The Plan and Hope

Geoff Box

Pentateuch Genesis • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Acts 4:23–31

Genesis 50:15–26

Sovereignty

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Joseph's story points to Christ and shows God's sovereignty

Notes

Transcript

Acts 4:23–31 ESV

23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Prayer

Introduction

This morning, we will be finishing up our survey of the book of Genesis. Genesis is a long book. 50 chapters, in fact, so obviously we have not considered every detail, but that was not our goal to begin with. My hope was that we would be able to discern the major themes present in Genesis which lay the foundation for our understanding of God, and salvation, and the rest of Scripture. Next week, we will move on to Exodus as we continue our study of the first 5 books of the Bible – the Pentateuch. But that is next week, so we will worry about that then.

Scripture

Our passage this morning is . If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word. We do this to show appreciation to God for His Word, and in recognition that these are among the most important words we can hope to hear today. says,

Genesis 50:15–26 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. 22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. 24 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.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

“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.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘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. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 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. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. 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.” So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”

Thank you, you may be seated.

Sermon

What we just read is the very end of the book of Genesis. It closes out the story of Joseph, but I want to take a minute and recap the story of Joseph, so that we can see what led up to the close of the book of Genesis.

Joseph’s story is very well known. It is a popular topic from children’s Bibles to sermon series, and there is good reason for that. The story of Joseph is fascinating and has many twists and turns.

We should start Joseph’s story with who Joseph is. Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son, born by Rachel who was Jacob’s favorite wife. Born in Jacob’s old age, Joseph found himself the recipient of Jacob’s favor. We are told in that:

Genesis 37:3–4 ESV

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.”

To avoid any confusion, at this point, God had changed Jacobs name to Israel, so whichever name I happen to use, it is the same person.

We also know that Joseph was more honorable than his brothers, as we are told that Joseph had brought a bad report to their father about his brothers. As the verse just told us, Jacob showed his preference by giving Joseph a coat of many colors – this would have been an expensive item which would have been time consuming to make. This favoritism only served to make Joseph’s brothers hate him more.

As the story progresses, Joseph begins to have dreams which basically suggest that his brothers and parents will bow down before him at some point. Naturally, this does not sit well with his brothers, and their jealousy and hatred grow.

Later, Joseph is sent to check on his brothers who are out tending Jacob’s flock. They see him coming from a distance and decide that they are going to murder him – premeditated murder. And you think your family dynamics are difficult! Well, the oldest brother, Reuben saves Joseph’s skin by convincing the others to only throw him in a pit. Reuben’s intent was to return and rescue Joseph, but that’s not what happened.

Before Reuben could retrieve Joseph, a band of slavers happened along the way, so the brothers decided to sell Joseph to them and the slavers carried Joseph to Egypt. Reuben was distraught when he went to rescue Joseph, only to find he was gone. The brothers sought to hide their sin by dipping Joseph’s coat in animal blood and showing it to their father. Jacob was heartbroken at the death of his son.

Of course, we know that Joseph was not dead. Instead he had been sold to Potiphar, who was an important official in Egypt – the captain of the guard of Pharaoh. As a slave of Potiphar, the Lord blessed everything Joseph did, and over time, Potiphar promoted Joseph such that Joseph became the overseer of all of Potiphar’s house and the Lord blessed Potiphar on behalf of Joseph.

Eventually Potiphar’s wife takes a liking to Joseph and attempted to seduce Joseph. Day after day, Joseph refused to sin in that way until finally, she grabbed him by the cloak and tried to force him. Joseph, righteously fled, but his cloak remained. Potiphar’s wife lied about the situation claiming that Joseph had attempted to sleep with her – having his cloak as “proof”. So, Potiphar threw Joseph into the king’s prison.

God’s love and care did not leave Joseph. God did not forget about Joseph. He again found favor with his superior and was placed in charge of all the prisoners by the keeper of the prison, and God continued to bless everything Joseph did.

About that time, two of Pharaoh’s officials – the cupbearer and the baker – found themselves in Pharaoh’s displeasure and landed in the same prison. Both of them had dreams, and Joseph, recognizing that all wisdom, knowledge, and interpretation belongs to God, interpreted the dream.

To the cupbearer, the interpretation was positive, that the cupbearer would be restored to his place of honor in three days. Joseph asked that when that happened, that the cupbearer would remember Joseph and ask the Pharaoh to get him out of there.

The baker’s dream and interpretation was less positive. According to Joseph, the baker would be killed by Pharaoh in three days. Those three days passed, and it all came to pass as Joseph had said. And of course the cupbearer to Pharaoh remembered Joseph and he was let out of prison and they all lived happily ever after! No, that’s not correct. The cupbearer did not remember Joseph, at least not for a while.

Joseph languished in prison for another two years before Pharaoh himself had a pair of dreams. None of Pharaoh’s magicians or wise men could interpret the dreams for him. Finally the cupbearer remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh of him. Joseph was brought before Pharaoh and asked if he could interpret the dreams, and Joseph again pointed out that it was not within himself to interpret, but a God given ability. The Pharaoh told Joseph the dreams, Joseph interpreted them – telling Pharaoh that there would be seven years of plenty in the land followed by seven years of famine.

Joseph went on to suggest that Pharaoh should appoint a wise person to oversee the collection and storage of 1/5th of the harvest during the plentiful years to supply Egypt during the famine years. Pharaoh liked the idea and placed Joseph in charge. Joseph was raised to be second in command – below only Pharaoh himself. All the people were required to bow their knee to Joseph.

When the famine hit, Joseph sold the grain to the people, and ultimately the people in other lands came to Egypt to buy food because the famine was so bad everywhere. Many would have died had there not been substantial food saved up – some of which would have been Joseph’s own family. Eventually Jacob sends Joseph’s 10 older brothers to Egypt to buy grain where Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him.

Joseph tests his brothers a couple of times and they go back and forth to Egypt a couple times – we don’t have time to dive into the nuts and bolts of that whole chain of events, but eventually Joseph makes himself known to his brothers and brings them and his father to Egypt and provides for them – giving them the land of Goshen in Egypt.

Now I want to take a break telling the story of Joseph, although we will pick it back up in a moment. I want to take just a minute and see how the story of Joseph points to Christ. After his resurrection, Jesus met two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus, and in , we are told that Jesus,

Luke 24:27 ESV

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

My point here is that all of the Old Testament – starting in Moses (the Pentateuch) points to Jesus. Sometimes in direct prophecies, but sometimes through types and shadows. The story of Joseph is one such type – of which Christ is the antitype. Or another way to say that, is that the story of Joseph is the shadow, and Jesus is the greater reality which casts that shadow. Keep in mind that with these types and shadows, the correlations are never 1:1. They are never perfectly exact, but they are meant to help us see Christ in the Old Testament.

So, let’s quickly look at some of the parallels. Joseph is the beloved son of his father – Jesus is the beloved son of His father – Jesus also happens to be the one and only Son, but again, the parallels are not going to be exact all the time.

Joseph was a man of wisdom, able to interpret dreams – a prophet of sorts. Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom, who knows what is in the hearts of man and is our great Prophet who reveals the Father to us perfectly.

Joseph was tempted to sin, yet remained pure. Jesus defeated all His temptations, and ultimately defeated sin itself. Joseph was despised by his brothers and rejected by them. Jesus was despised and rejected by Israel – His own did not receive Him. While Joseph did not actually die, he figuratively was killed, and was as good as dead in his father’s eyes when Jacob saw the bloodied coat of many colors. Jesus was killed and buried.

Joseph was taken out from the pit, given a new glorious appearance and placed at the right hand of Pharaoh, and everyone had to bend the knee to him. Jesus was raised from the grave, in His glorified body and now is seated at the right hand of God and every knee will bow and tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. – Now we don’t want to read too much into this parallel, because Jesus is absolutely unique as well. Jesus is God made flesh, and was perfect and sinless, and rightfully owns the throne of God, so we should be aware of that, but also not let that diminish the awesome parallel between Joseph and Jesus.

Joseph feeds everyone who comes to him hungry. Jesus is the bread of life. The parallels, I think are clear. Again, we don’t want to read too much into them, but I think they are helpful in putting things into perspective because parallels like that, do not just happen. They aren’t random. God is and was sovereignly bringing all of this about. It was all according to God’s plan from the beginning.

I want to look at real quickly. It says,

Genesis 15:13–16 ESV

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

This was before the birth of Isaac. God told Abraham that his offspring would be slaves for 400 years before Joseph’s grandfather, Isaac, was even born. That is to say, Joseph landing in Egypt and bringing his family there was no mere coincidence. It was according to the sovereign wisdom and plan of God.

Joseph himself, recognizes that everything that happened to him was ultimately God’s doing. We see this at the very end of – in the passage we read together. The brothers are afraid that Joseph is going to get vengeance now that Jacob is dead, but Joseph says,

Genesis 50:19–20 ESV

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.

“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.”

That is to say, in the same way which the brothers premeditated, intended and brought about evil against Joseph, in that very same act, God premeditated, intended and brought about good. Were Joseph’s brothers culpable and guilty for what they did? Absolutely! Was God sovereignly bringing it to pass to keep many people alive? Absolutely!

Joseph trusted God to accomplish His will. That’s why we see Joseph tell his sons to take his bones to the Promised Land when they go. God’s plan fueled Joseph’s hope because Joseph knew nothing could thwart God’s will – not even the sinful actions of Joseph’s brothers. In fact, it was their sinful acts which served to accomplish God’s will.

And there is another parallel between Joseph and Jesus, that I don’t want us to miss. Jesus was killed according to the will of God. Our Scripture reading this morning was from which says,

Acts 4:27–30 ESV

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Acts 4:27–30 ESV

What’s happening in that passage is that Peter and John had been arrested, beaten, and threatened not to do anything in the name of Christ anymore, so they have gathered to pray – ultimately for boldness. But in the Apostles’ prayer, they recognize that everything that had occurred, had happened according to God’s predetermined plan. Were Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles and the Jews guilty for their murder of the perfect Son of God who had never done any wrong? Absolutely! Was it all according to God’s sovereign, perfect, unbreakable plan to keep many people alive? Absolutely!

The Apostles knew that nothing could thwart God’s will – not even the machinations of mighty Rome. In fact, God used the sinful acts of men to accomplish His will, and that fueled the Apostle’s boldness.

That is a major theme of the book of Genesis. God is sovereign. God accomplishes His will. God does whatever He pleases with His creation for His glory. From the beginning of Genesis where God commands the universe into existence, to the very end where Joseph recognizes God’s good purposes even in terrible circumstances. This truth is foundational to the rest of our understanding of Scripture. It is why Paul can proclaim that “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Paul can only declare that if God’s purposes are unassailable. And so, the hope that Joseph had - that God would call the people out of Egypt one day – was a hope based on God’s perfect, unstoppable plan. And the Apostle’s prayer for boldness was based on the fact that Jesus had promised to be with them to the end of the age, and nothing in this world, nothing below nor above can thwart God’s will. So, where does our hope rest? What fuels our hope? The very nature of the God we serve. His plan for us, for you – whether hard or easy – is always good and always will be accomplished.

Conclusion

In a moment, we will transition to a time of worship through response. We believe that any time a person hears the Word of God, they respond in one of two ways. Either in rebellion or in worship. During that time, I will be on the front row worshipping with you, so if you need to talk to someone, or need someone to pray with, feel free to come talk to me, I’d be delighted to help in any way I can. During the time of response, the front will be opened as well if you’d like to pray up here. There are just a couple quick things I want to mention first.

If you are here and you are not trusting in Christ today, you should be. Much like Joseph was restored to relationship and forgave His brothers who had sinned against him, Jesus stands ready to forgive you. To be clear, you have sinned against God, that’s not really up for debate, but if you will humbly repent – turn away from your sin – and trust Jesus, you will be saved. You will be restored, spiritually fed, and one day, you will inherit a wonderful land. So, repent and believe today.

If you are already a believer, I hope that you leave this morning encouraged, strengthened, emboldened, and courageous. There are few truths which strengthen the resolve of Christ followers more than the fact that God is seated on His throne and does everything according to His will. There is great hope, peace and comfort there – especially when we have figuratively been thrown in a pit by our brothers, falsely accused of sin, and have been beaten for the cause of Christ. Brothers and sisters, God has a wonderful plan for your life, and it is good, but it is not necessarily easy. But it is good, and God’s plan (and definite ability to accomplish His plan) fuels our hope.