A Faith Walk that Honors God
Genesis 46:1-27 English Standard Version (ESV)
46 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. 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.
8 Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, 9 and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.
19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all.
23 The son[a] of Dan: Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.
26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.
Praise the Lord New City Fellowship,
I am honored to have the ability to stand before you today. I bring you greetings as the youth minister from Greater Faith Baptist Church in Orangeburg where Pastor John Osborne is the pastor. I also want to say thank you again for your presence during our movie night earlier in the year. We appreciate how you modeled unity of the universal body of Christ and a Kingdom over a building/edifice mindset by loaning us your speakers. Our speakers went down in the middle of the presentation and JP ran out and I think drove to get the speakers. Returned to the church and we were able to continue because of your generosity. Thanks so much New City Fellowship for practicing what you preach.
I also want to appreciate your pastor John Paul or JP and his family, the Sibleys. I value your pastor as a friend and fellow co-laborer in the faith. He and this church are valued members in the body of Christ and this community. I pray that he and his family are able to get some much needed rest and that this would be a time of joy and restoration for them.
Before we begin this time of proclamation I want to seek God’s presence during this time.
(prayer)
So JP told me that yall have been studying Joseph. Such a timely message for this cultural moment.
And if I am not mistaken interacting with what it looks like to be reconciled. The five steps that you have discussed have been to…
Recognize the offense
Repent of wrongdoing
Receive forgiveness
Repair the damage
Restore the relationship
I got a chance to listen to the last few sermons and I saw that two weeks ago yall talked about what does it mean to truly restore broken relationships, what did restitution look like, especially in a messy situation.
Today as was just read you know that we will be focusing on Jacob reuniting with his son Joseph. He has just been told by his sons that his son Joseph that he thought was literally dead is actually alive. Not only is he alive but he is second in command in Egypt and the actual reason that they will be able to survive or have food at all.
I think that it’s also important to preface this text by saying that we will be talking about the namesake for God’s people Israel. Jacob is Israel and Israel is Jacob. In Genesis 32:28 when Jacob wrestled with God that was when God changed his name. In Victor Hamilton’s commentary on the last half of Genesis he says…
“one is led to conclude that the change of name from Jacob to Israel focuses on Jacob’s assertiveness, his ability to cling to his stronger assailant despite his injury, his insistent desire for his opponent’s blessing.”
After he was broken at the hip and still cried out to or sought to cling to God it was affirmed that “he struggled with God and man and succeeded”. I would infer that success wasn’t in terms of brawn or ability but rather the willingness to seek the favor of the Lord despite adversity is why the man known as Israel received a name change.
Don’t we know that God has given a new name to people today that are willing to acknowledge our brokenness before the Lord.
If we are willing to give up our trying and our attempts to wrestle with him, he gives us the new name of the redeemed, we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, no more do we put on the work of the flesh but we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We can have a new name if we are willing to acknowledge our brokenness in our ability to rescue ourselves and cling to and rest in Jesus’s work on our behalf.
New City have you ever been broken?
Have you ever come to your wit’s end? Have you ever been in despair because you feel like you can’t change you for the better?
When we come to that place and realize that only God can do the work for us that is where both the relationship to God and the spiritual growth in God can begin.
But back to the text, its important to remember that Jacob has two names. Some commentators have inferred that God calls him Jacob to denote the fact that he is resting in his flesh and Israel is when he is resting in his God appointed name and designation clinging to God’s power not his.
With this understanding we interact with this text. This text reveals for us many things but I will only focus on three points for the next few minutes.Those are...
1. The first step in following God’s will
2. What gives us the ability to transcend our fear and comfort when walking in faith
3. How Jacob’s journey demonstrates God’s transformative power
1. The first step in following God’s will
2. What gives us the ability to transcend our fear and comfort when walking in faith
3. How Jacob’s journey demonstrates God’s transformative power
And if I had to give a title for this text it would “A faith walk that honors God”
Let's pick up the text. Because I think context is key I want to start it at verse 25 of chapter 45
25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
46 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
Let’s not slide past what has just happened in this text.
Joseph's brothers just went and told their father that his son that he thought was dead for many years. Is not only alive, He is also the second in command in Egypt! And not only that his son is the reason that the entire world at the time is even able to survive a worldwide famine.
Can you imagine what that reality show would look like on TV.
We all see the broken relationship on TV with the “Iyanla Fix My Life” or the “Maury Povich or the Jerry Springer shows”.
New City brokenness and sin in family relationships is not new. Can you imagine the emotional pain and grief and agony that Jacob not only suffered but had to endure as a result of his son’s jealousy and lies. They hated their brother so much when he shared his dreams that they kidnapped him and faked his death.
These are the men that delivered the news. The very men that lied to their father the first time are now bringing a new message to the father.
So there are two layers, not only was their grief for the father. There is also the strain of the sons having to keep that lie for years.
Can you imagine? That’s like one of those family secrets everybody knows except the one person that it's being hidden from.
Secret sin can devastate both the person in which is being sinned against and the sinner. How many people know that lies and secret sin can do something to your soul.
King David even wrote a Psalm about in Psalm 32 when he reflected on his sin of abuse of power, adultery and ultimately murder. In Psalms 32:3 - 4 when no one else but him and God knew when he did he said.
When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer. Psalm 32:3-4
I know that is how the brothers had to have felt when they told their father Joseph was alive and well.
There had to have been a collective sigh of relief.
Some of us in this room may be dealing with some secret sins right now. Things that we may have done to a loved one years ago. Or you may be like Joseph or Jacob in this passage where someone did the sin to you.
One of the great things about having a vibrant church community is being able to walk in the light. I would encourage you to reach out to spiritual leaders within this church that you trust and walk in the light. That thing that makes your feel like your bones are wasting away. Confess and come clean within your church community and like Jacob displayed to his sons you may find forgiveness and not judgement.
So we find a father that forgives his sons. But we also see the doubt struggle of Jacob.
The scriptures say that when they said it initially he didn’t believe them.
You can’t tell me that the scriptures are not honest.
I infer he took it like what they were saying was too good to be true. Not only was his son alive but he was flourishing. No this can’t be!
The Bible shows us that Jacob didn’t believe his own sons.
But later in the story the scriptures show us that he started to grow in confidence. He heard what Joseph had said and he saw all of the wagons that Joseph sent. The bible says that it revived his spirit.
Now don’t miss it, it never says that in that moment he felt a deep gut sensation and all of his worries disappeared and all of his questions were answered. However,it says at the start of the passage that was enough for him to start his faith walk.
Let me just pause for a second and let you that sometimes you won’t know all the answers. God will open enough doors to show you that He is work and he is asking you to walk in faithfulness.
Hebrews 11:1 Says that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen”
Jacob is literally walkin in that faith when we meet him in verse 46.
He doesn’t know for sure but he is taking his sons at their word. Look at verse 1 again
46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
How much is all?
All is All! Everything that he had he brought with him. Now I’m not only highlighting the movement of the physical stuff. I want us to pay attention to priority.
Because even after not seeing it all I will walk in faith that says God is doing something remarkable. I’m going to walk in and towards that but I will not walk in my own power.
I am going to walk in worship. The scripture says that he went to Beersheba.
The Believer’s Bible Commentary by MacDonald shows us why this location is so important for Jacob…
“This was the place where God appeared to Abraham in connection with the offering of Isaac (21: 31— 22: 2). It was also the place where the Lord appeared to Isaac (26: 23, 24). Now He appears to Jacob to encourage him.”
God has appeared to both Abraham and Issac at this spot of worship. And what Israel does is he worships in spite of
In spite of his fears he worships
In spite of his lack of clarity he worships
In spite of not knowing it all he worships
He stands upon the character and reputation of God come what may! Because you see he doesn’t wait until he meets Joseph in order to worship. He worships on the strength of what he doesn’t yet see.
How many people know that sometimes you have to worship in the storm!
Sometimes you gotta worship when the outcome has not yet been decided!
Sometimes you gotta worship when that wayward teen is just teenagering!
Sometimes you gotta worship when that immature spouse is still growing up!
I’m a teacher and sometimes I have to worship before my students take the test!and not just after they get the results!
Sometimes you gotta worship in between jobs! You gotta worship before COVID 19 has cleared up! Sometimes you gotta worship on the way to the protest! We must worship even before the outcome has been decided.
For point number 1 The first step in following God’s will is that we must worship God in advance. See worship is the opposite of clinging to our own understanding. Worship is when we say not my will but Thine will shall be done! When we pray to the triune God we are worshipping. When we sing songs for God glory we are worshipping. When we go to work and cultivate in our various spheres of influence so that God’s name will be known and not ours we are worshipping. And like Jacob in this passage we worship in advance.
Let us follow Jacob’s model, and worship before the good stuff happens.
That is what faithful worship looks like before we are reunited with Josephs of our life. Before the celebration begins we must worship!
For point number two let's look at God’s response to that worship.
Let’s look back at verse 2 of chapter 46.
And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”
Not going to do a deep dive here but simply going to say. Do you know when it is God that is actually calling you name?
In this generation we are often pulled in every direction but do we say here am I to the call of the Lord?
Also notice that he does not call him Israel which is his God appointed name. He calls him Jacob. Now I’m not going to superimpose into the text. But I will ask the question could it have been that Jacob’s fears and anxiety were more reflective of the man that was clinging to his own ability than the one that clung to the power of the Lord.
Back to the text...
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. 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.”
I love how Dr. Tony Evans explains the significance of this command in his commentary on the Bible. He says
46:1-7 Even though Jacob would have been thrilled to travel to Egypt and see Joseph, there must have been a question in the back of his mind: What about the promised land? Would God bring his people back to Canaan if they left, en masse, for Egypt? Knowing Jacob’s anxieties, God appeared to Jacob in a vision to reassure him. The journey to Egypt would fulfill part of his promise, making Jacob into a great nation there (46:3). At the appointed time, God would bring them back (46:4). And in the meantime, God promised to be with Jacob for the journey (46:4). Armed with God’s presence and a renewal of God’s promise, Jacob was able to make the trek with hope.
See the contextual big issue with what Jacob’s sons told him was that he would need to leave the Promised Land to get to Egypt. Egypt was outside of the territory that had been designated to his forefather Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21.
So just think of the elderly Jacob, he has just been told that his son Joseph was actually alive, he was told this by the sons that had been keeping it a secret for years, he was an elderly man so he would have to travel (which is difficult at any age) and last but not least he would have to leave the Promise Land to reunite with his son. While yes even though he is walking without yet seeing the fulfillment of the promise, he is walking in faith. There still has to be the inner turmoil of, “really God? You really want me to do this? Is this coming from you or is it coming from my sons? Are they walking in light of what you told them or are they being tricked? I mean they may be like me in my youth; trickers walking by their flesh and not in the Lord?”
I would have to infer there were probably many questions curling around in Jacob’s head.
God knew what was going on in the heart of Jacob. He knew what he wrestled with.
God has a way of meeting us even with fears that we didn’t know that we had or never intended on expressing.
New City have you ever been there. Looking for direction?
You weren’t quite sure if God wanted you to move? You weren’t quite sure if God wanted you to take this job? You were not sure if God wanted you to take this risk?
God has a way of meeting us en route. While I don’t think God speaks to everyone in a dream vision. I do think that God provides open doors for His will to take form.
How would I define His Will. I think back on my own life...
I used to work for a non profit in Dallas called Champions of Hope. This non profit was cultivated by a Christian white woman named Carly Pickens now Roberson that saw the need in an inner city neighborhood that was predominantly African American. As you well know there are unique challenges to cross cultural ministry. God opened the doors for this woman and many others to cultivate a one to one mentoring program that lasted about 10 years. Not only were doors opened as far as gospel sharing opportunities. We saw long term discipleship. Not only that, the public school was so appreciative of the work they literally extended an office in the school. Because of many open doors a ministry that no one thought possible God used to make a difference in inner city Dallas.
But I don’t think God only works in the nonprofit sector. I think that God can be at work in business as well. I think of an Christian that is an African American woman named Mahisha Dellinger. Mahisha whose autobiography is called Against All Odds. Talks about how her faith in Jesus Christ propelled her to cultivate a hair care line of natural hair care products called Curls. I believe God opened the doors for her to go from mixing natural chemicals in her house to partnering with national retailers. She has also been asked to go on major platforms and she leverages it to talk about Jesus Christ and how he has powered her kingdom work.
But I don’t have to look at national models. Right now I am standing in New City Fellowship Church. This church is a testament to how good God is. With every new beginning of the church it is a result of God opening a door. With every life that God touches and uses to transform in the church it's a reason to celebrate God opening doors.
But in all cases the indicator light that God is at work in that faith movement is the presence of transformed lives.
In Matthew 28:19 and 20 shows us that as we go to make disciples, that God will be with us.
We just like Jacob, can walk in faith knowing that God will open doors as we are along our faith journey.
For point number two remember
What gives us the ability to transcend our fear and comfort when walking in faith...
Is that God shows up, opens doors and affirms our movement towards his will
What gives us the ability to transcend our fear and comfort when walking in faith...
Is that God shows up, opens doors and affirms our movement towards his will
We can rest in the promise of His presence meeting us on our faith journey.
When we are walking in the will of God. When we are doing kingdom work God does show up. Now that showing up may not look like what we think it will be. I’m pretty sure a week prior you could never have told Jacob he needed to leave Cannan in order to walk towards God’s will but that was God’s plan.
We worship before the journey but we also know that God will be present during the journey.
Last but not least let’s look at the rest of the text. I won’t repeat the full genealogy because it’s already been read. However I do want to highlight 5, 6 and 7.
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.
What’s interesting about this text?
I would say we are seeing a clear model of what transformation looks like. When you are walking in the presence and in the will of God there are elements of your life that will look brand new.
Who, was Jacob going in? If we remember correctly young Jacob was the man that was willing to lie to his father and sell out his brother for a birthright or for possessions. However, look at what God had done throughout the life of the man that is Elder Jacob. Elder Jacob is willing to uproot all of his possessions and the clout that accompanies his position in order pursue the relationship.
Boy don’t we need to hear that message that God and people are more important than property and position.
The first time I heard this insight from this text was from Bruce Walke. Walke is a faithful Bible teacher that broke down his commentary on the book of Genesis, as if the themes and major focal points of Genesis were structured like a cinematic work. He says…
“ A father and brothers once driven by the pursuit of property and money now love the brother above all these things and use the provisions and the gifts to serve that relationship. The scene ends with Jacob willing to go to Egypt in order to see Joseph before he dies, not in order to enrich and enjoy himself. ”
For my last and final point.
When we are living lives of worship that lead us to walk in his will there is a shift in our priorities and movement.
A shift in our priorities and movement.
Young Jacob was the trickster that manipulated people to get to his self centered goal.
Where the wiser Jacob, the one God called Israel, met with God before the outcome was decided and was willing to uproot self and stuff for God’s goal. He had a shift in priorities.
Lastly let’s not forget about Joseph. I know that Joseph is the focal point for our series. I would argue that for Jacob and all his sons, Joseph's roll was the picture of redemption and forgiveness.
Joseph was despised and rejected by his brothers. The brothers literally told the dad that he had died. Despite that rejection Joseph was the model for integrity. Joseph extended grace to his brothers. Can you imagine forgiveness after all that he had been through. But not just forgiveness Joseph had a type of grace that ushered in hospitality. He welcomed 70 people. Some of us can’t even move 70 seconds off of our calendar to welcome a stranger.
Joseph’s role in this text foreshadows another.
In the New Testament there is a more excellent Joseph. He too draws men and women from foreign lands to behold him and also send them to foreign lands on his behalf. He too was despised and rejected by men. He too had to live a life of integrity. But as good and a moral as Joseph was he was no match for this man. Joseph dare I say was a little petty. However, this man was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Most importantly for the people in this room to follow Him is to follow the will of God.
Some of you may have guessed who I am talking about that man’s name is Jesus Christ.
As the musicians come to the stage I want each of the people under the sound of my voice to search their hearts.
Are you more like the young Jacob trying to scrimp and claw to fix yourself. You know that something is just not right within you. You need deliverance, you need a savior.
I pray that like Jacob each of us can be broken. Let us cling to God. Let him change our names. Give up your trying, give up trusting in your sin or even your flesh or that created thing. Trust in Jesus Christ. Let us Pray
(Prayer of dismissal)