(I want to listen to this sermon)

Faith Shines On

The first readers of the Book of Genesis were the Israelites massing upon the borders of the Promised Land waiting to go in and take possession of the land which had been promised to their ancestors centuries earlier by the LORD God Almighty.

Moses is about to bring his first Book to a conclusion that leaves a clear explanation as to just how the people he had led out of Egypt had got to be where they were. He will conclude this Book of beginnings by describing the people's presence in Egypt. But before he can finally sign off he has a few loose ends that he wants to tie up.

This last chapter of Genesis can be conveniently broken down into three sections. We will look at each in turn.

The opening verses of the chapter are given over to a fairly detailed description of Jacob's funeral arrangements.

Now why was the death and burial of this man Jacob such an important event? After all he was already an old man when he arrived as a refugee in Egypt and we don't learn that he did anything significant during the last 17 of his life lived out in that country!

And yet Jacob was treated with great honour not only by the members of his own family – we would have no problem with that – but also he was treated with the very highest of honours by the Egyptians. Why was this so?

Well I can think of two different reasons:

a.     Later on in the Bible we read of a general truth:

Ps 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

Jacob had figured prominently in the earlier chapters of the Book of Genesis but in the later chapters the focus had shifted away from him to his son Joseph and indeed we do not possess much information concerning Jacob prior to the very end of his life. We might be tempted to think that he was past it, one of yesterday's men, important in his day but that day was over long ago. But God does not forget or overlook His own. And so Jacob is honoured greatly in death and we are given a little insight into our Lord's concern for His own.

b.     Jacob is given such honour on account of his son Joseph. I suggest that the Egyptians at this time held Joseph in very high regard and that this was demonstrated in the generous way in which they showed respect to his dead father. Joseph had after all been responsible for wise and good governance that had enriched Pharaoh while saving countless lives during a time of extended famine. We have perhaps a small hint of this in v.4.

Of the events surrounding the death and burial Moses picks out a number to which he wishes to draw his readers' attention.

Firstly, he shows the personal grief and sadness of his closest son Joseph. All of the necessary arrangements are undertaken and supervised by Joseph as the head of the household and as the important man that he was in Egypt.

Secondly, Jacob's body is embalmed. A lengthy process of 40 days prepared Jacob's body for the transportation to the land of Canaan. Such embalming was an expensive business and was usually performed by Egyptians priests in conformity with their religious beliefs. We're specifically told that Joseph did not appoint priests but physicians to embalm his father – is Moses telling us this so that we might understand that no religious compromise was involved?

Thirdly, we're informed that the Egyptians mourned for 70 days. This is a remarkable thing as the maximum time for mourning for a Pharaoh who died was only two days longer – Jacob, and through him Joseph, is here being accorded a very great honour!

Fourthly, Joseph as a mourner should not directly approach Pharaoh himself and instead sends others to speak for him to the leader of Egypt. Notice how he solicits the help of others in v.4 "If now I have found favour in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh…"

Fifthly, Joseph's requests are presented to Pharaoh who readily agrees. Jacob had commanded his sons to bury him in Canaan – he knew that the long-term future of his people was in the land promised to his forefathers and to himself and not in Egypt.

It would appear that Joseph has taken care to allay suspicions that he might try to use the occasion to leave Egypt for good by promising to return. The fact that the children and flocks are left behind in Egypt would be further proof of his intention to return. Indeed the presence of so many high ranking Egyptian officials accompanying him to bury his father, not to mention the presence of chariots and horsemen, would make a return to Egypt certain.

Joseph was an important man still to Egypt and although he too was to look to the future of his people in Canaan rather than in Egypt he was nevertheless ready to serve where God had placed him.

The NT contains an affirmation that might well be applied to Joseph's life at this point – this is what it says:

1Ti 6:6 "godliness with contentment is great gain"

Having done all that Jacob his father had commanded Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt and the stage is set for the next scene to unfold.

For some 17 years there has been no apparent tension between Joseph and his brothers but the brothers still seem to feel a real sense of guilt for the way in which they had treated Joseph all those years before.

Now they think that without their father being around to restrain him Joseph will surely seek an opportunity for getting even with them!

How sad this all is. The brothers have never really dealt in a final way with their guilt – there is no record of them owning up or of their asking for forgiveness! Perhaps they thought their guilt was so great that it couldn't genuinely even be forgiven!

The Egyptians had a very high esteem for Joseph but his brothers now reveal that they are measuring him by their own poor standards! And what a picture this is of the way Jesus Himself would later be treated!

Wasn't it Jesus who declared that "A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household"? Mk.6:4. And we read in John's gospel that "He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." Jn.1:11.

There is surely a warning for us here: the brothers had lived in apparent peace and harmony under Joseph's protection for 17 years but in their heart of hearts they were not yet reconciled to him.

My friends, do be careful that you are not living that kind of relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ! How tragic to enjoy many of the benefits that He makes available to His people while remaining effectively estranged from Him.

Our human heart can easily deceive us and we can demonstrate the same sort of attitude when we entertain unworthy thoughts about our great God. For example, it is not uncommon for some to think of God as some kind of hard task master (just like the third servant in the Parable of the Talents) who is just itching to come down on us like a ton of bricks for the slightest reason. Such thinking is so unworthy of our God who has demonstrated such wonderful love and grace towards us time and time again!

So the brothers come up with a scheme – Joseph had sent messengers to speak on his behalf to Pharaoh, respecting the customs of the day; Joseph's brothers are now too fearful to come to Joseph themselves and they too send a message. How hurtful this message was as it cast aspersions upon Joseph's kindness towards them! Do our attitudes and behaviour cause similar pain to our Lord when we fail to accept Him at His word?

Joseph is pained – he weeps as he receives the message. The brothers finally present themselves before him once more falling down in front of him as in those dreams he had received all those years before.

Then Joseph speaks and his words express truths that we too must hear.

His brothers' actions in the past had been wrong – their intentions had been evil and this must not be covered up. But there was another actor on the scene and His involvement is of the greatest significance and importance – that actor was God Himself.

We must be prepared to face up to our own failures and wrong doing and be prepared for spades to be called spades however uncomfortable that might be. The Bible's word for the particular spade in question is sin. Have you recognised your sin and your responsibility for it? Joseph doesn't pretend that his brothers' actions were other than they were and we must in the presence of God admit our responsibility and our guilt before Him – playing make believe is no way to advance with God!

Nevertheless Joseph had a firm conviction that God had been involved all along in the details of his life. God was sovereign for Joseph and that sovereignty expressed itself not merely in the nice things that happened to him but also in the difficult and hard experiences that came his way too!

Joseph could be free from hatred and animosity towards those who had so cruelly wronged him because God was active in his life! Yes, his brothers had tried to do him harm and they shouldn't have done so but God had been at work furthering a wiser deeper plan that would work out for the benefit of so many more!

When things seem to go wrong in your life do you trust in your limited understanding and appreciation of those events or do you maintain your trust in the Sovereign LORD of the Universe? I know which is the better way and I believe you do too. May God grant us the grace we need to follow Joseph's example at this point!

Moses has nearly done and he covers the remaining 60 odd years of Joseph's life very quickly. The closing years of Joseph's life continue to be years of great blessing. Joseph lives to see not just his grand children but his grand childrens' grand children!

We're also told that Joseph lived to be 110 years old and we shouldn't be fooled thinking he's not lived as long as some of his ancestors – in Egypt this age was considered to be the ideal age!

But perhaps the most encouraging thing for us to read is that at then end of this life of blessing Joseph's faith was still shining brightly! For some sufferings and trials lead to a loss of faith whereas for others riches and success have the same effect. Jesus told us of this in the Parable of the Sower but we also have the prayer of the writer of the Book of Proverbs:

Prov.30:8 "give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

Joseph in his life had known hard experiences but had maintained his faith and trust in the LORD God. His later years had been full of the success – the very things that succeed in turning the heads of so many namely wealth and power. And there too he maintained his faith in the LORD God. And this faith while being a personal faith was not kept hidden away in secret as though "we do not do God" was the public policy. Right at the very end of his life we find Joseph declaring his complete confidence in the LORD's faithfulness. The God who has made wonderful promises to His people will accomplish every last word of what He has said!

So as Joseph prepares to die in declaring his confidence he is urging his family to maintain their faith too. He does not prevaricate with ifs and maybes but declares clearly that the LORD will one day visit His people in Egypt and take them up from their and take them to the Promised Land. Joseph too is convinced that the future of God's people is not Egypt but Canaan. As his father Jacob some 60 years earlier Joseph now in his turn speaks of the time when his bones will leave Egypt.

And so Moses brings the Book of Genesis to a close. The journey of the people continues however. Moses has explained to the people of his own day just how the nation had come to be in Egypt and right from the beginning there, the hope that shone brightly in father Jacob and son Joseph was of an exodus to come! The people of God in Moses day standing on the verge of entering into the Promised Land were doing so because of the faithfulness of God to His promises – there were and there are no accidents in the plan and purposes of God.

A subsequent and greater exodus has since taken place! Our Lord Jesus spoke of His approaching sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension in terms of His own exodus. And it all took place as God had said. As Moses led the people out of slavery in Egypt towards Canaan so Christ leads His people out of the bondage of sin and on towards that Heavenly country. We are the church in the wilderness on the way to the land of promise.

Glory be to Almighty God!