You can turn in your Bibles to
Genesis chapter 50 as we conclude the book of Genesis tonight.
God willing, we'll start the book of Exodus next Wednesday
night. But Genesis chapter 50, we have
the death of Jacob and then the death of Joseph. So I'll begin
reading in verse 1 of chapter 50. 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 seventy days. Now when the days
of his mourning were passed, 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,
saying, Behold, I am dying. In my grave, which I dug for
myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me. Now
therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will
come back. And Pharaoh said, Go up 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 Etad, 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, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor
of Etad, they said, this is a deep mourning of the Egyptians. Therefore,
its name was called Abel Mitzrayim, which is beyond the Jordan. For
his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. For his
sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the
cave of the field of Machpelah 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 fathers. When Joseph's brothers
saw, I'm sorry, 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 trespass of your brothers in 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. Then his brothers also went and
fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we are
your servants. Joseph said to them, do not be
afraid for am I 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 many people
alive. Now, therefore, do not be afraid.
I will provide for you and your little ones. And he comforted
them and spoke kindly to them. So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he
and his father's household. And Joseph lived 110 years. Joseph saw Ephraim's children
to the third generation. The children of Machair, the
son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees. And 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. Then Joseph took an oath
from the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit
you, and you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died,
being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put
in a coffin in Egypt. Amen. As I said, we've come to
the end of the book of Genesis. Obviously, it's the book that
records the creation of the world, tells us about the fall into
sin. There's a lot of things that
go on in the first 11 chapters. We get to chapter 12, and with
the call of Abram, God's attention now focuses upon one single family. And to that particular family
he gives a promise concerning land, which is the land of Canaan
that they would inherit. He gives the promise concerning
the seed. The seed ultimately is the Messiah
prophesied in Genesis chapter 3 at verse 15, the seed of the
woman that would crush the head of the serpent. So the rest of
Genesis basically amplifies and demonstrates and shows how it's
from the family of Abraham, which becomes the nation of Israel
that Messiah will ultimately come. And it's very crucial for
this book to end where it does, with the children of Israel in
the land of Egypt. That sets the stage for the book
of Exodus and that great redemptive event of God in terms of bringing
his people out of the land of Egypt and back into the land
of Canaan. Well, chapter 50 is pretty straightforward. It's pretty cut and dry. We essentially
have first the death of Jacob in verses 1 to 14. Secondly,
we have the reassurance given to Joseph's brothers in verses
15 to 21. And then finally, the chapter
ends with the death of Joseph in verses 22 to 26. But with
reference to Jacob's death, we see that at the end of chapter
49. Remember last week, we saw where
he is those blessings to his 12 sons. specifically more of
a prophecy concerning those sons and the various things that will
befall them when they end up as tribal entities living in
the land of Canaan. And so we read at the end of
chapter 49, verse 33, And 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. When we get to verses
1 and 2 in verse 1 there in chapter 50, we see that it was in fact
a peaceful death. I mean, that language is most
excellent. At the end of chapter 49, he
drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last and was
gathered to his people. So it was a relatively peaceful
death for this patriarch as he passes from this world into the
world to come. But it's also a prophetic death,
and we see that in verse 1 in chapter 50. It says, then Joseph
fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him.
This was already prophesied concerning Joseph in Genesis 46, 4. God says to Jacob, I 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. The margin reads,
will close your eyes when you die." So we see not only a peaceful
death, but a prophetic death in the end of Jacob. And then
we see this burial of Jacob in verses 2 to 14. And essentially,
Jacob had requested this, no, demanded it, essentially, from
Joseph in particular. If you go back for just a moment
to chapter 47, in verse 27, we read that Israel dwelt in the
land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen, and they had possessions
there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. And Jacob lived
in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the length of Jacob's
life was one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time drew near
that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him,
Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand
under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do
not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. You shall
carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place. And
he said, I will do as you have said. Then he said, swear to
me. And he swore to him. So Israel
bowed himself on the head of the bad. He was a lover of the
land that God had promised. We see that promise of God is
what united the patriarchs. They love God, they love the
promise, and the very book itself ends on that high note. Joseph
ends his life by speaking concerning the faithfulness of God and pointing
his brothers and his family to the promises of God with reference
to land, with reference to blessing. And then notice he's embalmed
according to verses 2 and 3. It's only him and Joseph that
I know of in the Old Testament that went through this. It was
obviously a custom that was practiced in Egypt. The Jews didn't do
this regularly, but in this instance it proved to be a good thing
because they need to take Jacob's body all the way back to Canaan,
and it was certainly a long distance, so it was very helpful for them
to have him embalmed. And then we notice that they
request permission from Pharaoh in order to go back to the land
of Canaan so that they may in fact bury Jacob. Now, the fact
that Joseph uses an intermediary, he doesn't go directly to Pharaoh,
causes some people a bit of concern in the sense that he's the second
in command. He's been given great trust.
He's been given great prestige by Pharaoh. He doesn't have the
wherewithal and the ability to wander in and just speak to Pharaoh. Well, there are perhaps reasons
why he does not. There's a comparison in the book
of Esther, in Esther chapter 4, where we see that when persons
are mourning, they do not come into contact with a monarch.
That same sort of thing may have obtained here in Egypt, and we
don't know for sure, but nevertheless, he sends an intermediary, according
to verse 4, it says, if now I have found favor in your eyes, please
speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear,
saying, Behold, I am dying. In my grave, which I dug for
myself, in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me. Now
therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will
come back." Now this is very good the way that he said it.
He doesn't say, Pharaoh, my dad didn't want to be buried in this
heathen land. My dad didn't want to be buried
in this polluted pagan place. No, he says, my father basically
had me make an oath to him that he would be buried in the land
of promise, buried where his own family is buried, buried
where his own wife, Leah, is buried. And Pharaoh says, according
to verse 6, go up and bury your father as he made you swear. So it's that that appealed to
the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh is obviously benevolent.
The Pharaoh is obviously generous. We've already seen that in Joseph's
dealings with him up to this point. But the Pharaoh is not
naive. He doesn't want everybody to
go. and therefore the children and
part of the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's
house, go, according to verse 8. And then it says, only their
little ones, their flocks and their herds, they left in the
land of Goshe. Pharaoh doesn't want Joseph to
go to Canaan and then stay there. So Pharaoh sends a dispatch of
his own people, his own troops, certainly that would provide
security and safety for the travelers along the way. And that was an
act of graciousness and kindness and generosity on his part. But
he certainly wants the return of Joseph, and he has a vested
interest in that. And that's why I would imagine
that the children were left behind. They didn't want to take them
on the one hand, but also they were going to come back. And
then according to verse 9, they went up with him, both chariots
and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering. And it was such
a great gathering that within the land of Canaan itself, the
Canaanites saw the morning at the threshing floor of Atad,
according to verse 11, and they said, this is a deep morning
of the Egyptians, therefore its name was called Abel Mitzrayim,
which is beyond the Jordan. author uses beyond the Jordan.
We're not quite sure if they're on the east side or the trans-Jordan
or on sort of the west side. It's not able at this point to
be able to pinpoint specifically, commentators kind of debate,
which side they may have been on at this particular time. And
then in verses 12 and following, it says, his sons did for him
just as he had commanded that. Now, this particular burial plot
was most important. When Abraham went to bury Sarah,
he insisted on paying for it. Even though it was offered to
him as a gift, Abraham insisted that he purchase it because he
wanted to own dirt. in the promised land, the land
that God would eventually give to the children of Israel. And
so this was something they possessed. This was something they owned.
And for Jacob, this was as well very important that he be laid
to rest in that place. So verse 13 says his sons carried
him. to the land of Canaan and buried
him in the cave of the field of Machpelah 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." So Jacob is gone. The
story of Jacob begins in chapter 37. It ends sort of technically
at this vantage point. That brings us, secondly, to
the reassurance given to Joseph's brothers. Now that Jacob is gone,
the brothers understand that Jacob, or rather Joseph, may
turn against them. That obviously isn't an expression
of great trust in Joseph. I mean, I think he's already
evidenced or manifested or demonstrated that he is gracious, that he
is benevolent, and he is kind. But nevertheless, with reference
to these men, They know the misdeeds they had done to Him. In fact,
they had experienced conviction before. If you go back to chapter
42, Chapter 42, they indicate their guilt over this particular
way that they treated Joseph. In Genesis 42, verse 21, it says,
then they said to one another, we are truly guilty concerning
our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with
us and we would not hear. Therefore, this distress has
come upon us. Now just to refresh your memory,
go back to chapter 37. In chapter 37, at verse 21, it
says, Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands
and said, let us not kill him. And Reuben said to them, shed
no blood, but cast him into this pit, which is in the wilderness,
and do not lay a hand on him, that he might deliver him out
of their hands and bring him back to his father. So it came
to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped
Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.
Then they took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty,
there was no water in it, and they sat down to eat a meal.
So these men were so calloused and so cavalier and so wicked,
with reference to Joseph, that they throw him into this pit,
and then they sit down for a sandwich. It's probably in that context
when they hear him crying out from the pit. That's probably
the conviction they are setting forth in chapter 42 when they
said, we are truly guilty concerning our brother. So going back to
chapter 50, now that Jacob is dead, they're concerned that
Joseph is going to exact revenge upon them. The concern was present
because they had, in fact, done terrible things to him. It wasn't
just a particular thought that maybe they knew what they had
done. In fact, when Joseph makes that
grand declaration of verse 20, he says, you meant evil against
me. That was undeniable. These brothers
were wretched to Joseph, and they had treated him very poorly.
And at this particular juncture, they thought that now that Jacob
is gone, he's going to let us have it. I would suggest as well
the concern was present because they never asked for forgiveness
and therefore that guilt was still present upon them. There
is something very necessary about confessing sin and asking for
forgiveness. I think at times we fall prey
to this, well I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. In one sense
that's probably better than not saying anything at all. But the
biblical language is a whole lot better. In fact, when you're
rearing children, this might be something that you think through
when you're teaching that. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Sometimes it's, I'm sorry that you were offended by that. We
all see how disingenuous that is. I'm sorry that you got upset
by the things that I did here. That's not legit or genuine.
When we say, I have sinned against you, please forgive me of my
sin, there is an actual transaction that occurs that is necessary
for the alleviation and the expiation of guilt. If we don't confess
our sin, we're still going to have it as a burden in our hearts. Proverbs 28 tells us that whoever
covers his transgression will not prosper, but the one who
confesses and forsakes it will find mercy. Now, no doubt these
brothers were probably sorry, and no doubt these brothers,
once they were reunited with Joseph, were happy that they
were received into his favor, but they had never dealt with
their sin in the manner that God has ordained. Please forgive
me. I have sinned against you, and
then the onus is on the person to actually exercise forgiveness. That is crucial on their part
as well. In Scripture, in the New Covenant
setting, we're told to forgive one another even as God in Christ
forgave us. So it's not only that we should
be willing to repent and ask for forgiveness, but we as those
who have been sinned against, need to be willing and happy
to forgive the sins of others, even as God in Christ forgave
us. I think at times we don't do
what Scripture says, and as a result, our relationships are fractured,
they are tattered, and they are oftentimes ruined because we
don't deal with each other as adults and as Bible-believing
Christians. We're all going to sin against
each other. That is an inevitability. It's what do we do when that
happens? Do we try to cover it or do we
say, please forgive me, I have sinned? And when somebody comes
and says, please forgive me, I have sinned, are you going
to say, well, I'm not ready or I'm not gonna? Praise God, God
doesn't deal with us in that manner. John said, my little
children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
even Jesus Christ the righteous. It will never be the case that
you and I go to the throne of grace and the Lord Jesus say,
well, I'm not ready to forgive, or I'm not gonna forgive, or
I'm gonna make you stew in it for a while, and then I might
exercise forgiveness and kindness and love. If we engage in that
type of conduct, then we're not forgiving as God in Christ has
forgiven us. So perhaps one of the reasons
why they had this suspicion relative to Joseph is because they had
not effectively or biblically dealt with their sin. This is
crucial that we learn to deal with our sin toward God and toward
one another. Husbands and wives, confess your
sins one to another. Children to parents, parents
to children. It's simply not the case that we will never sin
against each other. I always thought it was good
for our children to learn not only that we do sin, but that
we confess sin and ask for forgiveness against those we sin against.
Because that's what the Bible says we're supposed to do. And
so these brothers didn't do that. And now notice their suspicion
or their fear in verse 15. 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,
which they had. They inflicted a great deal of
evil upon him. So they sent messengers to Joseph
saying, before your father died, he commanded saying. Now most
of the commentators, at least the older ones, say that they
believe this is a lie. that Jacob did not know. And I think there's some merit
to that because Jacob points out the sin of Reuben when he
comes to bless in Genesis 49. He points out the sin of Simeon
and Levi when he comes to bless in Genesis 49. If he was under
the awareness of what these brothers had done with reference to Joseph,
it's likely that he would have brought that up in Genesis chapter
49. Now whether they lied or not,
it certainly seems like they may have, but we see what they
want in terms of their approach to Joseph. 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
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." Now, it's a beautiful thing that they
do. They are legit in this expression and they don't try to hide it.
They don't say, well, you know, I could see how you possibly
interpreted what we did as being evil or They don't do that. Four
times they speak about their sin, about their evil, about
their trespass. That's a good sign. They come
to deal faithfully and honestly in that regard. Just like David.
When David is found out by the prophet Nathan, he says, I have
sinned against the Lord. He doesn't need to elaborate.
He doesn't need to go into detail. He doesn't try to explain it
away. He doesn't say, well, Lord, I can't believe you put that
woman and she was bathing in my eyesight or in my path. And
so therefore, I know he sinned against God. There has to come
a point in time where we all face that reality. and own it
before the holy God of heaven and earth. And finally, these
young men, well not young men, they're all old men by now, but
these men finally do this. I beg you please, forgive the
trespass of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil
to you. And then they say, now please
forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father. In
other words, conduct yourself, Joseph, toward us the way that
the God of your father conducts himself toward his people. And
we know that he is a God of grace, a God of mercy, a God of goodness,
and a God of benevolence. In fact, remember Jacob's statement
when he comes to bless the sons of Joseph in Genesis 48. In Genesis
48, 15, and 16, he blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my
life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all
evil, So certainly Jacob knew this reality, and no doubt he
catechized his sons in that reality, that with God there is redemption
from all evil, from the effects of sin, the ravages of sin. The God of Israel is a God who
is full of goodness, mercy, and grace, who does forgive sinners. He does it based ultimately on
the gospel of his beloved son, that gospel promise having been
given in Genesis chapter 3 at verse 15. Men walked by faith
in the Messiah as he had been promised back in the garden to
Adam and Eve. And then it says that Joseph
wept when they spoke to him. This is not unique. Joseph wept
when he saw Benjamin according to chapter 43 at verse 30. He
wept in chapter 45 at verse 2 when he was going to reveal himself
to his brothers. And then he wept again in Genesis
46 at verse 29 when he met Jacob. So Joseph was not a machine. Joseph was obviously affected
with the various trials and afflictions in life. And Joseph was affected
here that his brothers now had come and asked specifically for
forgiveness. He probably wept for a variety
of reasons. He could have wept. out of concern
that they had the view of him that he had been faking it all
along. He could have wept out of concern for them and happy
and joyful that they're dealing with their sin once and for all
in a way that will indeed bring atonement from God and as well
with Joseph. So there's probably a myriad
of emotions overflowing his heart and so he weeps. In verse 18,
his brothers also went and fell down before his face and they
said, behold, we are your servants. So the promise of God that was
revealed to Joseph via the two dreams in Genesis chapter 37
comes to pass. In fact, we can turn back there
to refresh our memories concerning the preeminence of Joseph. We
saw it last week in chapter 49 and prior in chapter 48. Remember
when you look at the map and you see the tribal allotments
in Israel, you do not see one named Joseph. No, rather you
see two. One is named Ephraim and the
other is Manasseh, which represents the double portion that had been
given to Joseph as a result of Reuben, who was the firstborn,
who had committed incest by affinity had been cast out of that position,
and it was Joseph who took over that privilege as the firstborn. That was an entitlement to a
double portion of blessing. And when he comes in chapter
37, it tells us in verse 5, Joseph had a dream and he told it to
his brothers, and they hated him even more. So he said to
them, please hear this dream which I have dreamed. There we
were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf
arose and also stood upright, and indeed your sheaves stood
all around and bowed down to my sheaf. And his brothers said
to him, shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed
have dominion over us? So they hated him even more for
his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed still another
dream and told it to his brothers and said, look, I have dreamed
another dream. And this time the sun, the moon,
and the 11 stars bowed down to me. So he told it to his father
and his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him,
what is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and
I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before
you? And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the
matter in mind. So we see that comes to pass.
What God promises, even through prophetic dream, comes to pass. So one of the sort of overarching
themes throughout the book of Genesis is, in fact, the faithfulness
of God. Promises made, promises kept,
and that sets the stage for the rest of the Bible. Remember,
this is the first book of the Bible. And so all that it tells
us concerning God should stick in the mind of the reader when
they move from Exodus all the way to the book of Revelation.
That statement in chapter 50 at verse 20 isn't just a unifying
theme with reference to the Joseph narratives from Genesis 37 to
50. It supplies essential information
for the rest of Scripture that the Lord God Most High is sovereign,
that in His providence there are bad things that occur. It's not the case that his sovereignty
means a life of, you know, bluebirds and roses as we live in this
world. That's not the case. The fact
that God is sovereign does not ensure an absolutely carefree
life. There will be heartache, there
will be hardship, and reader, witness the life of Joseph that
you've just read, but never forget this absolutely crucial point
of information. that God in the midst of providence
overrules wickedness to bring about things for His glory and
the good of His people. So it's not just Genesis that
is well served by the concept of God's faithfulness, by the
supremacy and sovereignty of God, or by His providence as
it's worked out for the good of His people, but it also should
supply information to the reader as he moves his way through the
rest of Holy Scripture. Verse 19. We see that Joseph
now reassures them. Joseph said to them, do not be
afraid for am I in the place of God. I think the meaning here
is he is not the one who judges, he is not the sovereign, he is
not the ruler over these particular men. And then he gives this assurance
that God works for good to those that love him. This is Romans
8, 28, the Old Testament. But as for you, you meant evil
against me. And that is true. Joseph knew
that all too well. Now, when you look at the life
of Joseph, he lived 110 years, as we learn in this passage,
There were 13 miserable years. Remember, they threw him into
the pit and sold him into slavery when he was 17. And then he stood
before Pharaoh when he was 30. So if we sort of look at the
math there, he had a 13-year window where things obviously
did not go his way. But even in that 13-year window,
the Lord was with him every step of the way. And so the lesson
is that if it's good times, the not 13 years, or it's bad times,
the 13 years, God is still with his people. And that has been
manifested in the life of Joseph all the way from the beginning
to the end. So he recognizes that they intended
to do evil against him. But then he highlights or recognizes
that God is sovereign and that in God's providence he overrules
the wickedness of man in order to bring about good ends. I was
trying to think of the philosopher. I can't remember. If Isaac was
here, he'd probably pipe up and tell me. But there was a philosopher
who essentially denied God's goodness or God's omnipotence.
It basically goes like this. If God is good, he must not be
omnipotent. Because if he was good, or if
he's good in his omnipotence, he'd stop the evil that exists
in the world. And then he said, on the other
hand, if God is omnipotent, then he's obviously not good. If he
has all power, and all of this evil continues to go undealt
with, then that's an evidence that God isn't good. So you've
got this dilemma, you've got this disjunctive syllogism, you
have an either-or. Well, Greg Bonson, I think, helpfully
supplied, not Greg Bonson alone, I think the Christian tradition,
he just sort of articulated it in a very sort of helpful way,
that there is a third way, and that is to realize that the Bible
provides further data. And the Bible tells us that God
has morally sufficient reason for the evil that does exist. In other words, God is good,
God is omnipotent, and the evil that does happen in this world
serves God's purposes. A, for His glory and honor and
praise, and B, for the good of those who love Him and those
who are called according to His purpose. I think 5020, at the
very beginning of the Bible, supplies that premise that persons
need to be able to navigate through all of the hardships and woes
that is going to befall Israel subsequent to this, the various
persons in Israel that have difficulties, all the way into the New Testament.
God does have omnipotent power. God is absolutely good, and God
does have morally sufficient reasons for the evil that exists
in the world. Joseph is an example of that.
The Lord Jesus Christ is an example of that. The worst deed that
has ever been committed in the history of man is the murder
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was the only one ever that
was wholly harmless and blameless. There was no sin, there was no
bad, there was no blemish, there was no crime whatsoever. So the
murder of Christ was horrible. It was the worst thing ever.
But we learn from Scripture that God ordained it. It occurred
according to the predetermined plan of God, according to Acts
2.23. What's the morally sufficient
reason for that evil that exists? The glory of God in the salvation
of sinners. So brethren, when persons make
that argument, either God's omnipotent or God's good, He can't be both.
He absolutely positively is both, and the evil that exists exists
under Him for His own glory and for the good of His people. Calvin,
I think, has a very helpful explanation here with reference to the connection
between man's sin and God's sovereignty. For help on this as well, I would
point you to the Bible. because that really helps, but
as well, our confession, chapter three of the decree of God, and
chapter five that deals with divine providence. There's some
very helpful stuff in those sections dealing with the place of sin
under the sovereignty of God Almighty. But Calvin says, this
truly must be generally agreed, that nothing is done without
His will. because he both governs the councils
of men and sways their wills and turns their efforts at his
pleasure and regulates all events. That's what we would all confess.
That's what we would all affirm. Trusting, of course, that we
are actually adherents of the reformed faith or what men have
commonly called Calvinism. The reality is that God governs
all his creatures and all their actions. The Bible tells us that
absolutely, positively, clearly, without equivocation. Now he
goes on to tease this out with reference to sin in the hearts
of men. He says, but if men undertake
anything right and just, he so actuates and moves them inwardly
by his spirit that whatever is good in them may justly be said
to be received from him. But if Satan and ungodly men
rage, he acts by their hands in such an inexpressible manner
that the wickedness of the deed belongs to them and the blame
of it is imputed to them. For they are not induced to sin,
as the faithful are to act aright by the impulse of the Spirit,
but they are the authors of their own evil and follow Satan as
their leader. Thus we see that the justice
of God shines brightly in the midst of the darkness of our
iniquity. That's gold, and I realize that
you may not have got every jot and tittle of that. Email me,
I will send you that quote, because I think it's a very wonderful
and helpful explanation, and it also underscores an important
point. If you are doing Bible study
and you like to read Bible commentaries, do not neglect the old boys. This is a theologian who's doing
Bible commentary. Bible commentators today that
are highly skilled in one particular arena typically aren't this kind
of a theologian. This is theological gold in a
biblical commentary that helps us to get at what's happening
in chapter 50 at verse 20. He is essentially affirming what
the Confession affirms alongside of the Bible. God is not the
author of sin. God uses the sinful acts of man
to achieve his ends, again, his glory and the good of his people,
but God is not the author of sin. And then after saying what
he says in verse 20, I wonder, you know, you wonder, the brothers
all thought, wow, that's glorious. We should just bow and worship
that God right here. I mean, think about it. God meant
it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to
save many people alive. Not just the nation of Israel,
not just the one who was specifically the target of God's redemptive
love, but the Egyptians benefited from the brilliance of Joseph.
Remember when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dreams properly, Pharaoh
was bright enough to see that Joseph was the man to run the
show with reference to the dispersal of corn and grain in these years
of famine. So Joseph was utilized by God
in a wonderful way to keep a whole lot of people alive, and this
through the wicked act of these brothers. Had the brothers not
thrown Joseph into the pit, had Reuben not intervened, had Judah
not said, let's sell him into slavery, had all those things
not happened, Joseph would never have been second in charge in
Egypt and able to do what he did in terms of the people, not
only in Israel, but in Egypt as well. And then verse 25, he
provides reassurance to them. Now, therefore, do not be afraid.
I will provide for you and your little ones. And he comforted
them and spoke kindly to them." I have to say, Joseph was an
extremely gracious and extremely forgiving and an extremely good
man in terms of his approach to the brothers who treated him
so poorly. I think that when we are Christians,
we ought to have a generosity of spirit when it comes to forgiving
others. This idea of holding on to grudges,
this idea of, I'm going to punish them, or I'm not going to forgive
them, or I'm going to treat them poorly, that is not what we're
told in the book of Ephesians and Colossians. That is not forgiving
the way we have been forgiven. And so Joseph is a great example
with reference to forgiveness to the sins of others. And whatever
persons have done in your life, it's probably not as bad as what
Joseph's brothers did to him in his life. So we ought to learn
from him. And then finally, the death of
Joseph in verses 22 to 26, he obviously returns to Egypt, and
then he spends, or verse 22 tells us, Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he
and his father's household, and Joseph lived 110 years. Joseph
saw Ephraim's children to the third generation, the children
of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's
knees. So Joseph got to reap the benefit
and joy of being a man blessed richly by God. The 110 years
was apparently the time in Egypt that was regarded as a good,
healthy, long, and prosperous life. So Joseph fulfills that
with reference to the Egyptians. Now notice what he says in verse
24. And this is the natural lead-in
to the next book. Because we have Israel in Egypt. The king is going to die and
there's going to be a new pharaoh that doesn't care one bit about
Israel. And he's going to viciously assault
them. He's going to mistreat them.
He is going to be just vile. And so that sets the stage for
the exodus. So verse 24 foreshadows that
or promises that. And 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." So the life of Joseph ends with an expression
of his confidence in the promises of God. Brethren, I dare say
that's probably the best way you and I could end. If we were
attended by our family, by our loved ones, by our children,
by our grandchildren. And the last thing they hear
us testify concerning is the faithfulness and the promises
of God. I think that's a great and a rich heritage that we can
pass on to those who know us and those who love us. Paul says
in Hebrews 11, 22, By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made
mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions
concerning his bones. And that is precisely what he
goes on to say in verse 25. Then Joseph took an oath from
the children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you and
you shall carry up my bones from here. So, not only is the promise
given concerning the exodus, but the promises as well maintain
that they are going to receive the land of Canaan, such that
Joseph says, you're going to carry my bones back to that particular
land. Now, he's not going to be an
affront to Pharaoh and demand immediately that they transport
him the way they did with Jacob. Joseph's not going to do that.
Joseph recognizes that once the children of Israel are vindicated,
once they are released, they will indeed transport his bones
back to the promised land. We see that in Exodus 13, 19.
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the
children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, God will surely
visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you. So, what may appear to be sort
of a lackluster end to a pretty much exciting book through and
through, it is really most glorious in that it attaches itself to
the book of Exodus and sets the stage for what is to follow.
As well, in Joshua 24, verse 32, the bones of Joseph, which
the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried
at Shechem. in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the
sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces
of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children
of Joseph." Everything Joseph says here is true. There is an
exodus. The children of Israel do transport
his bones back to the land of Canaan. And so he is speaking
here, not just blessing, but he is speaking prophetically.
God's men, in the book of Genesis, when they speak concerning the
future, They are speaking as the very prophet of God and the
things that they are prophesying do in fact come to pass. And
then verse 26 tells us Joseph died being 110 years old and
they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Well, that's the end of the book
of Genesis, and I just want to draw out a few thoughts and then
we'll close. First, the faithfulness of Joseph. I think we can learn
from him, not only in terms of forgiving those who have sinned
against us, but the faithfulness of the man when he was in the
midst of great suffering. He never stopped looking unto
the God of Israel. He was faithful in terms of his
attachment to God, And God, in turn, was faithful to him in
always providing and always being there for Joseph. We see the
sovereignty of God, the place of 50-20 in the Joseph narratives. We have tracked God's providence
as we move through the book of Genesis, and it's truly amazing. And we can testify and we can
certainly confirm that what Joseph says in 50-20 is absolutely positively
true. took what those men did, that
evil act, and he overruled it for his glory and for their well-being."
What a wonderful assurance for those reading Genesis 50-20 and
the rest of the Bible that the God of Genesis 1-1, remember
in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, I
mean, in Genesis 1.1, we're told about this glorious God who made
this world and all things in it. We end with Genesis 50.20,
not only with reference to that God who created, but the God
who sustains, the God who is sovereign in providence, and
the God who overrules for His glory and for His honor and for
the people's good. So the wonderful assurance for
those reading that the God of 1-1 is the God of absolute sovereignty,
divine providence, and loving kindness toward His people. In
light of 50-20, we sing what we sang tonight. Though troubles
assail us and dangers affright, though friends should all fail
us and foes all unite, yet one thing secures us. Whatever be
tied, the promise assures us the Lord will provide. Joseph
learned that, Joseph has taught us that, and therefore we ought
to walk by faith in this same God, realizing that even the
afflictions and the trials and the problems that we face in
this life, God has a remedial end for them. He doesn't do these
things willy-nilly. Jesus Christ learned obedience
through suffering. Most likely, we are going to
have to take some suffering, some affliction, some trial,
or some hardship so that we may grow in our obedience to the
Lord Most High. God knows what He's doing with
us, and even the afflictions are used by God for His glory
and for our well-being. With reference to the Exodus,
it is foreshadowed all the way back in Genesis 15, verses 13
and 14. Remember that covenant ceremony
with Abraham, when Abraham says basically, God give me a sign
that these promises are going to come to fruition. and God
orders the slaying of the animals and putting them on either side,
the parties to the covenant walk through the animals, and the
significance is that if one of the parties breaks covenant,
then whatever happens to those animals may happen to that one
who broke the covenant. Well, in Genesis 15, it's God
alone who walks between the animals. It's a glorious and a wonderful
picture of the faithfulness of God and the unilateralness of
His covenant imposed upon Abraham. But then there is that foreshadowing
that the children of Israel will go into a strange land, they
will suffer for a time, but then they will be brought out. So
that's already been there. Now we see it in vivid detail
with reference to the children of Israel living prosperously
in Egypt. But as I said at the passing
of Joseph and at the introduction of the book of Exodus, everything
changes. The regime change in Egypt most
severely affected the children of Israel. So the Lord God Most
High has made that promise. One man makes an observation
concerning the length of the Joseph narratives. I mean, from
37 to 50, Joseph is the main character. He says, his overarching
purpose This is Moses, seems to be to demonstrate how all
Israel ended up in the land of Egypt. This then lays the groundwork
for God's greatest redemptive act of the Old Testament, the
Lord's deliverance of Israel out of the land of darkness and
is bringing the people to the land of promise. So it's most
crucial that we move from this book into Exodus. That's why
we're going to the Lord willing on Wednesday night. We can't
leave the people of Israel in slavery in Egypt. We got to see
them brought out and then we'll be done. No, I'm just kidding.
I did mention that we'll probably do overview when we get to the
building of the tabernacle. Because I doubt any of you would
keep coming after we're in chapters in about curtains and different
details that made up the tabernacle. But the book as a whole, just
to conclude, we see the creation of the world, chapters 1 and
2. We see the fall into sin, chapter 3. The effects of the
fall, chapters 4 to 11. And then the patriarchs, chapters
12 to 50. So the bulk of the book is taken
up with the one family of Abraham to show us the forming of the
nation of Israel, the people from which the Messiah will ultimately
come to save his people from their sin. Well, let's close
in a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank You for
Your Word, we thank You for this book of Genesis and the great
things that it teaches us concerning You. We know that You are the
Creator, we know that You are sovereign in providence, and
we know You are the Redeemer. You promised the sending of Your
Son, in Genesis 3.15, that seed of the woman that would crush
the serpent. God, we thank you for that foundational
promise that the rest of Scripture amplifies and expands upon, and
we see realized in the coming of the Lord Jesus in the New
Covenant. How we give thanks and praise to you for your faithfulness,
how we give thanks and praise to you for your sovereignty and
your providence. And God, though we may not have
the lives that Joseph had, we certainly have Afflictions, we
certainly have trials. We have certainly learned in
our own experience that even in the midst of hardship, you
work out good for us and glory for you. God, I pray that we
would never forget these things, that we would walk by faith in
a gracious and in a merciful Father. And we pray these things
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
