Him We Proclaim

Genesis 46-47:

Genesis 42:1-45:28: Sermon Summary: Israel is famished like the rest of mankind. Ten of his sons are sent to the lord of bread. Joseph is that lord. Though he recognizes his brothers, he remains a mystery man to them. He tests their truthfulness, and they receive it as a penalty for their former sins. In route to Jacob, they discover grain and money in their bags. Jacob despairs, for they've returned at the cost of Simeon. Judah convinces Jacob to send them back with Benjamin as Joseph requested. His life will be forfeit to save Benjamin. Upon returning with Benjamin, Joseph holds banquet with them, showing preference to him. Joseph tests them again; this time, the lesson is about guilt and grace. Are they changed men, or will they do with Benjamin what they did with Joseph? Judah appears changed. He simply will not leave Benjamin behind. The loss would be the life of Jacob. Joseph is satisfied and overcome with compassion. He reveals his identity to them, comforts them by the purpose of God, and urges them to bear witness to Jacob. The sons of Israel are reconciled and, in precursor to the Exodus, Pharaoh enriches them as they go out of Egypt to the Promised Land in testimony to Jacob. Upon arrival, they give Jacob the good news: Joseph is still alive and lord of all. Jacob goes numb, but their words and Pharaoh's wagons revive him and satisfy his disbelief. 'It is enough!' Joseph is risen indeed! And Jacob will go to see him before he dies.

Genesis 41:1-57: Sermon Summary: Two years pass, two dreams arrive. They belong to Pharaoh, and they trouble him. He finds no one who can console his spirit. There is a famine of the Word in the land of Egypt. Would that there were a young Hebrew in a pit who could interpret the revelation of God to Pharaoh! The cupbearer now remembers just such a man. Go figure! Pharaoh calls Joseph out of the pit. He stands before Pharaoh clean and in new clothes. Pharaoh would locate revelation in flesh and blood, but Joseph is quick to redirect Pharaoh's troubled and misguided spirit. Light belongs to God; so also favor amid famine. A famine of bread is on the horizon. It's severe, sudden, and sure, but there is a Savior in Heaven. God provides plenty in answer to the lack He administers. Joseph deems it advisable to set a wise and discerning man over the survival of Egypt. His primary task: a reserve for life in times of death. Joseph doesn't suggest himself, but God, to fulfill His Word, brings it to pass on Pharaoh's orders. Joseph has the Spirit of God to save the world that afflicted him. He is thus exalted. He's given Pharaoh's authority, the keys to the kingdom, a new name, and an international bride with which to engage his office and mission. He's 30 years old when he begins a ministry that will prove sufficient to feed all the world that came to him for it. Joseph names his sons as a memorial to God's steadfast love and faithfulness, not just to him, but to all the world through him. When the time came, Joseph opened the storehouses of God to all the earth, only at price. Nothing however great can compare with the call of God through Jesus Christ, "Come, everyone, he who has no money, come, buy and eat!"

Genesis 40:1-23: Sermon Summary: Joseph’s righteousness seems to have plunged him even deeper into the pit. But even in a long season of suffering in prison, Joseph does not waver in faithfulness. Everything he touches continues to succeed, so that when two high-ranking officials end up in prison, Joseph is the one attending to them. God has placed him here for this moment, and when the men have disturbing dreams, God reveals their interpretation through Joseph. And just as Joseph predicts, Pharaoh’s cupbearer is restored, but the baker is executed. God’s wisdom is vindicated, as it always is and always will be. But the cupbearer forgets Joseph, adding to the long list of people who have sinned against him and put him where he is. Joseph remains in prison, seemingly forgotten. But in this account, we see the faith and patience of one who knows that the blessing of God cannot be overcome by any worldly circumstance. Joseph knows that God has not forgotten him, and remains rooted in the truth, trusting in the promises of God.

Genesis 39:1-23: Sermon Summary: The Holy Spirit returns us to the story of Joseph. Now in Egypt, he lives his life as a faithful man. He's tried, but he remains trustworthy. He's the Lord's trustworthy laborer, lover, and lamb; and in these things, Potiphar, Potiphar's wife, and the warden come face to face with Joseph's Lord. He is with Joseph, and His grace is sufficient when His purpose, inscrutable, is hidden from us. When we live by faith, faith comes to life for those who are dead in sins. In Joseph then, we find a righteous and suffering servant who prefigures the Christ Who prospers the redemptive will of God.

Genesis 38:1-30: Sermon Summary: Jacob's genealogy suddenly, albeit briefly, departs from the story of Joseph to the sins of Judah. Judah is a faith-ignoring, self-indulgent man of the world. His life travels from negligence to deception to immorality to man-fearing to rash judgment and a total lack of spiritual self-awareness. It all leads to an illicit union with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who becomes pregnant with twin boys, Zerah and Perez. And in their births, the real Actor is thankfully to be observed. Though Zerah sticks his hand out first, Perez pushes past him and the natural order of things to claim Judah's heritage. He's one who breaks into the world, amidst so much sin, as one unexpected, and his lineage will follow suit. Who could think the Christ would come, not from Joseph, but from Judah and Tamar and their immoral union? Yet from Perez will come Hezron, then Ram, then Amminadab, then Nahshon, then Salmon, then Boaz, then Obed, then Jesse, then David, from whom will come Christ. Men and women of this world need the Christ God has given to save them. And opposite our expectations, His Name is Jesus.

Genesis 37:1-36: Sermon Summary:Moses enters the final frame of Genesis by offering the genealogy of Jacob in a narrative fashion that's dominated by the story of Joseph. Due to the love, provision, and position he held from his father, as well as the revelation he received and communicated to his family from the Lord, Jacob's dear son was a most hated brother. On account of their jealousy, Joseph's brothers, seeking to silence 'the dreamer', conspire to kill him. Joseph is stripped of his distinguishing robe, mocked, thrown into an empty pit, and eventually sold into Egyptian slavery. His brothers, concealing their sin instead of confessing it, present the loss to their father by way of his now blood-stained robe. Jacob lamentably identifies it as 'my son's robe.' Joseph seems left to the grave, which is all part of God's superintending plan to save the world from famine . . . and establish the pattern for the Savior of sinners.

Matthew 6:16-21:

Matthew 6:12-15: Sermon Summary: Jesus teaches us to pray for a separation between us and sin. Cognizant of it, we confess it with pleas for forgiveness. As we're in a state of grace, we'll be marked by grace. Forgiveness should flow from the forgiven, grace from the justified. Against trusting in ourselves, we pray not to be led into temptation, but to be delivered from evil. We're to pray for a preparedness to walk in faith with our Lord. Jesus expands on the earlier request for forgiveness: an unforgiving spirit is its own penalty. Should it characterize us, is a soul actually justified? Should it be a thorn in our side, will it not wall up God's 'yes' to our prayers? Peace with our debtors supports peace of conscience with our Father.

Matthew 6:11: Sermon Summary: Among what we might perceive as more important requests, Jesus invites us to pray each day for bread that day. Our Father in Heaven is not above meeting the needs of our bodies. We're taught to realize our perpetual reliance upon the Lord for everything whatsoever related to living and moving and having our being. By the invitation to ask for daily bread, there is implied a divine willingness to provide for His children all the items that He judges good for us. The climax of this is the treasure of His Son, the true Bread that came down from Heaven. As our Father is sensitive to the needs of our bodies, He is no less to the need of our souls. In the end, we learn from Jesus that our Father is a 'baker' for His children, but then His children do not live by bread alone.