Jacob and Joseph

Scripture

Hebrews 11:20–22 “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.”

Intro

Fishing is a hope filled venture

Every cast I’m hopeful that something will bite

Remember that true hope, Biblical hope, is expectation and waiting for it with patience

We want hope in our lives

We need hope in our lives

What do you hope for on a daily basis?

Gambling can be addictive because of the hopeful nature

Games; dominoes, cards, video

Work will provide for the family

What is your hope for this church?

Things will never change?

We can get back to the good old days?

We will continue to exist?

That the best is yet to come?

My hope for this church is that God is restoring hearts and lives, that the flame of the Holy Spirit is being built up in each one of you and as a collective, and building up future generations to carry on the work of God

All for the mission

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for

Where your faith is placed will determine how you live your life

Hope is built on our faith, we were designed to live out our faith

Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph lived and died with faith and hope for what God was doing

Every part of their lives was to fulfill the mission of God

Genesis 50:19–20 “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau

Jacob

Genesis 27:27–29 “So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!””

The importance of the blessings

Esau asked Isaac for a blessing but Isaac said he blessed Jacob with everything

Genesis 27:37 “Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?””

When God blesses us it is significant, meaningful, and everlasting

Esau

Genesis 27:39–40 “Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.””

Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh

Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons

Genesis 48:15–16 “And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.””

Genesis 48:20 “So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’ ” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.”

Reminding Joseph of God’s promise

Genesis 48:21 “Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.”

Joseph plans for the future

Don’t forget the promise

Genesis 50:24–25 “And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.””

The promise fulfilled

Exodus 13:19 “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.””

Ways the enemy attempts to subvert our hope and faith

Father of lies

“You’re not good enough, you will never be good enough.”

“Nobody loves you, God doesn’t love you.”

“It’s everyone else’s fault, you can’t do anything about it.”

If this is where your hope is then you will give up or overcompensate

Jacob was lied to, “Heal grabber”, “Deceiver”

God had to wrestle with him so he would let go and trust God

Steal, kill, and destroy

Sickness, calamity, death

Do these things mean God’s blessing in not upon us?

Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Spirit; these are things no one can take from you

The kingdom of God is here and it is yet to come

What would the naysayers have said to Jacob and Joseph?

“You’re in Egypt. God has forsaken his promise.”

“Israel will never get back to the promised land.”

“Maybe Egypt is the promised land.”

Jacob and Joseph were not distracted by their circumstances, if God promised it He would fulfill it

God promised us righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Trust in Him and He will give you what He promised.

Fear

“What if I’m made a fool of?”

“What if I look weak.”

“What if I lose everything.”

These things can become a self fulfilled prophecy

We don’t want to be made a fool of so we do nothing and are made a fool

We don’t want to look weak so we display strength and our weakness is revealed

We don’t want to lose everything so we put a choke hold on it and kill it

Can you imagine what was going through Jacob’s mind moving his home to Egypt?

“What kind of man am I that I have to depend on my son to save me?”

“God promised us this land, how can it be that we have to move to a different land?”

The limp of remembrance

We don’t know that Jacob still limped after the match with the angel, but I like to think he did

Every step was a reminder of what the God of his grandfather Abraham had done, the Fear of his father Isaac, the God who promised Him prosperity, the Angel who taught him humility

Jacob trusted that God would see His plan through

Faith overrides our fear because we know God will see us through

How now shall we live?

Live with the mission in mind

Eyes trained on God and what He will accomplish

Do not be sluggish in your faith

A “good enough” attitude isn’t good enough

Work as unto the Lord, because it should be (Eph. 6:7)

Everything is for the mission

Pass the faith on to the next generation

Invest in future generations

Talk to them about what God has done in your life

Teach them the goodness of God’s ways

Train them to take your place, and do it better than you

If we have no interest in future generations then we are only building our coffin

This church will die with us

Fully believe that God will do it

God did bring Israel to the promised land

God has brought us to the promised land, the kingdom of God

Romans 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Have faith that the kingdom in here and yet to come

Additional Thoughts

This is not our home

Each of these men had eyes on their future home

Investing in the next generations

The men doing the blessing were looking at future generations

Not satisfied with the world

God always offers something better

Faith without sight

Their circumstance was much different than the promise God had given

None of them saw the promise fulfilled

Good enough was never good enough

Israel could have resolved to stay in Egypt, it was nice and they could prosper

What God offered was something better

Don’t be sluggish in your faith

Believing in more means working for it

Each of these men lived in faith and made sure to pass that faith on to future generations

Faith in what God is doing now

We are growing in faith

Not growing in being stale

Not growing in complacency

Not growing in arrogance

Not growing in rudeness

Faith in what God will do

Teaching the promise

God’s promise passed down

God promised Abraham to make him into a nation and give him the land of Canaan

Isaac blessed Jacob that nations would bow down to him and those who blessed him would be blessed

Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh that they would be a multitude, a multitude in Israel not Egypt

Jacob reminded Joseph that God would bring their people back to the land of their fathers

Joseph remembered the promise and looked for the day that he could rest in the land of his fathers