Trusting God in the Midst of Transition
Notes
Transcript
Good morning, everyone! Whether you're here with us in the room or joining online—listening live or later—we’re truly glad you're here. You're part of our extended spiritual family, and we're thankful for you.
Hey, if you’ve got kids with you this morning—now’s a great time for them to head to class. We’ve got an amazing team ready to welcome them and help them know Jesus in a way that makes sense to them
For the rest of us, grab your Bible, get comfortable, and get ready for what God has for you today.
This morning we get to continue on with our Joseph series and see what happens after Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. Remember there has been all sorts of stuff going on. Remember Joseph was sold into slavery and left for dead, but God wasn’t finished with him. Then Joseph went through all sorts of stuff that was hard, including being jailed, but God wasn’t finished with him yet. Finally Joseph became the 2nd most important person in Egypt and his brothers had come to him to get food, but they didn’t recognize him. Well, last time we talked about Joseph, we saw that Joseph sent back for Jacob his father to come and live in Egypt with him. Of course, later, as Joseph continues to talk to his brothers, eventually he tells them…”As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose." —(Joseph) . In other words. What man means for evil…God means for good!
Listen, life is marked by transition, right. Whether moving to a new city, changing jobs, receiving a difficult diagnosis, or preparing for some unknown future, we all face moments that stretch our faith. In Genesis 46, Jacob is at a pivotal crossroads. God has brought Joseph back into his life—but now Jacob has to leave the land of promise and go down into Egypt. What about God’s covenant? Will God reject this move as a move of the unfaithful? Will Jacob going down to Egypt mean that he is turning his back on God’s promise? Can God's promises survive a detour…again?
These are the questions that Jacob has to be asking himself as he is trying to figure out what to do. I mean, he wants to go see Joseph, but maybe he can just go, that doesn’t mean they all have to actually move there, right? Remember God has promised Jacob, the land where they are, to make him into a nation, and to bless the entire world through his family. Land, Seed, and Blessing…this is a reaffirmation of the promise given to Abraham, and Isaac. So what happens if Jacob leaves the land that God has promised…this has to be in Jacob’s mind. After-all, he’s already left one time and come back. Would God’s promise remain if he left again…if he didn’t trust God to sustain them where they are?
Let’s turn to Gen 46 and read a bit about this transition that Jacob is looking at…
So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”
Before Jacob takes a moves to Egypt, he does something very crucial that should shape our response in every transition… Here it is…
In Transition, Worship Comes First (vv. 1–2)
In Transition, Worship Comes First (vv. 1–2)
So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Before Jacob does anything…he sets his focus on God. Doing this allows him to be reassured that God is leading him, and not his own desires. Many times we will tell ourselves lies that will align with our desires and those desires are not exactly rooted in Godly truth. For instance, when I was 15, I genuinely believed that God has created me to use dipping tobacco. Like that was God’s ultimate plan for my life. Clearly that was not God’s plan…that was just my personal desire and I had built my own world around my desires. However, I wasn’t worshipping God…I was worshiping myself.
So, when we are seeking to transition according to God’s will…we should worship God. That’s because, Worship aligns your heart with God’s will. Jacob returned to Beersheba, this is a place rich in covenant history. Jacob goes there and pauses to seek the Lord. He doesn’t tell God what he is doing…he worship the Lord just like those that went before him. In Genesis 26 Isaac built an alter here and called on the name of the Lord. Jacob is returning to that place that has had spiritual significance to his historical family. This is a place that God had made known to his father and grandfather. This is a place where God was publicly recognized and his covenant was reaffirmed over and over again.
What happens when God is worshiped at Beersheba? Well, God answers in the context of worship. It is only after Jacob worships that God speaks… “God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” This is a personal and relational communication between God and Jacob. “Jacob, Jacob!” reminds us of “Abraham, Abraham” (22:11), “Samuel, Samuel” (1 Sam. 3:10), “Martha. Martha” (Luke 10:41), and “Saul, Saul” (Acts 9:4). It’s encouraging to know that the Lord knows our names …when we worship the Lord, the Lord responds to us personally.
God responds to Jacob’s worship not just with comfort, but with a call. And in the next verses, He reveals the very heart of His promises…
Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”
God doesn’t just respond with your name during worship…
In Transition, God's Promises Are Reaffirmed (vv. 3–4)
In Transition, God's Promises Are Reaffirmed (vv. 3–4)
“Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.” Why should Jacob worry about going to Egypt? I mean Joseph personally invited him to come and enjoy the best of the land. In the midst of a famine, this is probably the wisest thing he can do, isn’t it?
Well, maybe Jacob was hesitant because he remembered that his grandfather Abraham had gotten into serious trouble by going to Egypt (12:10ff). And when Jacob’s father Isaac started toward Egypt, the Lord stopped him (26:1–2). Egypt could really be a dangerous place for one of God’s people. So, it wasn’t out of line for Jacob to be a bit nervous. However, God addresses Jacob’s fear with His covenant.
God says to Jacob, “Do not be afraid,” linking Jacob to his grandfather Abraham and affirming that Egypt is not a detour of his covenant, but a design. In this God made four important remarks to Jacob. First, he commanded Jacob not to be afraid to go down to Egypt because he would go down with him. Second, God affirmed the generations-old promise to make Abraham’s family line—represented through Jacob—a great nation, even in Egypt. Third, he promised to bring Israel’s descendants back. Finally, God promised that Jacob’s beloved son Joseph would close the patriarch’s eyes, in other words to be present at Jacob’s death.
Here’s the truth behind what God is telling Jacob here. The covenant promise includes not just place, but purpose. God has a purpose for this family, and a location will not eliminate that purpose. God doesn’t merely assure Jacob of survival—He assures him of growth: “I will make you a great nation there.” Egypt is the place where Israel will multiply into a great nation. God reminded Jacob that He wasn’t limited to the land of Canaan, for He’s the Lord of all the earth, including Egypt.
The thing is God’s encouragement is not only in what He says—but also in what He promises to do alongside Jacob…
I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”
Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.
God will go down with him and will bring him back again…
In Transition, God’s Presence Goes With Us (vv. 4–7)
In Transition, God’s Presence Goes With Us (vv. 4–7)
“I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again.” This is a reminder for the rest of God’s promise to Jacob previously. There was a promise of land, seed, and blessing…However, there is a part of those promises that I left out, and I think it would be very important to remember right now. You see, God promises land, seed, and blessing to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but to Jacob he also promised his continued presence and protection.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
This is the promise made to Jacob/Israel. This is the promise that God will always fulfill.
But why did God want Jacob’s family to live in Egypt? Well, in Egypt He would multiply Jacob’s descendants and make them into a great and mighty nation, which is what he promised Abraham (12:2). The Israelites would begin their time in Egypt under the protection of Pharaoh, enjoying the best of the land. However, centuries later, the Israelites would suffer cruel bondage in Egypt and will cry out to God for deliverance. This is where God will use their suffering to mold them into the mighty nation under the leadership of Moses. This is also where God will defeat every god of the Egyptians through the plagues, and will make himself known as the one true God.
The encouraging thing here though is that God personally accompanies His people. I love what God did here. God said, “I will go down with you.” He does not merely send Jacob—He goes with him. You see, God told Isaac, Jacob’s father not to go to Egypt. Here, God is telling Jacob to go to Egypt…but he is not saying, “go”…he is saying, “come with me”. Later Jesus will tell his disciples, “I am with you always…”That is what God is telling Jacob here. If it were not God that was personally accompanying Jacob, do you think that Pharaoh would have cleared the best part of the land to give to Jacob and his very large family. It doesn’t make sense that Pharaoh would do that. Take care of Joseph, sure…but his entire family which will grow into more and more over time get to have the best part of the land. That’s crazy…unless God has already prepared Pharaoh to do that.
Now, Jacob sees this issue that they are dealing with today. He sees that they need to eat and so they will need to go to where there is food. He doesn’t see that later this nation will become a nation of slaves to the future Pharaohs. He doesn’t need to see that though, he needs to trust God with today and allow God to deal with tomorrow. Something that we would do well to remember is that, God sees the full story in advance. See, one of the promises that God gives to Jacob is that God will bring them up again. To Jacob maybe that means that he will get to move back home again. However, because God sees a more full picture, we know that is referring to centuries later when God brings the Israelites out of the bondage to Egypt. God sees both the descent and the deliverance.
Encouraged by God’s words, Jacob/Israel left Beer-sheba in one of the wagons Pharaoh had sent for the two-hundred-plus-mile journey. Pharaoh told them not to bring anything, but it would have been cruel to the livestock to leave them, and they would have had some items of sentimental value, and so they brought what they would need…and they left to start over in Egypt.
Later the Israelites will experience great pain under the cruelty of Pharaoh. Moses will be lifted up to be a leader and bring them away from Egypt. Even in that suffering we are reminded that God sees the full story in advance. We read in 2 Cor. that the temporary pain is preparing for the glory that is coming…
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
So no, as Jacob loads his wagons and begins the descent into Egypt, he does so not in fear but in faith—because he has heard from God, been reassured of His promises, and knows God will be with him.
Then Jacob stood at the threshold of Egypt, he faced a future clouded with uncertainty. Egypt was not the promised land—it was a land of foreign gods, a place with a dark historic shadow. Yet what enabled this old patriarch to move forward was not clarity, but confidence—confidence in the Word of a covenant-keeping God.
God told him: “Do not be afraid.”
God promised: “I will go down with you…”
God assured: “I will bring you up again.”
This is the God who does not abandon His people when the road bends and twists unexpectedly. This is the God who brings His presence into our valleys, His promises into our trials, and His purposes into our detours.
But, folks, Jacob’s journey into Egypt was not just about relocation—it was redemptive. Egypt would eventually give birth to a nation whom God would redeem with an outstretched arm.
Centuries later, another Son would descend—not just into Egypt, but from heaven.
“Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Matthew 2:15; Hosea 11:1)
Jesus Christ as the true Israel—entered our broken world, walked through every valley of fear and suffering, and ultimately took our sin to himself on the cross. Jacob was afraid to descend into Egypt, Jesus willingly descended into death—for you and for me.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…
Listen, the same God who spoke to Jacob in the night speaks now through His Word (the Scripture) by His Spirit:
So, you’re facing an unknown future? Fear not—for God is with those who trust Him.
You’re weighed down by guilt and shame? Come to Christ—who bore your sins and rose again for your justification.
Maybe you’re unsure of your place in this world? Believe—that in Jesus Christ, you are part of the greater covenant family, a citizen of a heavenly kingdom.
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
Again, this is not merely a call to believe that God exists, but to trust the One He has sent.
Repent of your self-reliance. It isn’t working anyway…
Believe in the gospel. This is the only TRUTH
Follow the One who goes with you—even through the valley of the shadow of death.
Like Jacob, you may not know exactly what lies ahead of you. But you can know Who goes with you.
I myself will go down with you…and I will also bring you up again….
Let’s pray:
