Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

John 1:14-18 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Good morning, it’s good to be with you all and worship our triune God together. Advent is a special time to gather together and worship Jesus and wonder at the incarnation. Beyond gathering for worship on Sundays and for Christmas Eve, I want to encourage you to look at the other events we have this week for Christmas. There are a number of ways to fellowship, serve others and love Jesus during this season.

So far this Advent we’ve looked at the first and second comings of Jesus. Jesus first came to proclaim the good news of the kingdom and offer atonement through his death and resurrection.

Then Pastor Dave preached about the second coming of Christ. When he returns all will be put right, he will come for his bride, the church, and he will judge all of humanity. We live in the time between these two comings of Jesus, so we look back at the work of his first coming, and look forward with hope to his second coming.

Last week we looked at the persons of the Father and the Holy Spirit with in the work of the Incarnation. I tried to give a crash course in the doctrine of the Trinity. I won’t review all of the points, but as we turn to look at the Son this morning, keep in mind the triune God. There is one God in three equal but distinct persons. Each is fully divine in their nature but different in their roles in the work of God. The Father sent the Son and the Spirit conceived the Son. In other words, the Spirit overshadowed Mary to ensure that the Incarnate Jesus would be holy and take on a second, human nature. Now, this morning we turn to look at the role of the Son.

The Incarnation is the miracle of miracles. There are plenty of incredible signs and wonders in the scriptures. People get healed, lives are spared from death through amazing events, there are even several who are raised from the dead in scripture. But there is nothing else like the Incarnation. At the Incarnation, the inexhaustible, invisible, eternal, sovereign God became flesh. Invisible made visible, where spiritual and physical meet. Where God became man. The Word became flesh.

He became flesh to reveal God to the world. There are several aspects of his Incarnation that we will look at this morning. Each of these were present in the Old Testament to lesser degrees, but through the GodMan, Jesus Christ, we see these in greater measure.

He came to dwell with us, his glory was witnessed and through Him we have received an even greater measure of grace. In Jesus, the Son, we have seen the invisible God. The Invisible God made Visible.

Would you pray with me? Pray that we would fight to be engaged and free from distraction. Pray that this sermon would move the needle, even if only slightly more, towards a greater understanding and awe of the Incarnation.

Father, we come to you this morning in need of grace. We come in need of more spiritual food. Please feed us through your Word and your Spirit this morning. I pray that we would behold the glory of Christ today. I pray that our Christmas celebrations would be enhanced and empowered by the glory of Christ. So please feed us. Please give us ears to hear and the eyes of faith to believe your Word. Stop distractions and quiet our minds and hearts so that we would hear your Word and see our faith strengthened. Thank you that you loved us first before we loved you. Help us to love you more and to give you all honor and glory...

Luke 1:26-36 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

Intro

Good morning, it’s good to be with you and it’s an honor to preach this morning. I don’t say that as a formality, but it really is an honor to be trusted to study a passage and then explain and preach it faithfully on a Sunday. Thank you that you trust me to do that. Thank you to those who pray during the week for whoever is preaching. Thank you for taking God’s Word seriously, and having a high view of preaching and expecting to be fed by it. All of these things make it an honor to preach and a joy too. Would you join me in prayer?

Almighty God, you alone are God. Nothing else in this entire universe compares with your glory and power. Help us this morning through your Spirit to understand all that is in this passage and to understand who you are as Father, Son and Spirit. Thank you that you are God and we are not. You are inexhaustible and like a great ocean we can never get to the bottom of all that you are. But we can delight in what we do know and what you have revealed of your nature and character and work. I pray that we would grow in our knowledge of you in order to love and trust you more. Please show us your glory this morning, show us how to worship you this Advent season. And please let whatever is not helpful in this sermon to fall to the floor. And whatever you desire for us to know and ply, drive it deep in our hearts. Amen

We are approaching Christmas. We see it each week with more candles getting lit. We celebrate the first coming of Christ and await his glorious return. Our hope with these sermons during Advent is to stoke your appreciation and affections for Jesus. While the incarnation focuses on Jesus and what his entering our world means for the history of redemption, the Incarnation involves all three persons of the godhead. So this morning we are going to look at a very familiar passage from a very familiar story, but maybe in a different way than we tend to. This morning we are going to look at the roles of the Father and the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation and then next week we’ll look at Jesus’ role.

Before we get to the actual text, I wanted to help get our bearings around the trinity. Maybe for you, hearing the word Trinity causes you to check out and assume it’s a heady, academic discussion. Maybe it’s hard to wrap your head around a doctrine like this. Maybe you worry about getting it wrong. Plenty of people throughout history have fallen into heresy when talking about the trinity. No one wants to get it wrong.

But this is who the God of the Bible is, so we must work to understand this doctrine. The trinity is vital to our faith. It’s what separates us from false religions like Islam, Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses. They reject the trinity.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

INTRODUCTION

Last week I asked you to consider what you’ve spent the most time preparing for. This week, I’d like you to consider what single event have you most longed for. I’m sure there’s a connection between the two for many of you, but think about it for a minute. What’s something you’ve especially looked forward to? How did that longing show up in your life? What did you do differently because of your eagerness for that thing to come to pass?

As I mentioned last week, there are two parts to Advent: 1) Celebrating the first coming of Jesus, the promised Messiah (OT, Hebrew)/Christ (NT, Greek) (that’s what I preached on last week), and 2) Cultivating longing for His second coming (today’s sermon). To be a bit more specific, my main aim this morning is to encourage you to use Advent as a time to develop “Maranatha” (come, Lord) as a banner over your entire life, and therein demonstrate the worthiness of God to be praised above all.

To accomplish that aim, we’re going to consider four main truths: 1) Jesus will return, 2) Jesus’ return will be glorious, 3) Jesus’ return will be both good and bad news, and 4) Advent is a special time to apply these truths. Let’s pray for God’s help to drive these things into us and then launch them out from us.

JESUS WILL RETURN

The Christmas story is the story of Jesus’ first coming. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, truly God and truly man. Jesus was both born without sin and lived a perfect life. All of this made Him a perfect example and an acceptable sacrifice to the Father for the sins of the world. And being filled with love and glory made Him willing to lay His life down.

He was mocked, beaten, crucified, forsaken by God, and murdered. For three days He remained in the grave. But on the third day, having satisfied the wrath of God, having canceled sins’ debt, and having defeated death, Jesus rose from the dead and revealed His glorified self to many. He then ascended into heaven where He sits even now at the right hand of God, interceding and advocating for those who receive Him, and waiting to return to judge the living and the dead.

Jesus came, and He will come again. Once again, learning to understand and long for that is what we are after this morning. And to that end, this sermon is one of the most Scripture-filled (not to say Scripture-based) sermons I’ve given in a while. I mean to share with you verse after verse concerning Jesus’ second coming. First, however, I’d like to read our church’s doctrinal statement on the subject of Jesus’ return. It is really good.

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

I’m not going to address every clause in that statement, but it’s a great summary of both the Bible’s teaching and most of what I will be covering in this sermon: Jesus will return, it will be glorious, it will be very good news for many (and vary bad news for the rest), and it demands a response.

As we consider the second coming of Jesus, during Advent, as a means of increasing our longing for it, let’s begin with the simple fact that God’s Word contains multiple promises that Jesus wil...

Luke 1:5-17 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent. For the next four weeks Pastor Mike and I are going to preach through four different aspects of the worthiness of God in relation to the first and second coming of Jesus. This week, I’m going to preach on the glorious reality that Jesus’ first coming was worthy of centuries of preparation and the miraculous birth of one who would proclaim his arrival. Before getting there, however, I want to help us consider what Advent is and isn’t, why we might participate in it, and what our participation might look like. Let’s pray that God would help us treasure Christ, such that celebrating His first coming would be our great joy.

ADVENT

Let’s start by making sure we’re all on the same page. That is, let’s briefly consider what Advent is and isn’t, why we might participate in it, and what our participation might look like.

What Advent Isn’t

If you were here for our Ebenezer Service you might remember me saying that celebrating Thanksgiving Day is not required by God. As people called by God to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), we might choose to use Thanksgiving as a means to that end, but it is only one possible way for us to do so.

Advent is like that. There is a way in which celebrating Advent can be a useful tool for something God does require (more on that in a minute), but definitely isn’t commanded by God. Indeed, it’s possible to go through Advent motions in ways that don’t honor God, or to honor God for sending the Son apart from any participation in Advent whatsoever. The simple point I’m trying to make here is that if Advent is going to be a part of our lives and Church, we must do so with a clear understanding of what it is and isn’t. And it isn’t something necessary for Christians.

What Advent Is

So, if that’s what Advent isn’t, what is it? Simply, “advent” means “coming”. In the Church it refers, of course, to the coming of Jesus. Most specifically, it refers to the first coming of Jesus. You can read all about that in the beginning of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The son of God had existed for eternity past along with the Father and Sprit. But in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4), according to the will of the Father (Ephesians 1:3-5), the Son was conceived in a virgin (Luke 1:34) by th...

Genesis 49:29 – 50:26 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

50 1 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’ ” 6 And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, 13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of ...

Genesis 49:1-28 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.

2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. 6 Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. 9 Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.

14 “Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds. 15 He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor.

16 “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward. 18 I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

19 “Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels.

20 “Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies.

21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.

22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. 23 The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, 24 yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 25 by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

INTRODUCTION

This is quite a scene, isn’t it? Jacob was moments away from dying. Understanding that, he summoned his sons near to deliver his final address. Speaking to each of them he told them what they most needed (not wanted) to hear. Some of his words were kind, gentle, and optimistic—blessing in the usual sense. But some of his words were anything but that.

In this series of “blessings” there is a lot for us to see, in terms of the lives of the sons and the tribes they would represent, as well as the God over them all. The main point of the passage is that God’s faithful hand was on this family and, therefore,

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Orphan Sunday. In case you didn’t know, Orphan Sunday is an annual “event” intended to make/keep the Church conscious of the cause of the fatherless. By participating, we are joining many churches around the world who have chosen to highlight God’s heart for, and commands regarding, the most vulnerable among us.

Under that banner, and in light of James 1:27, I have two main goals for this sermon. First, I want to answer a simple and straightforward question: Why is pure and undefiled religion defined (largely) by caring for orphans in their affliction? Of all the things James might have said (or God might have inspired James to say) about the true essence of a life pleasing to God, why is orphan care at the heart of his answer? My prayer all week has been that you’d leave this sermon confidently able to give a biblical answer to that question.

The second main goal and prayer I have for this sermon is to get you to ask (and answer!) a second question: In light of the Bible’s answer to the first question, what should we be doing to better care for the cause of the afflicted orphan? In other words, I want us generally, and each of you individually, to figure out how, specifically, to better care for the fatherless as an act of pure religion.

To accomplish these two goals, I want to start high up and then gradually work down. That is, in keeping with this year’s theme for Orphan Sunday, I intend to help you see what God has done (for orphans) in the Bible, what God as done at Grace Church, what God has done in my life, and finally, what God might do in your life. Let’s pray and then dive in.

SEE WHAT GOD HAS DONE IN THE BIBLE

Once again, the theme of this year’s Orphan Sunday is “See What God Has Done.” Our aim is to spend some time together considering and celebrating the marvelous works God has performed on behalf of the fatherless. We’ll begin by looking at several aspects of this recorded in God’s Word. To truly appreciate what God has done regarding orphan care in the Bible, we need to move from God’s heart to God’s commands to God’s Gospel.

God’s Heart

First, and above all, what God has done for the orphan, is to love them with a special measure of love, leading to a special measure of protection and provision. Consider these straight-forward passages.

Deuteronomy 10:18 [God] executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

While many seek to exploit the fatherless, God executes justice, feeds, and clothes them.

Deuteronomy 27:19 “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Not only does God fight for the orphan, He curses those who fight with the orphan.

Psalm 10:14, 17-18 [God has] been the helper of the fatherless… O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear 18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed…

Of course, God hears all prayers in one sense. But this passage says that God hears and responds to the prayers of orphans in a special way—helping, strengthening, and protecting.

Psalm 68:4-5 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him! 5 Father of the fatherless… in his holy habitation.

Sweetest of all, this passage tells us that God Himself is a Father to the fatherless!

Psalm 146:9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless…
...

Genesis 47:28-48:22 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

29 And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” 31 And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

48 1After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 And he blessed Joseph and said,

“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,    the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys;     and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

    “By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,    ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’ ”

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover,

Genesis 47:13-27 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

INTRODUCTION

In another remarkable—albeit low-key—display of the good and uninterruptible plan of God to bless His people, we find that Joseph secured all Egypt for Pharaoh and therein demonstrated that all glory belongs to God. Under those banners and from this text, there are three main takeaways I hope to impress upon you this morning: 1. God is infinitely glorious, 2. God’s people are always blessed by God in order to be a blessing, and 3. Faithfulness to God does not mean comfort or ease in this life. Let’s pray that God would help us see these things and apply them to our lives. And let’s pray that God would help us remember that our only and certain hope in those things is the cross of Jesus and the power of the Spirit.

THE STORY

Once again, let’s begin with a quick recap of the simple story that unfolds in this passage.

It seems that the famine has gone from bad to worse. “Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine” (13). As you can easily see, there are several amplifying words in that sentence—“in all the land,” “very severe,” and “languished”. Each of those modifiers are meant to ensure that the reader understands how dire the situation was. The famine,

Genesis 46:28-47:12 He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

47 1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back to Genesis. It’s been a month since we’ve been here, so I’d like to start off with a quick recap to bring everyone up to speed. The overall theme of Genesis is “Our Place in God’s Plan.” That is, Genesis establishes for all time God as God—creator-king and righteous-judge, the maker, orderer, and authority over all that has been made. It establishes mankind as a divine image-bearer, made by God for His glory, but also as having tragically given into sin and, consequently, under the unbearable wrath of God. And in Genesis we find established the unbreakable, gracious, and merciful promise of God to redeem fallen mankind through a descendent of Eve. (All of that in just the first three chapters.)

From there we learned that God would fulfill His promise of redemption through a covenant with Abraham. The covenant included the promise of countless descendents, a permanent home for them to live in, and, above all, a promise to be their God. For Abraham’s part, he was to receive God’s covenant promises in faith.

By God’s miraculous hand,