Everyday Faith - Genesis 47

©Copyright November 10, 2019 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

There is the old saying, "Bloom where you are planted" or a corollary: "You have to play with the cards you have been dealt." From a theological perspective we would say, God wants us to honor Him wherever we are.

Most of the time God calls us to serve Him in ordinary ways. We serve Him by living with integrity in the way we work. We honor Him by treating others with respect and dignity. We honor Him by leading our families in the way God has called us to go. These are important things, but they are not flashy things.

This morning we are going to look at how Joseph handled himself during the famine in Egypt and how God blessed Israel during that time. Then we will see the faithfulness of Jacob and Joseph as they talk about Jacob's funeral. I hope we will see from these accounts that true faith permeates of life. It is not something we do when we need to be faithful. Being faithful is the way we live ALL of our life. The first example of this is how Joseph handled the famine relief efforts.

Joseph's Success

In Genesis 47:13ff we read about Joseph's management of the famine. Lots of people read the things Joseph did and come down pretty hard on him. They feel he was taking advantage of people. Some won't even preach on this passage because of what they think is a disgusting display by a Patriarch. When the famine was over, the Pharaoh owned almost everything.

The people were starving so they paid for food.

When they ran out of money, they traded their animals for food

When they were out of animals, they sold their land and gave themselves as slaves for food.

On the surface, this sounds like a pretty heartless way to do business. But I think there are some facts that need to be added to the story. When we do so, I believe Joseph is actually showing great compassion to these people. Let me explain.

First, they were starving, and he sold them a year's worth of food. Without the generosity of Joseph, these people (and their families) would have died. Would you give all your money to protect your family? Would you give all the material things you had? These people were desperate. Joseph was their lifeline. He related to them with dignity and honor. He saved their lives.

Second, Joseph saved their animals. The animals were dying. Without food they could not survive. The choice was simple: sell your flocks to Joseph for food, and the animals live, or keep your animals and you all die.

I'm sure it was hard to give up your animals. They didn't have tractors and combines back then. Giving up your animals was like giving up your farming equipment. But what choice did they have? Joseph gave them a way to keep living and for the animals to continue to be cared for (without it being a burden to the household).

When the famine continued to drag on, they had nothing to trade for food other than their land. I have talked to enough people over the years to have a sense of just how difficult it is to sell family farmland. This land has often been in the family for generations. To have to sell off the land feels like a betrayal to your family history. It is like you are letting your family down. But sometimes, for various reasons, it must be done.

The only thing the Egyptians had left was their land. At this time, the only thing the land was good for was burying people since nothing would grow on it. Joseph took the land in trade for food, but he did not kick the people off of the land! He had them stay on the land and even paid for the seed to plant the crops (by this time Joseph knew the famine was nearing an end.)

Joseph worked out a deal. The people would work the land for Pharaoh and the King would get 20% of the income off the land. Do the math here: Pharaoh provides the land, the seed and I suspect Pharaoh also provided the animals needed to farm the land, and he got 20% in return. Let me ask you: if you could have most of your expenses covered and the only taxes you had to pay was a 20% tax to the King, would you take that deal??? I bet you would.

In verse 25 we read the people praised Joseph for saving their lives. They did not view his actions as that of an opportunist or gouging. They saw them as gracious acts. Joseph did a remarkable thing: he was faithful to the government and he was faithful to the people. It is the balance all of us would like our public officials to have.

There are some simple principles Joseph shows us in this description of his management of the famine and his care for his fellow citizens.

Joseph respected the dignity of each human being. He wanted them to have a sense of being able to provide for their own needs. He could have just given the people a handout, but they would have taken it for granted and most likely would have squandered what they were given. Joseph knew better than to create a sense of government dependency.

Joseph understood his obligation before God to help people. It is not something that should be legislated, but something that should be encouraged in a society. Like Joseph, we need to be willing to get involved.

Profit is not the goal in morality. Remember, Joseph was selling food for things that were virtually worthless at the time. He paid top dollar for things that were on their last legs. This does not make him foolish, it made him compassionate.

There are a great many hurting people in the world. There are homeless and hungry people in our own country. Around the world the problem is devastating. The challenge for us is to find ways to help without robbing people of their dignity or making the problem worse (by creating people who simply sit and wait for handouts). This is why we need to pray for those in leadership. They have a huge responsibility.

You and I will likely never be in a position where an entire country is dependent on us. However, we all have someone who looks to us to lead and guide them. It is our challenge to do with the wisdom and the faithfulness that we see in Jacob and Joseph. They both made their mistakes along the way. Some of them were BIG mistakes. However, they fought through those times and their character rose above those things.

Israel's Blessing

27Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly. 28Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all.

While the people of Egypt were selling everything they had to stay alive during the famine, Israel was prospering. Remember, Jacob and company came to Egypt during the famine. They did not have any land to sell. I think we can confidently assume Joseph continued to provide for his family. As a result, we can imagine Israel had opportunities to purchase land from the people.

God cared for His people in the midst of a hostile environment. God was able to prosper Israel even when others were not doing so well. And that is the "take-home" for you and me: even when times seem tough, even when the promise seems far away, God cares for, protects, and provides for His people.

Israel prospered largely because of the kindness of Pharaoh. Israel remained in that land for a few hundred years. However, though in the time of Jacob and Joseph Pharaoh showered blessing on Israel, the blessing of Israel made another Pharaoh nervous nearly 400 years later. He made Israel into slaves. This horrible development (like the slavery and imprisonment of Joseph) was designed by God (I believe) to loosen Israel's desire to simply maintain the status quo (keep doing what they had been doing), and follow the lead of Moses back to the land the Lord promised to Abraham . . . what later became the land of Israel.

Even when it feels like God is not providing for us, He is. He may be allowing hard times in our lives,

to wean our hearts away from the material focus of this world

to give us the chance to testify to our faith in unlikely places

to prepare us for a ministry for which we are currently not prepared

to get us to draw more closely to Him

God is ALWAYS faithful to His Word and always cares for His people.

Joseph's Promise

There is one more picture in this chapter. It is a conversation between Jacob and his son Joseph. Jacob is serving the Lord even as he contemplates his death.

29As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. 30When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”

So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”

31“Swear that you will do it,” Jacob insisted. So Joseph gave his oath, and Jacob bowed humbly at the head of his bed.

There is quite a discussion over what the phrase "put your hand under my thigh and swear" means. There are different explanations, but they seem to point to the fact that this was a serious promise that involved the future of the people. Perhaps it would be the equivalent of a legal document or a signed contract. This is more binding than a handshake.

You may not see this at first. Jacob knew Egypt would never be the home of his family. God had promised Abraham the land of Canaan. Someday, God was going to fulfill that promise and Jacob didn't want to miss it.

Abraham had purchased a plot of land on which he could bury his wife, Sarah. This was the first piece of land Abraham owned in the land God promised to give him. It was an act of faith. Jacob is doing much the same. He wants to be buried in the Promised Land even though it would be almost 500 years before Israel would finally possess the land. We show our belief by holding on to the promise of God even as we age and stare eternity in the eye,

Jacob did one more thing. We are told, " Jacob bowed humbly at the head of his bed." Most likely this was an act of worship. Jacob knew he was nearing the end of his life and he is not panicked; he worships. He has entrusted his future to the Lord and now he bows before Him humbly.

Like Jacob, we know this world is not our home. We need to remind ourselves of this fact again and again. The moment we die, we step into the presence of the Lord who has loved us and redeemed us. Bart Millard is right, "We can only imagine" what all that future holds. But like Jacob, we should be making plans now for that day that will come someday in the future when we will finally make it to the Promised Land.

These men put the Lord first in their life. They grew in their relationship with God. They remembered who they were ultimately serving through all the hills and valleys of life. The heritage they left behind was one of godliness and faithfulness. May God help us to do the same.

APPLICATIONS

There is much to learn from this passage and from both Joseph and Jacob. We are reminded first, God takes care of His people. The apostle Paul proclaimed, "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." (Philippian 4:19)

Jesus promised us that even though we would have trouble in the world, we have this assurance: He has overcome the world. This we know: He will never leave us or forsake us. And just like the disciples learned late at night in a storm . . . when you are with Jesus, the storms can never ultimately defeat you. You can be knocked down, you can be sold into slavery, you can suffer heart-wrenching losses, but as long as we stay close to Him, we will be taken care of. He will not desert us, even when it feels like He has.

Second, we learn from Joseph the importance of living faithfully in whatever God gives you to do. Not everyone is called to serve publicly. Not everyone is seen as a success. In fact, I believe the greatest faith is shown by those who serve faithfully in the shadows. They do not serve for applause; they serve only to honor the Lord.

Joseph treated people with dignity even in the midst of a crisis. He did not merely give handouts to people . . . making them dependent and lazy. Instead he helped the people provide for their own needs. And in the end, he was faithful to his boss (Pharaoh), the people of Egypt, and to the Lord.

The Bible tells us God has given us various gifts and responsibilities "just as He determined." He has a role for each of us to play. We will not be judged by our "likes" on Facebook, our reviews in the media, our press clippings, or any of these things by which we so often evaluate our lives. God will evaluate us with a simple standard: "Did you do what I asked you to do in a way that honored me?"

That is everything! This is what He asks of you and me. We do not see the big picture. We do not know how He is using us . . . we don't have to! We are called to trust that He has placed us where we are for a reason. That is all we need to know. Our job is to do our job.

How can you serve Him where you are? What opportunities are before you right now? Are you looking for some grand place to serve and are missing the simple places to serve? The Bible tells us that we must be faithful in the little things before we will move on to the big things.

Finally, Jacob reminds us to keep our eyes facing forward. We must remind ourselves daily that this world is not our home. We are aliens and strangers in a foreign and hostile world. If we forget this, we will start to adopt the values of the world around us. We will compromise God's holiness to gain the applause of the crowd, or to gain more comfort in our lives.

We must live every day knowing this could be the last day of our life. And . . . we should be OK with that. As we grow closer to Jesus, our appetite for Heaven should be growing. It should be the prize we work for, the destination we dream of. Our yearning for Heaven should be greater than our anticipation of a vacation. The vacation is short. Heaven is forever. Day by day we need to be moving toward that time when we believe in our head and in our heart that Heaven is not so much a concept to be grasped, as it is a destination to be pursued. I believe the reason our bodies decay as they do is to increase our appetite for the renewal and new life of Heaven. The decay weans us from this world and helps us long for what is ahead.

Hopefully, the more we come to yearn for Heaven, the more we will appreciate the grace that makes it all possible. And this will lead to a more genuine and deep worship. It will also lead to a purer focus in the way we live every day of our lives. We will understand that every day is truly a gift from God. This realization should also lead to a more enthusiastic witness. In a world filled with despair and loneliness, we have a message of forgiveness, hope, and a transforming love to share with the world. The more overwhelmed we are by God’s grace the more eager we will be to announce that grace to others.

Genesis 47 is not a flashy passage. You won’t underline many of the verses. It is easy to pass it by as insignificant. However, I hope you have seen that with a closer look. This passage reminds us that the life of faith is not so much what we do in extraordinary circumstances; it is the way we live day in and day out. That is a message that bears repeating over and over.