When Faith Becomes Sight
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
The Hebrews writer starts off , the chapter that we often call the faith hall of fame with these words.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
1 Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.
then proceeds to tell us of the great faith that those such as the patriarchs had in the promises of God, and that their faith involved of course, taking action and obeying the commandments of God to “Go” to “prepare” to “offer up” sacrifices all by faith, believing in things not seen, yet by faith doing them anyway.
As we’ve journeyed through Genesis we’ve seen this great faith in action.
And we will continue today as we look at what is perhaps one of the smallest chapters that we’ve covered so far by the time we set aside the genealogy of the families of Jacob, chapter 46.
Recap 45
Recap 45
Before we begin in chapter 46 though we need to remember where chapter 45 left off.
You’ll recall that Joseph, at long last, after testing his brothers and finally getting them all to Egypt has finally broke down and told them his true identity, and he then insisted that they go and get Jacob and bring him and their entire families down to Egypt where they could have provisions for the remaining 5 years of famine and not waste away from hunger in the land of Canaan.
And he sends them back to Jacob with ten donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provisions for the journey including wagons to put all of their people in and when they arrive in Canaan and tell Jacob that Joseph is alive, Jacob just goes numb and cannot believe it. After over 20 years of believing that Joseph was dead, he is now told that he is alive.
But he eventually comes around after seeing all that has been sent along with him, and after his sons tell him that Joseph has asked for him to come to him he says , “it is enough, Joseph my son is still alive, I will go see him before I die.”
And so Jacob once again is displaying faith is he not? Yet his faith here is not in God, but it is in the word of his sons, which if we are honest they haven’t exactly been a trustworthy source have they? I mean he now knows that they lied to him about Joseph for more than 20 years, but nonetheless, his hope in what they have said drives his faith even though he has not seen Joseph as of yet.
And that brings us to chapter 46. Gen chapter 46 is in many ways a story of fulfilled hope. A story regarding an instance where a man who walked by faith not by sight was actually able to have a certain faith fulfilled during his lifetime.
So let’s dive into chapter 46 and discover what happens with faith becomes sight.
The Journey 1-3
The Journey 1-3
1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 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.
Gen 46:1-
Makes his way from Hebron in Canaan to the southwest toward Egypt and stops kind of in the last hospitable place before crossing over into the desert in Beersheba, a place that has great significance to the family.
Abraham had lived at Beersheba, Isaac built an alter and Beersheba, Isaac grew up in Beersheba.
So when he comes to this altar, likely the one built by his father to God when God spoke to Isaac there. He starts the journey off right by offering sacrifices to God.
The Sacrifice v 1.
Sins
For his sons, for him,
Why had God not revealed this information to him? Was God mad at Jacob? Was Jacob mad at God? I think sometimes we believe that God was just speaking to the patriarchs all day every day, well I don’t think that was the case.
Favor
Direction
FEAR!
Abraham’s trip to Egypt during the famine did not go so well. - ch 12
Isaac perhaps thought of going to Egypt yet was told firmly by God not to in ch 26
There’s a family history of warnings that had likely been passed down to Jacob, “Hey stay out of Egypt!”
So
Favor
4 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.”
Gen 46
Your descendents are not going to stay there, they will return to this land that I’ve promised.
But as for you, you will be with your son Joseph as you pass from this life.
The Promise 4-7
The Promise 4-7
Assurance that God is with Jacob, and that the promise to make him a great nation as was promised to Abraham in :2 is still going to happen, and it’s going to happen in Egypt.
4 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.” 5 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. 6 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, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.
4 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.”
This is the last recorded affirmation of the promise of God to the Patriarchs for another 400 years. We do not have recorded for us another interaction between God and man until the Moses account in Exodus.
Gen 46:4-
Your descendents are not going to stay there, they will return to this land that I’ve promised.
But as for you, you will be with your son Joseph as you pass from this life.
The Descendants
The Descendants
From 70 to over 2 million in 430 years.
The Arrival 28-34 (Stop at 30)
The Arrival 28-34 (Stop at 30)
28 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 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.”
Gen 46:
We Learn
Those who walk by faith seek God’s council.
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
They Trust in Him Fully (DO NOT FEAR!)
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
3. Eventually, faith will become sight!
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.