Jacob: A dying man's faith

to Genesis chapter 47 on page 54.

Genesis 47 · chapter mention

We find ourselves coming to the last words of Jacob

as he blesses his grandchildren, his sons,

and as he places his hope in God and God's promises.

Now let's hear the word of God, first of all,

in Genesis 47 and at verse 28.

Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years,

and the years of his life were 147.

When the time drew near for Israel to die,

he called for his son Joseph and said to him,

if I have found favor in your eyes,

put your hand under my thigh

and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness.

Do not bury me in Egypt,

but when I rest with my fathers,

carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.

I will do as you say, he said.

Swear to me, he said.

Then Joseph swore to him,

and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Sometime later, Joseph was told,

your father is ill.

So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim,

along with him.

When Jacob was told,

your son Joseph has come to you,

Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

Jacob said to Joseph,

God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan,

and there he blessed me and said to me,

I am going to make you fruitful

and will increase your numbers.

I will make you a community of peoples,

and I will give this land as an everlasting possession

to your descendants after you.

Now then,

your two sons born to you in Egypt

before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine.

Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,

just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

Any children born to you after them will be yours.

In the territory they inherit,

they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers.

As I was returning from Paddan,

to my sorrow,

Rachel died in the land of Canaan

while we were still on the way,

a little distance from Ephraim.

So I buried her there beside the road to Ephraim,

that is Bethlehem.

When Israel saw the sons of Joseph,

he asked,

who are these?

They are the sons God has given me here,

Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said,

bring them to me so that I may bless them.

Now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age

and he could hardly see.

So Joseph brought his sons close to him

and his father kissed them and embraced them.

Israel said to Joseph,

I never expected to see your face again

and now God has allowed me to see your children too.

Then Joseph removed them from Israel's knees

and bowed down with his face to the ground.

And Joseph took both of them,

Ephraim on his right towards Israel's left hand,

and Manasseh on his left towards Israel's right hand

and brought them close to him.

But Israel reached out his right hand

and put it on Ephraim's head,

though he was the younger and crossing his arms,

he put his left hand on Manasseh's head,

even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

Then he blessed Joseph and said,

may the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

the angel who has delivered me from all harm,

may he bless these boys.

May they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they increase greatly upon the earth.

When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand

on Ephraim's head, he was displeased.

So he took hold of his father's hand

to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

Joseph said to him,

no, my father, this one is the firstborn.

Put your right hand on his head.

But his father refused and said,

I know, my son, I know.

He too will become a people

and he too will become great.

Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he

and his descendants will become a group of nations.

He blessed them that day and said,

in your name will Israel pronounce this blessing.

May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

Then Israel said to Joseph,

I am about to die,

but God will be with you

and take you back to the land of your fathers.

And to you, as one who is over your brothers,

I give the ridge of land I took from the Amorites

with my sword and my bow.

And then into Genesis 49,

we find Jacob blessing each of his children,

speaking prophetic words of them.

But I want us to turn to chapter 49 and verse 29.

So just over the page.

So after he blessed them,

then he gave them these instructions.

I am about to be gathered to my people.

Bury me with my fathers in the cave

in the land of Ephron the Hittite,

the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in Canaan,

which Abram bought as a burial place

from Ephron the Hittite along with the field.

There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried.

There Isaac and his wife Rebecca were buried.

And there I buried Leah.

The field and the cave in it

were brought from the Hittites.

When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons,

he drew his feet up into the bed,

breathed his last,

and was gathered to his people.

Let's pray once again.

Now, can we turn back in our Bibles

to Genesis 47 to 49

in our church Bibles on page 54?

Let me say at this time,

welcome to those who are listening online.

It's great to be able to worship together.

As we think today about Jacob,

as we think about a dying man's faith,

and as we see in his experience

and in his words,

hope for a fearful world.

It's almost hard to avoid fear right now.

There are words that are becoming

such a normal part of our vocabulary.

Pandemic,

self-isolation,

virus that cannot be contained.

And we can see that these words

and the reality of the virus

are striking fear around the globe.

And perhaps as we gather here or at home,

perhaps there is fear in our own hearts too.

We're waiting,

always waiting,

waiting for the World Health Organization

or for government

or for the NHS to issue guidelines.

It's dominating every conversation

in every household,

so it seems.

And I wonder if we're finding too

that it's setting the beat

for our own hearts,

that it's determining how we think

and how we feel.

So I want to use the words of Jacob

to speak to us in this situation.

How can Jacob's dying words guide us?

Two questions to think about this morning.

The first is to do with promise,

to ask ourselves the question,

what is it that I am hanging my hope on?

And then a question to do with peace.

How can I have rest

in a climate of fear?

Whether we're Christians

or whether we're not Christians,

it's always good for us to think,

what is my life built on?

And what do I look for,

look to for peace and security?

So let's first of all,

think about this question,

what am I hanging my hope on?

And let's see it in Jacob's experience,

first of all.

So we began reading in chapter 47

from verse 28 to 31.

And there we see that Jacob,

who'd arrived as an old man in Egypt,

130,

he enjoyed prosperity and plenty

in Egypt for 17 years,

cared for, provided for by Joseph,

his son.

But now he is dying

and his thoughts turn to his burial

where his bones will rest.

And you notice what he asks,

what he wants Joseph to swear to,

do not bury me in Egypt,

but when I rest with my fathers,

carry me out of Egypt

and bury me where they are buried.

Now this is not some kind of superstition

and this is not a simple sentiment.

This is Jacob showing that he is holding onto

a greater hope,

that God's promised land is his true home.

Jacob has been in Egypt for 17 years,

but still he is homesick

for the promised land.

His heart is back in Canaan.

That was the land of God's promise.

And that was the land where God had promised

to be with his people.

So just as at the beginning of Genesis,

you discover God creating the world

and God establishing the Garden of Eden,

that good, that perfect land

where God and his people could dwell together.

So Canaan becomes Eden part two

in Jacob's thought.

So he wants to be home.

We see how important the promise of God is

to him and to his family

at the end of chapter 48,

which we read.

What is his dying wish for Joseph?

What does he give to Joseph?

To you as one who is over your brothers,

I give the ridge of land.

I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.

So Joseph has become really wealthy in Egypt.

He has power and influence in Egypt.

He is second only to the Pharaoh.

But Jacob in his dying words reminds Joseph,

this is not your true home.

So he gives him that ridge,

that portion of land that connects Joseph

to the promise of God.

And we'll see in chapter 50

how Joseph, the man of faith,

also in his heart longs for the promised land

because it's God's land.

And then we concluded

and we heard the dying words of Jacob

in chapter 49,

his last will and testament.

What are the last instructions he gives

to his sons?

His detailed instructions

for where he is to be buried.

He wants to be buried with the people of God

in the land that God had promised.

And what we see here is that Jacob

both lives and dies

standing on the promises of God.

We have that wonderful picture

when he anticipates his own death

there at the end of verse 47.

We see him worshipping.

He worships the God that he knows.

The God who has proved faithful to him,

who has proved faithful to his family,

and who will prove faithful to those promises

even after he has died.

So we can say that Jacob's life

and especially here Jacob's death

reveals the foundation for his life.

All of us have something

that we build our hope and identity on.

All of us, when we are pushed,

whether we would say it explicitly

or whether it's just the implicit reality

of our lives,

we think and we act

as if my life is about something.

When I face trouble,

we turn in a particular direction.

Now we see for Jacob,

his life was built on God

and his promises in his heart

and mind is turned there often.

In different industries,

we talk about stress testing.

In the construction industry,

the stress testing of materials

to see if they will stand the strain

or the stress testing

of banking procedures.

Will they be able to cope

with financial strain and crisis?

I want to suggest to you and to me today

that the coronavirus

is serving for us

as a stress test

to the foundation of your life and mine.

It's making us

perhaps ask questions

that we hardly ever find the time

to ask ourselves.

Am I hanging my hope

on something solid and firm

or is my whole life

hanging on

a sugary pang?

Jesus,

speaking to the crowd,

said that he was

a solid rock,

that his word

was a solid rock

to build on,

that anything else

is shifting sands

that will not

hold the weight

of a life

and especially not

as we consider

eternity.

One of the striking things

that this virus

is revealing to us

is that our gods

are too small.

What is it that our culture

and society,

what is it that we often live for?

Wealth.

What's happening?

The stock markets

are crashing.

Businesses are collapsing.

Work is coming to an end.

That God

is not one

that people are able

to rely on.

Health.

We so often

live as if

health is everything,

but here we have

this unseen virus

that can take it

and it is no respecter

of persons.

For many people

in our culture,

we love

and we live

for leisure.

But what are we seeing?

Sports closing down,

holidays being cancelled,

life is grinding

to a halt.

We cannot

bank on these.

What we are seeing

in these weeks

is that all the pillars

of modern life

are shaking.

That they are failing

the stress test

and they are reminding us

if we're Christians

or not

that we need

to find a hope

that lasts.

Something to build

our life on

that will not fail

and disappoint us.

And what do we see

in Jacob?

We see a man

who trusts God

and who trusts

the promises of God

and we see a solid

and stable foundation

both in his life

and in his death.

Jacob points us

to the better way,

the way of faith

in God.

And when we think

about the coming

of Jesus,

we have the one

that we are called

to look to

and to place

all our trust

and confidence in.

This Jesus

who in love

entered into

our world.

Jesus who suffered

with us,

who knows what it is

to experience

want

and to suffer.

Jesus who goes

to the cross

to deal with

the great enemy

that so many of us

are confronting

in our mind's eye,

the enemy of death,

the wages for sin.

And Jesus goes

to the cross

to defeat

that enemy

so that

by faith in him,

through his loving

sacrifice,

we might be forgiven,

that we too

might become

the people of God

adopted into

God's family,

that we too

might live

in the presence

of God

with a hope

of the place

of God,

glory,

the new heaven

and earth

still to come.

This virus

is proving

a wake-up call

to all of us.

God

and his word,

Jesus

and the gospel

are the only

virus-proof

and future-proof

hope that we

will find

anywhere.

Another thing

that we see

in Jacob

is just that

his heart

has that

longing

for home,

the place

where God's

promises

lie.

It explains

why when people

move to different

countries,

they treasure

and they hold

on to their

home culture

really tightly,

move to a different

part of the world,

but hold on to

language and food

and festivals.

Home is where

the heart is.

and this virus

is exposing

to us

where our

hearts

really lie.

We see

stories,

we read stories,

we watch

videos of people

panic buying,

people fighting

over toilet paper

and packets of

pasta,

people living

with fear

because if all

I have is

now,

if this life

is it,

then I need

to grab hold

of everything

I can get.

And so this

virus is striking

real terror

into many

people's hearts

because this

is it

in many

people's

thinking.

But there's

a different

response.

It's gone

under the

radar,

but maybe

you heard

of what

the Christians

in Wuhan

were doing,

the center

of the epidemic

as the virus

was just

beginning to

become news

for the rest

of the world.

There were

Christians,

while facing

opposition from

a government,

they were

caring for

the sick.

They were

bringing supplies,

they were

showing mercy

and sharing

the hope

of Jesus

Christ.

Why?

Because as

Christians,

they knew

they had a

true and

better home

coming.

That's where

their heart

is.

So they

were able

to serve

rather than

to cling

on,

able to

show peace

rather than

panic.

What is our

source of hope

really and

truly?

The source

of hope

we long

for can

only be

found in

Jesus,

not in

stuff.

Jesus in

his mercy

and his

grace,

he offers

himself to

us.

He offers

himself to

our fearful

and fragile

world to

receive by

faith.

So that

was Jacob

showing us

that he was

holding on to

God's promise.

But what

about this

question of

peace?

How can I

have rest

in a

climate of

fear?

Chapter 49

and verse

33 is a

beautiful

deathbed

scene.

When Jacob

had finished

giving instructions

to his

sons,

he drew his

feet up

into the

bed,

breathed his

last,

and was

gathered to

his people.

Here is

Jacob,

a man at

peace with

God,

now enters

his eternal

rest to be

with God.

Catechisms,

the Heidelberg

Catechism,

the New City

Catechism,

more recently,

begin with the

question,

what is our

only hope in

life and

death?

The answer

that we are

not our

own,

but we

belong body

and soul

to God

and to

our

Savior,

Jesus

Christ.

I had

hope that

we would

be learning

as a church

together a

new hymn for

Easter by the

Gettys and

some of their

friends,

Christ our

hope in

life and

death,

which speaks

to this

truth.

And we see

Jacob,

this dying

man of

faith,

he gets

it.

He's got

hope and

he's got

peace because

his faith

is rooted

in God.

The God

who has

entered into

covenant with

his family,

with Abraham,

with Isaac,

and now with

Jacob,

the one who

has shown

himself faithful

to those

covenant promises

so that Jacob

is able to

rest in

peace.

peace.

Isn't that

what we

would all

want?

To have

peace.

To have

peace in

our hearts

regardless of

circumstances.

To have

peace in

our hearts

for life

and facing

death.

Isn't this

what we want

for ourselves,

for our

families,

for our

city,

for our

country,

for our

world?

That instead

of panic

and fear,

there'd be

hope and

peace?

We find

it in

God's

word.

I love

as well

how Jacob

wants this

legacy of

faith for

future generations

that they

might have

the peace

that he

has enjoyed.

Genesis

48 and

49 is

one extended

deathbed

scene where

Jacob,

first of all,

blesses

Joseph and

his

grandchildren,

Jacob's

grandchildren,

and then he

turns to bless

his sons.

But I want

us to focus

on the

words that

Grandpa

Jacob has

for Ephraim

and Manasseh

in verses

15 and

16.

So remember,

these are two

boys born to

Joseph,

born in

Egypt,

never been to

the promised

land,

born and

raised

Egyptian.

As he

blesses

Joseph,

extending

blessing to

Ephraim and

Manasseh,

he said,

may the

God before

whom my

fathers,

Abraham and

Isaac,

walked,

the God

who has been

my shepherd

all my life

to this

day,

the angel

who has

delivered me

from all

harm,

may he

bless these

boys.

May they be

called by

my name

and the

names of

my fathers,

Abraham and

Isaac,

and may they

increase

greatly

upon the

earth.

what's

happening

there?

He's

adopting

his

grandkids

into

the

family

of

faith.

He is

desiring

for them

that they

would have

God as

their

Lord and

that they

too would

come under

the blessing

of God's

promises.

Here is

Grandpa

Jacob saying

to them,

I want

you boys

to know

God as

your good

shepherd,

just as I

have known

him as

mine.

I want

you to

trust him

to guide

you and

protect

you.

I want

you to

see your

true identity

not as

an Egyptian

but as

a child

of God

to place

your hope

in the

promises

of God

not the

wealth

of

Egypt.

This is

the legacy

that he

wants for

his children

and his

grandchildren.

Let me

speak to

our parents

and our

grandchildren,

our

grandparents.

What legacy

is it that

we want

to pass

on to

our kids

and our

grandkids?

What is it

that we

want for

them?

Of course

we want

health,

we want

success,

and we

want happiness,

and we

want security,

but do we

want above

all that

they would

know God,

that they

would love

Jesus,

that they

would walk

by faith,

that they

would live

lives of

obedience?

obedience.

Nothing

else

matters,

really,

eternally,

nothing

else

matters,

except that

our children

and our

grandchildren

belong to

God.

They need

Jesus.

They need

the peace

of God,

and so

do we.

how can

we have

this peace

that allows

Jacob to

die and

rest in

peace?

We need

to look to

Jesus,

who comes

to us as

the prince

of peace.

We've heard

Jacob's dying

words.

Let's hear

Jesus'

words,

dying words

spoken on

the cross.

Let's see

how they can

give us

peace and

rest.

Think about

Jesus saying,

Father,

forgive them.

They don't

know what

they are

doing.

Think of

Jesus extending

love and

seeking forgiveness

for his

enemies,

and recognize

that Jesus'

death on the

cross is the

answer to the

problem of

sin and

guilt and

the fear of

judgment that

lies in all

of our

hearts.

There is hope

for peace

beyond that

because of

the forgiveness

that Jesus

came to

secure.

And how does

he secure it?

He secures it

by becoming

a sacrifice.

Think too

of the words

of Jesus

as he cried

out,

my God,

my God,

why have

you forsaken

me?

Here is Jesus

at the cross

having

experienced and

enjoyed the

eternal

love of

the Father,

enjoying

fellowship with

the Father,

but here in

this moment

as he takes

on himself

the crushing

weight of

the Father's

anger against

our sin,

he cannot

feel that

love.

He feels

forsaken.

Why?

He is going

there so that

you and I

could be

adopted into

the family

of God.

He knows

no peace

so that we

might have

true and

eternal peace.

Think too

of Jesus'

words,

it is

finished.

What is he

saying there?

He's saying

his work of

salvation is

complete.

The victory

had been won.

Those great

enemies of

Satan,

sin and

death,

no longer

rule and

reign.

for us

as the

people of

God,

we are no

longer

slaves to

sin.

We don't

need to

live with

a fear

of death.

The way

home to

God is

now open

through the

sacrifice of

Jesus and

that's a

finished work

that we

don't have

to earn

for ourselves,

we receive

it as a

gift of

his grace

and there is

peace in

that because

our salvation

and our

eternal

security does

not depend

on me and

my effort.

It depends

on me looking

to Christ and

clinging to

him and

trusting in

what he

has done.

And we

also hear

Jesus on

the cross

say,

into your

hands I

commit my

spirit.

Jesus ready

to be received

back to

return to

glory with

his father

and Jesus

had already

said to his

disciples that

where he

would go

his people

would follow.

Here is a

promise of

eternal

lasting peace

in the

glorious presence

of our

God and

our Savior

in a world

made new,

in a world

free of sin,

in a world

free of

virus and

the threat

of death,

all because

of Jesus.

What promise

can we rely

on?

What peace

will never

fail us?

Jesus said,

in this

world you

will have

trouble.

And the

coronavirus is

just one

example,

isn't it?

We've lived

long enough,

we know there

are many

troubles,

but it's

certainly a

wake-up call

to how

fragile life

is.

And one of

the things

that we can

do as a

church,

as Christians,

is to pray

that God

would use

this in

his wisdom,

in his

mercy,

in his

desire to

save,

that he

would open

people's

hearts and

minds at

this time

to the

goodness of

Jesus.

But Jesus

said,

more than in

this world

you will have

trouble,

he also said,

take heart,

I have

overcome the

world.

He said,

do not let

your hearts

be troubled,

you believe in

God,

believe also in

me.

Here is the

peace that all

our hearts are

longing for,

is found

and trusting in

Jesus,

Jesus' death,

Jesus'

resurrection.

That's the

hope and the

peace that a

dying world

needs.

So as we

consider the

words of

Jacob, as we

consider the

words of

Jesus, let me

invite all of

us to

repent of

sin and

unbelief,

to believe in

Jesus, to

trust the

promises of

God, to

find true

rest, not

in people or

things,

circumstances,

to find true

rest in

Jesus.

Let's pray

together.