An Unexpected Blessing- Genesis 48

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(Give some background to 1 Thessalonians- persecution, confusion, etc.)

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 CSB

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Pray

prescriptive passages- tell us what to do; descriptive passages- give us principles and examples. Genesis 48 is DESCRIPTIVE- tells us what happened and gives us some takeaways. This passage isn’t a 3 step guide for grandparents relating to their grandchildren ; although, there are principles we learn from this passage that we can apply

Introduction

How often do we think that we know best and that we have everything figured out and then something happens or changes and it’s better for us?

Example-

Quick Recap of Genesis 47

Main Point: God is working even when we don’t see it!

Body

As we jump into Genesis 48, look at verses 1-7 with me. Genesis 48:1-7

Genesis 48:1–7 CSB

1 Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4 He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession to your future descendants.’ 5 Your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine. Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. 6 Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. 7 When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way, some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

Jacob is 147 years old- that’s an old dude- and we start this chapter by seeing that he has grown weaker than how he was at the end of chapter 47. As we see in verse 2, Jacob is confined to bed.

Joseph is told this and he goes to see his father alongside his two sons- Manasseh and Ephraim.

Joseph thinks this is going to be his last time seeing his father.

And the picture we see in verse 2 reflects this reality- Jacob is really not ok. He has to SUMMON HIS STRENGTH just to SIT UP IN BED!

That’s a man who is NOT OK!

He’s really close to death. But I want to challenge us today to SEE HOW HE SPENDS HIS LAST DAYS ON EARTH!

There’s a powerful lesson for us in this that we’ll unpack- but every day of our lives matters and has meaning!

As Jacob talks to Joseph he starts by recounting the promise that God made to him- the promise that his descendants would become a great nation- that they would be fruitful and numerous.

This is something that is fulfilled by the time of the Exodus 400 years later!

But then Jacob does something that sounds weird to us.

See, Jacob has called Joseph here to replace him.

And to our American ears that is so weird. LIKE WHAT? FOR 22 years you LONGED for Joseph. It was all you could think about; so why would you REPLACE HIM?

But there’s a reason- Jacob takes Ephraim and Manasseh and writes them into the inheritance.

Jacob is essentially giving Joseph a DOUBLE PORTION. It’s a reward of sorts for his faithfulness.

His father is saying, “Joseph, one portion isn’t enough for you. I’m going to adopt your two sons as my own and give you a DOUBLE PORTION!”

As Jacob does this, he mentions how Rachel passed away. And honestly, as I was studying this passage this week it struck me as odd. But I think there’s a reason he talks about Rachel during this- he could’t have had any more kids with Rachel.

But he is adopting these two sons out of his LOVE FOR HER!

Without getting caught in the weeds, Jacob always had a favorite wife and it was ALWAYS Rachel. Just as he missed Joseph, he missed Rachel. This is a way to HONOR Rachel by giving her descendants a double portion of the inheritance!

This is another part of contentedness- does Jacob still remember Rachel and love her? YES! But, he has also come to a place of acceptance- he isn’t getting her back. This was what he NEVER understood with Joseph!

Look at verses 8-12 with me. Genesis 48:8-12

Genesis 48:8–12 CSB

8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.” So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.” 10 Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” 12 Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.

Jacob sees Joseph’s sons and he doesn’t recognize them- listen, there’s two reasons for this.

First, Joseph is really important in Egyptian life and he DOES NOT live in Goshen with his family.

I don’t know how often they see each other, but I’d imagine that they don’t see each other super often. I think a helpful way to think about it is to think about out of state family- you see them at holidays, but not every week!

So Jacob wouldn’t have seen his grandsons a lot.

Here’s the second part- look at verse 10- his eyesight is bad! He can barely see ANYTHING!

So Jacob asks who these boys are and Joseph explains to him that they are his sons.

Jacob then asks him to bring his sons to him.

Joseph brings them to Jacob, they embrace! This is a touching moment and Jacob explains it in verse 11- he NEVER EXPECTED TO SEE JOSEPH AGAIN, LET ALONE JOSEPH’S SONS!

Yet here they are- and Joseph and his sons bow to Jacob- a sign of respect.

I think that this entire passage is showing us something and it’s more of a Jacob lesson than a Joseph lesson.

I know that as a 27 year old pastor what I’m about to say might sound a little crazy, but this passage is showing us what it looks like to have the RIGHT PRIORITIES AT THE END OF LIFE- and this is something for ALL of us to learn from.

Jacob could be focused on telling Joseph what to do financially, or in other areas of life; giving that last bit of fatherly advice, but he isn’t.

Instead, Jacob is focused on BLESSING JOSEPH’S SONS- which is ultimately a way to POINT THEM TOWARDS GOD!

Friends, it’s a pretty normal thing to hit a point in life where we say, “My time is past and someone else needs to carry the weight of sharing about God.” This isn’t speculation; I’ve seen this first hand.

But what we’re seeing from Jacob in Genesis 45-50 is that people of ALL AGES should follow God faithfully!

WE NEVER AGE OUT OF FOLLOWING GOD!

One of my mentors is an older, “retired” pastor from Colorado. And I remember when he retired from our church he was VERY CLEAR that he was retiring from preaching every week but not from serving God.

He pivoted his ministry. Instead of preaching he provided feedback on sermons, he helped with pastoral care, he focused on his writing ministry, he started taking a young high schooler who became a college kid then a seminary student to lunch to pour into him and to help him GROW CLOSER TO GOD!

And listen, even now he’s someone that I can call and talk with who will SELFLESSLY GIVE HIS TIME! He isn’t paid for it; he’s “retired” in the eyes of the world, but he’s as ACTIVE AS EVER IN SERVING GOD!

Let me challenge us- regardless of our age, the season of our life (students, just starting a career, we own our own business, we are retired, we are newly married, our marriage is struggling, etc), we NEED TO BE SERVE GOD ON A DAILY BASIS!

Our first takeaway for today is:

We are all called to serve God on a daily basis! (This fundamentally means that we need to LIVE DIFFERENTLY! Our priorities, etc. are different!)

Dissertation- what does it look like to live differently?- Discipleship is HELPING ONE ANOTHER FOLLOW GOD MORE CLOSELY; which will NATURALLY LEAD TO OUR LIVES LOOKING DIFFERENT!

Crete example- men were to focus on SELF-CONTROL which was different than a culture known as “liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons!”

Women are given a lot of instructions in Titus 2:3-5 about FAMILY BECAUSE FAMILY WAS SUCH A LOW VALUE ON CRETE!

Affairs, abandonment, drunkenness, etc. was normal living!

And so Paul challenges OLDER; we could read that as MORE MATURE believers to demonstrate living DIFFERENTLY! THEY WERE CALLED TO SERVE GOD ON A DAILY BASIS IN THEIR ACTIONS! And in doing that, they were INSTRUCTING younger; or less mature believers IN HOW TO DO THAT!

And through it all, it was also an EVANGELISM TOOL!

(expand)

There’s an inter-generational tie of relationships in discipleship that is mirrored here in Genesis 48. See, Discipleship is like a family! Older, more mature believers helping younger believers! But that can also be hard! Sometimes we can think, “I have nothing in common with someone from a different generation.” And listen, that isn’t new. There would have been people in the Cretan church with nothing in common more than living on Crete… AND KNOWING JESUS! THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONNECTION TWO PEOPLE CAN EVER HAVE!

Adorned- one of the biggest concerns that often comes up in inter-generational relationships in the local church is “what if they don’t want to hear what I have to say” on BOTH ENDS! (FOR YOUNGER AND OLDER!)

There’s a number of things that we can do. First, I’d encourage you- come to something like Carols and Cookies and BUILD NEW RELATIONSHIPS!

Second, MORE MATURE BELIEVERS; BE APPROACHABLE! SEEK OUT YOUNGER BELIEVERS AND BUILD A RELATIONSHIP! TAKE SOMEONE TO LUNCH!

Younger people- here’s three questions you can ask to start a conversation:

“How have you handled____ situation?”

“How have you done ______ in your life?”

“What advice would you have for someone working through _______?”

Listen- it isn’t about perfect answers; but we need to understand- as followers of Christ, we are called to live DIFFERENTLY and we are called to do this EVERY SINGLE DAY!

The way that we live speaks to the GOD THAT WE SERVE!

Look at verses 13-18 with me to see what Jacob does next.

Genesis 48:13–18 CSB

13 Then Joseph took them both—with his right hand Ephraim toward Israel’s left, and with his left hand Manasseh toward Israel’s right—and brought them to Israel. 14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and crossing his hands, put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 Then 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 to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all harm— may he bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow to be numerous within the land. 17 When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it was a mistake and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

Joseph takes his two sons- his older and his younger and he gives them to his father again.

He puts his older son- Manasseh- on his dad’s right side. This was the traditional way to bless a first born son, but Jacob reverses his hands!

Jacob speaks to Joseph and blesses Joseph and his two sons.

Jacob specifically speaks about how God has BEEN HIS SHEPHERD, how God has REDEEMED HIM FROM HARM and then asks that God would BLESS THESE TWO BOYS and that they would be NUMEROUS!

There’s something in this that we should see; three takeaways for us.

Give Thanks and Praise God first!

When we encounter blessings in life, our first response- like Jacob- should ALWAYS BE TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD AND TO PRAISE GOD!

We should ALWAYS acknowledge God’s role in these blessings- this isn’t just a thing to do on the last Thursday of November; it SHOULD be daily rhythm as followers of God!

It doesn’t have to be anything crazy- it can be as simple as when you’re at the dinner table with family just saying, “What’s one thing that you’re thankful for today?”

GRATITUDE- genuine thanksgiving- should be a HUGE PART OF OUR WALK WITH GOD!

(Here’s a thing to be grateful for- GOSPEL!)

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

BE GRATEFUL FOR GOD AND FOR JESUS!

CORRIE TEN BOOM AND SISTER BETSIE STORY- new camp, wanted to read the bible which wasn’t allowed in concentration camps. They showed up in the barracks which was infested with fleas, read 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and were convicted. They started giving thanks for different things and then they found out why no guards were stopping them from reading the Bible. Because of the fleas they wouldn’t go INTO THE BARRACKS!

REJOICE ALWAYS!

1 Thessalonians 5:16 CSB

16 Rejoice always,

Bring Your Requests to God!

Second, Jacob asks God to bless his family.

Listen- bring your requests to God! DO IT! BRING YOUR REQUESTS TO GOD WHO ANSWERS THEM!

You don’t need to be afraid. Consider the Lord’s Prayer- it includes a section to BRING YOUR REQUESTS TO GOD! This is a GOOD AND HEALTHY RHYTHM FOR US TO GET INTO!

Matthew 6:9–13 CSB

9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

WE SHOULD BRING OUR REQUESTS TO GOD- let me just challenge us though- don’t forget the most important request- it’s in there right at the beginning- “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

BRING THAT REQUEST AND MORE TO GOD!

We don’t always see what God is doing and that’s okay!

I know this sounds like a weird takeaway, but in verse 18, Joseph genuinely thinks his dad has made a mistake!

He doesn’t see the full picture, or what God is doing.

How often does that same thing happen- we think- “Why would I go through this; why would this happen; why would this loss happen? This is NOT WHAT I WANTED!”

I just finished reading a book with Hope recently and one of the major storylines is even a character who experiences loss and basically shuts herself off from the world! She didn’t see the purpose or the point.

And the same thing happens for us- we suffer and we lose sight of what God is doing! (Really, what happens is we stop TRUSTING GOD!)

But when that happens we can miss what God is doing. So let’s learn from this passage that we DON’T ALWAYS SEE WHAT GOD IS DOING AND THAT’S OKAY!

Genesis 48:19–22 CSB

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe, and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.” 20 So he blessed them that day, putting Ephraim before Manasseh when he said, “The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” 21 Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

Jacob has not made a mistake- This is purposeful- God is teaching us a lesson here!

From MAN’S PERSPECTIVE you needed to bless the OLDER SON, not the younger one.

But that’s not how GOD WORKS!

Jacob knows this firsthand- he was the younger son, but he was blessed over his older brother (although there’s more that could be said about this. Despite man’s attempt at deception and trickery, GOD USED IT TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE!)

But it doesn’t stop there! Joseph- not the oldest son- has been blessed by his father in place of the oldest! And this continues!

In 1 Samuel, Samuel goes to anoint the second king of Israel and as he looks at all the sons of Jesse he assumes it’s the oldest one, then the second oldest, then the third, and so on before finding out that it’s the YOUNGEST!

Here’s why this matters so much- God doesn’t operate based on outward human appearances!

God cares about each and every person in the world REGARDLESS of the VALUE that they bring!

God doesn’t care if you’re perfect, or if your life is perfect, or anything like that! GOD DOESN’T CARE IF SOMEONE ELSE IS MORE IMPRESSIVE IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD!

And as Jacob closes out this blessing, he then reminds Joseph to take his body back to Canaan and where to bury him- this really matters.

In scripture when we see things repeated we need to always STOP AND LOOK AT WHY!

It’s repeated AGAIN to further reinforce two things.

First, Jacob is a sojourner.

Second, even though Jacob is CONTENT THAT GOD HAS BROUGHT HIM HERE, Jacob WANTS TO GO HOME! HE wants to be buried in his homeland of Canaan.

Jacob has made the most of living in Egypt, but he also unapologetically wants to be buried in Canaan.

This brings us to another takeaway today:

Sojourning is not easy, or comfortable. But Sojourners are called to be content.

We sojourn for a reason

PING PONG BALL TIE-IN!

(blue- pray, green- invite, red- gospel shared, yellow saved!)

Tie in to earlier point- live differently daily. The way that we handle difficult times (adversity) speaks to living differently.

Example of coaching- specifically Blue Ridge Christian comeback win- there’s like literally no heat in the gym, it’s cold, the refs are just honestly hideous, everything doesn’t go our way, we GATHERED TOGETHER AND CAME BACK TO WIN! (It was actually a HUGE MILESTONE for a program that had gone through a TON; including a WORLDWIDE VIRUS! THEY HAD TO RELY ON EACH OTHER!)

Here’s the crossover- sojourning- living on earth, isn’t easy. And we can’t be content on our own; we can’t live out the REASON for our sojourning on our OWN!

BUT, we can when we RELY ON GOD!

That’s where contentedness like what Jacob experiences comes from AND wehre the ability to reach people comes from!

Today, THIS MORNING, make a commitment- commit to sojourning with your EYES on Jesus. Commit to SOJOURNING DIFFERENTLY and I promise you, God will have so many unexpected BLESSINGS for you, just as He did for Jacob like what we saw today!

PRAY!

Carols and cookies (be here at 4; FREE T-SHIRTS- different design- not explicitly a cornerstone shirt- FOR THE FIRST 35 people- sizes S-XXXL!)

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