[0:00] Now we come now to this 45th chapter in Genesis where Joseph now at last makes himself known to his brothers, to whom he has been, shall we say, a bit offish or very formal with them, not making his identity known, has made all manner of accusations against them and has treated them with a measure of harshness, one might say, which in the immediate instance they did not merit.
[0:28] But of which overall, of course, they merited much worse. We have to see and recognize again that in this chapter, as in the preceding ones, indeed as we mentioned in prayer throughout all the books of the Bible, there is, especially however in this account, so much of Christ in this chapter.
[0:48] It would be uncanny. We might even say, oh, what a coincidence, except of course that it is entirely deliberate and intentional. By the Holy Ghost who has inspired all this to be written down and to convey thousands of years before the appearance of Jesus in the flesh upon earth.
[1:08] To convey this is what the Messiah is like. This is what God's relationship to men is intended to be. It is one of grace.
[1:19] The Holy Ghost foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah and what he would come to do. In other words, to save his people from certain death, which is what Joseph's family have got here, certain death in the face of famine.
[1:35] But because someone has gone ahead of them and endured great suffering and been raised up so high, he now has the means to deliver them if they will simply act on what he says.
[1:48] So we see in verse 1 here, Joseph orders his Egyptian servants to leave. Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by and they cried, Cause every man to go out from me.
[2:01] Now this command would have been given an Egyptian, and so of course his brothers would have a clue what was going on. So everybody suddenly would disappear, and it was just Joseph and his brothers, or as they see it, the governor of Egypt, alone with them.
[2:15] And he makes himself known. This was a moment between him and his brothers. And in the fullness of time, of course, all Egypt would know the truth that this was Joseph, in fact.
[2:28] And these were his brothers. They had come down into Egypt, and now they were restored one to another. They were reconciled. But the moment of making himself known personally to them is, it's a personal, private moment of almost, we might say, intimate vulnerability.
[2:47] You make yourself known personally to somebody when you've been at a distance. It's a moment of vulnerability, because you don't know how they're going to react. Now, admittedly, Joseph is less vulnerable than they are, because he's the one with power.
[2:58] He's the one who has complete control of their lives, and of their bodies, and of their goods at the moment. But it's still a moment of vulnerability. He doesn't know if they hate him just as much as they ever did, more than 20 years ago.
[3:11] He doesn't know how they're going to respond. And although he may be the one with power, unless their hearts have been softened, then he is just as far apart from them as ever.
[3:22] But this is a personal moment. He doesn't want all the world to be involved in this. We might say, without wishing to be indelicate, you know, a married couple, and everybody's going to have a baby.
[3:36] Everybody's delighted. And so everybody knows what must have happened in order for that conception to date. But you don't need to go into all of that, because that's private. That's personal.
[3:46] That's between them. But the effects of it, everybody can rejoice in. And the effects of this declaring of Joseph to his brother, all Egypt can rejoice in. And Jacob and all the family can rejoice in.
[3:58] But the moment itself, when he makes himself known to his brothers, he doesn't want Egyptians to. This is not something he is doing as governor of Egypt.
[4:08] This is something he is doing as their little brother, making himself known to them. And in the same way, Christ makes himself known personally to his people individually.
[4:26] You know, the Lord doesn't tend to deal in mass conversions all at the same time. He doesn't convert whole countries. He doesn't convert whole communities. Although they may, they may collectively decide to follow the Lord outwardly.
[4:39] But in terms of being individually born again, the Lord meets with each individual soul. It is personal. It is intimate. Being born again. Christ, in due course, will be known and acknowledged by all, whether they like it or not.
[4:55] Remember what Paul writes to the Philippians in chapter 2. Being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things, in earth and things, under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[5:21] There will come the day, as Thessalonians tells us, as Revelation tells us, when he will appear in the clouds of glory with all his holy angels with him, and then all the unconverted in the world will mourn.
[5:31] Lord, then shall all the tribes of the earth wail when they see them. Because they, although they must bow to me then, have not met with him personally, to close him with Christ and his gracious offer of salvation.
[5:46] When he makes himself known personally, he does not do it to one and sundry. He does it privately. He does it personally. And this, again, is what Peter says to Cornelius, if you remember, in Acts chapter 10, when he's explaining about Jesus' death and resurrection.
[6:04] He says, You know, what Christ has done, it is so public and it is so obvious that there is no excuse for anybody who rejects and denies it.
[6:30] But at the same time, for those to whom it is made known, it's personal to them. And without that intervention, they too would be blind. Remember, when Paul is converted, it says, like, scales fell from his eyes.
[6:44] And those same scales are on the eyes of all who simply will not see what God has done and what Christ has done in intervening in history and in the world and in mankind's life.
[6:56] It is all around us. The evidence is everywhere for Christ, for God and what he has done. But the unconverted, the blind, will not see.
[7:07] Now, Peter talks about the Lord making himself known to particular witnesses, personally to them, who then will declare to the rest of the world. And Joseph is making himself known personally, intimately to his own brethren.
[7:23] And then it will be declared to all the rest of the world in the fruits of mine. Such is Joseph's love for his brethren, who had previously been his enemies of Goshen.
[7:34] That he throws off all propriety of state or dignity. He's not now acting as Zaphnef Pani or the governor of Egypt. He's just Joseph. He's just their little brother.
[7:45] He's throwing off all the trappings of dignity. And this, you know, we have like the forgiving father, if you remember, in the parable of the prodigal son. In a culture and at a time where dignity meant, you know, slowness of gait and of walk.
[8:00] And you didn't show overly enthusiasm or effort or whatever in that sense. And we read in the parable of the prodigal son, in Luke chapter 15, verse 20.
[8:10] He arose and came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Now, the father shouldn't be the one doing that.
[8:22] He should be sitting there in his seat saying, okay, right, kill me off. Piss my foot here. Acknowledge what you've done. You've wasted half my inheritance. But, okay, fair enough. I'll take you back because you are my son. No, he doesn't do any of that.
[8:33] He runs to him, to this waster who has ruined all his estate and spent all his goods. And he runs to him, he falls to his neck and he kisses him. And he delights to have him back.
[8:45] He throws all propriety to the winds. And we could say, well, yes, it's only a parable. I mean, it's a story that Jesus told. We're not actually talking about a physical father and a physical son.
[8:55] No, but Jesus has told this parable. And Jesus has told this parable to teach his disciples the obvious truth. This is what God is like. This is what the love and forgiveness and mercy of God is like.
[9:11] God who could stand on his dignity. God who could compel us to grovel at his feet. Instead, throws propriety to the winds. And delights to say, to welcome undeserving sinners.
[9:25] If only they will come back to him. Which is what the prodigal, of course, is doing. I will arise and go to my father. And because he does that and comes to his father.
[9:37] Then the father runs to him and falls in his neck and kisses him. And makes all the wonderful preparations for him. But there has to be that repentance and that turning. And it may simply be that it's the prodigal.
[9:50] He's got no alternative. He can't eat the pig's food. He can't physically digest and it's no good to him. He's starving to death. He's in a hopeless condition. He might as well risk everything and go back.
[10:01] Because he's got nothing else he can do. And the brothers really, here they are at Joseph's feet. They're completely under his power. There is nothing else they can do. God may sometimes bring us to the place where there is nothing else we can do.
[10:15] But throw ourselves on his mercy. And then he delights to receive us. Jesus teaches this is what the love of God is like. The Holy Ghost is teaching us this is what the mercy and forgiveness of God is like.
[10:28] Thousands of years before the appearance of the Messiah in the flesh at Bethlehem. This is what God's mercy, God's Messiah is intended to be like.
[10:40] Joseph said to his brother, I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live? Now this in itself must have been, you know, an awful shock. And here is this governor of Egypt.
[10:51] He's been speaking through an interpreter the whole time. There's been an Egyptian official who speaks the language of the Hebrews. Everything Joseph says, he says in Egyptian. He says it to his interpreter. The interpreter speaks to the brothers in Hebrew.
[11:03] They speak back in Hebrew. He translates it back for Joseph. Who can actually hear and know everything that's going on. But this is the rigmarole they go through to maintain this distance all the time.
[11:14] And suddenly he speaks to them in their native tongue. He speaks to them in the Hebrew tongue. The language of Canaan. The language of their family. I am Joseph. And that's the first words out of his mouth.
[11:26] Without an interpreter. Without any kind of mediator. Directly to them. Now remember that this being the language of their family.
[11:37] Their home. Their heart. This is the language of the heart. We read of course in the Acts of the Apostles. That you know. When Paul is being almost torn in from limb by the crowd. And he stands up to make his defense.
[11:50] And it says. He spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue. And when they heard. In Acts 22 at the beginning. When they heard. That he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue. That they gave them the one audience. They quieted down.
[12:00] Oh well at least he saw one of us. At least he's speaking to us in our own language. And they listened. And likewise in Acts 26. When Paul is explaining. About his own conversion.
[12:11] He specifies. That God. Who could have spoken to this Roman citizen. That Paul was in Latin. Or he could have spoken to this citizen. Of the ancient world. Who'd been educated.
[12:21] In all the ways of the Greeks. As well as the Hebrews. He could have spoken to them in Greek. But he chose instead. To speak to Paul in the Hebrew tongue. The tongue of his fathers. Of his nation.
[12:32] Of his people. The language of scripture. He spoke to him. In the Hebrew tongue. The tongue of their native land. The language of the heart. Straight to the heart.
[12:44] And what is the effect of the Brunswick? Well if they're troubled. They are frightened. And his brethren could not answer him. For they were troubled in his presence. For when God speaks our language.
[12:56] And he speaks straight to the heart. What is he effectively saying? He's not just. Well this is who I am. And I actually know you quite well. He says. I know you. I know everything.
[13:08] About you. Now if somebody were to say. Let's say an angel or something. Appeared to you. And said. I know you. God knows you. He knows every single thing. About you. Then your first thought. Would not be. Oh great.
[13:18] Somebody who understands me. Your first thought would be. Oh dear. They know everything about me. And the first thing you would do. Is you try and think of all the most embarrassing things. You've ever done.
[13:29] And all the things you're most ashamed of. And like sure. If you don't know about that. And as they would say. Yeah. Yeah. I know that too. I know all these things. I know everything. About you.
[13:40] I know everything. Everything you have ever done. And all the things that our memory might try and recollect it. Surely not that. They already know. God is already way ahead of you.
[13:52] He already knows every detail. And still he comes to you. Still he loves you. Still he desires your salvation. Joseph speaks to them in the language of the heart.
[14:04] He makes himself known. I am Joseph. And some commentators take it. You know in verse 4. He says. Come near to me I pray you. That he then speaks more softly.
[14:16] He says. I am Joseph. Whom you sold into Egypt. And so. So that almost as though the Egyptians. Some of them would speak Hebrew of course. Although they could hear what was going on.
[14:27] They weren't in the same room. They couldn't see. But they could hear. So they wouldn't actually hear. That it was these men. His brothers. That had sold them into Egypt. He was trying to perhaps protect them. By keeping that one a little bit quieter.
[14:38] Come near to me. And Joseph. You sold into Egypt. He's not saying that out loud. So everybody can hear. That's just one possible theory. Maybe that's stretching the point a bit.
[14:49] But perhaps the Egyptians. Would have been more negative. Towards these men. If they had known. That these were the ones. That sold their governor. Into slavery all these years ago. Now they would have known. That somebody. Sold him into slavery.
[15:01] They would have known. That he was bought by Potiphar. In the slave market. They would know his history. As a slave. In Potiphar's house. And in Pharaoh's prison. They would know these facts about him. But people were sold as slaves.
[15:13] All the time. He could have been out. Legitimately. Tending his flocks. And his sheep. And just being abducted. Or kidnapped. By slave traders. That sort of thing happened. Everybody knew that happened.
[15:24] But for his brothers. Actually to have sold him. Into slavery. Themselves. That would make them odious. In the eyes of the Egyptians. Now maybe Joseph can override.
[15:37] And overrule all that. Maybe he's keeping that. A little bit quiet. We don't have to spend too much time. On the interpretation of it. But the fact is. They are struck down. And they are terrified.
[15:48] His brethren could not answer him. For they were troubled at his presence. What on earth do you say? When you discover. That the judge of all Egypt.
[15:59] The judge before whom. You have groveled and pled. For your lives. Of whom you found your money. In your sack. Twice over. With all the corn. That he's given you. Your little brother.
[16:10] Your most precious. Prize little brother. That you've got to take back. Your father. Is the one who has this man's silver cup. In his own sack's mouth. You are completely in this man's power.
[16:21] And he has a grievance against you. He has a legitimate grievance. That you've supposedly stolen. His magic divining cup. He's given you all the corn. You could ever want.
[16:31] He's given you your money back. Or maybe somebody else took it. But you are completely in his power. He has accused you of being spies. And now. Now you discover. This is actually the little brother.
[16:44] That you dropped down a pit. And sold to the Midianites. And the Israelites. All those years ago. He was coming to bring you food and drink from his father.
[16:55] And you sold him. Despite all his anguished cries. If anybody's got a grievance. It's this man. To speak suddenly. In their own tongue.
[17:07] And say. Come here. Look. You see. It's me. I'm Joseph. And they didn't know at that point. Whether this is a welcome announcement of love. Or whether this is just a threat waiting to be unleashed.
[17:22] I'm Joseph. Boy are you in trouble now. That could be what was coming. No wonder. They don't know what to say. They were troubled with his presence. And could not answer them.
[17:35] But he makes himself known with a simple statement of who he is. And there's no more to say. I'm Joseph. Whom you sold into Egypt. When Jesus makes himself known to Paul.
[17:46] On the road to Damascus. Saul of Tarsus. He says. I am Jesus. Whom thou persecut us. That's all he needs to say. And when Paul says. Who are you Lord?
[17:57] That's all he has to say. I'm Jesus. Whom you're persecuting. And that's all he needs to say. And then he spells out. What the future is going to be like. So this is Joseph.
[18:08] Making himself known. And also explaining to them. That although they did evil. Let's not make any bones about it. God has overruled it for good. Verse 5. Now therefore be not grieved.
[18:19] Nor angry with yourselves. That he sold me hither. For God did send me before you. To preserve life. Verse 7. God sent me before you. To preserve you. A posterity in the earth.
[18:30] To save your lives. By a great deliverance. God did send me before you. You know. Though they did evil. And there's no getting away from it. They did evil. God meant it for good.
[18:43] Now sinners ought to be humbled. When they see God bringing good. Even out of their own evil. It in no way excuses their sin.
[18:58] Or their evil. For they did it. Only with an evil intent. You know the fact that. Solomon ended up being outwardly the greatest king. That Israel knew.
[19:08] Does not excuse the fact. Or make right the fact. That David looked on somebody else's wife. And he took her to himself. And he murdered effectively her husband. Just so that he could have somebody else's wife.
[19:20] And the Lord had already given him. Umpteen wives and concubines. And goodness knows all for what. But he didn't need to do that. He did evil. But God still brought good. Out of it.
[19:31] And constantly throughout salvation history. Throughout the scripture. And throughout life. We see that God brings good. Out of our own evil.
[19:41] Now that doesn't mean. Oh well then let's sin. That grace may abound. Let's do more evil. So that God will do more good. That is not the way we go. And it is not what we are to do. We are to follow the Lord in his goodness.
[19:53] God is so good. That even all man's evil is not sufficient. To overcome God's good. God has so much love.
[20:05] That even all our hatred cannot quench. God's love works. And if and when man eventually is parted from his maker. Into a lost eternity.
[20:16] It will not be because God has not loved enough. But because we would not respond to that love. Such love and respect God has for us.
[20:30] That if we say we want nothing to do with him in time. Then he will respect that for all eternity. If you want nothing to do with the Lord in this world. He will give you what you want.
[20:41] And he will give you it in the next world as well. To the nth degree. For all eternity. You want nothing to do with him. Nothing to do with him is exactly what you will get. Behold the goodness.
[20:52] And severity of God. He will not force. He will not compel. Such is his love he will give us. Exactly what we ask for. No amount of God overcoming our evil with his good.
[21:07] Ever excuses our sin. Or the evil that we have done. It doesn't excuse the brother's sin. That they sold him with an evil heart. Into Egypt.
[21:18] Despite the fact God has brought good out of it. And though we cannot hereby make any excuses for our own sins. Nor take the edge off our need for repentance for our sins.
[21:33] Yet. It should cause us to take the edge off our resentment. At the sins of others. Against us.
[21:45] Remember that if we seek and ask for the forgiveness of God. For our sins against him. We can only do it in terms of praying as Jesus taught us.
[21:56] Forgive us our debts. As we forgive our debtors. We cannot expect God to forgive us our much greater sins. If we will not forgive the much lesser sins committed against us by others.
[22:09] And we've all been sinned against by others. We all sin against other people. And we are all sinned against by other people. People have done bad things to us. Or said bad things to us. Or been unkind or whatever in the past.
[22:20] And we've all experienced that. Sometimes we may bear the grudge. Sometimes we might bear the resentment. But Jesus says we are not to. We are to forgive those who have wronged us.
[22:31] As God through Jesus Christ has forgiven us. If we are trusting in him. But we cannot ask for that forgiveness. If we are not prepared to give forgiveness. And so this knowledge that God always brings good.
[22:46] Even out of evil. All things look together for good to those who love God. For they call it according to his purpose. The knowledge that God brings good. And should take the edge off.
[22:57] Our resentment and any harshness we may feel towards others. Who may have genuinely sinned against us. Because God can bring good out of it.
[23:10] And we likewise must genuinely repent of our sin against God. There is no excuse for us to say. Well that's fine.
[23:20] We don't have to worry. God brings good out of it. On the one hand. Joseph's brothers. Or we as sinners. Are not to fret. Because things ended up so well.
[23:30] On the other hand. Nor can they be proud at all. For the good that has been done is all of God. And the sin that's been done is all theirs.
[23:41] The good that is done is not theirs. They designed evil. By selling Joseph into slavery into Egypt. They designed to defeat and to destroy his dreams.
[23:53] But God intended and designed it. To bring his dreams to pass. To accomplish the things that he dreamed about. So if we think about the ultimate act of evil.
[24:04] Which at the same time God turned into the ultimate price of good. Think of the selling of Jesus. For 30 pieces of silver. Think of the crucifixion of our Lord.
[24:16] The ultimate affront to God. The public execution. In the most agonizing and humiliating terms. Of God the son.
[24:27] Who had only ever done good. Who had only ever shown kindness and mercy and compassion. Who had only ever healed the sick and raised the dead. And cleansed the lepers and fed the hungry. He had only ever done good.
[24:38] And still. They crucify him. Now when the realization comes. Who is it you think you've put to death. Or carpenter or massive. No, no, no. This is God's own son.
[24:50] God who's the judge of all the earth. This is the one who's going to judge your soul at the end of the day. And the fearful realization dawns on you. The devil's ultimate victory.
[25:02] Is the crucifixion of our Lord. And yet it is his ultimate defeat. At the time when Jesus is nailed to the cross. And is agonizingly dying.
[25:16] In that slow drawn out horrific method of execution. The devil must have been rubbing his hands with me. Here I've got God the son. I'm putting him to death.
[25:27] I'm winning. I'm getting all the evil around. And I've got the Jews. And the Gentiles. And the Romans. And the chief priests. And Herod. All ganging up against him.
[25:37] All my legions of hatred. Are having the victory. And right up to the moment when Jesus expired. On the cross. The devil must have thought he had won.
[25:50] And then there would be that fearful realization. When Jesus breathes his last. And says it is finished. Oh no.
[26:01] Oh no. Oh no. This means the price is paid. For all his own erect sinners. It means they are out in my clutches. That their prison door is swung open. I can't hold them anymore.
[26:12] Because the price is paid. They are not running my power anymore. It is disaster. For the devil. What seemed like his greatest victory. Is now his most destructive defeat.
[26:26] This is how the Lord works. All the evil that man. And sin. And the world. And the flesh. And the devil can do.
[26:37] God's goodness is greater than it all. You cannot win against God. You can only submit and surrender to him.
[26:48] And strive through his grace. To become more like you. You see here verse 7. Such is the love of God. God sent me before you.
[26:59] To preserve you of austerity. In the earth. And to save your lives. For every deliverance. You see how Joseph's emphasis is here. Again. This is showing the love of the Messiah.
[27:11] This is prefiguring the Messiah. Thousands of years. Before he comes. Although an entire country. A whole nation. Egypt. The ancient superpower of the world.
[27:22] Was the ones being delivered. All being a heathen nation still. They delivered from starvation. And death. Through Joseph. As far as Joseph is concerned.
[27:32] He considers God's massive intervention. On this huge scale. To have been ultimately. For the purpose of saving. In one extended family.
[27:45] One covenant. In the family. God sent me before you. To preserve you. A posterity in the earth. Verse 7. All the Egyptians have been spared as well.
[27:56] All the nations who came to buy corn from Egypt. They've all benefited. Everybody benefits. From God's goodness. But it is nevertheless directed. For the explicit purpose.
[28:07] Of the salvation and redemption of his own. That is why he moves heaven and earth. That is why he makes these huge. Massive interventions.
[28:19] To save. Not all huge nations of heathens. Or the rich. Or the powerful. Or whatever. But the individuals. And the families. Whom he calls his own. This is the way the Lord works.
[28:32] Deuteronomy chapter 32. Verse 9 says. For the Lord's portion. Is his people. Jacob is the lot. Of his inheritance. Read in Isaiah 43.
[28:44] Verse 3. For I am the Lord thy God. The Holy One of Israel. Thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy mansum. Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
[28:55] Since thou was precious in my sight. Thou hast been honorable. And I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for thee. And people for thy life.
[29:06] Fear not. For I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east. And gather thee from the west. I will say to the north. Give up. And to the south. Keep not back. Bring my sons from far.
[29:18] And my daughters from the ends of the earth. Every one that is called by my name. For I have created him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea. I have made him.
[29:29] Everything that God has done. He has done ultimately for his glory. But he has done secondarily. For the redemption. And salvation. Of his own.
[29:41] There are spin-off benefits. To everybody else. Spin-off benefits to Egypt. And to all the other heathen nations. I gave Egypt for thee. You see. But Ethiopia. All the other nations.
[29:52] Benefit from God's direct intervention in the world. But it is ultimately done to save his people. Which is the glory of his name. The Lord's portion.
[30:03] It's his people. Jacob is the lot. Of his inheritance. You see. When we consider. All the vastness of what the Lord has done in the universe. When we consider all that.
[30:14] The Milky Way. And the galaxies. And the stars. Which to us. There are just little twinkling pinpricks in the night sky. But as far as the reality is concerned. We know from the amount of exploration that's been done.
[30:27] With space stations. And other things they've sent into orbit. We know that these are in fact huge massive stars. Which would dwarf our own sun.
[30:39] And which is a tiny little sort of ball of burning gases. In comparison to some of these huge stars. And constellations. And we think. Yeah. We've got this tiny little earth.
[30:50] As far as we know. The only inhabited planet in this entire universe. As far as we know. As far as we can tell. And there's this mother planet that's got exactly the conditions.
[31:00] That's right for sustaining life. But we're not even in the centre of our own solar system. We're not even in the centre of our own Milky Way. Our own galaxy. Here we are just very peripheral. It doesn't make sense.
[31:12] It doesn't make sense if man is the centre of your universe. It doesn't make sense if we are trying to explain. How everything should revolve around us.
[31:23] But it makes perfect sense. If you have a creator God. Who has created all the universe for his glory. And who has done all this. Not only to glorify his name.
[31:35] But to create an environment. In which he can bring forth his own children. As well as the rest of the human race. And save them and redeem them. If it is all for him.
[31:46] And his glory. Then yes. All the vastness and power and greatness. Of what has been done. For such insignificant little creatures. As we are. On this nondescript.
[31:57] Insignificant tiny little planet. In a fraction of a vast universe. All of that actually. If it is God-centred. Makes perfect sense.
[32:09] The world. The universe. All that is out there. Doesn't make sense. If we try to be man-centred. Makes perfect sense. If we recognise.
[32:20] That the universe. Is God-centred. It is for his glory. It is for the salvation. Of his people. Egypt will benefit. All Ethiopia.
[32:31] All the other nations will benefit. But it is for the salvation. Of his own people. That God has intervened. In life. And in history.
[32:42] And in the world. And in the universe. So we see this great work. Of God. We see good overcoming evil.
[32:54] As with the crucifixion. As with the power of God. In raising again. His son from the dead. All this that Joseph makes known to his brothers. And he tells that.
[33:05] That he wants his father to come down to Egypt. He wants them all to come down. And be where he is. And he will look after that. Thou shalt dwell. Say to him verse 10. In the land of Goshen.
[33:16] Thou shalt be near unto me. Thou and my children. And my children's children. My flocks and my herds. All that thou hast. And there will I nourish thee. For yet there are five years of family.
[33:27] And he'll come to me. And all this. All that I give you. As if. The Lord's saying. John 40. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again.
[33:38] And receive you unto myself. But where I am. There ye may be also. What does he say in his prayer to his father. In John 17. And verse 24. Father. I will that they also.
[33:50] Whom thou hast given me. Be with me. Where I am. That they may behold. My glory. Which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me.
[34:00] Before the foundation of the world. And he and Joseph's family. Are they going to come to be. Where he is to behold. His glory. And see all that the Lord has done. In his life. Jesus wants his children.
[34:12] To be with him. To behold his glory. To rejoice in his glory. To delight in his presence. That they may behold. My glory. Which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me.
[34:23] Before the foundation of the world. God does not have accidents. Or shocks. God knows exactly what he is to be. The end from the beginning.
[34:34] There are no mistakes with God. And as they are to be brought down into Egypt. All the things that they thought were precious. All their precious tents.
[34:45] Their camels. Their goods. Their stuff. You know when they sent this. Almost pathetic little present for Joseph. A little balm. A little honey. A little spices. The good things. The luxuries.
[34:55] Of the land of Canaan. He says. Verse 20. Regard not your stuff. Says we know. For the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. Yes. We don't want to disrespect the things you count. As precious. But you know.
[35:06] Come on. What are you saying? They're going to be here. You've got all the land of Egypt before you. All the wealth. All the goodness of Egypt. Regard not your stuff. Don't worry about your stuff back in Canaan.
[35:18] Don't worry about bringing it all here. You'll have everything you need here. All the wealth of Egypt is yours. It will dwarf all your prized possessions back home. And likewise for this world.
[35:30] Which is all the home that we have known up until now. There are things we count precious. There are things we don't want to part with. There are some things which are so dear to us. We hold so tightly to that we do not want to let these things go.
[35:45] Even in order to lay hold upon salvation. We are terrified to let go of these things which are so precious to us here. But one day my friend.
[35:55] Your dead fingers will be prized off of those things. Which you have clutched so fatally to your heart. One day you will be compelled to let go of them.
[36:09] Better by far. To regard not your stuff. To let go voluntarily of whatever it is you consider is coming between you and the Lord.
[36:20] Whatever is your most prized possession. Whatever is the thing that would cause you. Like the rich young ruler when Jesus speaks to him. To go sadly away. And not commit your life to the Lord.
[36:31] For something may be holding you back. Regard not your stuff. For all the wealth and glory of heaven is before you. All that the Lord gives.
[36:43] To his chosen. To his redeemed. To his saved. All the glory that he has laid up for his beloved son Jesus. And for those whom he has redeemed. All of that is before you.
[36:54] Yes there will be things which are precious to you here. But here is the only place where they are any good to you. You cannot take them with you. Better by far to lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven.
[37:08] Where moth does not corrupt. And where thieves do not break through and steal. Where nothing will wipe the value of your investments off the markets. Where nothing will make you poorer.
[37:19] Where nothing will ever destroy. Lay up for yourselves treasure where it really matters. Yes. Regard not your stuff. For the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
[37:31] The glory of heaven itself will be yours. If you are in Christ. And gather to him. But for all that. All the glory of Egypt.
[37:42] And all the goods and the gifts that Jacob sends. That Jacob receives when his son Joseph sends his brothers back. He says you know don't fall on for the way. And he knows that they will be inclined to do so.
[37:53] Because as soon as they know who he is and what they have done. Then they will be inclined to say well it wasn't me that put him down. The pit. Your idea was. You were the one that wanted to sell him. You were the one that tore off his multicolored coat.
[38:04] And so they will fall out of the way. Don't fall out of the way. It doesn't matter now. It is all done. Had Jacob been told when they come back to their father.
[38:15] They simply said it's okay dad. Simeon is free. And look Benjamin is home safe and sound. That would be as much as his old heart could cope with. It would have been joy enough.
[38:26] Ready enough. To have feared the worst for those two. Joyful enough to have them safely delivered. But Joseph. Joseph to be alive. And Joseph to be in great glory in Egypt.
[38:38] That was just literally too good to be true. And his soul. His heart fainted. For he believed them not. It says in the Song of Solomon.
[38:48] My soul failed when he spake. Speaking about the beloved. Jacob's heart just fails within him. When they tell him of the glory of Joseph.
[38:59] Who is yet alive. Now notice how the human heart is always ready to think the worst. When they told him all those years earlier. Oh Joseph must be dead.
[39:11] Look. He has his coat of many colors. Look. It's all torn in pieces. And it's dipped in blood. What do you think could have happened to him? He's ready enough to believe then that he's dead. He's ready enough then to believe the worst.
[39:23] But now he finds it so hard to believe the best. Friends. Is this not so of us? If we are ready enough to believe the worst. If we think that God is ready to condemn us.
[39:33] We think oh yeah that's what he'll do. If we think he wants to find fault with us. We'll say yeah well what do you expect. If we think God wants to condemn us. We'll say well that's what God is like. No it's not. We are so ready to believe the worst.
[39:46] And so reticent. To believe the best. To be delighting in what the Lord has done. And doubting now of the good. In our latter days.
[39:58] So often we are moved more by fear. Than by hope. Which we dare not believe. That God's goodness is greater than all our doubts.
[40:09] Now there are two things I want us to recognize. In passing. We might be inclined to think. Well you know. The brothers are good all pretty lightly here. They go down for food to Egypt. And they come back laden with all these good gifts.
[40:21] They've got Benjamin. They've got Simeon. And Joseph loves them again. Isn't that great? So now what are they going to tell their dad? Now there has to be a reckoning.
[40:33] Doesn't there? They're going to say. Oh Joseph's alive. He's in Egypt. I thought Joseph was dead. Oh well he was his coat of many colours. Didn't you show me it? Didn't you say that? Didn't you say? Didn't you say?
[40:44] Oh you must have been torn in pieces. You knew all along. Didn't you? You knew what had happened to him. Well actually we knew because we sold him into slavery. There has to be a reckoning.
[40:56] There in the midst of all this joy. The very fact of the joy. The very fact of deliverance. Means there has to be an admission. There has to be an open acknowledgement.
[41:10] There has to be a repentance. There has to be a reckoning. God is not a God of deceit. He is not a God of turning a blind eye and looking the other way.
[41:20] He is a God of saying yes this is the reality. This is who I am. This is what I've done. This is what I'm guilty of. This is what I did so long ago. I'm ashamed of it now. I repent of it now.
[41:31] Lord I am sorry. But you already know all these things. And surely there could be no more lies with their father.
[41:43] They cannot now say to him. Oh yeah actually we thought he was dead too. We got his coat of any colour. We found it in blood. We didn't know what happened.
[41:53] Of course we assumed he was dead. Not our fault. We just never realised he would be alive. Somebody must have picked him up and taken him to Egypt. Fancy that. There's no way they could have told their father that.
[42:04] Because as soon as he gets down into Egypt. Joseph is going to tell him the truth. If he doesn't already know it. So there has to be the truth. Of what they did.
[42:16] And likewise if we are going to come to the Lord. And receive the joy. That he delights to give us. There has to be. The recognition. Of all that we are.
[42:28] And all that we have done. There has to be a reckoning. But. The consequences of what we have done. The consequences of our sin.
[42:40] Just like for the brothers here. Are already taken care of. If we can see it reverently. Forgiveness and blessing. Runs ahead.
[42:51] Of their repentance. Before ever they get to having to tell their father. Look this is the truth of what happened. This is what we did. All the pain we caused you. All the years of heartbreak.
[43:01] When you thought he was dead. Beyond selling him. We didn't know what had become of him. But this is what we did. And we're ashamed and we're sorry. Joseph the greatest sinned against of them all.
[43:12] Has forgiven them already. Forgiveness and blessing is already running ahead of them. They can tell their father the truth. Because they know they are already forgiven. They know that they already have abundance and blessing.
[43:26] They know that Joseph has borne all that they did to him. And he has triumphed over it. And he desires to forgive them and to save them. This is what God is like. By the time you get to the stage of repentance and confession.
[43:39] He already knows. He's already way ahead of you with his forgiveness. He's already paid the price. He's already laid down his life. His blood has already purchased salvation.
[43:50] But all will trust and believe in his name. Joseph already knew what he was going to do. And how he intended to be towards his brother.
[44:01] And his intentions are all benign. There's a verse in Jeremiah that people love to quote. Jeremiah 29 verse 11. I know the thoughts that I think toward you, say to the Lord.
[44:14] Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. But they don't often go on to say the next two verses. Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me.
[44:25] And I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart. It's not just that case. If all everything is going to be alright, God loves you.
[44:36] And that's usually where people leave it. They leave it at the verse 11 of Jeremiah 29. But they don't go on to verses 12 and 13. You'll call upon me. You'll go and pray unto me. I'll hearken to you.
[44:46] You'll seek me and find me when you'll search for me with all your heart. And that's what the Lord says. Come and seek him with all your heart. Because if we do, then our heart will be fulfilled and healed and made whole by who we find.
[45:03] Because this is the final point here to remember. That although Jacob sees all the wagons of Egypt, he sees all the wealth, he sees all the riches, he sees all the gifts that Joseph has sent, he doesn't care about any of them.
[45:16] He doesn't want the wealth of Egypt. All he wants to know is like he says, it is enough. Joseph, my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die.
[45:27] And for the believer who is reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. It doesn't really matter that the streets are paved with gold. Or there's a crystal sea and all the saints and the angels are singing.
[45:37] And there's a rainbow around the throne. And all the riches and glory of the eternal city. They're nothing. All that matters is that he is there. The bright eyes, not our God, but our dear bridegroom's face.
[45:52] I will not gaze at glory but on my King of grace. Not at the crown he gifteth, but on his pierced hand. The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land.
[46:04] This is all that Jacob cared about. That he will see Joseph again. And this becomes that believers be all and end all.
[46:16] They will be with Jesus. And that is what matters. This chapter is all about Jesus. But so then is all the Bible from beginning to end.
[46:29] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[46:42] Amen. Amen.
[46:56] Amen.