this is like, even though he has lived his retirement
years in the best old folks home you could possibly
find, with all the amenities, and everything
you could possibly need, he still wanted to be
buried in the place of God's promise. He still
wanted to be in the place where God had spoken
to his people, because Canaan was the land that
God had promised to Abraham, and then to Isaac,
and then to Jacob himself. This was the place
where God said that your descendants are going
to own this one day. This is going to go to you
and your people. Jacob believed that promise,
but he's going to die in Egypt. He believed so
powerfully in God's promise, even though it wasn't
fulfilled in his lifetime. That's faith. That's
a faith that God wants us to carry. Right, sometimes
we might struggle with God gives us a promise
and we expect it to be fulfilled in our lifetime.
A lot of us struggle with we expect it to be
fulfilled today. And when it's not, we're like,
I guess God isn't real. But God's timeline spans
far more than our lifetime. And the promises
that God has given to his people, promises that
he's given in your life, the fulfillment of those
promises might, might take place far beyond your
lifetime. The question is, does that affect your
faith in the Lord? If God said, your family is
no longer going to struggle financially, and
you're like, sweet, but the next 80 years of
your life are going to be financial struggle
and struggle and struggle, then you're going
to die, family still in the struggle. Are you
going to be on your deathbed able to say, we
are one day going to be free from the struggle
because God said so? You see, we have to understand
that God's promises are far beyond our vapor
of a life. Now sometimes, yeah, God does make
direct promises to us and they're fulfilled in
our lifetime, but here Jacob is taking this huge
step of faith. Even though he's in Egypt, even
though he's in the best possible place from a
material perspective, he's going, this isn't
it. This isn't what matters. And I lived my whole
life. God has spoken to me. I believe this land
is ours. And guess what? I'm not going to die
in that land, but that doesn't change my belief
in his promises that this land is going to go
to us one day. And so because I know so beyond
a shadow of a doubt that I want to be buried
there so that when you all come back home in
whatever time in the future it happens, I'll
be there with you. Faith often means trusting
promises that we never personally see fulfilled.
And are you okay with that? Can you be okay with
that? We should be okay with that. And so, verse
33, when Jacob had finished giving charges to
his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and took
his last breath and was gathered to his people.
So, the death of the great patriarch Jacob is
just recorded here with just remarkable simplicity,
right? And he died. And it uses these interesting
phrases. He drew his feet into the bed and took
his last breath. It's just this picture of him
just kind of curling up and going to sleep. It's
a picture of peacefulness. And it's a peace that
he had because he knew the Lord and he knew ultimately
where he was going. But the detail that is really
key for us is it doesn't say he died. It says
he was gathered to his people. That phrase implies
something very important about our theology of
death. That death does not end our personal existence.
Physical death is not the end of your existence.
Do you guys realize that? Right? This body you're
living in here, it's just a shell. The Bible
calls it a tent. This body is not the real you.
This is... just the vehicle you're driving while
you live here on this earth. And when it says
he was gathered to his people, the verb tense
of gathered is immediate. What that tells us
is that when Jacob passed, when his physical
body died, the reunion with his people immediately
happened. That implies that the people that had
died before him still existed, and he was gathered
together with them. This is speaking of Isaac
and Abraham and the others. You see, even though
his body was buried sometime after this because
they're going to travel back to the land of Canaan,
the moment Jacob's eyes closed and he physically
passed here on this earth, he was in the presence
of those who had gone before him. This is a big
part of our theology of death as Christians.
When people talk about, will I see my loved ones?
Will I see my spouse who passed before me? Will
I see my children who have passed before me?
Will I see this person or that person? If they
knew the Lord, yes, you will. Because you will
be gathered to your people. And your people is
the family of Christ. Spiritual understanding
tells us that death is not the end, that our
lives go far beyond, and the Bible supports this,
right? In Matthew chapter 22 verse 32, Jesus
was talking to the Sadducees. The Sadducees were
some Jewish religious leaders that denied that
there would be a resurrection. They denied the
idea of this afterlife. And when Jesus was talking
to them, he quotes Moses from Exodus chapter
3. And he says to them, I am the God of Abraham
and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And
this was a difficult thing for them because what
he didn't say is, I was the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. In Jesus' time, he says, I am currently,
present tense, implying that Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob still lived and still existed. The
implication was that they're still alive with
God as Jesus was speaking to those Sadducees.
This is a reality. You see, gathered to his people,
when it says Jacob was gathered to his people,
it anticipates this truth that Jesus later declared,
that God's people continue to live with him beyond
physical death. And this is what we call eternal
life. This is what we call heaven. This is what
we call the afterlife. And so here, even in the
Old Testament, amongst God's people, there was
a growing awareness that physical death was not
the ultimate end. And that's what we have. recorded
here he didn't die he was gathered to his people
and so chapter 50 verse 1 we pick it up again
here it says then joseph leaning over his father's
face wept and kissed him he commanded his servants
who were physicians to embalm his father and
so they embalmed israel they took 40 days to
complete this for embalming takes that long and
the egyptians mourned for him 70 days So we don't
really pick it up here in the English nuance,
but in the original language, the implication
is that this morning was great. It was deep.
It was heavy, right? Middle Eastern people, people
from this area of the world, express emotion
very, very overtly and loudly. I mean, so much
so that when we get to the New Testament, we
see that there were people whose full -time job
was to come cry at funerals, right? Professional
mourners who were hired to do this. Can you imagine
having that job? Right? I've met some of you.
You would be great at that job. You know, somebody
goes, today, you just start crying, right? You're
just so empathetic, right? We've had people do
announcements over the years, and sometimes there
was just people that did announcements here at
Hosanna that were so empathetic that every single
Sunday they would do announcements, and they're
crying. Junior high camp is coming. It's like,
wow, that's a gift to be that empathetic. I would
not do this job well. They would hire me, and
I'd come up, and I'm like, well, they're dead.
You're fired. Get out of here, right? But emotion,
right, in the culture was just very loud and
very deep. And so, you know, Joseph, he's broken
over his father being dead. And these details
it gives us here about him being embalmed and
how long they mourned, it shows us how... greatly
Joseph and his family were respected in Egypt
by this time. Because remember, Joseph is still
number two. He's the prime minister of this nation.
And then all these shepherd people came 17 years
prior to the land, and shepherds were despised
by Egyptians because Their nation had once been
conquered by shepherd kings, and so they didn't
like shepherds. They considered them abominations
and filthy and dirty people. And yet here we
are, 17 years later, we're seeing this great
respect being showed to Jacob as he's being buried.
Embalming was reserved for the pharaohs and the
rich and the powerful, right? And then 70 days
of mourning, specifically, that detail there
tells us How respected he was because Pharaohs,
when a Pharaoh would die, the nation would mourn
for him a few days longer than this. I can't
remember the exact number. So they mourned for
Jacob just a handful of days short of how long
they would mourn for a Pharaoh who passed away
in the land. So it tells us that, you know, God's
people. These shepherds at this point in the
culture and the timeline were greatly respected
in Egypt, and rightfully so because God had worked
through Joseph to enact so much good there in
that country. But the bigger thing it tells us,
and I've done a handful of funerals recently,
and one of the things God has just put on my
heart and I've been able to share is, you know,
grief is not incompatible with our faith. And
some people think, oh, you know, they're going
to heaven. We shouldn't be sad. It should just
be a big party. And, you know, and yeah, we call,
you know, a memorial service for a believer a
celebration of life, right? Because they have
moved on. But that doesn't mean you can't grieve.
I mean, hurt is hurt, right? Losing someone you
love hurts. And it is okay to grieve. It's not
okay to remain there forever. There's a time
for grieving, and then there's a time for moving
on with life, but grief is not incompatible with
our faith. Even those who trust God and know
the end and have the hope of heaven and the promise,
they mourn when they lose someone they love,
and that's okay to do. So, verse four, when the
days of mourning were over, Joseph said to Pharaoh's
household, if I have found favor with you, please
tell Pharaoh that my father made me take an oath,
saying I'm about to die. You must bury me there
in the tomb that I made for myself in the land
of Canaan. Now let me go and bury my father,
then I will return. So Pharaoh said, go and bury
your father in keeping with your oath. Now, if
you've been following the story of Genesis, you
might wonder why the number two man in the entire
country, the confidant and the advisor of Pharaoh,
didn't go to Pharaoh directly to say, hey boss.
I'd like to go to the land of Canaan to bury
my dad. And there's a couple possibilities for
that. One, in ancient cultures, people were often
restricted from being in the presence of royalty
while they were grieving. When you were grieving,
you were very often disheveled. You can imagine
Joseph with all his Egyptian garb, his mascara
was running because he'd been crying. You didn't
look presentable. And so in ancient cultures,
if you were in a time of mourning, you were not
allowed to come into the presence of royalty.
And so that might be the reason why he's asking
the servants. But either way, Joseph is trying
to follow protocol, and I believe he's basically
trying to reassure Pharaoh that, I'm coming back,
right? Because it's gonna be not just Joseph
and his brothers, it's gonna be the entire family.
It's gonna be all of these Hebrew people leaving
the land of Egypt, these people who Egypt had
come to know as a great blessing to our country,
and they're all leaving. Are they moving back
to Canaan, right? And so Joseph just wants to
make sure that Pharaoh knows he's coming back.
And so verse seven, it says, then Joseph went
to bury his father. But look who went along,
all of Pharaoh's servants. The elders of his
household and all the elders of the land of Egypt
went with him, along with all of Joseph's family,
his brothers and his father's family. That's
a lot of people. What it's telling us is the
entire government of Egypt, all of the rulers
and elders and people in charge, went to honor
this man, Jacob. And why are they honoring Jacob?
Because of the witness of his son, Joseph. and
what he had done in this place. And so it says,
only their dependents, their flocks, and their
herds were left in the land of Goshen. Horses
and chariots went up with them. It was a very
impressive procession. When they reached the
threshing floor of Atad, which is across the
Jordan, they lamented and wept loudly. And Joseph
mourned seven days for his father. When the Canaanite
inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the
threshing floor of Atad, they said, this is a
solemn mourning on the part of the Egyptians.
Therefore the place is named Abel Mizraim. It
is across the Jordan. So Jacob's sons did for
him what he commanded them. They carried him
to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave
at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham
had purchased as burial property from Ephron
the Hethite. After Joseph buried his father,
he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all
who had gone with him to bury his father. It's
a very impressive funeral procession. tons and
tons of people. It was basically a royal funeral
procession, very akin to what you would see if
Pharaoh himself died, right? Massive respect.
This is all being built up as a contrast of what
we're going to see 400 years later when we get
to the book of Exodus, right? When a new Pharaoh
arose who forgets about Jacob and Joseph and
forgets and starts to oppress the people. It's
such a dramatic shift that takes place. But here
is just this huge procession. It tells us they
stop at this threshing floor of Atad. The mourning
is so intense that all the Canaanites there name
the place Abel Mizraim. That means mourning of
the Egyptians, right? The wailing, the crying,
the grieving was so loud and so impressive in
that sense. that the place became known as, dang,
the Egyptians cry loud, right? That's how big
it was, right? But it was a reminder of not just
the mourning, but it would bring to mind all
of who it was about and all of this type of stuff.
And so his body was placed there in that cave.
And again, this burial site was a place that
testified to faith in God's promises. Abraham
bought this cave because he said, God's going
to give us this land and that's where I'm going
to be buried. Then Isaac was like, God promised
us this land, that's where I'm going to be buried.
Jacob said, God promised us that land, that's
where I'm going to be buried. And so it was a
testament of faith. It was a symbol of faith.
It was for generation after generation to see
that God's promises are still unfolding. God's
promises are still coming to pass. Just because
it didn't happen in Abraham's time or Isaac's
time or Jacob's time doesn't mean they're null
and void. And so verse 15, when Joseph's brothers
saw that their father was dead, they said to
one another, if Joseph is holding a grudge against
us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering
we caused him. So they sent this message to Joseph.
Before he died, your father gave a command. Say
this to Joseph, please forgive your brother's
transgression and their sin, the suffering they
caused you. Therefore, please forgive the transgression
of the servants of the God of your father. This
is them referring to themselves in this very
respectful way. Then it says, Joseph wept when
their message came to him. His brothers also
came to him, bowed down before him and said,
we are your slaves. Why do you think Joseph wept?
It's because he had forgiven them years earlier.
Years earlier, right? Yet they still feared him.
Their guilt still haunted them, and so they're
worried, you know? Well, now that dad's gone,
we got it coming to us, right? You know, the
only reason Joseph hasn't taken us out was because,
you know, dad was alive, and so they tell him,
hey, dad said this. Now, do we know if dad really
said that or not? We don't have it recorded that
dad said that. But it kind of is in line with
their character to believe that they made up
this message. Hey, dad said this before you left,
right? We see that type of stuff happen today
when mom or dad passes away. And even though
there's a will or whatnot, then it's like, well,
no, you know, dad said this before he passed
to me. And, you know, and people get in all these
fights and stuff. And he may have said it. We
don't know. But the point is, is Joseph wept
when he got the message. Because his heart was
broken that his brothers still didn't trust him.
You think about it. For 17 years, he had cared
for them. gave them the land when they arrived,
he had provided for their families, he had protected
them, all this stuff, and they still feared him,
that he was gonna strike them down for their
wrongdoing, their past wrongdoing. Now, I see
in this a picture of the Lord, and I think it's
a picture for us of the Lord's heart when we
treat him the same way. This is what I mean by
this. You know, God has given us this whole book
called the Bible. to give us a story of how much
he loves us. How much he loves us, right? He
loves you beyond understanding. And he says,
this is how much. I made a plan in the very beginning
to come all the way here to die for every sin
you've ever committed. And I've given you the
whole story of how that developed. And then I
died for you. I literally was tortured for what
you've done wrong, and all you have to do is
believe in me. Just accept what I've done for
you, and you'll be forgiven. You'll be adopted
into my family. You're my child now and forevermore.
And then we come to Christ. We get saved. We're
like, ooh, awesome. And then some of us at some
point in our life will, for some reason, develop
this idea that, oh, no, I sinned. God's mad at
me now. And instead of coming to him the way
he wants us to and saying, God, I messed up,
but I trust your love and I trust your promises
and please forgive me, knowing that he will do
that, we start to fear him like, oh no, he's
going to strike me down. I can't come to church
anymore. I can't open my Bible because it's just
going to blow up in my face. And how do you think
that makes God feel? I think this is a picture
of that right here. I think it breaks his heart.
When we let lies and the devil and other things
cause us to develop this inaccurate view of the
God who loves us so much that, oh no, I sinned
now, he's mad at me. He already died for your
sin. Now he doesn't want you to continue because
it's going to be harmful. He wants you to repent
and confess and come to him. But he's done, I
think, so much to make it so clear that he's
like, just come talk to me. Just come be honest.
I want to forgive you. I want to help you. I
want to change you. I want to grow you. I want
to minister. And yet sometimes we're like, oh,
I can't because I've done something wrong. And
I think it grieves his heart so terribly. And,
you know, from the end of life, you know, so
many people, you know, who... who I've been there
at bedsides, and I've heard stories where, you
know, they've wrestled with this, am I saved,
am I not saved, did God let me, you know, and
then at the end of life, they just, I think it's
a grace of God where there's this revelation
there that he loves me so much, I cannot wait
to be with him, despite things, right? And I
just think every day where we don't let that
penetrate our mind and our heart is a tragedy.
Because we're gonna mess up. We're gonna sin.
We're gonna stumble. We're gonna fall. And the
devil capitalizes on every single one of those
to try to make us the most ineffective we can
be because he knows that we have limited days
on this earth. And we have limited time to grow
in the Lord and to share that with people and
to be used of him to bless and to bring others
to know him. And the devil is like, if I could
just get you to stop for one day. That's one
day where you didn't do anything for the kingdom.
And so his tears, the sadness that he has, that
the relationship hasn't fully healed, you know.
But then in verse 19, he goes on and says, Joseph
said to them, don't be afraid. That's how we
know they were afraid. He says, am I in the place
of God? You planned evil against me. But God
planned it for good to bring about the present
result, the survival of many people. Therefore,
don't be afraid. I will take care of you and
your children. And he comforted them and spoke
kindly to them. And his answer shows just amazing
humility. And it shows a deep understanding of
forgiveness. Like, guys, you don't need to be
afraid of me. And it's not based upon, because
look what I've done for you. What he says is
he goes, am I in the place of God? You don't
have to be afraid of me because I'm not the judge.
God is the judge. I think as believers we need
to remember that, right? We get caught up sometimes
in wanting to be the judge. We can get caught
up at times in wanting to be the one to point
the finger and, you know, and. And we'll use
verses like, well, you know, it says that you'll
know them by their fruits. And so, and then James,
you know, James says, well, you know, you say
you have faith without works. I'll show you my
faith by my works. And so we take those verses
and we go, I don't see works and I don't see
this. And we want to, you know what? I think
God put those verses in the Bible for us. You
know why God put in James? You say you have faith
without works, I'll show you my faith by my works.
It's not so that you can go around and be the
judge of other people. It's so that you will
evaluate yourself consistently and regularly
and go, am I bearing fruit? I call myself a Christian,
but if I'm not bearing fruit, hmm, but that's
for you to look inward. You will know them by
your fruits. Is that so we could go around and
say, you don't have any, you don't have any?
No, it's so that you could look inside. You go,
am I bearing fruit for the kingdom? God is the
judge. God is the judge. You see, I had a friend
once, and I've told this story before. He was
a business partner of mine. We were good friends.
We worked together. And one day, we were sitting
in my office, and we were talking about the gospel.
And he tells me, he goes, oh, yeah, I'm a Christian.
And I laughed. And I didn't just chuckle laugh.
I belly laughed. It struck me as the funniest
thing I've ever heard in my life. Now, I don't
recommend this as a means of evangelism, okay?
But I laughed hard. Tears in my eyes. And he
just sat there. And I was like, I was just overcome
with how silly it was because I knew how he lived,
right? I knew his life. I knew what he did. And,
you know, yeah, sure. You know, if I was to evaluate,
there's no fruit there. But it just struck me
as funny. And I didn't laugh on purpose, but
I just was like, oh, my gosh, this is. And in
hindsight, he told me, you know, sometime later,
he goes, I was so offended. He goes, but then
I thought. if the thought of me confessing to
be a Christian is this funny to him, maybe I
should look at my life. And he says, that was
a moment when his life changed. I laughed him
into the kingdom. Because he, at that point,
said, do I really know the Lord? And was like,
yeah, I do believe in God. I need to start living
like it. My life needs to be one of, not perfection,
but one of obedience and all that. And, you know,
to this day, he just has this wonderfully just
radical relationship with God. But, you know,
we're not the judge. Sure, we're called to sharpen
one another and hold one another accountable.
But, you know, when someone tells me, like, oh,
I'm a Christian, I try and treat them as a Christian.
I don't have the place to go, no, you're not,
because I don't know their heart. But if I know
that they have, like, a... a life that doesn't
reflect anything, and they go, well, I'm a believer,
then I'm gonna talk to them like a believer.
Oh, brother, cool. Hey, man, you wanna study
this word together? Oh, hey, brother, we're supposed
to sharpen one another, and yeah, you kinda said
that the other day, and I just wanna encourage
you, that's not how we're supposed to live, brother.
And hey, this is what the Lord says, brother.
And eventually, they're either gonna say, stop
calling me that, because I'm not, or... They
might get their act together. But it's not me
judging them. I'm not saying you are going to
hell. Because I don't have that place. We don't
have that place, right? God's role is to be judged.
Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Our job is
to be vessels of grace and blessing and mercy.
And yeah, we challenge one another, but never
to judge. Never to condemn. And it's this mindset
that I believe is what allowed Joseph to be free
to forgive them. You know, he says this line
we've talked about a few times, right? You planned
evil against me. God planned it for good to bring
about the present results. This is forgiveness.
He doesn't deny what they did, right? Sometimes
we might struggle with forgiveness because we
think forgiveness means saying what they did
is okay. No. He says you planned evil. What you
did was wicked. What you did was wrong. Now,
he doesn't spend 35 minutes talking about how
wrong it was. But forgiveness doesn't mean ignoring
or saying what the wicked evil thing was not
evil and wicked. That's not what forgiveness
is. But forgiveness is saying, but I'm going
to choose to see the bigger reality, God's sovereignty.
Right? He uses the word planned for them and
planned for God. Those are important words there.
They imply something that's very difficult for
us to deal with. They planned evil. They thought
in their mind, we hate our brother. We're going
to kill him. Throw him in the pit. Let him starve
to death. No, we can't do that. Pull him out
of the pit. Sell him into slavery. They planned
it. And it was hurtful and it was harmful and
it was difficult. But what does Joseph say here?
But God planned it for good. What that means,
and I want to be very delicate in saying this,
that in God's sovereignty, God went, yes, I'm
planning for the brothers to hate him, and I'm
planning for the brothers to throw them into
the pit. It's going to hurt. I know it's going
to hurt, but I'm planning for them to pull him
out. I'm planning for them to sell him into slavery.
I'm planning for him to get sold into Potiphar's
house. I'm planning for Potiphar's wife to just
be a dirty girl and try and go after him. And
I'm planning for him to get falsely accused.
And I'm planning for him to get thrown into jail.
Right? Now, if you knew God was planning this,
you'd be like, okay, Lord, how long am I going
to be in jail? It's going to be a long time,
Joseph. But there's going to be a guy, a cupbearer.
And then, psych, you're going to stay for a little
bit longer. It says God planned these things.
Here's the difficulty. Many of us have had evil
happen in our lives. Evil happened to us. Bad
things, horrible things. And those things are
bad, and they're horrible, and they're evil,
and they're wicked, and they're terrible. But
if we believe God is sovereign, we can't only
apply that to when the good things happen. If
God is sovereign, that means he's sovereign above
everything. Now, again, I say this very, very
delicately. But there is a place in maturity
and spiritual growth and stuff to be able to
look at something that happened to you and go,
if I believe God is sovereign, there is a reason
that happened to me. Now, do I wish it didn't
happen? Of course. Was it terrible? Yes. Did
it hurt? Yes. But it happened. And what was God's
purpose on the other side of that? That doesn't
make it less evil. That doesn't mean, it doesn't
mean any of that. But there's a place of growth
and maturity in the Lord where we come to a place
of saying, God allowed that to happen. God planned
for that to happen because of this good on the
other side that was greater than anything we
could imagine. This mindset has allowed Joseph
to be free to forgive and to let it go and to
move on. You see, forgiveness isn't I forgive
you but I still hold it against you. That's not
forgiveness. Forgiveness is I forgive you and
I release you of responsibility to me. You did
it and it was bad and it was horrible. But I'm
choosing to see on this side of it that God did
something good out of it or will do something
good out of it. It's the same mindset that allows
us to forgive in that way. You see, we can't
see the big picture as God does. We simply don't
have that ability. And so we have to be able
to get to the place of considering in every circumstance,
in every circumstance, I don't know why this
happened to me. And I can't even imagine a good
or a positive reason. But we can stand in absolute
confidence that God does know. And God does know
and allowed. and even planned for some things
to happen to us, and if he is sovereign, and
we believe that, and this thing happened to us,
then that means he allowed it for a reason. And
if the reason is his reason, it's a good reason
because he's a good God. No matter what. That
is where peace is found. That is where you find
peace. A peace, the Bible says, that surpasses
all understanding. How can you be at peace when
that happened to you? God. I believe him. I trust
him. Am I saying that's easy to do? No. Am I
saying that? I'm not saying any of that, but
I am saying that there's a peace that comes on
the other side of tragedy and wickedness and
evil. That allows us to say, I forgive and I'm
at peace because God is sovereign. You know,
the New Testament speaks of the same truth. It
says in Romans 8 .28, we know that all things
work together for the good of those who love
God, who are called according to his purpose.
Do you know what all things means? All things.
Forgiveness flows from trusting God to handle
justice. Our task is to let the Spirit move through
us in grace and mercy and forgiveness. And pray
for that if you struggle with that. Verse 22.
Joseph and his father's family remained in Egypt.
Joseph lived 110 years and he saw Ephraim's sons
to the third generation. The sons of Manasseh's
son, Makir, were recognized by Joseph. So here
we are at the end of Joseph's life. Joseph lived
to be 110 years. And notice what God's word emphasizes
here in the summary of the tail end of his life.
It's not his political achievements. It's not
the fact that he was prime minister of the most
powerful nation in the world. It's not that he
came up with these civic plans and saved millions
of lives, right? What is emphasized at the end
of his life? It's Joseph holding his great grandkids
on his knees, hugging them and loving them. True
success is not defined by career achievements.
True success is not defined by your bank account
or your cars or your houses. I mean, none of
that stuff is inherently bad, but I believe true
success is defined by your spiritual legacy within
your family. God created a family. God created
mankind to be the vessel. Through which he is
known and then that faith is passed down to generation
after generation after generation after generation.
This is what we see taking place from Abraham
to Isaac to Jacob, now to Joseph. This is what
we see through here. It's this legacy of faith.
It's this legacy of who God is. It's this legacy
of what he's about and why we are here. And that's
what it's all about. He saw Ephraim's sons to
the third day. Leaving behind the legacy in your
family, your kids, your friends, whoever it may
be, that's the most important thing, a legacy
of faith, a legacy of God, a legacy of who he
is, what he wants from us, the free gift of salvation.
It's passing that on and passing that on and
passing that on. And so verse 24, Joseph said
to his brothers, I'm about to die. But God will
certainly come to your aid and bring you up from
this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. So Joseph made the sons of
Israel's taken oath. When God comes to your aid,
you are to carry my bones up from here. Joseph
died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and
placed him in a coffin in Egypt. And with those
words, we end the book of Genesis. Right? The
final words here of Joseph's life are centered
on God's promise. God's promise, right? He's
going to bring you to this land. Jacob didn't
see it. Joseph didn't see it. But Joseph believed
it. Why? Because his dad passed that on to him.
His dad emphasized that. He reminded the people
of Israel, like as Joseph is passing, people
of Israel, which there are probably a number
of them at this point. Egypt is not your home.
It just happens to be where you live right now.
And that is the message for us and the message
we pass on. Earth is not our home. It just happens
to be where we live right now. That's the message
to pass on to your kids and every generation
after. Joseph believed God would one day bring
Israel out of Egypt. And this was a faith he
inherited from his father. And it was a faith
that was passed to him. And now he's passing
on and so on and so forth. And then, of course,
centuries later, the promise is fulfilled, right?
In Exodus chapter 13, verse 19, it says, Moses
took the bones of Joseph with him. because Joseph
had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath,
saying, God will certainly come to your aid,
then you must take my bones with you from this
place. So for hundreds of years, the coffin of
Joseph set as a silent testimony of faith in
God and his promises. Some may have looked at
it and say, oh, death, sad times. But what it
was meant to be, and I believe what the children
of Israel looked at it as, was the promise. The
promise he left with us. You see, Genesis ends
with a coffin, but it is not hopelessness. It
is not, and then you die. So live however you
want because it doesn't matter. No. It ends with
a coffin, but it's not a hopeless ending because
that coffin pointed towards the future. It pointed
towards the fact that God's promises were still
unfolding. It pointed towards the fact that the
story was not over. And of course, as we're heading
into Easter, right? His coffin is pointing towards
the tomb. The tomb that is empty because Jesus
defeated death. He defeated sin. He is alive
forevermore. He's sitting at the right hand of
God. And all those people who have believed in
him over the centuries, They're with the Lord.
The Bible tells us to be absent from the body,
to be present with him. And they're waiting for
you. I don't know if they're waiting for you,
but they're there. They're like, I'm in the presence
of Jesus. I'll see you when you get here. But
the idea is that this life is going to end. And
so what does this last chapter of Genesis teach
us? A few things. One, God's promises extend
far beyond our lifetime. Two, that God is sovereign
even over the evil and the wickedness that happens.
True success, I believe, should be measured by
our spiritual legacy and nothing more. And then
God's people, we live with hope beyond death.
And that hope is found in the ultimate offspring
of Abraham, right? The lion of the tribe of Judah,
Jesus Christ, God the Son, the one whose life...
Joseph's life pointed towards, as we call Joseph,
a type of Christ in the Old Testament. That so
much of his life was parallel to what happened
to Jesus Christ, right? Joseph, he was one who
suffered at the hands of men, and yet his suffering
led to salvation for many people. And Jesus himself
suffered at the hands of men, and yet his suffering
saved countless. What humans meant for evil by
nailing Jesus to the cross, what they planned,
right? They came up with an idea. We are going
to nail him to the cross and crucify him publicly
so that everybody would know, don't do what he
did. Don't try and, you know, upset the power
of the Pharisees and all that. They planned it.
But on the backside, God said, no, no, no, I
planned it far before you guys even existed.
That he would die exactly that way. In fact,
I have prophecy that speaks of it in detail.
Because as you thought it was going to be something
to squash his message, all it did was spread
it far and wide. And so we leave the study of
this blessed book of Genesis with a couple questions.
And one is to ask yourself, what will your life
leave behind? What will your life leave behind?
Joseph's life left behind a few things here.
One, faith in God's promises. Hey guys, when
you leave, not if you leave, when you leave,
take my bones with you. Hope in God's future.
Joseph didn't say it might happen. He was like,
it's gonna happen, so make sure you take my bones
with you. And then grace and forgiveness towards
those who wronged him. They didn't necessarily
receive it in full, but he just like... I just
forgive my brothers. But I believe the final
most important question that Genesis presses
on all of us is are you ready to die? Wow, isn't
that a great question, right? Are you ready to
die? Hebrews 9 .7 says, just as it is appointed
for people to die once, and after this, the judgment.
You see, when your time of death comes, and your
little eulogy or whatever records that, and Nathan
lived to be this many years old, what is it going
to say? What is going to be the summary? Is it
going to be like, and wow, look at his bank account,
how impressive? Because it's not. Look at his
car, how impressive. It's a 2012 Ford Escape
and it's dirty. Look at... Right? None of that
matters. Except the Lord and what you've done
for Him. And so is that spiritual legacy something
that you're investing in now and working on now
because nobody knows when their day of death
comes. You might think, oh, I've got another,
you know, 80 years ahead of me. Like, I would
like to think I got 200 years ahead of me still,
right? It's not going to happen. I want to live
as long as God would have me on this earth, but
I could drop dead today. And the legacy left
behind is not going to be anything more than
Jesus Christ. It shouldn't be anything more than
Jesus Christ. Do my friends know Jesus? Does
my family know Jesus? Do my grandkids know Jesus?
Do they know who he is and what he's all about
and how much he loves them? Because that is the
only thing that matters, and the gospel is the
only thing that offers real hope in this world.
John 3 .16, it says, For God loved the world
in this way. He gave his one and only Son so
that everyone who believes in him will not perish
but have eternal life. And because Christ died
and rose again, death is not the final word for
us as his people. One day the trumpet will sound.
The dead in Christ will rise to dwell in his
holiness forever. And it's only through trusting
in Jesus that we can live and die with hope.
But if you don't know Jesus today, you have no
hope. If you were to die today and you have never
put your faith in Jesus Christ, it says it is
appointed for you once to die and then the judgment.
The judgment for those without Jesus Christ as
their Lord and Savior is going to be a judgment
against all the sin you've committed your entire
life. And a holy and a righteous and a just God
is going to say the penalty due for that is eternal
death. And you might think, oh, I'm just dead.
No, what that means scripturally is eternal separation
from God, suffering in eternity, the penalty
that is due. But through faith in Christ, even
though we know we're sinners, even though we've
broken his law, the hope is that when we die,
We close our eyes and then we're gathered with
our people and we open our eyes as Jesus is standing
right there and he says, hey, well done, good
and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your
Lord. And you're like, what? What's going on?
Hey, that's Peter. You know, well, that's Paul.
And then, hey, I remember them. That was my spouse
on earth. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad to see you.
And my friends and whoever it may be. And then
it's eternal love and joy and peace and perfection.
Not because you were a good person, but because
Jesus bled and died to pay the price for your
sin. That is what this book of beginnings points
us towards. That is where we're going as we continue
through the scripture. To see this story unfold
through his people, the promise of a savior for
the whole world. That all who would call upon
the name of the Lord would have the opportunity
to be saved. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we love
you. We're so grateful, God, for your word. We're
so grateful for this study of the book of Genesis,
Lord. That God, as it is a book of beginnings,
it really is all about our end here on earth.
Because, Lord, we learn that in the beginning
you created us not to die, but to dwell in eternal
fellowship with you, our creator. But then, Lord,
because we disobeyed, death entered the world.
Physical death and a spiritual death as we were
separated from you, our creator. And so this
whole book, Lord, is about us living in light
of the fact that physical death comes for every
single one of us, Lord. But what happens after?
The solution created by you is available to all
of us. That, Lord, we would be able to live and
die with hope. That, Lord, instead of our story
being like, and they died, our story would say,
and they were gathered to their people. Lord,
that the legacy that our life led behind was
one of spiritual truth and living. In a way that's
striving to know God more and more every single
day. Not to live as perfect people, because we're
not, but to live as people who walk in grace.
Who walk in hope and holiness and love. People
who say, I'm going to judge. That is God's job.
But that we would be confident in the truth.
That we would live in the truth. Lord, that we
would share the truth. And so, God, we thank
you, Lord. And I pray for anyone in this room
today or watching online that doesn't know you.
Lord, if you've spoken to them today and they
realize today they need you, they know that tomorrow
is not guaranteed. They know the reality, Lord,
that this could be the last day of life here
on this earth, God. And you have spoken to them
about the most important thing to know before
you die is where you're going. That, Lord, is
your Holy Spirit has convicted their heart of
their sin, convicted them of how far they've
fallen of the righteousness that we see in you,
Jesus, and has convicted them of a judgment that
is coming upon them. That, Lord, today they would
cry out to you and say, God, I believe you. Jesus,
I believe in you. I believe in what you did for
me. Please forgive me. Please save me. Please
change my life. Because Lord, I know I'll die
one day. And I don't know when that day is coming.
But God, I do want to know that when that day
comes, I'll be with you. Thank you for loving
me, Lord, in Jesus' name. Father, for the rest
of us, God, just let us live lives where, Lord,
in the end, we'd be able to look back, seeing
your grace, not our failures, not our problems,
not our issues, but seeing your grace and being
ready to share that blessing forward of who you
are and what you want. And God, may we do this
until you come back. We love you and we thank
you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well,
God bless you guys. Let's worship.