20240505 Genesis 50: There is Good Despite the Evil
Genesis: Looking Back in Order to Move Ahead Spiritually • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Handout
Call to Worship - Psalm 73
1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, My steps had almost slipped. 3 For I was envious of the boastful, I saw the peace of the wicked. 4 For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, And they are not stricken along with the rest of mankind. 6 Therefore lofty pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. 7 Their eye bulges from fatness; The delusions of their heart overflow.
8 They scoff and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. 9 They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue goes through the earth. 10 Therefore his people return here, to his place, And waters of fullness are drunk by them. 11 They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. 13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; 14 For I have been stricken all day long And reproved every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will recount thus,” Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. 16 When I gave thought to know this, It was trouble in my sight 17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction. 19 How they become desolate in a moment! They are completely swept away by terrors! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form. 21 When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within,
22 Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like an animal before You. 23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. 24 With Your counsel You will lead me, And afterward take me in glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 26 My flesh and my heart fail, But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed everyone who is unfaithful to You. 28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have set Lord Yahweh as my refuge, That I may recount all Your works.
Scripture Reading - Genesis 50
1 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Then the forty days to do this were fulfilled, because in this manner the days of embalming are fulfilled. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4 Then the days of weeping for him were past, and Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” So now, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’” 6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. 9 There also went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very immense camp. 10 And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they lamented there with a very great and immense lamentation; and he observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 Now the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, and they said, “This is an immense mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them. 13 Indeed, his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for his possession as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
15 Then Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, and they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and returns back to us all the evil which we dealt against him!” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they dealt evil against you.” ’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the slaves of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your slaves.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? 20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive. 21 “So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke to their heart.
22 Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.” 26 So Joseph died at the age of 110 years; and they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Genesis 50: There is Good Despite the Evil
Introduction:
We didn’t know we were holding gold, we just complained about the weight
Would you like a large Hershey chocolate bar or a 10 oz bar of silver?
How should the Christian look at the role of hardship, difficulty, and struggle?
17 For our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary, fainting in heart. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.
(1) Joseph mourns his father
1 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Then the forty days to do this were fulfilled, because in this manner the days of embalming are fulfilled. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4 Then the days of weeping for him were past, and Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” So now, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’” 6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. 9 There also went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very immense camp. 10 And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they lamented there with a very great and immense lamentation; and he observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 Now the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, and they said, “This is an immense mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them. 13 Indeed, his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for his possession as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
Joseph becomes the leader of his family
Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary (Steinmann) i. Jacob’s Burial in Canaan (50:1–14)
So the place also received the name Abel-mizraim. In most place names in the Old Testament ’ābēl means ‘brook, stream’. Here it is a play on the word ’ēbel, meaning ‘mourning’, implying the stream (’ābēl) of tears produced by the mourning (’ēbel) of the Egyptians (miṣrayim).
(2) Joseph forgives his brothers
15 Then Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, and they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and returns back to us all the evil which we dealt against him!” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they dealt evil against you.” ’ So now, please forgive the transgression of the slaves of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your slaves.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? 20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive. 21 “So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke to their heart.
Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary (Steinmann) ii. Joseph Forgives His Brothers (50:15–21)
Back now in Egypt, Joseph’s brothers realized that without the restraining presence of their father, Joseph was in the perfect position to exact revenge, should he seek to do so. In their own words they admitted that they had caused his suffering, and they were of the opinion that if he still held a grudge, he would not hesitate to repay them. The verb for hold a grudge is the same word used to describe Esau’s hostility towards Jacob (27:41) and the word used by Jacob to describe the attacks that Joseph withstood because God had strengthened him (49:23–24).
17 - Transgression and sin, they dealt evil
19 - am I in God’s place?
20 - you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good
Jacob had lived 17 years in Egypt
The 7th time Joseph wept
They bowed before Joseph - bowed as ruler before but now they bow before Jospeh the judge - the one who can proclaim them guilty or innocent
(3) Joseph dies
22 Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.” 26 So Joseph died at the age of 110 years; and they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary (Steinmann) iii. Joseph’s Death (50:22–26)
110 years was considered by Egyptians to be the ideal lifespan
Joseph wants to return to Canaan.
Genesis ends with death but there is a glimpse of hope. And it ends in way that lets us know that there is more to the story. There is the unfinished business of Israel returning to the promised land
21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave commands concerning his bones.
Made mention of the exodus - Joseph the dreamer and Joseph the prophet
How should we apply this to our lives?
The word “inextricable”
- to extricate
Extricate is used for the act of freeing someone or something from a tangled situation. Its spelling and meaning comes from Latin extricatus, which combines the prefix ex- ("out of") with the noun tricae, meaning "trifles or perplexities."
Inextricable - impossible to become free or to escape.
Your struggles and God’s sovereignty are inextricably linked
But God meant -
20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive.
16 And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread. 17 He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
5 “So now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 “For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 “So God sent me before you to establish for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive for a great remnant of survivors. 8 “So now, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has set me as a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God did through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death. 24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
Your struggles and God’s goodness are inextricably linked
20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
Only God is perfectly good. Only God is able to create that which is eternally good.
Sinclair Ferguson
The Bible is actually a book, a whole book, about the providence of God. From Genesis 3:15 onwards, it tells the story of how God works to provide salvation for His people in Jesus Christ. And with a view to that, He governs everything so that this will happen.
But here’s the curious thing, something beyond wonderful: when you turn to the end of the book of Genesis to see how all this ends, Joseph himself tells us, he says what happened in their family was sinful and harmful, but God meant it for good. Now, that doesn’t really fit our logic, I don’t think. It’s surely one or the other: our sin or God’s purpose for good. Surely, God doesn’t use a mess like this; He’s a God of order. But no, God works everything together for the good of His people, and it sure takes a lot of working. It takes divine wisdom. It takes divine power, and it takes time. But think about the story of Joseph this way: He would never have ended up as prime minister of Egypt and preserver of nations in the ancient Near East had it not actually been for this mess in which they were all involved.
The older Christian writers used to illustrate the way God’s providence sometimes works by thinking about the mechanical clocks with which they were familiar, and the way the cogwheels moved in opposite directions in order to drive the hands of the clock around the clockface to tell the right time. That’s surely how God sometimes works, how He advances His purposes.
So, William Cowper was right: behind a frowning providence, there hides a smiling face. And that’s part of the mystery of God’s gracious providence.
God’s Sovereignty and Our Forgiveness of others are inextricably linked
Genesis 50:19–21 (LSB)
19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? 20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive. 21 “So now, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke to their heart.
12 So, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and graciously forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord graciously forgave you, so also should you.
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
And now hear what Yahweh says, The One who created you, Oh Jacob, the One who formed you, Oh Israel: ‘Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not wash you away. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, and the flame will not burn you. For I am Yahweh, your God, the holy One of Israel, your Savior.’ Amen.