Trust What I’m Doing

Greeting

Genesis 48:8–14 (NIV)

When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?” “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.” Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

Trust What I’m Doing

Introduction

One of the gifts of fatherhood is it allows me to see through my children what I believe God sees in me.

Parents, how many times have you asked your kids to “just trust you”?

Our kids want all the information, don’t they?

Where are we going? Who is going to be there? Why do we need to go there?

And I get to the point where I am like, “Son! Would you just trust me?”

Why do you we have to go this way?

Would you please, for the love of the Father, trust me!

Or is that just my kids?

We tell our kids to trust what we are doing… why? Because we know what we are doing!

Transition

In this text that we read there is a moment where Joseph brings his kids to his Dad, and his Dad does something and Joseph tries to correct him. But his Dad tells him, “Would you just trust me?”

Let’s unpack this story in the text together…

Text

Let’s get into our text because there is something so powerful and prophetic that is at work in the text.

The Bible gives us the story of Jacob’s final days in the Bible. Now Jacob is an interesting character in the Bible because his life shows us that God can use imperfect people. Jacob had a bit of a reputation. He was known for tricking and manipulating his way into the birthright and the blessing of his Father.

Jacob had an older brother named Esau. At this time in scripture, the older brothers received two things of their Father - the birthright and the blessing. This allowed the older brother to have the greater share of the inheritance and it put them in a position of authority over all of their siblings.

Jacob managed to trick his older brother into giving him his birthright. That was kind of gangster… but in fairness Esau was so jacked up that he traded his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup.

Whenever I read that I don’t put a whole lot of blame on Jacob because Esau was weak. It wasn’t like Joseph gave him millions of dollars. It was just a bowl of soup.

But as we fast forward to their later years, when their father Isaac was about to die he wanted to give Esau the older brother His blessing. Here comes Jacob once again. He tricks his Dad into giving him the blessing by taking advantage of his poor eye sight. This one I don’t blame on Esau.

Jacob was a savage.

But after Jacob received both the blessing and the birthright he had to run for his life. He packed his bags went into a distant land and then began to create a new life for himself.

During that time Jacob had an encounter with God and his name was changed from Jacob to Israel.

Genesis 32:28 (NIV)

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

This is where the people and Nation of Israel get their name. It is the name that God gave to Jacob, one of their ancestors.

But I want to point out something to you in your Bibles. His name is changed from Jacob to Israel, and yet no one calls him Israel. As you read through your Bibles, you’ll see that his name remains Jacob.

It is not until this chapter, chapter 48 of the book of Genesis do we finally read this changing of his name from Jacob to Israel, even though decades earlier God called his name Israel.

And you can see it in your Bibles as you read through Genesis 48 that he’s called Jacob, then Israel, then Jacob, and then here in our passage he is called Israel once again.

Have you ever read passages like this in your Bible and wondered why the back and forth?

Is he Jacob or is he Israel?

Can I give you what I’m seeing here in the text? And this is Pastor Josh’s commentary on the Bible here in Genesis 48. Every time he is Israel, it is because he is operating in God’s promises over his life. When he is Jacob, he is simply living and carrying out his earthly business.

There’s a person and a promise within Jacob. There is the here and now, and then there is what is to come.

So when we get to this passage of Israel blessing the sons of Joseph, the Bible calls him Israel because He is about to operate in the promise of God over his life.

We’ll come back to this thought in just a moment…

So Joseph presents his sons to Israel and he positions the older son by the right hand of Israel, and the younger son by the left hand of Israel. This was intentional.

The right hand symbolizes honor and authority.

So this blessing that Israel was about to give to these two boys should have gone to the older son, and that’s where the older son was positioned. However, when we read the text, Israel crosses his arms and he puts his right hand on the head of the younger son.

Joseph sees what’s going on and he tries to correct his father.

Genesis 48:17–18 (NIV)

When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

Jospeh thought that Israel was making a mistake, but He didn’t know that God was working through Israel to do something prophetically that would be fulfilled hundreds of years later.

Genesis 48:19 (NIV)

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”

We need to really inspect these words that Israel is saying…

He is saying that the older brother would be blessed, but there was a blessing on the younger brother that would allow his descendants to become not just a nation, but a group of nations.

All of this is accomplished when Israel puts his right hand on the head of the younger son.

The Right Hand of God

Now, let’s bring this into our teaching of the Gospel.

You need that backdrop in order to connect it to this particular part of the Gospel.

Jesus is now seated at the Right Hand of God.

In the message of the Gospel, this is an important movement. This phrase is repeated by Paul many times in the New Testament in his letters to the churches. He doesn’t just talk about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. He also includes this phrase that He is now seated at the Right Hand of God.

Paul is grabbing these words from David, the King and the Psalmist who said this:

Psalm 110:1 (NIV)

The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

This was more than a Psalm. This is a Messianic Prophecy. The Jews believe that the Messiah would come from God and that He would be seated at the right hand of God when he has conquered their enemies in this world.

This Psalm was then quoted over and over again by Jewish believers as they waited for their Messiah.

Then Jesus Shows Up…

And then Jesus shows up.

And as Pastor Sam taught us just a few weeks ago, Jesus is dies for our sins, he’s buried in a grave, and then he rises from that grave on the third day.

What Jesus did by doing that was He defeated our greatest enemy. He defeated satan, sin, and death, and He simultaneously gave us access to eternal life through the Father.

That’s what Jesus did at the cross. That’s what Jesus did through the grave. That’s what Jesus did in HIs resurrection.

Here’s what you need to understand about how it was recieved…

The Jews at that time thought that the Messiah was going to defeat their earthly enemies. The Jews were under constant occupation of other nations. Assyria, Babylon, Greeks, and eventually Rome in the time of Christ. They thought that the Messiah would come to defeat their enemies and allow them to be an independant nation once again and perhaps restore them to a place of honor among all of the other nations of this world.

What they didn’t count on was that Jesus wasn’t here to defeat their earthly enemies, He was here to defeat their spiritual enemies.

The Jews were looking at the wrong fight.

Jesus’ focus was not their earthly enemies, or let me say it this way, their temporary enemies.

Jesus was going to defeat their spiritual enemies, or let me say it this was, their eternal enemy.

Jesus was fighting for their eternity while they were focused on the temporary.

Jesus defeated death, hell, and the grave. And this is why Paul wrote this bar:

1 Corinthians 15:55–57 (NIV)

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Seated Because It’s Done

And with this in mind Paul then tells us about what happened to Jesus after he ascended into heaven.

Ephesians 1:18–23 (NIV)

That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

We can read Paul’s train of thought as he is citing Psalms 110:1, that Jesus is now seated at the right hand and all things are under his feet.

Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

This picture of Jesus sitting at the right hand of God is powerful because it shows us that He is seated because He is done.

What is done?

The work of redemption is done.

Jesus has done everything that is needed in order for you to be saved. There’s nothing that you need to do, and there is nothing that you can do in order to save yourself. The work is done and complete in Christ.

All that remains is for you to believe.

To believe that it is done because of Jesus.

[Transition]

Can I just tell you that this one thing… that everything is done… is the beauty of the Gospel.

I grew up n a church where I was taught that Jesus did his part, but I still needed to do MY part. And often times doing MY PART meant not doing a lot of things.

You can’t go hear, you can’t listen to this, you can’t watch this, and the list was long.

I heard a preacher say, “If I do good, then God will bless me.” That has an undertone of righteousness, but what it does is it puts you in the drivers seat of your salvation. It is as if Jesus needs your help.

But we aren’t the ones seated on the throne. He is the one seated on the throne! And he is sitting because everything is done.

Religion tells me that I have to do, but the Gospel tells me that it’s done.

Everything is done. And all I have to do is to believe. Believe that I’m saved. Believed that He’s making me into a new person. I start living like a person who has been saved. I start living like a person whose God is seated in the position of power and authority. Far above my enemy and my struggle is my King. I’m living now for my King.

[Transition]

Paul also gives us a picture of what is happening while Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Romans 8:34 (NIV)

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Don’t think for one second that you are alone here in this life…

Jesus is interceding for you. Jesus is opening up doors and opportunities for you to come into the knowledge of Christ and to be saved by the work of Jesus.

The Promise of Israel (Conclusion)

Now let me take you back to the Promise of Israel. We opened with the story of Israel blessing the second son and saying that nations would rise up out of him.

This is where it gets really, really cool. Let’s nerd out together on the Bible.

The Lord called the people of Israel to be his first fruit here on this earth. God was going to use Israel to be a picture of God’s covenant relationship with humanity. In a way, Israel is the older brother. Israel is first.

But things did not work with Israel. They continually violated the covenant relationship with the Lord and so the Lord would establish a new covenant. This would be the church. The ekklesia. The called out ones from every nation and from every culture and from every generation. This church is the younger brother and it represents what Israel called, “and his descendants will be a group of nations.”

This church fulfills this prophecy.

This is why Lighthouse contends to be a multi-ethnic, multi-generational, life-giving church. We are called to be the fulfillment of this promise.

And let me put all of this together…

Romans 11:25 (NIV)

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,

While Jesus is sitting on this throne having finished his work, all that remains is for the full number of Gentiles to come in.

That means that Jesus sits on the throne while the Gentiles are reached with the Gospel.

Whose job is that?

That’s our job! That’s the job of the church.

He’s done. But we’re not done.

Every single one of us is a fulfillment of this prophecy, and we are also working to fulfill the fulness of Gentiles.

We need to redeem the time. We need to be purposeful with our time.

He’s seated, becuase He’s done.

But the Kingdom of God needs laborers. People who will partner with our King and we take this gospel message to the ends of the earth.

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