Forest Park Church Sermons

After Jacob's death, the brothers feared Joseph would enact vengeance due to the suffering they had caused him. In humility, the brothers pleaded for forgiveness, and Joseph, in compassion, extended forgiveness and promised to provide for them and their children. From this passage, we learn about the characteristics of seeking and extending forgiveness and see how this story ultimately points us towards Jesus Christ.

Jacob’s final request was to be buried in the ancestral burial plot of Machpelah, in Canaan. This request is honored, despite the great inconvenience and traveling required to fulfill it. By insisting on being buried in Canaan, Jacob communicated to his sons his unyielding faith in God’s promise for the future. Revealing God’s future for His people lies in Canaan, not Egypt. For Jacob, the future is secure. He and all his descendants can look beyond the grave to the life in the land that awaits them. For Christians, the future is secure. We can look beyond the grave to the life in the land that awaits us.

As Jacob’s life is coming to an end, he is looking both backward, reflecting on God’s promises and faithfulness in his life. He also looks forward to how God will fulfill his promises to his sons, turning them into a great nation and giving them the land God has promised him and his fathers. In an act of faith, he adopts Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, giving Joseph a double portion. Believing that God will fulfill His promises.

After Israel settled in Goshen, the narrative returns to the famine in the land. Our passage contrasts the people of Egypt and the people of God (Israel). The people of Egypt struggled to survive the famine and sold their livestock, land, and themselves. In contrast, the people of God are acquiring land and becoming fruitful and multiplying. The people of Egypt come to Joseph to save them from death (starvation). In contrast, Jacob comes to Joseph to help him deal with his body after death. What was the distinguishing factor between the people of Egypt and the people of God? God and His promises.

The momentous reunion of Joseph and Jacob that has been long anticipated in the story is all but swallowed up in the larger context of the nation of Israel’s descent into Egypt. Through Joseph’s wisdom, God preserved Israel physically and spiritually in Goshen, where they lived in Egypt and remained distinct. Under Joseph’s administrative wisdom, and Jacob’s blessing of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s honoring of Israel, Israel and Egypt survived the grievous famine and prospered. This story begins to illustrate the promise of being a blessing for the nations.

Jacob, named “Israel,” is marked by prevailing in the struggle of life. Leaves Canaan to be reunited with his son, knowing the dangers and challenges ahead. Stops at Beersheba to remember the Lord and offers a sacrifice of worship and reliance on the Lord. In the middle of the night, the Lord reveals and reassures Jacob that the Lord is the “I will God”. Just like Jacob, the Christian life is marked by prevailing struggle. How do we prevail in the struggle of life?