Download Sermon PDF for easy reading:
https://myprayernotebook4life.wordpress.com/sermon-pdfs/
Password: SermonCentral
Homework: Did anyone seek God about plans for their life?
Did you lay hands on yourself like Paul was going to do for Timothy?
I know everyone is reading along with the Joseph story at home. I won’t ask. I believe the best of everyone!
We’ll be breezing through a lot of this story, because we have a lot to cover this week. It doesn’t mean that it’s not important, it just doesn’t pertain to what we’re looking at for this series, but I want to encourage you to read the entire story in one sitting to see the bigger picture. Back to the story….
Genesis 46 NKJV
Jacob’s Journey to Egypt
46So Israel (Jacob) took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”
Beersheba was owned by the Philistines. Abraham lived there, dug a (famous) well, and made a covenant with Abimelech concerning the well, which is still there to this day. Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of the Lord. Eventually this land would be owned by the tribe of Simeon and then taken over by the tribe of Judah. Jacob stopping here to honor the Lord and his grandfather’s covenant to the Lord caused God to speak to him. For us, we can learn from Jacob that stopping what you’re doing and where you’re going to honor the Lord will result in Him leading and guiding you.
(2)And he said, “Here I am.” 3So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.”
There’s a lot of information packed in here. Yes, God made them a great nation there! God also told Jacob, I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you up again. Wait a min! This never happened. Jacob stands in front of the pharaoh at 130 years old and dies at 147. That’s 17 years later. Did God lie, change His mind, or did Jacob not want to leave the land of Goshen? Certainly, it’s never in God’s plan to do evil or harm (Jeremiah 29:11). They veered off God’s path again. God is not a liar. The final promise of God was, “Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” This was an ancient middle eastern practice, to close the eyes of the dead, and it was an honor to be asked to perform it.
The Bible goes on to say that Jacob went to Egypt and gives us the names and number of all those traveling. Jacob arrives in Goshen and sees Joseph. They have an emotional moment. Joseph plans to have the family settle in the best part of Egypt, the most fertile, away from the Egyptians in the land Goshen.
Genesis 47 NKJV
5 …Pharaoh replies to the request, 6”The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”
Not only is he giving them the best of the land, but also employing them, as in paying them too! Now we’re starting to see why Jacob didn’t want to leave.
7Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
This is a funny question. Pharaoh sees an old man and that’s his first question! But it’s because the Egyptians didn’t live long. They had a host of diseases, sicknesses, and suffered from malnutrition because they were demon worshipers and lived without God’s blessing. If you Google the average age of ancient Egyptians during this time period, you’ll see an average age range from 20-25 at this time. The reason was because most children died, lowering the average age. The average person who made it past 10 years old would live 30-40 years; the wealthy lived 40-50 years during this time period, and few lived past their 50s. This means that the Pharaoh that killed the baker, saved the butler, and made Joseph second in command over all of Egypt was likely just a teenager or very young man himself at the time. Being quite young, he was probably even more amazed at Joseph’s wisdom than what we realize. This paints an entirely different picture for us when we think, “Oh wow, they put a 39-year-old in charge of the entire country.” When in fact Joseph was the age of wisemen and elders.
9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty 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 in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
But, back to what we talked about before. This is where we see Jacob lived 17 years in Goshen and didn’t leave. It’s important for us to recognize the subtle clue where the slavery problem started. If you read verse 4 in Hebrew, God says to Jacob, “bring you,” it’s second person singular you, not “you guys,” or “y’all.” God said, “I will bring you, JACOB, up again.” Also note that nowhere do we see in the Bible they were commanded to stay after the famine had ended.
The Bibles goes on to say they moved to Goshen and Joseph provided food for his family. The famine became worse. Joseph took up all the money in Egypt for Pharaoh, then their livestock, and finally their land except for the demon priests. Again, everything became worse. This time the people happily agreed to give pharaoh a 5th of their other harvests and then become pharaoh’s servants.
27So Israel (Jacob) dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
God gave Jacob 3 promises:
1. Make Jacob a great nation in Egypt – Fulfilled
2. Promise to be brought back – Unfulfilled
3. Joseph would close his eyes – Fulfilled (below)
That tells us, Jacob decided not to leave. It’s important to understand, because Jacob’s decision affected the whole family, next generations, and in our modern-day world God often takes the blame for Jacob’s decision. Leaving his family there let Egypt get in their hearts, and we see the results of this decision in the story of Moses how it affected them.
29When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, … Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”
Hmm... Why didn’t he want to stay if it was no big deal to live there? It was easy, his sons were being paid, Joseph was a mega-wealthy hero, and the family was enjoying the blessing.
(30) And he said, “I will do as you have said.” 31Then he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.
Wow. He made him swear! Why? Because Jacob didn’t leave like he was supposed to, and Jacob didn’t even want his body left with the demon worshippers. If you study what they were doing, prosperity or no prosperity, you’d want to leave too! Some of it would make your stomach churn and you’d feel like vomiting, it’s so disgusting and vile. But we don’t commonly read about the disgusting and vomitable offenses. No, historians want to make it an ancient mystical culture to respect and study ($$$).
Genesis 48 NKJV
Jacob is about to die. He tells Joseph that his sons will be equal to his brothers in the inheritance. Prior to this, the brothers didn’t know they would become the tribes of Israel; hence, the family fighting. God has a way of working things out that we don’t expect.
17Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim (the youngest), it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 19But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”
Thinking back to the beginning of the story with all the brothers. It was ok when Joseph was the one jumping from eleventh brother to first, but when it came to his children, he wanted to follow birth order. Again, we keep seeing how important the first born was in the ancient world, and I’m not sure any of us really understand the magnitude of the upset or shame this brought in the ancient world.
After this, Joseph continues blessing and 21Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. Jacob continues on blessing.
But God told Jacob personally He would bring him up out of Egypt. Now Jacob is telling Joseph God will bring you back to the land of your fathers. What’s going on here? God told Jacob not Joseph! It’s likely Joseph was supposed to remain in Egypt and his family return to Canaan under his order and protection, because Egypt during this time period, had their hands in lower Canaan. Sometime after the famine pharaoh but before the birth of Moses, Canaan became a vassal state of Egypt (means they paid tribute to Egypt, kept all their rulers and government, but reported everything to Egypt. Basically political control.). If you chart a timeline, it’s likely Joseph was still alive when Canaan had to pay tribute to Egypt. The pharaoh right after Moses fled fully conquered lower Canaan. Israel later conquered and moved into upper Canaan, until the time of David and Solomon, but that conversation is for another time. But point being, God could have used Egypt to fight for them instead of fighting against them.
The same scenario goes for us. We can’t decide to follow our own plan and pass our responsibility off on someone else. God won’t go along with our plan. Let’s read on...
Genesis 49 NKJV
Jacob gives his sons their last words and blessings. Then he says…
29…bury me with my fathers … 30in the cave that … Abraham bought ... 33And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Genesis 50 NKJV
2And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. … 3Forty days … are the days required for those who are embalmed;
Embalming was only for the wealthy and elite. Which also means that Joseph probably had a very nice coffin made for Jacob as well.
12So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. 13…carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave … which Abraham bought 14Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
Why? Why? Why? Why are they going back? Who told them to go back? Canaan was the Promise Land. If the brothers stopped at Beersheba, like we talked about Jacob did when we started today, and offered a sacrifice, they would have received direction from the Lord. Joseph wasn’t there to witness that event, but the other 11 brothers watched their father do it.
15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.”
They’re still in fear. Once fear was let in, it didn’t matter what reality showed them or what blessing The Lord spoke, fear ruled in their hearts and their perception was off. No matter what we go through in life, never allow fear to run through you and speak to you. Fear will speak the worst and believe the worst. There are times where you have to let your spirit speak to your soul (mind, will, and emotions), “No! We will not be afraid. God is on our side.” Doesn’t matter if you have goosebumps double parked, nerves jumping like needles, and sweat dripping. Resist it! Take a stand!
16So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
Fear will make you do crazy things!
18Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Again, let’s camp out here for a moment. Because people read, “God meant it for good,” and also, “in order to bring it about,” they believe this was God’s Master Plan. Joseph did the right thing in how he spoke, “am I in the place of God?” He’s saying, “should I judge and punish you?” Why did he respond this way? Because so many people take the place of God in this moment, “Well, you wanted to kill me, so… Well, when I just tried to do my job and tell daddy what you were doing… When I just shared my dream that God gave me… You wouldn’t listen to me… I was right and you were wrong…” We all do this very same thing even in our modern-day family. When someone tries to apologize, instead of peace, let it go, and see the good, nooo there’s a fault-finding fight. There was no fault-finding fight, so we modern-western thinkers blame God, “He did it!” It’s our flesh-nature that wants to “clear the air” with stench and a post “sorting things out” to appease our emotions. We also call this ungodly behavior “closure.” Joseph is an excellent example of true “forgive and forget;” but yet we can’t see that because of what we’re taught by society.
22So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
According to World History.org, Egyptian records state that Joseph served the pharaoh that made him governor, and possibly the three succeeding pharaohs. Of course, if you do your own reading there, they will call Joseph by his Egyptian name, Imhotep.
23Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees.
This is very important information for calculating years.
24And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Ok, now Joseph was telling his brothers to leave Egypt. He was warning them. Jacob knew they shouldn’t stay there! Joseph knew they shouldn’t stay there!
25Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
It was so serious that Joseph took an oath from his brothers. He knew they were supposed to leave!! He knew they wouldn’t listen!! He also didn’t even want his bones left with these demon worshipers. He knew they’d make him a god, and they did exactly that! Even the Romans worshiped him as a deity, and eventually Greeks equated Joseph, Imhotep, with Asklepios, their god of health who also was a deified mortal.
That’s the exact reason Joseph was called to lead the family. Joseph, although he had some refining work to do on his life, had his eye on God, while his brothers had their eye on the blessing. We can make this same mistake in our life where we have our eye on our gift instead of the Lord. Let’s take a quick look in Exodus and then we’ll end this series here.
Exodus 1 NKJV
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
The word know here in Hebrew doesn’t mean know as in know who he was, but it means know as in know him personally. This pharaoh in chapter 1 most certainly knew of him, even we all know the name Imhotep from school or tv. Right?
Going by Egypt’s history according to World History.org, Joseph served 4 pharaohs and died at age 110. He was made governor at age 39. That’s about 70 years of service, and we’ll leave one for retirement. Four pharaohs ruled in the 71 years. That means the Egyptians families were on their 4th generation, and maybe 3rd generation if the family was wealthy and had long life. To put that thought into perspective, that means the famine happened to your great grandfather or your grandfather if your family had long life. The love and affection from the Egyptian people for Joseph had passed, just like you don’t have any affection for someone that may have blessed your great-grandfather. By the time the wealth God, through Joseph, brought to Egypt was now just a normal thing to this 4th and upcoming 5th generation of people. By the time this Exodus pharaoh arose, the Egyptian families had to be on about the 6th generation. But for God’s people, if you read through the names and chart the dates, the famine generation was still alive and well in Exodus chapter 1. I know it’s not the mainstream belief, but facts are facts. Don’t believe what people say, get a pen and some paper!
The remainder of this story is another study for another day. But I think it’s very important to understand where all the problems originated in the family and see how God had to alter plans to save Jacob and his family. He had to save the Israelites again and again from not listening to the plan. It was never God’s Master Plan to have Joseph sold into slavery any more than it was God’s Master Plan to allow the children of Israel to become slaves. We saw Jacob didn’t listen and the brothers didn’t listen. If you’re interested in this topic, read on and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes; you’ll see Moses didn’t listen at first either. The Old Testament is a whole lot of Israel mostly not listening and God making alternate plans. What we can learn from them is that It’s never too late to get started or get back on the path.
God sees the end from the beginning, and the bigger picture. When we’re in the middle of situations, sometimes we can’t see the bird’s eye view of what’s happening. In those times where life seems unfair, or like God isn’t delivering you; that’s the best time to check if you or a loved one is camped out in Attitude City, or if you or a loved one has gone to spiritual prison already. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Promise, He will lead you out much faster than the people of the Old Testament. Let’s recap how to get out of Attitude City:
- Recognize that you’re in Attitude City
- Repent
- Make your wrongs right (Check list: forgive, forget, apologize, return things)
- Ask God what changes you need to make
- Allow God to change you by reading the Word, praise, and worship every day
- Ask God to reveal His plan for your life to you
- Lay hands on yourself to stir up the gifts inside you
- Ask God to prepare your heart for greater glory
- Last but not least, give all the glory to God!
Thank you for going through this study with me. I hope everyone feels more equipped for greater glory and greater works of the Lord in their life. We will see where the Holy Spirit leads us next week.
But before we go… This study was closed and completely done, but the Holy Spirit spoke a scripture to me, and it came with sternness and grief. This study is not yet over!
Matthew 18:11-14 NKJV
11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
The sheep are His people, they were of the flock, not the unsaved.
Matthew 18:33-34
33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
Do we understand the one sheep that strays is a believer? This is what the Lord is speaking to us tonight, so please write this information down!
We’ve been taught one little sheep that has gone astray is someone who isn’t saved, we already see in scripture that’s not true. Some people teach the lost sheep are the ones who aren’t coming to church and serving God anymore. They can be! But I will tell you exactly what this means,
The lost sheep that has gone astray is the Christian that isn’t following the plan God has laid out for their life. They have wondered away from the Good Shepherd doing whatever they think is right.
They can come to church and live their life as a Christian, but never do what the Lord has called them to do. Through the years, I’ve heard Christian mothers say, “My goal in life is my children.” That’s a lost sheep! Christians who try to live right, watch righteous tv, listen to Christian radio, go to church, and nothing else; that’s a lost sheep! Some people here need a wake-up call! This is your wake-up call!!
Those that don’t know God’s plan for their life are a lost sheep!
They walked away from the Master to live their own life for themselves; they eat their own grass and get their own drink. But they’re enjoying Him being at a safe distance watching in case a wolf comes. That’s ok, until judgment day! We should be living our life so close to the Master that when He moves, we move! He goes for a lost sheep; we’re right behind Him. Ignorance isn’t a permissible excuse! We’ve all been told in the Bible we have gifts, callings, and knowledge! I’m going to challenge you, because that’s what God wants me to do. If you don’t know your giftings and callings in life, what are you too busy doing to find out?
Do you know there are enough Christians in any given city that have been called to the prison ministry that the prison should be known as a House of Prayer and a House of Second Chances? Where are all those Christians and what are they doing?? No one should be walking out of our local prisons without being touched by God, but where are the laborers? Do you know our city has enough Christians to have youth programs so gangs and suicide wouldn’t be strongholds? We act like prayer is the answer to everything, when it’s not!
Matthew 9:37 NKJV
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
We have Christian men called to minister to youth who don’t have fathers, and they’re on the internet playing Call of Duty with a headset. Why? Because they’re using their gift of being fun and playful for themselves. We have women cooking and baking for their social media dreaming about “merch” and a “product line,” who are supposed to be cooking and baking for those less fortunate. They’re using their gift for dreams, money, and self-promotion instead of God, but oh... they mentioned God on their social media. These people are leaving the churches to start “yet another program” to draw people in because these church Christians aren’t moving out to where they belong. It’s time to stop living like we’re doing just enough to get to Heaven and bless our family too!
This ending isn’t meant to be mean or hurtful but light a fire under everyone’s butt. I felt the Heart of God being grieved, yes grieved, when the scripture of the lost sheep came for us. God is lovingly calling us to action tonight! Adults and children are hurt, dying, and going to hell while we watch our Christian movies, sing our happy radio songs, and do whatever we think is a positive influence for God.
Don’t turn away in anger, say, “YES LORD! HERE I AM! SEND ME!” He wants you to RUN to your Promise Land. Your joy, peace, and true soul prosperity are in your Promise Land.
Homework:
- Remind yourself to stop what you’re doing to honor God
- Read the entire story of Joseph in one sitting
- Ask the Lord to highlight parts of the story that may pertain to you in this season in your life
(Prayer Points:
- Lord, we want to respond to the wake-up call that you gave us with, “YES LORD, YES!
HERE I AM TO SERVE YOU! SEND ME! I WILL GO INTO YOUR FIELD TO WORK!”
- Lord speak to our hearts and tell us our call, even if You said it 1000 times, please say it again
- We don’t want this life to pass us by and not do Your work, it will be a sad day to face You and say I didn’t know… or I didn’t do anything.
- Lord, we lay our life down before You as a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to You
- Take our lives Lord, and do something amazing with them so the next generation can carry on our torch that was lit with a blazing fire for You, so the memory of us won’t be swept away but the works You do through us will be talked about by our great and great-great grandchildren
- Lord, we count today as a turning point in our lives to get back on the path. We want to be the people who take others talents and gifts because they refuse them, as opposed to giving ours up to another
- Show us how to keep our gifts stirred up, so we run our race with joy and accomplish all that You’ve called us to do
- Thank You for loving us and having plans of restoration, peace, and prosperity for us and our children
In Jesus name, Amen)
