God Overrides Evil With Good

Daniel Norman

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God works even through the evil actions of people to bring about good (God's Providence secures God's Promises)

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

Half the Knock (Bump, Budda Bump Bump....) Do you know that knock? It is driving some of you crazy, but some of you just think I am crazy. How about if I speak it? bump butta bump bum!

You see this is a is a 7-note musical call and response couplet used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comic effect. While the lyrics are hardly ever used, the line goes “Shave and a hair cut” and then their is a response. Anyone know it? Lets try it again? “Shave and a haircut...” “Two bits”

You see if you are like me unfinished lyrics or notes like that drive you crazy. I hate to see something unresolved.

I can’t turn off a movie half way through and then go to bed

I can’t just leave a home project undone for long - it drives me crazy!

I hate putting a book mark in a book anywhere else but between the chapters.

I just like to finish.

Anyone who knows me very well, knows that I like to finish things. It is just a part of my personality. My wife has learned not to start a movie in my presence unless we have time to finish it. She learned this from experience. A couple of times when it was later in the evening she asked if I wanted to start a movie, knowing that we would have to stop it before it ended if we were going to get a descent night sleep that night. I said “Sure, we can do that”…but that is just not true. I need to know the ending. I hate starting some thing that I can’t finish. Leaving the story just hanging there in the air all night drives me crazy.

I get a great sense of satisfaction out of seeing something through to a fitting ending. It is therapeutic for me. It’s energizing for me, to have some degree of closure. So that is why I am excited to tell you that this morning we are going to finish our study in the book if Genesis.

Tension

We are going to get to finish something, and I like that, but we are going to do it by covering 8 long chapters of Genesis. As a teacher who likes to go verse by verse through a book…I don’t as much like that. But still I believe there is much for us to take away from the overview of this section of Genesis, especially in light of the message of the book as a whole. While this doesn’t always happen in books of the Bible, the book of Genesis does seem to build to some degree of a conclusion. So for those of us who like finishing something…(knock), we will like the satisfying way that Genesis comes to an end.

But in order for us to appreciate the climactic ending, we will have to reach back a bit to get a hold of where we have been so far in the book of Genesis. The book of Beginnings.

Remember that the first half of Genesis was aimed at one thing, the contrast between how things were meant to be - (The Garden of Eden) - and the way that things had become. Mankind was so evil that God is grieved that he ever made him

Beginnings

In chapters 1 and 2 we read of the glory of the garden of Eden and then from there onward we have the stories of everything but.

Against the backdrop of the goodness of our the first two chapters of God’s perfectly created world, we It is in the first 11 chapters that we find Adam and Eve eating the forbindden fruit, their son Cain murdering his brother Abel, the boastful murderous Lameck treating wives like cattle, and he was just an example of how wicked men’s hearts were. God says in

While the first two chapters tell us of It is in the first 11 chapters that we find Adam and Eve eating the forbindden fruit, their son Cain murdering his brother Abel, the boastful murderous Lameck treating wives like cattle, and he was just an example of how wicked men’s hearts were. God says in

Adam and Eve eating the forbindden fruit,

Cain murdering his brother Abel,

Lameck who treated his wives like cattle and bragged that he was more wicked than even Cain...

and these are just some of the examples of how wicked our hearts had become. To the point where God says in

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

The absolute statements in this verse point to the fact that we had spiraled so far down that we had become absolutely evil. So God decided to wash his creation clean through a world wide flood and start over with the only man who feared Him at that time, a man named Noah. But right after he was saved from the flood, Noah plants a vineyard, makes some wine, gets drunk and we see the path of evil pick right on up again through his sons all the way to the tower of Babel.

The tower of Babel was a technological monument to infinite abilities of mankind, so God shut it down.

The tower of Babel was a technological monument to the unstoppable cooperative and creative capacity of man, so God shut it down. He mixed up their languages and this scattered people all over the earth. That is what happens when the “unstoppable creative capacity of man” comes up against the one who gave man that creativity in the first place.

And that is the first 11 chapters of Genesis. God made a world that was good, but then his pinnacle creation, you and I, chose evil instead. But despite our rejection and rebellion, for His glory and our good God chose to give us an incredible gift.

We see his promise first in the consequences handed down

God and sinning, their first children the stories of sinfulness of man. In Chaptepromises of God.. That last coup To do that, I want you to have this truth running through your head....?

Adam and Eve

THE GIFT OF A PROMISE

What

The promise of a rescue from having to spend eternity in a world as messed up as ours had become. God delivered the first part of this promise right after our very first parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled and rejected God by eating from the forbidden tree. It was actually delivered to our enemy the devil, to declare to him that any victory that he thinks he had won, was only bringing him one step closer to his utter destruction. It is found in...

God’s first promise was delivered to the our enemy the devil, that anything that he thinks he has won is only one step closer to his utter destruction.

What

God’s Promise to Adam

Genesis 3:15 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

So we get the first glimpse of God’s rescue plan here in . He sees the devastating effect that our rebellion and rejection will have on our world and he PROMISES that a descendant of Adam and Eve will defeat Sin, Satan and Death for all time. Then follows 9 chapters of that devastation until we find God unpacking another layer of this promise. He makes a promise to a nobody named Abraham,

God’s Promise to Abraham

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God promises Abraham a place, a people, and the blessing of His presence. Not only that, but this blessing will radiate out through Abraham’s descendants into the entire world. The promise of this blessing will be passed through Abraham’s son Isaac, through his grandson Jacob, and even through his great grandsons Joseph and his brothers. And it is their story that we will be wrapping up with today.

Great Name

These are all things that we find man trying to establish apart from God in the first half of Genesis. Now God promises Abraham that these good things will come to him but only because Abraham will be faithful to God. And will do these things through Abraham and his descendants. Then after many…many years, Abraham finally has a son and God eventually affirms Abraham’s promise to Isaac:

Over the last couple of weeks we have seen how the story of Joseph displays and important characteristic of God. We have been grappling with the idea and implications of God’s Sovereign Providence. That God “reigns” from a position of ultimate authority and that out of that authority he “provides” everything needed to accomplish his intended purposes. This is what we mean by God’s Sovereign Providence. This morning we are going to see how that plays out for Joseph and his family, especially how it relates to the promise that has been handed down from Abraham all the way to the story of Joseph. We are going to see how

Great Blessing

Renews his promise to Isaac

Of they will have the kind of relationship where God will give these things to him. And not only him, but to his descendants as well. Because we see God renew this promise to Abraham’s son and grandson as well. In fact to his son Isaac God affirms the promise like this:

Genesis 26:2–5 ESV

2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

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So God’s promise was passed on to Isaac. Then Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, and they too chose rebellion and evil but God was faithful to the promise he gave to Abraham.

God’s Sovereign Providence Secures God’s Promises!

You see throughout the story of Abraham, there are three things that repeatedly seem to threaten the promise that God made to Abraham. The promise of a distinct people, possessing a particular place, because they are blessed by God’s presence in such a way that become a blessing to the entire world.

Tension

You see throughout the story of Abraham, there are three things that repeatedly stand out as a seeming threat to the promise that God made to Abraham.

lessed by the pressemany descendents who will become a great nation, in a great land and become a blessing to the entire world.

Divisions in the Family Line

Diluting of the Family Line

Last week in the book of Genesis

Joseph is so important to Moses - but hardly even mentioned again, especially in the New Testament. Unlike Adam, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Death of the Family Line

1. Divisions in the Family Line

Let’s take a few moments to remember when these have come up. First of all we saw repeatedly how fear, jealousy, hatred and contempt in Abraham’s family lead to threats, violence and separation.

3 Seeming Threats to God’s Providential Plan

It starts with Abraham as he cowardly gives his wife Sarah away to two different kings ( and 20). It is a little tough to get the family going when you keep giving your wife to other guys.

Abraham tries to give his wife Sarah away... twice! ( and 20)

Then Abraham and his nephew Lot can’t get along and they separate and Lot gets into all kinds of trouble in the land of Sodom and Gamorrah ()

Sarah hates Abraham’s other wife and son and sends them away

Then sneaky Jacob tricks his brother one too many times, so Esau maked plans to kill Jacob. This causes Jacob to run away to Laban and overstay his welcome. ()

Then Joseph’s jealous brothers plan to kill him, but end up selling him into slavery in a far off land ()

It is pretty hard to become a nation when your family keeps moving away because of all the divisions among them.

2. Diluting the Family Line (marriages to pagan women)

God called Abraham’s family to be set apart from the surrounding nations, yet they keep trying to just blend in with them. How can you become a distinct people if you keep marrying into other people groups?

Again this rebellion starts with Abraham as He and Sarah try to speed up God’s plan by having a child through Sarah’s Egyptian maid servant Hagar, but when God does deliver on his promise in His perfect timing then Hagar and her son Ishmael are banished from Abraham’s family ()

Abraham and Sarah try to accomplish God’s plan through Hagar, and Egyptian servant (Genesis 16)

Until, Abraham’s grandson Esau, decides to get back at his father Isaac by marrying the daughters of Ishmael, further dissolving the Family line. ()

Finally, and we skipped over this part in our overview, but eventually Jacob’s sons intermarrying and having children with the Canaanite Women from all the pagan nations around them. ()

Death of the Family (starving to death)

started taking Canaanite wives ()

So the distinction of the family line of Abraham was beginning to be blurred so that some of his descendants didn’t know if they were a part of the family of Israel or if their heritage lied elsewhere.

3. Death of the Family Line (starving to death)

Death of the Family

There was the reoccurring threat of the natural disaster of a famine. Since we live in the land of plenty, our red flags don’t really go up much when we read the word “famine”. We read right over that word with little consequence, but it is a horribly ugly ordeal where people physically waste away as the pain of their hunger dismantles any shred of their dignity, social restraint or moral code. We don’t understand the devastation that surrounds a famine. You see unlike natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes or earthquakes, a famine is long drawn out crisis where the wrong move at the wrong time can wife your family line right off the map. Three times Abraham’s family faced the crisis of Famine...

The Famine of Abraham and Sarah first brought them to Egypt, where Abraham gave his wife to Pharoah()

The Famine of Abraham and Sarah ()

Then Isaac faced a different famine where God specifically told him not to go to Egypt ()

Then their was the 7 year famine of Pharoah’s dream, where Joseph administered relief ()

The Famine of Isaac ()

The Famine of Joseph (Genesis 41)

So these three things repeatedly appear to threaten God’s Promise to Abraham, but today we are going to see in this final section of Genesis how God has providentially worked in the story of Joseph to reverse all three of these things in such a way that the promise is fulfilled and God is glorified.

We will begin in Genesis chapter 42 (p35) I’ll pray and then we will get started in the text together.

Truth

I really hate to just hit the high points on this section of scripture, because this part of Joseph’s life is story telling at it’s very best. If you like a good story, like I do, then let me encourage you to read through these chapters at home this week because it such a fun story, full of twists and turns and final reveals. We could easily camp out on this section of scritpure for several weeks, but this morning we are after the elements of this story that “Secure the promises of God” to his servant Abraham.

I really hate to just hit the high points on this section of scripture because this account of Joseph’s life is story telling at it’s best. In includes the twists and turns and final reveals that we would all hope for in any good story. Unfortunately we again are just going to look at it from a big picture perspective today, so let me encourage you to read through these chapters on your own this week - especially if you are still looking for reflections of Jesus in the Joseph story. There are so many more in this part of the story than we are going to have time to get to this morning.

Well when we left Joseph last week he was being put in charge of all the Kingdom of Egypt. God clearly revealed his Providential hand in Joseph’s life. It didn’t matter what situation he found himself in, He always rose up to become an overseer. As a house slave, he became the overseer of the entire house. As a prisoner, he began overseeing the entire prison and now as the dream interpreter, he is overseeing all of the Egypt Empire.

Well when we left Joseph last week he was being put in charge of all the Kingdom of Egypt. He was Providentially guided to a position of leadership and Oversight in every event in his life and it is certain that much of it prepared him for his position here as the second most powerful man in all the known world. So in the midst of this incredible high in Joseph’s life, the one thing he never imagined would happen came true because...

Then one day, in the middle of his daily responsibilities as overseer of famine relief in Egypt, God brought to pass the fulfillment of the promise he made to Joseph as a young dreamer. Proving...

As a He was Providentially guided to a position of leadership and Oversight in every event in his life and it is certain that much of it prepared him for his position here as the second most powerful man in all the known world. So in the midst of this incredible high in Joseph’s life, the one thing he never imagined would happen came true because...

God is faithful to fulfill his plan ()

God is faithful to his plan (Genesis 42:1-6)

Genesis 42:1–2 ESV

Genesis 42:1

Notice how serious Jacob is taking this famine. A Famine is not about having to eat popcorn without butter - it’s about starving to death. And Jacob is like, Stop staring at each other and go get us food from Egypt.

Genesis 42:3–4 ESV

3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.

Genesis 42:3-

Joseph’s only full brother, Benjamin is now the favored son of Jacob. Rachel was his favored wife, so her boys are his favored sons. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin, so you can imagine how attached and protective Jacob was over little “Benny”.

make the mistake of sending Benjamin out after his brothers like he did with Joseph.

Genesis 42:1–6 ESV

1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. 5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

Do you see the comparissons here to Joseph’s story? The 10 brothers were sent out to secure food for the family, but the favored brother was held back with Daddy. You can bet that this time, Jacob isn’t going to send out little Benny to check on his brothers like he did with Joseph.

Genesis 42:5–6 ESV

5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

Where have we seen that picture before? Something about sheaves and stars come to mind?

Joseph got to see how “God is faithful to fulfill His plan”, but at his point his brothers don’t see it. They can’t see it. Joseph has for all intensive purposes become an Egyptian. He is dressed as an Egyptian. Speaks as an Egyptian. Honored as an Egyptian Governor. The brothers are just doing what everyone else in the line in front of them did.

This places Joseph in quite the position doesn’t it? His brothers bow before him and he has the power to do to them far worse then they ever could have done to him. More than a pit or a passing caravan, Joseph had the resources of all of Egypt at his immediate disposal. So what does he do?

First, he tests them.

We are not going to get into all the details of it this morning, but basically he gets them to tell him everything about their family by accusing them of being spies. Then he tells them that they can have grain only if they bring their youngest brother to him. Joseph wants to know how his brothers feel about little Benny.

Do they hate Benjamin like they once did him?

These brothers then foolishly fall all over themselves to try and keep Benjamin from the hands of this man who they believe might harm him. There is so much more to the story, and I encourage you to read through it this week. It is so good, but I can’t start of we will be here all day…so.

After Joseph discovered how protective they were over Benjamin, he still had to deal with their grievances against him. It is here where we find that...

God is faithful to prompt forgiveness in His People ()

The brothers finally do have to bring Benjamin back to this man who they still believe is just an “Egyptian Governor” and when they once again prove to him how much they love Benjamin and how they would sacrifice their own lives to save his, Joseph can no longer control his emotions.

Genesis 45:1–3 ESV

1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

Genesis 45:

I am just picturing these guys with their mouths wide open. Remember this whole time this “Egyptian Govenor” has been speaking to them through an interpreter and now they hear their brother’s voice coming from this man! They couldn’t say anything, so Joseph just keeps talking...

God is faithful to prompt forgiveness in His People (Genesis 45:4-8)

Genesis 45:4–8 ESV

4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed 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 yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph stood in a position where he could have exacted rightful revenge on his brothers for their wickedness toward him. But he doesn’t. Instead of increasing the division between them, he draws them close and forgives them.

This is the happy ending part. Pharoah was happy to hear that the family of his blessed servant Joseph had come to his kingdom. He instructed Joseph to sent back wagons to pick up the rest of Jacob’s family. We might not think much of riding in a wagon but for people who are used to walking or riding donkeys, Pharoah’s wagon was like sending a limo to get Josephs family.

Then this curious thing happens, Joseph gives his brothers specific instructions on what to say when they meet Pharoah. This is more significant then we might think at first glance. Joseph said...

Genesis 46:31–34 ESV

31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

Genesis 46:33–34 ESV

33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

Genesis 46:31-

So the family line of Abraham was invited into stay in Egypt, but they were not invited to become a part of the Egyptian culture. They remained set apart. Some of you are catching where I am going with this, but I’ll come back to it, later.

What we clearly see though is that God is faithful to prompt forgiveness in His people, but sometimes His people have a hard time receiving the fullness of that forgiveness. Tell me there isn’t another sermon found right there!

I won’t spend that long on it, but after Jacob dies, the brothers of Joseph become worried that Joseph’s forgiveness was only temporary. Maybe Joseph has been harboring revenge toward us and will chose to take it out not that Dad is dead. So they lie to Joseph to try and force him to do something that God had already done in Joseph’s heart.

Genesis 50:15–21 ESV

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 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. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Of course we have had to reference this verse over the past couple of weeks because it brings us the hope in this story. That hope that

God is faithful to bring good from evil ()

Gospel Application

So let’s go back to our three seeming threats to God’s promise and see how God eliminated each one of them through this final installment in the story of Joseph:

Division in the Family Line: Joseph had the upper hand over his brothers and could have done whatever he wanted to pay them back for the evil that they had intended toward him - instead he drew them close and forgave them. Full and complete God honoring forgiveness.

Diluting the Family Line: This was the one I was eluding to with the Egyptian’s hatred of Shepherds. God used the Egyptians prejudice of Shepherds to preserve his family line. While they were in Canaan (and eventually when they return) they were always being drawn to Canaanite women, but no self respecting Egyptian would even consider giving their daughter to a Shepherd. Another example of God bringing good things, the preservation of his people, from bad things, the prejudices of the Egyptian people.

Death of the Family Line: Joseph clearly understood that he was “sent” by God ahead of the rest of his family to preserve both their lives and the lives of so many other people on earth. If Joseph had not wisely counselled Pharoah to build store houses and save up food for 7 years then most of the known world at the time would have died in the famine. Including much, if not all of Abraham’s family line.

Samuel Emadi says it like this:

The Joseph story is not just the last item in Genesis, but the resolution of the Genesis story. Genesis takes readers on a journey from fratricide to forgiveness, from famine to feast, and from promise to fulfillment. - Samuel Emadi TGC

The story of Joseph shows us God’s power to reverse the curse of sin and to “Override evil with good”.

How God’s Sovereign Providence secures his Promises.

Gospel Application

This was great news for God’s people in Joseph’s day, and it is great news for God’s people today. God’s Sovereign Providence is not limited to the story of Joseph. And God’s promises are not limited to the people in Joseph’s day either.

I have challenged you to discover connections between the story of Joseph and the story of Jesus over the past couple of weeks and this is probably the most important one. You see just as Joseph was sent by God to prepare a place for his brothers in Egypt, God has sent his son Jesus to prepare a place for us in a Kingdom much greater than Egypt.

John 14:1–3 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

John 14:1–4 ESV

Do you hear the fulfillment of the promise of Abraham in this verse?

When we believe in Jesus we become his children. We are now his family, his people. The adopted sons and daughters of God with all the rights of a prince in the Kingdom.

And that Kingdom is now our place. Our place is with Him. We get to experience the very presence of God. It is a return to the Garden of Eden, where everything that went wrong will be made right again. Where we will no longer experience hatred, jealousy, pain or separation but only the happiness, joy, blessing and fellowship that is natural to the presence of God.

God’s sovereign providence secured his promises to Abraham and his family in Joseph’s day, but it goes much further than Joseph. God has worked through the pain-filled circumstances of Jesus’ life to rescue us. Even thought we have rejected Jesus even worse than Joseph’s brothers, God has offered us forgiveness and restoration through the work of his son Jesus. That is how much he loves us. In his love he is always working for his glory and our good.

Landing

One final thought this morning. God sent his servant Joseph. God sent son Jesus. And Jesus sent his people, the Church. He has sent us. Now we have no power to bring anyone salvation, but we are to carry the message of Jesus’ salvation to our world. As I look at the three threats that we identified today, I can’t help but see them as just as much of a threat to the mission of the Church today.

How

As I look at the three seeming threats to the promises of God to Abraham I can’t help but see the Christian Church reflected in that.

Don’t we have divisions in our Churches that were caused by selfishness, jealousy, hatred and contempt?

Don’t we struggled in diluting, or crowding out the things of God with the pleasures of this world?

Don’t we sense at times that their is a spiritual deadness in our Churches, where we have got into some level of a rut and message of all that Jesus has rescued us from no longer causes us to rejoice as it once did?

God’s people today have the same hope that we have always shad. The hope that God’s Sovereign Providence secures his promises:

The divisions that are made among the poeple of God are shameful

The dilluting of the family GOd by inviting worldly ways into our lives

The “spiritual” death in the church sometimes makes it so hard to understand that this is a place for life!

1. God is faithful to fulfill his plan.

2. God is faithful to prompt forgiveness in his people

in his people

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3. God is faithful to bring good from evil

Let me invite the worship team forward this morning, and then pray into this for us.