No Ordinary Joe: But God
Genesis 50
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
02-13-2022
At the End
Back in September, we started this study of the life of Joseph and I couldn’t have imagined the events that would transpire in my life during this series.
God knew that I would need to be focused on the big picture of his purposes to the endure the deaths of my father and stepmother and the loss of a very valued relationship.
I’m actually a little sad that we are ending our study this morning. I’ve read the book of Genesis thirty plus times but the life of Joseph came more alive to me this time than ever before.
Genesis tells us of four great events: Creation, Fall, Flood, and Results of Sin.
Genesis focuses on four important people: Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and Joseph.
Two chapters of Genesis are devoted to the creation account. But 28 chapters are dedicated to two different people - Abraham and Joseph. There are more of Joseph’s words recorded in Genesis than any other patriarch. 25% of Genesis about Joseph’s life so it must be important for us to know.
The fourteen chapters detailing Joseph’s story are what theologians called the “locus classicus” (the ultimate example) of the doctrine of providence.
Each week, we have seen how Joseph is a type, a foreshadowing, of Jesus.
Joseph is from an incredibly dysfunctional family [They Don’t Talk about Bruno] and, yet, he has shown us that there is hope for those of us who have a few nuts on the family tree.
The story has been full of deceit, favoritism, jealousy, hatred, mass murder, incest, rape, human trafficking, polygamy, and somehow Joseph keeps his eyes on God the whole story.
Review
Last week, we learned that Jacob was close to death and has some very important things to say to Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Jacob formally adopted these two boys for his own and blessed them but did it in a way that totally confused and angered Joseph.
When he blessed the two boys, he crossed his arms, putting his right hand on the younger and the left hand on the older.
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. (Gen 48:20).
This is a pattern that we see in the Bible, the second born elevated above the first born.
Abel over Cain.
Isaac over Ishmael
Jacob over Esau
And now Ephraim over Manasseh.
In fact, in some Jewish homes, on the eve of the Sabbath, the father will pronounce as blessing on his children quoting this verse, “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh”.
I’d like to remind you that if you missed the sermon you can always watch it on demand on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or our website.
Turn with me to the last chapter of Genesis and we will finish the story of Joseph together.
Prayer.
Jacob Dies
Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
The last seventeen years of Jacob’s life had be relatively peaceful and he enjoyed having his family around him.
God kept His promise to Jacob and Joseph was there when he died at 147 year old to closed his eyes.
When he died, Joseph, threw himself on his father, wept over him, and kissed him. All three actions show the deep love and respect that Joseph had for his dad.
Joseph had the physicians embalm Jacob. That’s strange because that wasn’t their job. They dealt with the living not the dead.
The people that embalmed used magical pagan rites and Joseph wanted to avoid that.
It usually took seventy days to embalm a body but Jacob was embalmed in a mere forty days.
Egyptians were extraordinarily good at embalming. In fact, if you go to the British Museum and look at the Egyptian mummies there many of them still have teeth and hair.
The whole land of Egypt mourned for this dirty, detestable shepherd because he was the father of Joseph. In fact, when Pharaohs died, they would mourn for seventy-two day. So Jacob, is mourned only two less days than a Pharaoh!
When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, ‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’”
Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
Joseph had learned the ways of the Egyptian count and had become a skillful politician.
He sent a message to Pharaoh asking permission to honor his father’s wish to be buried in the land of Canaan.
He promised that he would go and the return quickly.
Pharaoh gave Joseph permission but he wouldn’t be going alone.
So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt— besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.
Basically, Jacob was to be given a state funeral. Three groups of people accompanied him:
The officials of Egypt - the important dignitaries
Joseph’s entire family, except for the children.
Charioteers and horseman to provide safe passage.
When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.
This huge caravan took a very curious route. They didn’t take the normal way to Canaan and took the way that Moses would take 400 years later. It was if they were practicing for the Exodus!
In Syria, to this day, nomads will take their dead to a threshing floor and mourn over them seven days.
Joseph was following the custom of the people of the land they were traveling through.
The locals watched in wonder and named that place “the mourning of the Egyptians.”
So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.
So Jacob was buried in the family cave, near Mamre. Abraham and Sarah were buried there. Isaac and Rebecca and Leah were buried there.
Can you imagine the boys feelings when the cave was opened and they saw the bones of their great grandfather and grandmother, Abraham and Sarah? And on the other side of the cave there were the bones of Issac, Rebecca, and Leah.
When we interred my dad’s body, I asked the funeral director if I could hold the urn for a minute before burying it. What a strange feeling to hold my father’s remains in my arms.
What a somber time of reflection and mourning it must of been as they placed their father’s body in the tomb and sealed it again.
The Brothers Lie
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.”
When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
I wonder if the brothers didn’t hang back a little from the rest of the family on the way back and begin to talk. It was obvious that their guilty consciences had come back to haunt them.
After all that Joseph had done for them, they still questioned his love for them. Maybe it had all be a ruse. Maybe Joseph was just biding his time until their dad was gone and then he enslave us, or worse, have us executed for what he did to him.
So, sadly, they make up a lie and send it to Joseph through messengers.
See Joe, Daddy made it very clear that you have to forgive us for everything we did to you.
There is no evidence that Jacob ever said.
What was Joseph’s response? He cried.
Why did he cry? Was he hurt that they still didn’t trust his love and care? Did his heart break to think that they felt like they needed to include their dead father in a lie? Was he saddened by the prison of guilt that still held his brother’s heart? Probably all those reasons and more.
Joseph Tries to Help Them See the Big Picture
His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
This is the fifth time that the brothers have bowed before Joseph. They are desperate and offer themselves as slaves.
What Joseph says to them are some of the most important words in the Bible. At the end of the sermon we are going to look at three massive truths that changed Jospeh’s life and can change yours today.
Joseph time draws nigh
Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.
Between verse 21 and 22, Joseph lived another 50-60 years. Unlike the first half of his life, these years were marked by peace, quiet and routine.
It had been 93 years since he was sold into slavery. 80 years since he stood before Pharaoh and interpreted his dreams.
By the way, if you are in the second half of your life, what’s you plan to continue to serve the Lord from 60-110 years old?
In Egyptian culture, the perfect age to die was considered 110. It was looked at as a blessing from the gods.
Joseph lived to see his great grandchildren! Some of you have had that amazing blessing.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 17:6:
“Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” (Prov 17:6)
And David gives this blessing in Psalm 128:
“May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children’s children - peace be on Israel.”
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”
So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Joseph says twice that “God will surely come to your aid” or maybe in your translation it says “God will surely visit you.”
He invokes the promise that God made to return them to the land of Canaan. God had told Abraham:
“Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” (Gen 15:12-14)
He made them swear an oath that when they did leave Egypt they would take his bones with them.
Why? Because Egypt was not his home. He had been promised a home in the land that he was born in and he held on to that promise even though he wouldn’t live to see it.
Peter says the same thing about us, that we are strangers in a strange land. This is not our home. We have a citizenship in heaven and we are merely passing through.
The writer of Hebrews zeroes in on this event in the hall of faith chapter:
“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.” (Hebrews 11:22)
So, Joseph died and was embalmed and placed in a coffin. But his body wasn’t carried back to Canaan. It was there for all the Israelites to see.
So Genesis begins in a garden and ends with a coffin. It pointed them toward a day, a day that had been promised, that they would leave the land of Egypt, and return to the promised land.
Application
Providence
Let’s go back and dive into Joseph’s reply to the brothers. I’ve been helped this week by a message by Tim Keller.
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Joseph says for them not to be afraid and then asked them a very important question, “Am I in the place of God?”
Avoid God’s Chair
In other words, Joseph wasn’t about to sit in God’s chair!
This is the heart of most of our problems.
Joseph knew that by keeping a grudge, being bitter and resentful, against his brothers he would be sitting in God’s chair.
Many people have said to me, “Only God can judge me.” And I always answer, “That’s true and He will.’
But that’s not my job or yours. And when we take it upon ourselves to repay others, we are playing God. And Keller says that the “quickest way to become like satan is to try to be God” in your life and the life of others.
Paul wrote to the Roman Christians:
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;? if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.?In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)
Only God knows the whole story and only God can judge fairly. So we can trust that and simply love everyone.
Take God’s View
This brings us to back to where we started in the first two sermons of this series - the doctrine of providence.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism question 18 reads,
What are the works of providence?
“God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, ordering them, and all their actions, to His own glory.”
In other words, God is in charge and He is working things out behind the scenes for His ultimate glory and our eternal good.
There are no miracles in the story of Joseph but God works through normal circumstances in supernatural ways to bring about his will and plans.
Piper has said, and I’ve repeated it for years, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life and, at any given time, you may be aware of three of them.”
It’s like looking at the huge tapestries in Europe. From behind, they are a big jumbled mess of yarn. It makes not sense from that angle. But God sees the finished product and it is a masterpiece.
If Jacob had not favored Joseph and gifted him the coat, his brothers wouldn’t have wanted to kill him and end up selling him into human trafficking.
If he had not been sold into slavery, he wouldn’t have ended up in Potiphar’s house and wouldn’t have been falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife.
If he hadn’t of been accused of rape, he wouldn’t have ended up in prison where he met and interpreted dreams for two officials.
If he had hadn’t of interpreted those dreams, he would have never been asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and placed second in command of all Egypt.
If he hadn’t have been placed second in command, he wouldn’t have been there to rescue his family from starvation.
If he hadn’t have been there to rescue the brothers, the family line would have died out and the Messiah wouldn’t have come.
We see Joseph’s understanding of providence when he reveals himself to his brothers at the end of the story and they are terrified:
“But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:19-20)
He said something similar when he finally revealed himself to his brothers back in Genesis 45:
"And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” (Gen 45:5-7)
Do you hear it? You sold me but God sent me. Why? To save your lives!
David says the same thing in Psalm 105:
“He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them - Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true. The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.” (Psalm 105:16-22)
Paul affirms the hand of providence in Romans:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
If you are wondering if God has abandoned you, or if He’s not interested in what’s going on in your life, let me assure you that He is working out everything for His glory and our eternal good. He is good and can be trusted.
A.W. Pink wrote a generation ago,
“While it looks like things are out of control, behind the scenes there is a God that has not surrendered His authority.”
Yesterday, I was at a men’s breakfast and one of the guys at the table shared his story. His name was Dave and he has a Doctorate in Theology. He was a pastor and professor. Until the brain tumor….and the stroke. He’s younger than me. Now he struggles physically but works as a chaplain at a local hospital.
This is what he said, “When things seem to go wrong, really wrong, not the way that you want them to go, that’s where the rubber meets the road. That’s where you really learn if you trust Him like you say you do. That’s the real deal.
Image God’s Love
Joseph ends with this amazing words:
“So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”
This is a shining example of a heart that has been captivated by grace.
Where there should be hatred there is love, apathy there is compassion, and hurtful words, there is kindness.
Joseph got it. He really got it. He saw the bigger picture.
And when we see can see the bigger picture, we don’t have play into our culture’s desire for vengeance and its love of hatred and insults. We don’t have to fall into the trap of trying to argue on social media.
This world is not our home. We are just passing through. And while we are here, we have the incredible opportunity to show the love of Jesus to a lost and dying world.
Let me end by going back to the idea of providence. Sometimes we say that God uses evil for good. But that’s not what these verses are saying.
It reads “You meant it for evil. God meant it for good.” God governs everything. Anything that you experience was allowed by God in order to bring about his will for His glory and our ultimate good. Is it hard to see sometimes? Absolutely.
But remember, that Joseph is a symbol of Jesus.
Listen to Peter’s words in Acts 4:
"Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” (Acts 4:27-28)
Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel chose to sin against Jesus and put him to death. But who was behind it all, superintending everything by His power?
They did what “your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” What they meant for evil, God meant for good.
In the first sermon ever preached, Peter said:
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:22-24)
What they meant for evil, God meant for good.
That’s the story of the cross. The evil forces of this world murdered the Messiah but by that very act they set in motion God’s plan to offer salvation to the world!
Do you trust God? Really trust Him? Do you trust His heart when you cannot understand His plan?
Sylvia Schroeder wrote in a beautiful blog post:
The Bible is full of stories of people whose lives were dealt rotten blows. Moses, David, Paul and John the Baptist. Yet they believed God. They believed His Sovereignty reigned over everything, even wrongs dealt them. They chose against bitterness. It is never an easy choice to make….At some time each of us is affected by unfairness and hurt. Each of our stories would be, could be, maybe even should be different had people or situations not altered our path. In society, in families, and as my husband’s father knew, even in ministry we might be richer, own more, have risen higher. We can choose to replay wrong and rewind hurt or…” we can choose to trust God and know He is always working for His ultimate glory and our ultimate good.
Ending Song: Though He Slay Me (Shane and Shane)
