Genesis 49:29–50:21

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions where every day you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from the book of Genesis to Leviticus.

Now, a number of you have said we miss the office. So I've switched things up. We're back in the office, but it takes a little bit of logistics on my end. But I think it's going to be a little bit more comfortable and get things done. and accomplish some things for me too here.

Why don't we have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for what a generous, gracious, and loving God you are. Father, we pray that as we read your word now that you would please help us to understand it. We pray that you would let us live it. We pray that your Holy Spirit would be working in our hearts, that we would love you more and more. Help us, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so we are still in the book of Genesis and We are at Genesis chapter 49 verses 29 through 50 verse 21. So why don't we go ahead and go to the Lord's Word together now.

Then he charged them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Mechbala. which is before Mamrin, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. The face, the field, and the cave that is in there were purchased from the sons of Heth, And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people. Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for him. For such are the days required for those who are embalmed. And the Egyptians mourned for him seven days.

Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear. Behold, I am dying in my grave, which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, where you shall bury me. Now, therefore, please let me go up and bury my father and I will come back. And Pharaoh said, Go. and bury your father, as he made you swear. So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house.

Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering. Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father, and when the inhabitants of the land of the Canaanites saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, this is a deep mourning of the Egyptians. Therefore, its name was called Abel Mizrayim, which is beyond the Jordan.

So his sons did for him justice he had commanded them. For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Meqbalah before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place.

And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father. When 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. So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, Before your father died, he commanded, saying, Thus you shall say to Joseph, I beg you, please forgive the trespasses of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you. Now please forgive the trespasses of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and fell before his face and said, Behold, we are your servants.

Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid for my in the place of God. But 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 my people alive. Now, therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.

And he comforted them. Spoke kindly to them Well, we need to ask ourselves a what's this about B? What's the best verse of summarizes and see what are we called to do in response to these words? So so what's the story about? well Jacob is dying He calls all his his sons to himself and and he tells them, right? He charges them. Bury me at Mecbala. Bury me in that same grave in Canaan. This is similar to what he had already charged Joseph with previously, but now he's charging all the sons. He wants everyone to know this is where he wants to be buried.

And now Verse 33, and when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. This is the end of this patriarch, the end of this era had gone from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And now it's going to be talking about the 12 tribes right now. Now the story is going to diversify and we're going to have to handle a whole nation of people.

But Jacob dies. Joseph falls on his bed and weeps over his father's dead body. And they do according to what they had promised. It's interesting to note here that Jacob dies and his son Joseph, second in command in Egypt, knows that this is going to be a long trek for his father's body.

Can't just do it right away. Can't do it on his own, so he has to have him embalmed. This is the idea of being mummified. He has his body taken care of. Right now, this, if you've never read about or studied mummification is quite a brutal process to the human body. Actually, organs are going to come out and lots of of treatment that's going to happen at drying out of the skin. And so the point is, he's preserving his body so he could take it to that field and bury him there.

And he goes to Pharaoh and he has to ask, But the second in command isn't allowed to do whatever he wants. He has to go to Pharaoh and he has to ask permission. And he says he needs to go to Canaan. And he tells him this promise he had made to his father. And Pharaoh said in verse six, go up and bury your father as he made you swear.

No, it's interesting, though, that it's not just Joseph who goes. Joseph goes with all the servants of Pharaoh. and the elders of his house, and the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. And with him, it went up chariots, horsemen, and it was a very great gathering, so much so that it caught the eye of all the Canaanites, and they're like, man, there's some type of procession going on here. And it's a type of mourning that is this deep mourning of the Egyptians.

But why? Why would Jacob require them to bury him in Canaan? This was his promised land. This is what God had promised him. He had made him into a great nation. But the land wasn't his yet. But he wanted to be buried with Isaac. He wanted to be buried with Abraham. He wanted to be in that same place as his ancestors are buried.

It's a touching thing, a sweet thing. And there in that burial place, they mourn and they weep. But it's also the place where Joseph's brothers start getting a little bit worried. Maybe Joseph was just doing this. Maybe he was just doing this because dad was alive. Maybe Joseph allowed us to live just until dad died.

And then we are going to become the objects of his wrath. But Joseph takes his grieving to the heart. I don't know what to make. I don't know what to make of this year. Verse 17, Joseph's brothers right there saying, perhaps Joseph is going to hate us.

They send messengers to it. And. And they say that to Joseph before your father died, he commanded saying. Was it actually Jacob who had commanded this or is this his brothers once again? Are they making up stories? Now are they trying to cover their own backs? They did evil to you, now please forgive the trespasses of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph weeps over this. I'm not sure if his weeping is because they need, they feel the need to still seek forgiveness, as if Joseph hadn't proved himself for over two decades now of caring for them. or if it's because he knows that they're lying. You can let me know in the comments, which one do you think it is? I lean towards this as a fabricated story, but lean in to notice how Joseph, as he thinks about everything that's happened, how does Joseph think about this?

He says, do not be afraid for am I in the place of God, right? I'm not, I'm not the judge. But 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. Guys, don't be afraid. I'm still going to care for you and your little ones. See, this is the beauty of God's providence.

Joseph understood this. God had allowed Joseph to go through all these trials, all this betrayal, all these horrible things that had happened to him. He was falsely accused of going after Potiphar's wife. He was forgotten in the prison because at the right moment, at the exact right moment, Pharaoh needed someone who could interpret dreams. And God used this moment To put Joseph in the place of power, to protect his people, to continue on the promise, to make sure his covenant would be accomplished.

This is the story of how God is faithful. People are messed up in the story, man. But Joseph has the right understanding here. He knows that God had given him vision, given him a dream twice. He's going to confirm it. It's going to be true. His brothers would bow down to him, even his father would bow down to him. But. It wouldn't be just because Joseph was so great, high and mighty, but it would be to preserve the whole family.

What's the best verse to summarize this section? Well, I have verse 20, 19, 20, and 21 underlined in my Bible. I got a whole bunch of other stuff underlined too. Maybe I can show you. This is how my Bible looks. Well, maybe you can't see that because it's got underlines and notes and stuff everywhere. Maybe you don't want to look at my Bible for underlining the best verse, but there's all sorts of stuff here. But I think 19, 20 and 21, especially verse 20, you meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good. I wonder.

On that last day. If God, if the disciples. Thought that God had failed his promises. Or the day that Jesus Christ was being crucified. I wonder how many of the disciples thought, oh man, this is an evil day. And didn't understand or recognize what the Lord was doing.

How many times do we do that in our own lives? We might be going through legitimately evil things, right? Destructive, hard, sinful things in our lives. You might be the victim of something. You might be suffering. Maybe you've lost your job. Maybe a child is going off the rails. Maybe there is people who are lying about you, cheating against you, doing things that you are helpless against.

God uses these things in our lives for a reason. I can't tell you in your life why he is doing these things, but we can take comfort. I know it sounds trite and I'm not trying to minimize the things you're going through. Your pain is real and the Lord knows your pain, but all things do work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes. Have you been called? Does he love you? Then even the most hard things in your life Are going to work out for your good and for his glory So do we trust him at his word? Do we hold to his promises?

Let's pray Father we confess to you. It's easy for us to get sidetracked It's easy for us to not trust your promises Lord, please help us Help us father to have a resilient strength that we would trust you, love you, follow you, even when the times are hard, knowing that you bring about gold through the fiery furnace.

In Jesus's name, Amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today as you rest, knowing that your sovereign God watches over all your life. I'll see you next time. Bye. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. we'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.