Promises Kept

Well, please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 45.

Genesis 45 · chapter mention

! And our passage this morning is chapter 45, verse 16, going all the way through 47, verse 31.

Isaiah 45:16

And it's our normal practice that we have you stand for the scripture reading before the sermon.

But as we did last week, I'm going to spare you that this week because it's about 80-something verses long.

But we will read the scripture portions during the sermon.

So we'll cover it that way this week.

Would you pray with me once more for the preaching of the word as we prepare to hear it?

Lord, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

God, we pray, would you bless the preaching of your word?

Would you empower it by your spirit?

Would you ready our hearts to receive it?

May it land on fertile soil in our hearts this morning.

Open our ears to hear the truth.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

I found an interesting website this week.

It's polameter.org.

I've never visited that site before.

And my disclaimer is I make no claims whatsoever as to the factuality of this website.

Okay?

So before the emails come, that's my disclaimer.

I'm just here to tell you what the site aims to do.

Apparently, it is, quote, an independent initiative developed by political scientists that tracks whether or not politicians keep the promises that they make.

This particular website tracks Canadian politics.

But I did a quick search and found several others that track American politics as well.

And so if you have nothing else to do this week, you can do a quick Google search.

And pretty quickly, you can find a Joe Biden promise tracker for his time in office.

You can find a Donald Trump promise tracker for his first term as well as an active one for his ongoing current term.

And it's interesting for me as I looked on these different websites to see all the many promises made.

And to see that across the board, whether they are Democrat or Republican or anywhere in between, whether they are American or Canadian,

for as different as these politicians are, they all shared one thing in common.

You know what it is?

Not a single one of them has perfectly kept all of their promises.

The first guy on the Canadian site, as of the time of my research this week, had been in office for 372 days.

Apparently, he has made about 440 distinct promises that his website is tracking.

62% of them are not yet rated, meaning in over a year's time, he has not yet done anything on those promises.

26% are in progress.

That's a good thing.

6% have been kept.

3% are partially kept.

And another 3% are broken promises.

I think we would agree that's not all that encouraging, is it?

But the sad truth is, and he's actually, comparatively speaking, he's actually doing pretty good.

I hope that it's not news to you this morning that sometimes people, sometimes politicians,

sometimes you and I, make promises that we wind up not keeping.

And it all makes me very thankful, praise God, that our God is not at all like this.

Now we've seen over and over and over again in the book of Genesis that our God is a promise-making God.

We saw all the way back in the Garden of Eden, Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

He promised that there would be a coming seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent.

And then we saw in Genesis chapter 12, God makes great promises to Abraham.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

He says,

Our God is a promise-making God.

But praise God, not only this, we've also seen our God is a promise-keeping God.

The Christian confidence is that our God ensures that 100% of his promises are either kept or are in progress.

Our God is a promise-keeping God.

You know, it's vital for us as God's people to remember this because, as you know,

life on this side of the Garden of Eden, life in a fallen world, is not easy.

And it's tempting for us in the constant challenges that we face here in a sin-cursed world.

We're tempted often to doubt the faithfulness of God to his promises.

The good news of our passage this morning, we're reminded yet again that no matter the obstacle,

our God keeps his promises.

That's the big idea for us this morning.

Our God is a promise-keeping God.

And so let's take a look at our passage this morning.

And what we'll see is three truths to remember about God's promises.

This is our outline this morning.

If you're a note-taker, that might help you to follow along.

I realize it's a lengthy passage.

We're going to see three truths to remember about God's promises.

The first, first we see God's promises often seem to be threatened.

God's promises often seem to be threatened.

Look there with me starting in chapter 45, verse 15.

Verses 15 through 28 set the stage here for our passage.

It says,

When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, Joseph's brothers have come, it pleased Pharaoh

and his servants.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph,

Say to your brothers,

Do this, load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your

household and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you

shall eat the fat of the land.

And you, Joseph, are commanded to say,

Do this, take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and

bring your father and come.

Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

The sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh,

and gave them provisions for the journey.

To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred

shekels of silver and five changes of clothes.

And to his father he sent as follows, ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, ten female

donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey.

Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed he said to them, Do not quarrel on

the way.

I love that.

So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob, and

they told him, Joseph is still alive, and he's ruler over all the land of Egypt.

And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them.

But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the

wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

And Israel said, It is enough.

Joseph, my son, is still alive.

I will go and see him before I die.

On one hand, Israel, Jacob, has just received some of the best news imaginable.

His son, Joseph, who he thought was long gone, who he thought was dead, somehow is still alive.

And more than that, somehow, we know how, this is the providential hand of God, somehow,

Joseph is in a position of authority in Egypt, and he's calling Israel and his family to come

into Egypt in the midst of this famine.

It seems undeniable that this is the hand of the Lord.

If the Lord is paving the way for Israel and his family to come into Egypt, that all seems

like great news, but it also presents a bit of a problem, doesn't it?

It presents a challenge here.

Put yourself in Jacob's shoes.

This whole time, we have been journeying, working our way towards the promised land.

But now, God is calling us out?

Now, what does this mean for the promises of God?

Can God's promises survive in Egypt?

Will we be safe there?

What about this promise of multiplication of offspring?

Will we be able to grow and multiply there?

What about the promise of the land of Canaan?

We're leaving Canaan.

How can God's promises survive in Egypt?

Will God be with us there?

And it seems like, yet again, these are threats to the promises of God.

And we've seen this again already in Genesis, haven't we?

We've seen threats of infertility and barrenness to the promise of a coming seed.

We've seen threats of war and conflict.

We've seen threats of family strife.

We've seen threats of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob's own sinfulness that seem to maybe put

the promises of God at risk.

It seems like, once again, there are threats to God's promises coming true.

Now, I wonder if you ever feel that way.

God has made some pretty incredible promises to us in His Word, hasn't He?

He's promised us that any sinner who comes to faith in Christ will be totally forgiven,

washed clean of their sin.

And yet, how do we feel when we look in the mirror and see the depth of our own sinfulness?

It seems like to us, it feels like to us, that each new sin puts God's promises at risk,

like a threat.

We know God's promised us one day that this whole world will be remade, there will be no

sin, there will be no death, there will be no sickness, there will be no pain.

But when we look around at the world that is all around us, the world that we live in,

and we see the depth of wickedness around us, sometimes it just feels like, God, how in

the world will you really keep your promises?

It seems like there are threats to the promises of God.

Of course, we should know better.

There are no threats to His promises.

God is kind here to remind Jacob and to remind us that no obstacle can stand in the way of

His promises.

Look there to chapter 46.

It says, Israel took his journey and all that he had, and he came to Beersheba.

This is sort of a sacred space here in Genesis where God shows up often, and again, that's

exactly what happens here.

It says, Israel offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac, and God spoke to Israel

in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob.

And he said, here I am.

Then he said, I am God, the God of your father.

Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt.

And he gives him four reasons why.

For one, he says, don't be afraid to go down in Egypt because even in Egypt, even there,

I will make you into a great nation.

See, that promise hasn't gone anywhere.

The location is changing.

You're no longer in Canaan.

You're going to be somewhere else.

You're going to be in Egypt.

The location is changing.

But my faithfulness is not changing.

My promises are not changing.

A second reason, God promises his presence in Egypt.

Didn't I promise you I would be with you and I would be your God?

Well, even in Egypt, that promise remains.

He says, I myself will go with you down into Egypt.

I mean, don't you love that?

Because it's often outside of this comfortable place of blessing that we're tempted to doubt God's faithfulness.

But don't you know, Christian, that even there, he is with you.

Even in sickness, he is with you.

Even in trial, he is with you.

He goes down with you into the place of loneliness.

He goes down with you into the place of despair.

Even to the valley of the shadow of death.

The Lord is with you.

God promises his presence with his people, even to the ends of the earth.

Even to Egypt, Jacob.

He says, I will be with you to protect you and to bless you.

But it gets even better.

Third reason here, not to fear.

He says, Jacob, don't be afraid to go into Egypt because I will bring you up again.

I love this.

This journey into Egypt is all part of the sovereign plan of God.

This journey into Egypt is not the end of the story of my people.

I'm not going back on my promise.

I already have plans to bring you up out of Egypt.

He says, you're worried about the beginning of all this when I have the end of it all planned out.

But God has sovereign purpose even in this seemingly dangerous journey.

What is it?

What is it?

We've seen this answer over and over and over again over the past few weeks.

It's all over Joseph's story.

Our God is working all things for his glory and for the good of his people.

All things for his glory and for our good.

And if you want to understand the big broad strokes, the big picture purpose of all things,

even the hardest things, even things that seem to put God's faithfulness to the test,

the big picture purpose of all of it is that in some way,

every single moment of your life, believer,

every single challenge, every single difficulty,

all of it is in some way, it is for his glory.

And all of it in some way is for your good if you are in Christ.

Our sovereign God is bringing Israel into Egypt.

And you keep on reading in the Exodus, we'll see.

Yes, God, our sovereign God will bring them out.

And in so doing, he will get glory over Egypt.

And you, Jacob, you, Israel, will be not just my called people,

you will be my redeemed people.

And you'll get to see my power and my grace and my glory and display

in ways that you couldn't even possibly begin to imagine

if you did not go down into Egypt.

All of this, of course, anticipates the ultimate display of the glory and grace

and redeeming power of God and the cross of Christ.

Don't be afraid to go, Israel.

I have purpose for you there that you cannot even begin to imagine.

I will get glory in Egypt.

Also, fourth reason here.

Fourth reason not to fear.

He says, don't be afraid to go down into Egypt

because I have good things in store for you.

Even there, Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.

If he had even the slightest bit of doubt about the truthfulness of all of this,

could Joseph possibly be alive?

Now that doubt is gone.

God himself says, yes, it's true.

Joseph is there and you will not die before you see him.

And your beloved son himself will lay you to rest.

Church, here in a fallen world, I mean, it's true.

God's promises often seem to be threatened.

Here by famine and here by a call out of Canaan and into Egypt.

But in our lives, by sickness, by financial hardship,

by the constant delay between promise and fulfillment,

by the disruptions of sin in our homes and in our churches,

in our families, in our marriages, in our society.

But we ought to remember that our good God is sovereign

even over what seems to be threats to his promises.

And what these so-called threats often do actually

is provide for us a test of our faith and our obedience to him,

which is what we see in our second point this morning.

Second, our faith in God's promises will be tested.

And the second truth that we ought to know about God's promises

is that for all of God's people,

our faith in his promises will often be tested.

And God's people must respond to his promises

in the obedience of faith.

Jacob hears all of this and now the question is,

well, how is he going to respond?

What's he going to do?

And what we see in verses 5 through 27

is that Israel goes all in in faith.

Look there at chapter 46, verse 5.

It says,

Then Jacob set out from Beersheba,

and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father,

their little ones, their wives,

and the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

They also took their livestock and their goods,

which they had gained in the land of Canaan,

and came into Egypt.

Jacob and all his offspring with him,

his sons and his sons' sons with him,

his daughters and his sons' daughters,

all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

And if you look at the rest of chapter 46,

I will spare you here, okay?

I will not read every name.

But the rest of chapter 46, if you pay attention,

it gives us the names of the descendants of Israel

who came into Egypt.

And if you do pay attention in your own Bible reading,

if you don't just breeze by these names

like we're often tempted to do,

you'll notice that there's an emphasis here in this list

on the number seven.

And I don't want to make too much about that,

because sometimes people will take it a little bit too far

with the numbers,

and it's almost like you need a decoder ring

to understand the Bible,

like there's some secret code.

That's not true.

There's no hidden secret code here.

But Moses, in organizing this,

intentionally draws our attention to the number seven.

It's arranged in this way intentionally,

because as you know,

the number seven is a significant biblical number,

and often it carries with it the idea of completion

and fullness.

You think of the seven days of creation.

That's a complete week.

The work is done.

It's full.

It's perfect.

Well, look at this.

Verse 27 says,

all the persons of the house of Jacob

who came into Egypt were,

how many?

Seventy.

Which, math people, is seven times ten.

Rachel's children are fourteen,

which is twice as much as Bilhah's seven.

Leah's offspring are thirty-three,

which is twice as much as Zilpah's sixteen,

which has nothing to do with seven,

unless you add them together,

and then you get forty-nine,

which my math people can tell me is seven times seven.

It just keeps going and going and going.

And the point is,

I think the point that Moses is trying to make for us

is that the full, complete, total,

perfect number of Israel is going.

He does not leave a single thing back in Canaan.

Jacob is all in.

Church, this is what full obedience looks like.

This is the obedience of faith.

You've probably heard the legend before of Cortez

coming into Mexico with his crew.

And they come, they arrive in unknown territory.

They didn't know what to expect.

They knew that it would be dangerous.

And so the temptation would be, in theory,

to just turn back and hop back on the boats

and to sail back to Cuba if things got difficult.

But what did Cortez do?

He orders his men to burn the boats.

Set them ablaze.

Why?

So that there would be no turning back.

We are all in.

There's no escape hatch here.

But that's exactly what Jacob does.

This isn't an easy call for Jacob.

Again, he's moving out of the promised land into Egypt.

But God has called him to do it.

And what does he do?

He goes all in.

He brings all his offspring,

all his livestock,

all his possessions.

He doesn't hedge his bet.

God has called him to go.

And he goes all in in faith.

This is what the obedience of faith looks like.

If you've trusted in the promises of God,

it's like what we sing in the old hymn.

I have decided to follow Jesus.

No turning back.

No turning back.

Though none go with me,

still I will follow.

No turning back.

The cross before me,

the world behind me,

no turning back.

I'm afraid that

many professing Christians,

maybe some of you in the room this morning,

are hedging your bets.

And they want to claim to believe in God's promises

and maybe in some small way they do,

but something in them is holding them back.

You haven't yet burnt the ships.

They aren't yet all in.

And so when that faith,

if it's genuine faith at all,

when that faith is tested

and when push comes to shove

and when things get difficult,

what happens?

They turn right back to their old ways

and they turn right back

to the pleasures of this world.

They turn right back to emptiness

and they retreat.

Christ,

Jesus says,

you must be all in.

If anyone would come after me,

he says,

let him deny himself,

take up his cross

and follow me.

He says,

whoever loves father or mother more than me

is not worthy of me.

Whoever loves son or daughter more than me

is not worthy of me.

Whoever does not take his cross

and follow me

is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it.

Whoever loses his life for my sake

will find it.

I have a good friend

who just had a send-off celebration yesterday.

I wanted to go,

but I couldn't make it down there.

And he and his wife

and his two young kids

are preparing to move their family

to Azerbaijan.

That's why we've prayed for Azerbaijan

the past two Sundays.

Why in the world would they do that?

Why move your young family

from the safety of Augusta

to go to Azerbaijan?

Why?

Simply put,

they are all in.

They believe God has called them there

and that whether in Augusta

or Azerbaijan,

their God will be with them

and their God will fulfill his purposes

in them and through them.

Christian,

you may be called to Azerbaijan.

That's a possibility.

You may be called to go.

But more likely,

you are all called to be all in

right here where you are.

Are you all in?

Or are you holding something back?

God's promises will seem to be threatened.

Our faith in his promises

will be tested.

But third,

and finally,

third,

we see the good news

that our God

always keeps his promises.

Our God

always keeps

his promises.

We see this here

in the rest of our passage.

And starting in

verse 28,

we get to see

God's faithfulness

to three specific promises.

And we read them

at the beginning here

all the way back

to the promises

he made to Abraham.

For one,

we see

God blesses

his people

even in Egypt.

Didn't God promise

I will bless you?

I will bless you.

Well,

how is that going to happen

in Egypt?

Look there,

starting in verse 28,

chapter 46.

It says,

He had sent Judah

ahead of him

to Joseph

to show the way

before him in Goshen.

And they came

into the land of Goshen.

And then Joseph

prepared his chariot

and went up

to meet Israel,

his father,

in Goshen.

He presented himself

to him

and fell on his neck

and wept on his neck

a good while.

Israel said to Joseph,

Now let me die

since I have seen

your face

and know

that you're still alive.

And Joseph said

to his brothers

and to his father's household,

I will go up

and tell Pharaoh

and will say to him,

My brothers

and my father's household

who were in the land

of Canaan

have come to me

and the men are shepherds

for they have been

keepers of livestock

and they have brought

their flocks

and their herds

and all that they have.

When Pharaoh calls you

and says,

What is your occupation?

You shall say,

Your servants

have been keepers

of livestock

from our youth

even until now

both we

and our fathers

in order that you

may dwell

in the land of Goshen

for every shepherd

is an abomination

to the Egyptians.

So Joseph went in

and told Pharaoh,

My father

and my brothers

with their flocks

and herds

and all that they possess

have come

from the land of Canaan.

They are now

in the land of Goshen

and from among his brothers

he took five men

and presented them

to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh said

to his brothers,

What is your occupation?

And they said to Pharaoh,

Your servants are shepherds

as our fathers were.

They said to Pharaoh,

We have come to sojourn

in the land

for there is no pasture

for your servants' flocks

for the famine is severe

in the land of Canaan.

And now please let your servants

dwell in the land of Goshen.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph,

Your father and your brothers

have come to you.

The land of Egypt

is before you.

Settle your father

and your brothers

in the best of the land.

Let them settle

in the land of Goshen.

And if you know

any able men among them,

and put them in charge

of my livestock.

Why in the world

does Pharaoh respond this way?

Haven't we just seen

shepherds are an abomination

to the Egyptians?

He doesn't know them.

He doesn't owe them anything.

Here's the most powerful man

in the world.

He holds all the cards.

He doesn't have to give them anything.

And yet,

here he is being incredibly generous

to God's people.

Why?

It can only be explained

by the providential work

of the Lord.

The Lord is continuing

to bless his people

even here in Egypt.

He gives them the land of Goshen

up by the Nile.

That's good land.

He says it's the very best.

On top of that,

he gives them jobs.

He puts them in charge

of his livestock.

How do we explain this?

God is fulfilling

his promises.

God is blessing his people

even during a time of famine.

He provides them with food.

He gives them shelter.

He arranges far in advance

how they're going to be cared for.

He sends Joseph ahead of them

to preserve a remnant for them.

Joseph's hard work

during that time,

it earns Pharaoh's favor,

which then spills over

in blessing and favor

towards his people.

All of this,

all of this is God

fulfilling his promise.

He's ensuring

his promises are kept.

And not only this,

we see a second promise kept

starting in verse 7,

chapter 47, verse 7.

God promised that

God's people would also

be a blessing to the nations.

Not only would God bless them,

but through them,

the nations would be blessed.

And again, the question is,

how in the world

is God going to do this

even in Egypt?

Look there to verse 7.

It says,

Then Joseph brought in

Jacob his father

and stood him before Pharaoh.

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

And Pharaoh said to Jacob,

How many are the days

of the years of your life?

And Jacob said to Pharaoh,

The days of the years

of my sojourning

are 130 years.

Few and evil have been

the days of the years

of my life.

And they have not attained

to the days of the years

of the life of my fathers

and the days of their sojourning.

And Jacob blessed Pharaoh

and went out

from the presence of Pharaoh.

And then Joseph settled

his father and his brothers

and gave them a possession

in the land of Egypt,

in the best of the land,

in the land of Ramses,

as Pharaoh had commanded.

And Joseph provided

his father, his brothers,

and all his father's household

with food according

to the number

of their dependents.

Jacob blesses Pharaoh.

This Hebrew abomination,

this shepherd,

comes and extends

a blessing, again,

to the most powerful man

in the world.

It's a picture

of the blessing

that God promised

through his people

to the nations.

Keep reading.

We see that promise

kept even more clearly

with the wisdom

that God gives Joseph.

Verse 13.

It says,

Now there is no food

in all the land,

for the famine

was very severe,

so that the land of Egypt

and the land of Canaan

languished by reason

of the famine.

And Joseph gathered up

all the money

that was found

in the land of Egypt

and in the land of Canaan

in exchange for the grain

that they bought.

And Joseph brought the money

into Pharaoh's house,

and when the money

was all spent

in the land of Egypt

and in the land of Canaan,

all the Egyptians

came to Joseph

and said,

Give us food.

Why should we die

before your eyes?

For our money is gone.

And Joseph answered,

Give your livestock

and I will give you food

in exchange for your livestock

if your money is gone.

So they brought

their livestock to Joseph.

And Joseph gave them food

in exchange for the horses

and the flocks,

the herds,

and the donkeys.

He supplied them with food

in exchange for all

their livestock that year.

And when that year was ended,

they came to him

the following year

and said to him,

We will not hide

from my Lord

that our money

is all spent

and the herds

of livestock

are my Lord's.

There is nothing left

in the sight of my Lord

but our bodies

and our land.

Why should we die

before your eyes,

both we and our land?

Buy us

and our land for food

and we with our land

will be servants

to Pharaoh

and give us seed

that we may live

and not die

and that the land

may not be desolate.

So Joseph

bought all the land

of Egypt

for Pharaoh

for all the Egyptians

sold their fields

because the famine

was severe on them.

The land became Pharaoh's.

As for the people,

he made servants of them

from one end of Egypt

to the other.

Only the land

of the priests

he did not buy

for the priests

had a fixed allowance

from Pharaoh

and lived on the allowance

that Pharaoh gave them.

Therefore,

they did not sell

their land.

Then Joseph said

to the people,

Behold,

I have this day

bought you

and your land

for Pharaoh.

Now here is seed

for you

and you shall sow

the land

and of the harvest

you shall give

a fifth to Pharaoh

and four fifths

shall be your own

as seed for the field

and as food

for yourselves

and your households

and as food

for your little ones.

And they said,

You have saved

our lives.

May it please the Lord.

We will be servants

to Pharaoh.

So Joseph made it

a statute

concerning the land

of Egypt

and it stands

to this day

that Pharaoh

should have the fifth

and the land

of the priests alone

did not become

Pharaoh's.

You see the wisdom

that God's given

Joseph here.

It's an incredibly

shrewd move,

isn't it?

My boys and I

like to play a game

called Settlers of Catan.

Amanda doesn't really

like to play with us

and I'll let you in

on a secret.

The key to winning

that game

is kind of like Monopoly.

The key to winning

that game

is understanding

supply and demand.

You have to have

certain resources

in order to build

and if you don't

have access to wheat,

you can't build

a settlement.

That's just how

the game goes.

And so if you want

to be really strategic

or some would say

really mean,

what you do

is you hoard

all the resources

that other people need.

And I'm telling you now,

they may not like it

and they may never

play with you again,

but eventually

if they want to build,

they will need to come

to you to get

what they need.

And that's exactly

what Joseph does here.

And Joseph,

first he stores up

all the wheat

and then he sells

the wheat.

He gathers up

all the money

when the people

have no money.

Then they come to him,

they offer their livestock

for the food.

Then they have no livestock

so they come

and offer themselves.

They offer their land.

And so in this

one shrewd maneuver,

Joseph has successfully

settled the land of Catan.

All the land of Egypt

was now Pharaoh's.

All the people

are now his servants

with the exception

of the priests.

It is a brilliant,

wise plan.

But do you see

in the same way,

in that same maneuver,

he is blessing

the nations

by the wisdom

God has given him.

He has provided food

for the nations.

That's a blessing.

He's provided

a cash cow

and pep

and forever.

for Pharaoh,

for Egypt.

Perpetuity

is the word

I was looking for.

God is blessing

the nations

through the wisdom

of Joseph.

God's promise

of blessing

to his people

is kept in Egypt.

God's promise

of blessing

through his people

is kept in Egypt.

But what about

God's promise

of multiplication?

One final promise

kept here.

And we see

this promise

of multiplication

kept starting

in verse 27.

It says,

Thus Israel

settled in the land

of Egypt,

in the land

of Goshen,

and they gained

possessions in it

and were fruitful

and multiplied

greatly.

That's Eden language.

And Jacob lived

in the land

of Egypt

17 years.

So the days

of Jacob,

the years

of his life,

were 147 years.

And when the time

drew near

that Israel

must die,

he called his son

Joseph and said

to him,

If now I have

found favor

in your sight,

put your hand

under my thigh

and promise

to deal kindly

and truly with me.

Do not bury me

in Egypt,

but let me lie

with my fathers.

Carry me out

of the land

of Egypt

and bury me

in their burying place.

And he answered,

I will do

as you have said.

And he said,

Swear to me.

And he swore to him.

Then Israel

bowed himself

upon the head

of his bed.

God keeps

his promise

of multiplication

even there

in Egypt.

Hasn't he promised?

Your descendants

will be more numerous

than the stars

in the sky

or the sand

on the shore.

That promise

is not dependent

on location.

Even in Egypt,

God's people

are fruitful

and they multiply.

If you keep

on reading

in Exodus,

and we see

that promise

is not dependent

on leadership.

Joseph dies

and yet,

what do we see?

The people

continue to multiply.

You keep on reading

and you see

it's not dependent

on ease

or safety

of their circumstances.

A new pharaoh

rises up

and he seeks

to destroy

the people of God

and what happens?

They continue

to multiply.

This is just

how it goes.

I mean,

try as hard

as they want.

The powers

of darkness

cannot stop

the people

of God

from multiplying

on the face

of the earth.

Stone Stephen

to death,

Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

And they say,

well,

maybe this will stop

this whole preaching

Christianity thing,

right?

Maybe they'll just

stop talking about Jesus

if we kill one of them.

What happens?

As they're scattered,

they go about

preaching the word.

You cannot stop

the multiplication

of God's people.

Jesus has promised,

I will build my church

and the gates of hell

will not prevail against it.

You cannot stop

the multiplication

of God's people.

Why?

Because God has promised it

and God is faithful

to all His promises.

The kingdom of God

will continue to grow

like a grain

of mustard seed

that grows

to be the greatest tree

in all the earth

or like a little bit

of leaven

that worked

into the dough

leavens the whole lump.

God's kingdom

through God's people,

the church,

will continue

to multiply

even in Egypt,

even in exile,

even here

outside of Eden.

Why?

Because God

has promised us

this in His word.

And our God

keeps all

His promises.

Church,

Jacob saw

the faithfulness

of God

firsthand

and as he comes

to the end

of his life,

what a powerful reminder

this would have been

for him

of the faithfulness

of his promise

keeping God.

But church,

I hope you realize

we have

an even greater display

of the faithfulness

of God

than this.

ultimately,

all the promises

of God

are kept

for us

in Christ.

Where do we look

to know for certain

that our God

will keep His promises?

Where do we look

when His promises

seem to be threatened

by the challenges

of life?

We look

to His faithfulness

in Christ Jesus.

Hasn't He showed us

at the cross of Christ?

that even

in what seems

to be the darkest

and most impossible

moment,

that He is at work

for His glory

and our good?

It is

to Christ

to whom

we must come

in faith

burning all

the ships

behind us,

going in full

faith,

trusting that He

is worthy

of our full

obedience.

It is Christ

Jesus

who is

the promised

blessing

to the people

of God

and through

the people

of God

to the world.

It is Christ

Jesus

who is the true

and better

Joseph

who was betrayed

and left for dead

yet in God's

sovereign purpose

is now the risen

and exalted

ruler of the nations

who is alone

the wise

King of Kings

to whom

all nations

will come

and bow the knee

and the one

to whom

we must come

with an empty

open hand

if we are

to live.

And it is

the very body

of Christ

that continues

to grow

and multiply

as the word

of Christ

the gospel

is proclaimed

in every corner

of the earth.

Church

we look

to the gospel

of Christ

and see

the faithfulness

of our God

on full display.

Sometime

soon

you may already

be there now

God's promises

will seem

to be threatened

in your life.

Your faith

in his promises

will be tested.

Church

would you look

to Christ

and remember

our God

is a promise

keeping God.

He will

accomplish

all

that he's promised.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Father

we thank you

for that good news

that you are

a faithful God

and we confess

that we're often

tempted

to disbelieve

that because

of the trials

that we face

and because

of the

difficulty

of life

here outside

of Eden

but God

we look

to the cross

and we're

reminded

that you

are a good

sovereign

holy

faithful God

who loves

sinners like us

and will

accomplish

all that you've

purposed in us.

We praise you

for this

in Jesus name.

Amen.

Thank you.