Well it’s been a few weeks since we’ve been in the book of Genesis. We left off in Genesis 47 where Joseph and all of his family have been fully reunited after 22 years of separation. Joseph, his brothers, his dad and all the extended family are together again as the family moves into Egypt to escape the famine.
[Read Genesis 47:11-12.]
But while all is good for Joseph’s family, the famine is still in all the land. So let’s look at:
I. The famine results in a flat tax
People are starting to talk more and more about having a flat tax in our country instead of the overly complicated and even convoluted tax system we have now. A flat tax means everyone pays the same percentage of their income as taxes. Sounds like a good idea. Well, Egypt had a kind-of flat tax system in their country some 4,000 years ago.
[Read Genesis 47:13-26.]
So through the famine the people had spent all of their money to buy grain from the government. They then turned to trading their livestock and their land for grain. In exchange for their land and their willingness to relocate to the cities, Joseph gave them seed to plant new crops once the famine was over. They simply had to give the government a fifth of all their yield. A system that seemed to work well and be highly popular with the people. So the Egyptians seem to be doing well during this time. What about Jacob and his family?
II. Israel prospers in the land of Egypt
[Read Genesis 47:27-28.]
Despite relocating their entire family and business to Egypt during the midst of a famine, the Israelites prospered. The family grew in numbers, they were able to acquire their own land, and their business was fruitful. For seventeen years this went on. But things were about to change. Jacob was getting old and close to the end of his life – and he knew it. So the next chapter and a half we see Jacob getting his family ready to be without him.
[“Bucket List” movie illustration.]
That movie was all about self-indulgence and living for temporary highs. But what does all that matter when we’re dead and gone? Our lives should be about what’s eternal and lasting. What we leave behind should make a difference for eternity.
Jacob understood this. So we see him getting family ready for his actual death and for life after his death. The practical and the eternal. First let’s look at the practical.
III. Jacob prepares his family for his actual death
[Read Genesis 47:29-31.]
Jacob wanted to be buried at the family’s burial cave at Machpela which was located on the land that Abraham had purchased when he needed a place to bury Sarah. (Genesis 23) Buried there were Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah. Jacob made sure that his body would rest there as well and nor settle in the pagan land of Egypt.
This was a very practical and probably helpful thing for Joseph and the rest of the family. One less thing to worry about when a loved one dies. As many of you know, there’s a lot to do when burying someone. I think there’s more decisions to be made when you bury someone than when you birth someone. So it’s a good thing to make as many burial plans before you die as you can so your loved ones don’t have to deal with it. Their minds are full of grief and handling funeral plans is a tough thing. So we should do what we can ahead of time so they don’t have to during a highly emotional time.
[My funeral plans and life insurance story.]
So Jacob here prepares his family for his actual death. Very practical. But Jacob also makes sure the eternal aspect of his legacy and his family are taken care of.
IV. Jacob prepares his family for life after his death
Chapters 48 and 49 show how Jacob prepared his family for life after his death in two parts, (even though they both happened on the same day.) Chapter 48 shows Jacob addressing Joseph and his sons privately. Chapter 49 then shows Jacob addressing all of his sons together. When he was done he simply laid back down in his bed and died. Tonight we’ll just be looking at Jacobs talk with Joseph and his sons.
Now I’ve broken down what he’s said in two categories. On the one hand Jacob provides for Joseph and his son’s physical needs. On the other hand he provides for Joseph and his son’s spiritual needs.
1. Physical provisions – receiving the covenant blessings
[Read Genesis 48:1-6.]
By adopting Joseph’s two sons as his own Jacob was elevating them to an equal status with his other sons ensuring that the line of Joseph would receive a double portion of land when Jacob died. It also seems that Jacob was elevating Joseph to the first born status ahead of Reuben his true first born son.
[Read Genesis 48:21-22, I Chronicles 5:1.]
Remember, this all started when Reuben slept with one of his father’s wives. So now that Jacob’s favorite son was alive, he would take over the first born role in place of Reuben.
But Jacob goes on to bless the sons of Joseph and even prophecy concerning their future role in the covenant promises of God.
[Read Genesis 48:7-20.]
Jacob deliberately signified that Ephraim, who was younger than Manasseh, would become the greater nation because of God’s providential blessing and purpose. This is the forth generation of where God did this very thing. Where God defied the culture and made the younger brother greater than the older brother. He did this with:
- Isaac over Ishmael
- Jacob over Esau
- Joseph over Reuben, and now
- Ephraim over Manasseh
And of course this prophecy came true as Ephraim’s power and might was greater than
Manasseh’s when Israel came into the promised land. Joshua 16 and 17 show how the land was divided and given to these two sons of Joseph. Also, when you look at Isaiah 7 you see the tribe of Ephraim referred to often because it was Israel’s largest tribe at that time.
Now to me the most interesting thing about Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph is that in the book of Hebrews 11 where the writer is talking about many of the great people of faith that have come down through the ages, he lists this event as Jacob’s great act of faith.
[Read Hebrews 11:21.]
This old, dying man was still willing to believe that God could do the impossible. He was still willing to push the envelope of faith. He still believed that God would bless the world according to His promise and would do it using the younger over the older and that He would do it even though the family didn’t even live in the promised land any more.
I think the last 17 years in Egypt helped his faith tremendously. Remember, when he first came to Egypt he told Pharaoh of his difficult life.
[Read Genesis 47:9.]
Now he’s looking towards the future and how God would use his grandsons in His grand plan for the world.
So Jacob has made sure Joseph and his son’s physical needs are taken care of. But all throughout this process he’s ministering to their spiritual needs. It’s like he’s using the occasion to instill some fundamental truths about God into his family.
2. Spiritual provisions – this is who God is
He’s demonstrating to Joseph and his sons just who God really is.
a. God is faithful
[Read Genesis 48:3-4, 15a, 21.]
Life had been tough for Jacob but he knew and wanted everyone else to know that God had been faithful to him. And that God would continue His faithfulness and fulfill His promises through them and their descendants. God’s promises didn’t die with people who believed them. God’s promises live on throughout every generation and throughout all time because He is God!
b. God is a Shepherd
[Read Genesis 48:15.]
This is the first place in the Scriptures where God is referred to as a Shepherd. This is a more personal and caring view of God that’s being introduced here. Jacob’s family knew what a shepherd was because that’s what they had done their whole life! They cared for their livestock every single day! You couldn’t take a few days off with the sheep. They needed to be fed, led, cleaned, sheltered and protected constantly. Jacob told Joseph and his sons that God was the One who through the years was providing and leading and feeding and protecting him on a continual basis. In other words, God was a God of love who cared for His people.
Jacob also teaches his family that God is their Redeemer.
[Read Genesis 48:15-16.]
c. God is the Redeemer
Again, this is the first place where God is referred to as the Redeemer or Deliverer or
even Savior. Jacob recognized that when evil or trials were attempting to destroy his life, God was there to redeem or deliver of save him from all of his troubles.
Jacob wanted to pass on to his family that the God who has been there for him all of his 147 years would be there for them as well. The God who was faithful. The God who was their Shepherd. The God who was their Redeemer. In essence he was telling them to trust in the God who loves you and who will never let you down.
That’s the kind of legacy we want to leave behind us with our family. A good inheritance is great. Funeral plans having already been made are helpful. But a legacy of faith is irreplaceable. That’s what will help them through the grieving process. That’s what will help them carry on once we’re gone. That’s what will give them eternal life. That’s what will make it possible for us to see them again in the afterlife! Leaving our family a legacy of faith.
As we think about preparing our loved ones for when we pass on, let’s make sure we do all we can to show them that God loves them and will care for them if they will simply trust in His Son that He sent to be their Savior.
