Genesis 50

A story from Genesis 37 to 50.

Peter Jackson had to do that with the movies is because Tolkien had written this beautiful

story with so many storylines and he was weaving them back together at the end of the book

in such a way that you would have just left all these storylines hanging if he hadn't

had seven endings in this movie.

I feel a little bit like that about Genesis 50.

Genesis 50, we're going to pick up storylines that the writer of Genesis has been weaving

and sort of laying out throughout the book.

And in fact, as we will see later, it points us even to the greater weaving work of God

as he weaves together his work in this world.

And so that's what we're going to be looking at this morning.

And you know, one of the things we haven't talked about very much as we've thought about

this Genesis series, but I want to point out is that as I understand it, the context of

the writing of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, it was as Moses was leading

the people to the brink of the promised land, as they were wandering through the wilderness

for 40 years, as they were waiting and slowly approaching this promised land that God had

said they would take.

God, through Moses, was recording what he had done up to that point in the history of

his people.

Think about this for a minute.

They're standing on the brink of entering into a land that is full of people, full of other

tribes.

They're entering into a land where they have never lived and they're going to claim it as

their own.

Perhaps they were filled with fear.

Perhaps their minds were captured by this question.

Will God be good to us as we go across the Jordan?

I wonder if that's a question that we all ask.

Different places, different times in our lives we ask, is God really going to be good to us?

Why do we ask it?

Well, it's not hard.

Open the page on CNN and what will you see?

Well, there's racism in Ferguson.

There's Ebola devastating West Africa.

There's civil wars in various countries around the world and so on and so forth.

We live in a world where there's lots of suffering and pain.

But my guess is that that's not the most powerful argument for most of you.

Probably for most of you as it is for me as well.

It's that our experience, our own personal story has moments of trial, moments of pain, moments

of injustice, moments of tragedy and disappointment.

And even if you have lived one of those blessed lives where you feel like, no, I haven't really seen that.

Even then, I wonder if you live with an insecurity.

How long will it last?

Will it continue forever?

You see, the challenge that we have is that our experience doesn't always seem to match with our theology.

God says that He is good and we want to believe Him.

But then we look at our world and we look at our own lives and we wonder.

We wonder why it's so hard and where is God's goodness in all of that.

And you know, without diving into the whole philosophy of it, I'll refer you to great books if you want after the service to delve into it.

We can resolve it one way by denying that God's good.

We can just say God's sovereign but He doesn't care very much.

He doesn't care about the details of your life.

We could resolve it by saying that God is good but not sovereign.

He's like a great-grandfather who's going to hold your hand and say, I'm so sorry.

But He can't do anything to help you.

But this will not do.

It is not what the Scriptures tell us.

Jeremiah 29, 11,

For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord.

Plans for welfare.

And not for evil.

To give you a future and a hope.

And Isaiah 46, 9 says,

Remember the former things of old.

I am God and there is no other.

I am God and there is no one.

There is none like me.

Declaring the end from the beginning.

And from ancient times.

And from ancient times.

Things not yet done.

Saying, my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish my purpose.

And so the Bible says that God has good plans.

And He will accomplish His purposes.

It's hard, isn't it?

When your best friend in high school decides that you're now the target of her mockery.

When you watch the self-destructive patterns of a loved one spiral down.

When that thing you'd hoped for.

A spouse, a job, an opportunity.

Snatched out of your hands.

And an untimely death rocks your family.

As you are worn down by the wearying battle.

Depression.

Chronic pain.

Slow, painful tearing apart of a marriage relationship.

How is God good in these things?

Will God be good to us?

This is what our passage is about this morning.

As we end the book of Genesis.

We see God drawing together these strands of His story.

To answer the question, will God be good?

Will God be good to Joseph and his family?

Will God be good to the people of Israel?

Standing on the brink of the promised land.

Will God be good to you and to me today?

So, turn with me, if you will, to Genesis chapter 50.

Genesis 50 · chapter mention

The page number is in your bulletin.

I'm sorry, I forgot to get it.

Genesis 50.

As you're turning there, we will see that in the first 14 verses of chapter 50,

it's this record of Jacob being taken up into Egypt and being buried with a great train of Egyptian court officials and people.

He's buried in the tomb of the Bible.

He's buried in the tomb of his fathers.

And it leads us to verse 15, chapter 15, which is where I'm going to read from.

I'm going to read 15 through 21 as the simple text today.

So, please read with me.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said,

It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.

So, they sent a message to Joseph saying,

Your father gave this command before he died.

Say to Joseph,

Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you.

And now, please forgive the transgressions of the servants of God, your father.

The servants of the God of your father.

Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

His brothers also came and fell down before him and said,

Behold, we are your servants.

Joseph said to them,

Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?

As for you, you meant evil against me.

But God meant it for good.

To bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.

So, do not fear.

I will provide for you and your little ones.

Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Please pray with me.

God, we thank you that you have not left us to strive to understand you in our own efforts.

Lord, we thank you that it is not in our reasonable mind alone that, Lord, we know you.

But God, it is that you have revealed yourself to us.

You have shown us and told us what kind of a God you are.

Lord, I pray this morning that we would be comforted.

Comforted as we see you as you truly are.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

In this central passage.

It's quite a story, isn't it?

If you haven't been here, remember?

Joseph's brother sold him into slavery long ago in chapter 37.

God was with Joseph sovereignly through great trials and sufferings.

And miraculously and sovereignly brought them back together years later where Joseph was in a position to provide for and to care for his family.

And in the middle of that, God worked not only provision for his family but also reconciliation.

God brought them together and brought, in fact, Jacob, his father and his sons and all of their families down to Egypt to live.

And at the end of the story, Jacob, the patriarch, dies.

And now it is his 12 sons who are left.

And 11 of them are afraid.

They remember the evil that they did.

And even though Joseph had spoken words of forgiveness and pardon, even though he had demonstrated through his actions to them, they don't believe it.

Maybe now that Jacob's gone, maybe he'll finally take revenge on us.

Maybe he'll finally mete out the punishment that we know that we deserve and never got.

So they come up with a scheme.

They make up a story.

What Jacob probably didn't say.

They make up a story about how his father asked them to tell Joseph to forgive them.

Joseph sees through this ploy and he weeps.

He weeps because his brothers still don't understand.

He weeps because they don't get the God that he knows.

And therefore the ways that he has acted towards them.

They come and they fall down before them.

They bow down again.

Fulfilling the dream in chapter 37 that sparked the whole story.

They say, we are your servants.

Please don't kill us for what we did to you.

Just make us your servants.

Just make us your servants.

That's enough.

They beg to be his slaves rather than be executed.

Joseph's reply is a complex one, isn't it?

Joseph says, you did do evil to me.

He remembers the suffering.

He's not forgotten.

He remembers the years of slavery in Potiphar's house.

He remembers the time when he was unjustly accused and then sent to prison.

He remembers when he was abandoned by the cupbearer.

Spent more years.

He's totaling probably close to 17 years as a slave in prison in Egypt.

He remembers all of those things.

And he does not sweep it under the rug or make it go away and say, ah, it's fine.

He says, you did mean it for evil.

He called it what it is.

But then he says, am I in the place of God?

I am not the one to be your judge and jury and executioner.

That is God's job.

And I will not presume to take it.

I will not make myself the arrogant one who believe that I have to bring judgment and make the world right.

He says, am I in God's place?

Your sin certainly deserves punishment.

It certainly deserves judgment because of the suffering that I endured.

But I won't inflict it on you.

I will not take revenge on you.

He trusts the judgment to God.

And he turns.

And in verse 20 makes the most astounding comment.

The most surprising thing.

A few minutes for evil.

But God meant the devil.

Joseph saw that through all of the trials and all of the suffering and all of the injustice that he endured,

God had a good plan that he was working out.

What did that goodness look like?

Let's remember this story.

Let's think through some of these threads of what God's goodness has looked like to Joseph.

First of all, Joseph and his brothers.

These brothers that sold him into slavery.

They hated him for his dreams.

They hated him because he was the favored one.

And they wanted to get rid of him.

They only didn't kill him because in an act of sudden and unexplained mercy,

Judah decided to intervene.

And instead of killing him, they sold him off.

And he was gone for 17 years.

And they never looked for him.

And they never went to find him.

And God brought them back together.

God sovereignly worked through all of Joseph's cycles of suffering and trial and injustice

so that he could be exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh

so that he could be the one in charge of a grain distribution

in the middle of a grand famine.

And then brought his brothers from Canaan down to Egypt

because it was the only place where there was food

so that they could be reconciled.

God worked.

You remember chapters 42, 3, and 4

in surprising ways through Joseph

to help his brothers see their sin,

to help his brothers confess their sin,

to help his brothers overcome the guilt

by repenting of it.

He reconciled them

and brought them together

so that they together were family again.

Not only a family, but they were provided for.

They had everything they needed in Egypt.

They had land.

They had the protection of the right hand man of the king.

Joseph says, and you see in verse 21,

this blessing wasn't just for them too,

it was for their posterity.

Which was a remarkable thing

because in that culture,

one of the best ways to wreak vengeance on your enemies

is to kill their children.

Joseph wouldn't do that.

Instead, God brought them together

into this unity,

into this reconciliation.

The second thing that God did

is that He brought the promise of Abraham

to the next step.

Do you remember Abraham chapter 12?

God comes to him and says,

Abraham,

I am calling you to God

and I'm going to bless you

and I'm going to make you a great nation.

Your descendants will be as many

as the stars in the sky

and the sand in the seashore.

And I will give you land

for you to dwell in.

I will make your descendants

a great nation

and I will bless the nations through you.

I will raise up you to be my people

so that the world may know

what kind of God I am.

Well,

you think about the storyline of Genesis

from 12 to 50.

What have we had?

Abraham had two sons.

Isaac had two sons.

The family isn't growing very big, is it?

And certainly none of these men

showed exemplary character

and faithfulness to God.

God surprisingly and graciously

fulfilled His promise

to an undeserving people.

And here we are in Genesis 50.

And Jacob's household,

now more than 70,

is positioned to thrive.

Positioned to explode

in multiplication.

Positioned even in,

one commentator pointed out

the fact that God brought

the family of promise

down to Egypt

in a culture where

the Egyptians would have

nothing to do with them

so that they couldn't intermarry

with the people around them.

But that they would live

in this isolated

setting

so that they could grow

like an incubator

from a small family

into a great nation of people.

God did all of this.

All of this providing

and all of this furthering

of His promises

being fulfilled

to the patriarchs

through Joseph's suffering,

through his pain.

Not only were they blessed,

but they were a blessing.

Egypt consolidated its power.

Egypt,

through this famine,

was exalted to

the highest place

in the nations.

And the people of Egypt

lived

when other nations

came to them for food

because of Joseph.

Because God,

through suffering,

had brought Joseph

to this place

where God would provide

and be a blessing

to the nations.

Wind the lens again.

Think about the Israelites

standing on the brink

of the promised land.

Looking in

to where the Canaanites were,

the tall men

who scared all the spies

40 years before.

Wondering.

But then remembering.

How has God been good

to Israel?

Not only did God

preserve the family

of promise

and take them down

into Egypt,

but by the time

Moses is writing this,

they've also been delivered.

They've seen God

work with a mighty hand.

That they became

a great nation,

so great that they

became a threat

to the Pharaoh

who did not know

Joseph anymore.

And then God came

and the book of Exodus

is about

God's powerful

deliverance

of his people.

And the rest

of the Pentateuch

all the way up

to the beginning

of Joshua

is God providing

for his people,

shaping them

to be his people,

teaching them

what kind of a God

he is through the law,

providing for them

as they wander

in the wilderness

and as they face

various trials

and enemies.

God's goodness

is all over.

All over

the history

of his people.

All over

the history

of his people.

I want to stop

for a second

and think about

a little bit

of application

for us.

Sometimes when we

in a church setting

like this

talk about

God's goodness,

isn't God good?

And you're sitting there

and you're going

through a really

hard trial.

You're facing

something that's

overwhelming

and painful

beyond what you

think you can endure.

You think,

that just sounds

like happy power.

That's not real.

Friends,

I want you to think

about Joseph

for a minute.

Joseph spent

those 20 years

prison,

in prison,

treated as a slave,

wrong and unjust.

I think one

of the challenges

that we face

in the trials

that we go through

is a question

of perspective.

We think

that God

ought to fix

things now

for him to be good.

Joseph

clearly didn't

think that

that was necessary.

God's timing

is not our timing.

And his greatest

good for us

is not simply

alleviating the pain

of our life

in this moment.

No matter how

great it is.

Joseph did not

forget

the evil

and the suffering.

He did not

pretend that it

didn't exist.

He acknowledged

it and looked

beyond it

to the goodness

of God.

We're going

through trial.

May we have

this perspective

and be able

to wait

to see

God's goodness.

May we also

do as Joseph

did.

May we focus

on his

goodness.

May we see

that

every day

there are things

that are good

about what God

has done

in our life.

every day

God gives you

blood.

Every day

there are people

who love you.

Every day

there's food

on the table.

And you know

what?

Even when one

of these

is taken away

there are other

ones that are

still there.

I know some

of you may not

experience those

three things I

just mentioned.

But still

there is God's

goodness in your

life.

And even if you

don't see it

right now.

Even if you

are in the

place of Psalm

88 where

darkness is my

only friend.

And you can't

see any goodness

in your current

situation.

Stop and think

and remember

God's goodness

in the past.

He has been

good to you.

I have no doubt.

It may be hard

to remember

but see it

all.

Focus on

God's goodness

and not just

the tragedy

or the evil

or the pain

that you are

facing now.

That's what

Joseph did

to be able to

say you meant

it for evil

but God

meant it for

good.

Friends I

want to

say that

there are

times when

we do lose

sight of

any goodness

in this world.

There are

times when

we think

it would be

better to

not be

here.

But you

know

the bedrock

the bedrock

of the

Christian

hope

for us

is that

the greatest

evil

ever

in this

world

accomplished

the greatest

good

ever

in this

world.

Joseph

spoke

better than

he knew

when he

said

the words

we meant

it for

evil

but God

meant it

for good

because he

spoke

without

knowing

the details

of what

God would

do

in the

future.

This is

what

Kyle read

earlier

from Acts

but let

me read

Acts 2

22

again

for you

to remind

you.

Men of

Israel

hear these

words

Jesus

of Nazareth

a man

attested

to you

by God

with mighty

works

and wonders

and signs

that God

did through

him

in your

midst

as you

yourselves

know

this

Jesus

delivered

up

according

to the

definite

plan

and

foreknowledge

of God

you

crucified

and killed

by the

hands

of lawless

men.

Friends

Jesus

was the

best

human being

ever.

He was

attested

to by

mighty

works

of good.

He healed

the sick

and the

lame.

He raised

the dead.

He loved

the outcast.

He challenged

the injustice

in his

world.

He exposed

the religious

hypocrisy.

He exhibited

love in

every time.

Jesus

was the

only

person

who did

not deserve

to die.

Who could

never say

you meant

it for evil

for there

was no

evil in

Jesus.

Jesus.

He did

no evil

and there

was none

in him.

He alone

of all

the human

beings who

have walked

the earth

did not

deserve

to die.

Yet he

the creator

of the world

was crucified

by his

creation.

He the author

of life

was beaten

mocked

and killed

and killed

by those

that he

gave life

to.

He the

sinless

righteous

one

who in

all of

history

alone

did not

deserve

to die

was accused

and executed

as a

common

criminal.

The greatest

evil

the greatest

wrong

that has

ever

happened

is the

death

of Jesus

Christ.

If you

are a

crusader

for injustice

in the world

hear this.

This is the

worst injustice

ever

that Jesus

would not

be

honored

and exalted

but instead

treated

with great

harshness

ultimately

being

crucified.

Not only

did this

great injustice

happen but

as Peter

says in

Acts 2

it happened

by the

definite

plan and

foreknowledge

of God.

God did

not send

Jesus to

try to make

the world

a better

place and

then suddenly

these evil

people

jumped out

and out

of his

control

and beyond

his plan

suddenly did

something that

completely derailed

his plan

and he had

to think

what do I do

now I guess

I'll raise

him from the

dead that

might help.

From the

very beginning

this was

God's plan.

And the

father and

the son

agreed upon

it before

the foundations

of the

earth

God

and Jesus

willingly

came

forsaking

the privilege

of being

God

himself

humbling

himself to

take on

human flesh

making

himself a

servant

and submitting

himself even

to the cross

for us.

for this

was the

greatest

good.

The

greatest

good that

God would

redeem for

himself out

of this

fallen broken

world that

deserves only

judgment for

the evil.

The evil that's

out there and

the evil that's

in our hearts.

God wanted to

bring something

good.

So he would

redeem a

people through

the death and

resurrection of

Christ.

What good is

there for us in

Jesus' death and

resurrection?

Let's think about

it for a minute.

First of all,

we have

forgiveness of

our sins.

Just like

Joseph's

brothers who

bore the

burden of

guilt and

therefore the

fear of

judgment throughout

their whole

lives.

So we,

knowing our

sin, bear

that burden of

guilt and a

fear of

judgment.

And God

comes and

he says,

I will do

for you what

you can't do

for yourself.

I will die in

your place and

take the

punishment for

you just as

Joseph suffered

for his

brothers.

Instead of

inflicting

vengeance, he

offers forgiveness,

freedom, welcome,

reconciliation.

You who don't

deserve it, come

back to me.

This is what God

says is a good

for us.

Secondly, he

brings reconciliation

with God and

adoption into his

family.

just as God

brought Joseph

and Jacob's

family back

into a unity

and into a

place of health

and prosperity

in Egypt.

So God in

Christ calls

all who believe

in him into

his family,

breaking down the

dividing wall,

not only between us

and God because of

our sin, but

between each other,

between Jew and

Gentile.

And he's made us

one people in

Christ and a

great family, a

family that will

be forever with

God.

Not only does he

bring us into

this reconciled

relationship with

God and with one

another, but he

gives us a purpose

in this world.

1 Peter 2, 9,

that we may

declare the

excellencies of

him who called

us out of

darkness into

his marvelous

light.

God is

that all

the things

of our

life, our

jobs, our

family, our

work, our

friendships, our

hobbies, that

were meant to be

blessings that we

so often look for

to give us meaning

and purpose and

significance in our

world.

God says, no, I've

already given you a

purpose.

It's to tell about

the great Savior who

has rescued you.

He will one day

come and

renew the world.

He's given us a

purpose like the

dying man who

finally found water

in the desert is

refreshed and ran

around for the rest

of his life saying,

do you know where

the water is?

It's here.

Come, find it.

Drink of it and

live.

The goodness of God

to us on the cross

is forgiveness,

it's reconciliation,

it's adoption,

it's purpose,

and it's hope.

God did not

abandon the

Egyptians.

He did not

abandon his

covenant people.

You meant this

for evil, but God

meant it for good,

for the saving of

many lives as you

see it now.

God, the hope

is that our lives

will be saved

because of Christ.

Death is no longer

the end, but the

beginning for all who

have put their hope

in Christ.

We don't need to

live to seek our

life just here,

but we can see that

the 70 years that we

have now are merely

a preparation for an

eternity of life with

God.

And our pain,

and our sickness,

and our trials,

no matter how deep

they are,

no matter how

overwhelming they

are,

they will not last.

The trial will not

be forever.

The evil that was

done to us will

not triumph.

God raised Christ

from the dead.

And one day,

Christ will return,

and He will make

all things new.

And He will redeem

this fallen,

broken world.

And when He does

it,

evil will be judged.

And we will see

goodness that we've

never seen before.

There will be no

more tears.

There will be no

more sorrow.

There will be no

more sickness.

There will be no

more suffering.

There will be no

more death.

that we will be

with the author

of life

forever.

So everything

we do now

is in preparation

for that ultimate

renewal that is

yet to come.

We have all we need.

2 Peter

says,

the apostle

writes this,

His divine power

has granted to us

all things that

pertain to life

and godliness

through the knowledge

of Him who called

us to His own glory

and excellence,

by which He has

granted to us

His precious

and very great

promises,

so that through

them you may

become partakers

of the divine

nature,

having escaped

from the corruption

that is in the

world because

of sinful

desire.

God has

granted to us

great and

precious promises.

His goodness

stands.

We look at the

cross and we look

at the empty tomb

and if the darkness

in your life is so

completely overwhelming,

if the evil

seems so great,

look there.

There is where

you can stand

in the midst

of it.

There is where

in the midst

of the storm

of your life

there is not

just

resigned

hope.

But there is

real hope.

God

needs it

for good.

He has

good for you.

And friends,

He may not

explain it to you.

He's not

answerable to us.

We don't always

get to see

in this life

what the good

is.

Friends,

I know He's

good.

and I stand

at the foot

of the cross

in front of you

and I know

that He is

there.

If you are here

this morning,

you are not

a believer

in Christ.

I want to urge

you.

I want you to

hear what I

have said.

hope.

I don't

hope there is

because I

don't honestly

know what

hope there is

outside of

Christ.

I don't

know what

will keep you

going when

it gets that

hard.

But I know

what God has

done in the

world.

I know what

God did in

Joseph's life

and I know

what God has

done at the

cross.

And I know

that there

is a refuge

and a hope.

So come to

Christ.

Believe today

in this God

who loved the

world so much

that He did not

abandon it but

entered into it

and endured the

greatest evil

ever for your

good.

For you who

have put your

faith in Christ

hold fast.

Hold fast

to what you

know.

Look again

and again

and again

to the Savior

who loves you.

He's done good

for you.

God what

love have you

shown to us

that you

are God.

What amazing

grace you

have shown

to us.

Lord we

thank you.

We praise

you.

Even in the

worst

even in the

darkest

hours

you can

serve you

good.

It's not

just wishful

thinking.

It's not

just ignoring

the evil

because it's

true.

God

hopeless.

The worship

team is going

to come

and we're

going to

stand and

we're going

to sing a

song.

It's a song

of victory.

Now unto

the King

who reigns

over all

and never

changes or

turns.

Unfailing

justice

and

builders

are

willing

justice

and

мир

and

you