Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] May you speak to us through your word. In Jesus we ask. Amen.
[00:00:08] Hello. Okay, you have your Bibles. Tonight I'd invite you to find Genesis, chapter 46. Genesis, chapter 46.
[00:00:18] You know, a lot of times it's. It's easier to go after something than it is to have something.
[00:00:30] It's like you can. You can probably go on YouTube and look up any number of people who have won championships in various sports and hear them have testimonies of struggling, what to do with themselves after they have won. One of my favorites. And I actually just. I love this guy. I don't think he's perfect. I just. I just love him. I love Deion Sanders. He cracks me up. But, you know, he. He won a championship and he celebrated. And that night he was like, well, is this all this is?
[00:01:05] You know, I've been working for years for this. And he. The. The desire to be a champion, the desire to be the best had driven him. But once he got there, he didn't find that having achieved that was necessarily all that rewarding. And it became part of his journey of finding something that's always rewarding, and that was his relationship with the Lord. That's probably why I love his story so much.
[00:01:30] Well, this family, Joseph's family, they have been striving for. For a couple decades, but really longer than that, you go all the way back to Jacob and Esau having their problems and Jacob leaving home and, and going. And then the problems he had with Laban and then they left Aaron, the problems he had with his neighbors and the problems he's had with these sons. This has been going on a while. Amen.
[00:01:59] And then we're going to see now, like, Joseph has this incredible perspective. He tells his brothers, he's like, you know, hey, I know you. You're jerks.
[00:02:11] This King James version, I know your butt heads. That's a new living translation.
[00:02:19] But it's obvious to me now that all this was from the Lord. It's obvious that God has used this. You know, you did bad, but God made good out of the bad. And now he's rejoiced and reunify his family in such a dramatic way that Pharaoh has heard of it. And Pharaoh just thinks the world of Joseph because of how Joseph has preserved the kingdom and blessed the kingdom. And he says, look, go get your family. Bring them back here. And I'm, you know, I'm going to hook them up.
[00:02:53] And. And that's where we. That's where we are. They have now moved into Egypt and What are they going to do with this success now?
[00:03:02] What if I draw one more parallel? I think a lot of us, a lot of us find those early days of being a Christian somewhat easy because we've let go of some stuff and taken hold of someone. Let me say that again. We've let go of some stuff and taken hold of someone. And that's clarifying.
[00:03:22] But it's. What do you do when you're some decades into this walk? A lot of us struggle to find that victorious attitude at the maintenance level of our faith, at the sustaining level of our faith. We find that less exciting than we did the coming into our faith. And I'm not hearing any amens and I'm not seeing any heads bobbing up and down because I think this is so sobering and true that we're wrestling with the implications. None of us want to say I find walking with God boring, but a lot of times we treat it like that. Well, I think what we see tonight in the story of Joseph and Jacob and his brothers and pharaoh in Egypt, I think we see the sort of wisdom that not only do kings reign, but people learn to live under that reign and reign with him so that we are always walking with Jesus in such a way that, that we're constantly being saved.
[00:04:28] Like you are saved unto heaven. Say amen in Christ Jesus. But do you realize how necessary it is to walk by the reign of the king so you can be saved from much in this life?
[00:04:45] I'll never forget I was a young teenager and I was hanging out with some much older guys and I, I was getting ready to go after this guy. I did not know his reputation and my, my, my brother Stewart knocked me down and I was so angry. He says, that man will kill you.
[00:05:07] And then I was like, what do you mean? He's like, this guy is genuinely dangerous. You are getting ready to be very stupid.
[00:05:14] He struck me to keep me.
[00:05:19] Then I look back, he says, I told you, don't even come with me tonight.
[00:05:24] Like, the moment I could have been saved in ease was ignored because I didn't know how to listen to counsel or refuse to.
[00:05:32] So I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, by way of a beautiful metaphor, learning how wisdom by wisdom. Kings reign is also parallel to learning how to live by the wisdom of the king who reigned and to live under his kingship in such a way that we learn to live by his pleasure at his direction, so that sometimes we don't even see what we're being saved from.
[00:05:57] So I'm gonna Pray, I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna break off some bad news to you. I'm gonna preach two sermons before I get to the sermon.
[00:06:05] And Susan, you don't know how you, you know, you don't know the big hook you got off of. We all used to read that. Casey would read it, and then we'd all read it again. And we threatened Casey's life and he shortened it to us, saying, I will.
[00:06:19] Hadn't been for that, we'd still be reading.
[00:06:22] And we're just not really good, sustained, responsive readers. So now, that being said, you know I'm right, Casey. Amen.
[00:06:31] That being said, I think the setup is so important to the get up that you won't regret having been here with us tonight. Let me pray for us. Father, we long to treasure your word because we know that to lean on our own understanding, it's just not good. But, Father, we're not always convinced that we should acknowledge you in all of our ways. But certainly, certainly let us take both in tonight. Let us not lean on our own understanding, but let us acknowledge you in all of our ways. And, Father, do indeed, do indeed make a path for us, a path to walk with you, to see your leadership in the struggles, to trust your leadership for the victories and to rest in those things that we don't even know we're being saved from simply because we're not involved with that, because we're involved with you. Bless us now with understanding beyond our ability. Give us wisdom from on high in Jesus I pray. Amen and amen.
[00:07:34] Here's the first mini sermon to prepare us. I don't know that we sit back a lot and think about how important wisdom is in the Bible. It says it more than one time. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge or the beginning of wisdom. It says in a couple places in the scriptures.
[00:07:52] Proverbs chapter 1, verse 20 says that wisdom cries aloud in the street.
[00:07:59] Wisdom is of the Lord. Wisdom comes from the Lord. Wisdom is part of God's very makeup. And what Proverbs teaches us is he is very loudly, quite publicly, very regularly trying to lead people.
[00:08:15] In Proverbs chapter 1, verse 21, it basically says, but you won't listen to wisdom because you're too busy being childish.
[00:08:23] In other words, like a good parent, God does desire to lead people. But like typical kids, we're playing too much.
[00:08:31] So wisdom is critical, the opposite of the wisdom. The fear of the Lord being the beginning of wisdom. The opposite of that. The Bible tells us the fool says in his heart, what?
[00:08:44] Look, how many people knew that?
[00:08:46] It's such common knowledge, right? So none of us are there. But the question is, so you say I'm not there, but am I there? Am I that place where I want wisdom in all of my dealings and all of my interactions? Do I want to be led by the wisdom of God?
[00:09:05] The Bible tells us that God is the source of wisdom. I'll just give you one quote on that. Proverbs, chapter 2, verse 6. For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
[00:09:16] We learn from the apostle James. James, chapter one, verse five. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. Now that's amazing. You won't find any other thing that you're told. God will never say, don't ask for that. This is the only thing in the Bible he says, ask for that. Ask for it. God will never say, no way, don't ask me for that.
[00:09:43] And I could go on and on. Let me just quickly build a case without calling everything, putting everything on the. On the screen. Because if I put it on the screen, I tend to want to talk about it. God bless me. God help me.
[00:09:54] Again, again, like Proverbs 9, 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
[00:10:00] The Bible tells us in James, chapter three, verses 15 and 18. We're not going to go there. That wisdom coming from above is pure, it's peaceable, it's gentle, it's open to discussing things and working through things.
[00:10:17] Wisdom is full of mercy. Wisdom bears, it carries and bears good fruit. Wisdom seeks an impartiality in the realm of man and a partiality in a relationship with God.
[00:10:35] Bible tells us there's a worldly wisdom. So in other words, there's this thing that's from God and there's this other thing that's not that.
[00:10:42] For example, in First Corinthians, chapter one and chapter number three, it says that basically, if you'll let me paraphrase, says the foolishness of God. In other words, the most simple things of God are wiser than the smartest things of man.
[00:11:00] The simplest thoughts of God.
[00:11:03] Now, how many.
[00:11:05] Okay, let me see who I can set off tonight. How many woke folk?
[00:11:10] How many professorial fools seem real smart, but they won't even consider the simple thoughts of God?
[00:11:22] Matter of fact, many. Many in that crowd disdain.
[00:11:29] And they'll even damage the truths of God. They'll twist them. I always bring it up because it's amazing. Right over here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, we have this horrible heretic, Bart Ehrman. Cayce knew him personally, took classes under him.
[00:11:46] He takes great pains to twist the truth of God. Amen.
[00:11:51] First Corinthians 13 says, basically says, if any of y'all think you smart in this world, then you better give all of that up. If you look like a fool in accepting the thoughts of God, it'd be better to look like a fool in this world than to look smart in this world and miss the things of God.
[00:12:12] Proverbs chapter 4 tells us that searching after wisdom, gaining wisdom, getting wisdom, this should be a way of life for the disciple of Jesus.
[00:12:25] The Bible tells us in 1st Corinthians 12 that, that there's this sort of wisdom that only comes to us by the Holy Spirit, on and on and on. Wisdom is critical.
[00:12:38] And I will say this. I hope to have time to close with this, but, you know, making sure, I want to have time to actually get to our passage, I hope I have time to close with this, to expound on it a little bit more. The apostle Paul calls Jesus the wisdom of God.
[00:12:54] Now, what am I saying? God means for us to know wisdom, to walk by wisdom, to operate in wisdom. Not the wisdom of the world, the wisdom. It comes from above. And its most clear embodiment is Jesus himself, our king. Our king reigns by wisdom. And we're meant to be ruled by him who reigns by wisdom. Him who is wisdom.
[00:13:19] Second sub sermon Very quickly. I hinted at it earlier.
[00:13:26] They have gone through reconciliation. You remember that sermon from Genesis 44, where that question, what have you done?
[00:13:36] They have gone through reunion. They have owned their sin. Their brother has forgiven them. They've gone through relocation. They've expressed forgiveness. They've experienced a loving reconnection.
[00:13:50] Now all this strain of the last two decades is over, how now shall they live?
[00:13:58] That question is before us. Brothers and sisters, you're settled in. Jesus, I pray, amen.
[00:14:04] To be bought by his precious blood, to be hidden in him, means that salvation is secure by his work. And I'll say, ultimately, salvation is about works, just not about your works. It's that the work has been done by Jesus, and He will hide you in Himself so that his work counts for you. But you know what you're doing now? You're working out your salvation in what?
[00:14:31] Fear and trembling. In other words, we want to walk by wisdom, in the fear of the Lord trembling before Him. We walk in this world not necessarily living afraid, but living reverently and I'll say to you when you hear this passage tonight from Genesis, beginning in chapter 46, verse 31. When you hear this passage tonight, you're seeing Israel is being told, now you've got to live where I've moved you to. You've got to resettle you settled into one way of life. Now you've got to settle in another way of life. And guess what? Guess what. They don't have the wisdom on how to live in Egypt without help from the Lord. Brothers and sisters, you don't have the wisdom to know how to live in this world without help from the Lord.
[00:15:18] So with those two pre sermons to the sermon, praise God. Let's look at Genesis, chapter 46, verse 40, 31, Genesis 46, 31.
[00:15:31] 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. 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. When Pharaoh calls you and says, what is your occupation? You shall say, your servants have been keepers of livestock. For from our youth, even until now, both we and our fathers, in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen. You see this, y'all? I'm gonna give it to you. I'm gonna go ahead and give you a hint. He is trying to tell them how to operate in wisdom in this situation they're in. This is a foreign land. He says, listen, what you wanna do is you wanna wind up in Goshen. So I want you to tell him this. Why? It tells you why for every. For every what?
[00:16:23] Every shepherd is a. What is an abomination to the Egyptians. That sounds crazy. Go tell Pharaoh. You are the thing that they think is an abomination.
[00:16:36] It sounds counter, but what's the goal? That they'll wind up in Goshen? This is interesting. 47, verse 1.
[00:16:46] 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. They camping out Right now, they're at an RV park.
[00:17:00] And from among his brothers, he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, what is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were. 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. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, your father and your brothers have come to you. 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.
[00:17:41] Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, how many are the days of the years of your life? 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. Now, this is the most Jewish verse in the Bible.
[00:18:05] If you know. If you happen to know anything about Jews culturally, you know, hey, you know, Moshe, you won the lottery. Oh, wait, now I have to walk through the store. You know, he is being blessed. Blessed, blessed. He goes, man. Yeah, it's been a hard life.
[00:18:20] Things is rotten, man. 130 years old. Been tough. This is. This is such a wild story. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. In other words, every year, every day, and every year been bad.
[00:18:35] Jacob. Okay, let me say it theologically. Jacob be tripping.
[00:18:43] And Jacob, excuse me, where did I drop off? 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 my life, of my fathers in the days of their sojourning. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 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. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers and all his father's household with food according to the number of their dependents. 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. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in. In exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's household. 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. And Joseph answered, give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock if your money is gone. Y'all see what's happening, right? They spent all the money. Now what's happening? Next level. Possessions are going.
[00:19:56] Now this seems kind of mean, but you know what he's doing? He is working well for his boss. There's a sub sermon in there. He's working well for his boss. It's a wild story.
[00:20:06] Verse 18. And when that year was ended. Oh, wait a minute. Verse 17. So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the flocks, the herds and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestocks. What church that year. You know what's coming, right? 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. Why should we die before your eyes? Both we and our land. Buy us and our land for food. Who just put them into slavery?
[00:20:46] This is an incredible passage.
[00:20:49] Who is managing this?
[00:20:52] Joseph. This is a wild story.
[00:20:56] It's wild.
[00:20:58] Buy us in 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. David, take heart. They just became sharecroppers.
[00:21:13] So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold their fields because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's. As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. You know what you just. You know what you just learned? That you might have never known your life. Who were the first slaves of Pharaoh?
[00:21:37] The Egyptians. How did they get there?
[00:21:41] They sold themselves into slavery.
[00:21:45] Wow.
[00:21:46] It's only later on that the Hebrews become slaves. Verse 22. This is a crazy story. Did I say that already?
[00:21:53] 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. 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, and at the harvest, 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 household. And as food for your little ones. And they said, what church? You have saved our lives.
[00:22:28] May it please my Lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh. 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 pharaohs. Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possession in it and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. Wow, it was a long passage. Are y'all ready for this? If you ready, say amen.
[00:22:57] First, wisdom is of critical necessity for a fruitful walk. Wise stewardship and kingdom pursuit for the people of God.
[00:23:07] Now, this is crazy story to me, but we need to handle it basically in three pieces. Let's go all the way back in our minds and our bibles to Genesis 46, 31. Now, the wisdom of the world works in warped ways. Do y'all know that? The wisdom of the world works in warped ways. But God will take what is warped with man and make it straight for his people. Let me explain myself. Let me explain myself. What was an abomination to the people of Egypt? What shepherds? All right, do you also remember that detail that they didn't even want to eat with a foreigner? Do y'all remember that? Do you remember what I told you then? God was placing them with a people who would be separate from them.
[00:23:53] This is pretty amazing. So what does. What does Joseph say to his brothers? He says, tell them your shepherds, they'll give you some land out away from them. They'll give you some good land because they like goat steaks. Amen.
[00:24:10] They like donkey F250s, you know what I'm saying? They love a good hamburger, you know what I'm saying? They want their flocks to flourish. They just think shepherds are nasty.
[00:24:22] So they're going to give you great land and say, stay away from us.
[00:24:27] Do you see the wisdom of Joseph in working the warpedness of the culture?
[00:24:34] Brothers and sisters, I will tell you that is how the Lord Jesus wants to lead his people in the world. But what church?
[00:24:42] Look, how many people know this? But do you know it?
[00:24:51] You know, believers are always struggling one way or the other. Like, should we participate with this? Is it possibly profane? You know, like, should we listen to secular music and watch secular movies and read secular books? You know, should we drive on secular highways? Like, get a holy water squirter on the front of your car and just spray the road as you go along.
[00:25:17] Prepare your way of my holy Lexus Right. I'm here to tell you that to walk in this world is a tough business and we need the wisdom of God. And that's something Joseph knew.
[00:25:34] Did Joseph have that consuming wisdom that the people of God needed to flourish without becoming like the people of Egypt? I don't know. I, I, frankly I don't know if he had that long term wisdom. But God did.
[00:25:51] Now that's the part where somebody should have said amen.
[00:25:54] And Joseph knows that his family would flourish in their traditions if they were away from the government structure, if they were away from the religious structure, and if they were away from, from the social structure that was getting ready to deteriorate.
[00:26:12] So what's he do? He says, yeah, these guys hate shepherds. Tell them you're shepherds.
[00:26:18] Do you say that was wisdom, brothers and sisters? I maintain that that's the kind of thing we won't know on our own.
[00:26:27] It just takes a lot. It takes a lot of God led wisdom to get to the place we need to get to. Amen.
[00:26:37] And that doesn't happen in a fast food paced culture. It doesn't happen without consuming the word of God. It doesn't happen without learning to listen to the spirit of God making the word alive in you.
[00:26:52] It's brilliant here. It's brilliant. Joseph's like, hey, these guys, they'll never want you to be their neighbor. Hallelujah. They'll never want you to be the neighbor. If they find out your shepherds, tell them you're shepherds now. I would have had some questions. Wait a minute, Joseph, you brought us down here and you're going to alienate us? Yup.
[00:27:14] I'm going to put you on fertile land. How do I do that? I put you somewhere where they don't want to talk to you. They don't want to deal with you, they don't want to see you, they don't want to be near you. Wait a minute. Don't we need these people? Yeah. That's why we're going to get this piece of land.
[00:27:26] You know what Joseph said? He said, he said, hold my honey beer because Jews don't drink that other stuff. But they will drink honey beer.
[00:27:35] So watch this.
[00:27:38] Did Joseph know, brothers and sisters? I don't think he did. I don't think he was that wise. What did he know? There was a choice land that had been set aside as the land of Rameses. It had been set aside for worship, protected along with the other holy lands of the priests. And what does he do? He puts God's people in the set apart place. So they will be set apart people and have a set apart set of circumstances.
[00:28:08] Do you know you're kept in Christ for heaven?
[00:28:12] We have the choices of land. We're hidden in Jesus. Another side sermon. You know, you'll know later on, you'll know later on that it doesn't wind up so well for the for the Hebrew people. Amen.
[00:28:27] Joseph dies, they get another Pharaoh and that new Pharaoh doesn't know. Joseph doesn't care about the people. And a switch happens. A switch happens. The Hebrew people become the slaves. How important is it to have a mediator?
[00:28:42] While Joseph is alive? He keeps his concerns. Before Pharaoh, what was his concerns? His family, brothers and sisters. How bad we need a mediator. How important is it to have a mediator? You think of Moses, you think of the whole story of the Book of Judges. Most importantly, you think of Jesus. I'm going to pause right here in our Genesis study and I'm going to preach tonight for the rest of the night through Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14, through through chapter 10, verse 18. Would that be okay with y'all?
[00:29:17] One person said, yep.
[00:29:19] I'll write you a note for work tomorrow.
[00:29:22] I'm sure your boss will accept it.
[00:29:25] I'm not gonna do that. But look at this sample from Hebrews4. This is just a sample. Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, except what y'all, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Why do I bring up this particular passage? As long as Joseph was alive to mediate to represent his family. They had it good. Amen.
[00:30:09] So we got Jesus. As long as he's alive, we have someone to mediate for us. Hallelujah.
[00:30:17] Oh, but wait. They crucified him.
[00:30:21] But on the third day, he rose again, was seen of many witnesses, and ascended to that. He's passed through all of the life of the flesh without sin, and he's passed through to heaven. And he ever lives to intercede for his church.
[00:30:40] Whoever's not watching after us, one who lives evermore watches over us.
[00:30:49] Just like in Israel, God was using Joseph to prepare a place to preserve a people. God has used this sign to prepare a people for Whom he's preserved a place.
[00:31:03] I'm preaching better than y'all. Amen.
[00:31:06] Also. Also. No, not in your notes. It should be. There is. We should see something from this passage. There's no restriction on the ability of God to use those in authority or with means to bless the people of God. There's nobody can hold God back. Somebody say amen.
[00:31:24] Now I'm gonna tell you something wild.
[00:31:27] Joseph goes, hey, these people hate shepherds. Tell him you're shepherds.
[00:31:32] He tells them they're shepherds. And Pharaoh's like, good, Watch out to my stuff, too. Have the best land. This is great. He says, oh, I'd like you to meet my daddy.
[00:31:41] Jacob comes in, and to me, it's one of the funniest passages in the Bible. He said, jacob, nice to meet you. How you doing? Life's been tough.
[00:31:50] 130 years. Every day, rough, rough every day. I said 130 years of Mondays.
[00:31:59] Bless you.
[00:32:01] Wait a minute. Whatever you blessed with, you better keep it off me.
[00:32:07] You know what's funny here is you get the flesh of a man in Jacob. He says, I got 130 years of bad days.
[00:32:16] But God made a promise to my family, and I'm blessed. This promise is going to be fulfilled. It's a rocky road. My life has been a rocky road. On the way to this. This. This realization of God's goodness. I know I'm blessed. I know God has made these incredible promises to my family. And I. I bless you, Pharaoh, on the basis of how I'm blessed. I'm under the hand of God. So I hold up my hand before you and say, may God bless you. Bless you. Now, do you know what's most radical about this? Pharaoh receives it. Why is that radical?
[00:32:50] Pharaoh was considered a God by his people, in his nation, in his culture. And what did he do? He accepted the blessing from a man.
[00:33:04] That's the part where you might not say amen. You might say, what? What?
[00:33:10] For real? Yeah. That's exactly what just happened. How could this happen? This is a thing of God.
[00:33:18] You see Jacob's attitude? Yeah. 130 years.
[00:33:21] It's been tough. Let me describe every day to you.
[00:33:25] Get a cup of coffee. This is going to be quite a story.
[00:33:30] And this man, this Pharaoh, who is considered a God among the people, a God over the nation, the most blessed one.
[00:33:41] He receives a blessing from Jacob.
[00:33:46] And why is this really important? Why is Moses telling this story now? As they prepare in the wilderness to go to the promised land, he wants them to be sure that this blessing God has given you will trump all of your pagan neighbors. It will open favor to you. It will close down arguments before you. It will cancel the power of rulers. He's telling this story for purpose. Brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus, you are sealed, secured, saved. You're being sanctified. We are blessed. That's why it's so critical how we go around using our words.
[00:34:34] That was some pretty good amening. But there was no amen. And everybody went, mmm, S, T, A, P, B, T, y'all. I stopped y'all.
[00:34:45] But it's just true.
[00:34:47] It's true.
[00:34:49] I don't believe in the. The sort of papist idea about the apostle Peter, but what did the Lord Jesus say about the apostle Peter? He says, peter, to you, I've given the kingdom keys to the kingdom. In other words, you're blessed. Whatever you bind will be bound. Whatever you set loose will be set loose. Brothers and sisters, we can't go around just naming and claiming stuff.
[00:35:13] If we could. I'm telling you, I ain't no telling how many hamburgers I'd eat. Because I just be like, lord Hamburger. I name it, I manifest.
[00:35:23] It's not about that. It's about realizing we are under covenant blessing.
[00:35:30] Under covenant blessing, we are blessed people. And how we speak out of our blessed position. Matters who you curse. Matters who you're good to, matters.
[00:35:42] We have this aroma on us that to the dead and dying and those headed to hell, it smells like the stink of death. But who? To those whom God has called. To those whom God is calling, it has the aroma of life.
[00:35:58] So there's the same good word about Jesus who flows from your mouth. To one, it smells like derision. To the others, it tastes like delight.
[00:36:08] This is good. I don't know if y'all know, but it's real good stuff.
[00:36:12] And God can open doors for his people. He can shut them, too. Amen.
[00:36:17] I mean, like, how many of y'all. How many of y'all have ever been to a Third World country? Raise your hand.
[00:36:23] Did you come back home? And just like, I'm gonna stop complaining about the potholes in my road, you know, I'm gonna stop fussing about everything.
[00:36:34] You know what I'm saying? Like, I'll never forget one of the first places I went, this guy was. We come to this village, and a guy was sitting there making shoes out of. Out of. At this time, it wasn't a lot of these around. He was making shoes out of plastic bottles, drink bottles that people have thrown away.
[00:36:53] I mean, you know, I'm like, you know, what is this guy doing? Is this some kind of, like, weird little craft? Knows his livelihood. He's making shoes out of castaway pop bottles. You know what I'm saying? And I come back home and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna be quiet. There are people that the height of their footwear is something I just drink. Drink and throw in the trash.
[00:37:14] And I'm fussing about, you know, I can't find. I can't find good shoes. I mean, I'll just hush my mouth and. Like, the first time I went to Asia, I don't. Them people gonna take over the world. Let me tell y'all. Why. They're eating anything.
[00:37:29] They gonna survive.
[00:37:32] I'll tell y'all. We are really blessed. Amen.
[00:37:36] Well, are we blessed because our government's so Christian and wonderful?
[00:37:41] I mean, we're sitting here and we don't have to hide from anybody.
[00:37:45] A church could get shot up. Amen. But we don't typically worry about that, do we?
[00:37:50] You can go to work. We think persecution is someone turning up their nose at us at work. That's not persecution. We're really blessed.
[00:37:59] God can do anything he wants to. And we just need to walk around knowing that. We don't need to walk around arrogant, thinking he owes us something. We ought to walk around expecting God to open doors for our good, to shut doors for our good.
[00:38:13] Lastly, and quickly, we see in this passage that wise leadership multiplies. Multiplies. Blessing. Multiplies. That's easy for y'all to say. Multiplies, blessing.
[00:38:27] Now, I have labored too long already. I know there's been like five or six sermons in here, okay?
[00:38:37] You saw what he did. I mean, Joseph. Joseph is just doing his job.
[00:38:42] You realize that? He's just doing his job. And what does his job accomplish? He gets all the money in the land, then he gets all the livestock in the land.
[00:38:57] Then he gets the land, then he gets the people on the land.
[00:39:03] Does that make anybody think of a Bible verse? It does me. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and everyone who what dwells there on dwells upon it.
[00:39:20] And you know what they say? They didn't say, man, this was dirty.
[00:39:26] This postmodern socialism just took all my money, all my stuff, all my land. They said, joseph, you saved us.
[00:39:33] You know why? Because it don't make no difference what you got if you starve to death.
[00:39:41] They willingly enter into this because the reward is worth the loss. Now, I don't know if y'all know. I just. I just paint y'all a picture of the Gospel.
[00:39:51] Whatever a man loses is worth what a man gains in Christ.
[00:39:58] We should happily say to the Lord Jesus, you've taken everything, but thank God you saved me.
[00:40:06] You claim lordship over everything I have, but you saved me.
[00:40:13] It's just one of those metaphors, but in the case of his job. In the case of his job, Joseph just represents his boss whale. Amen. He represents the interest of the government whale. He preserves the people. He solidifies the nation.
[00:40:36] And the people don't remain slaves forever. How do I know that? Because just keep reading the Bible. They don't remain slaves forever. But if you read your history book, you will see they became one of the most powerful, stable empires on the face of the planet.
[00:40:51] But here's what's interesting. Well, to me. Exodus, chapter one, verse eight.
[00:40:58] Now there arose a new king over Egypt. What does it say? Church, who did not know Joseph. Now, here's where a shift happens and it doesn't tell us the date, right? There's someone who. Who didn't know Joseph, who forgot Joseph, who forgot God's goodness to the nation through Joseph, who forgot the advocacy of Joseph for his people. Joseph was amazing, but he did not pass through the heavens. He died. He did not raise again.
[00:41:28] He, as a representative, a vicar of God, he died. And that was it. His. His. His ability to represent was over. So now what happens? Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And then what happens? And he said to his people, behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. And if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from land. Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pitham and Ramases. Okay, in other words, that Pharaoh was a good Pharaoh who knew Joseph. Later on, there's another king, there's another Pharaoh who forgets Joseph and enslaves the people. This is where walking in wisdom sometimes isn't enough. What do I mean by that? They hadn't changed where God had them, but the world abused them. Anyway, that's what happens. But what happens to them in Goshen? They're put in a place where they can multiply. Some people say they multiplied to 2 million. Some people say they multiplied to 4 million. They came into the land with that number is arguable 70, 75. 77. I don't know if y'all know math, but 2 million is a lot more than 75.
[00:42:45] I added it up. It's a lot.
[00:42:50] God positioned them to multiply. They multiplied. The wickedness of man is going to challenge the blessing of the people. And what will God do? Deliver them out of the hand of man.
[00:43:02] Now, brothers and sisters, there's so much more I'd like to say. I think this passage is more powerful than a first look we'll give you. I beg you to keep studying it this week. It is an extremely powerful, powerful passage where God rules by wisdom. He uses Joseph to take care of his family, to represent the Pharaoh, to save not only Egypt, but the people of Canaan, to build Egypt into a powerful kingdom, and to put God's people in a place to flourish. That was a lot.
[00:43:31] That was a lot. And he did it by wisdom.
[00:43:35] It was wise to say initially, tell them your shepherds, tell them. They won't want to mess with you.
[00:43:41] It was very wise. It was very wise. It was very wise. As they went into a severe famine, to wean the people who couldn't take care of themselves. To do it strategically and wisely and in steps. It was wise. And none of those people said, man, this is bad. We're slaves now, but this is bad. They said, man, this is good. We were saved. We'd have died without this. Wow.
[00:44:03] That was all wisdom, brothers and sisters. Christ is the wisdom of God. Let me close with this thought. In First Corinthians, chapter 1, the Bible reads like this. We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and a folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Brothers and sisters, did you know Christ is the wisdom of God? I'll give you a homework assignment. Go home tonight and read Proverbs chapter 8. Read Proverbs chapter 8. One of my favorite Puritan writers is a man named John Gill. John Gill said Proverbs 8 should be entitled Christ under the name of wisdom.
[00:44:46] Christ is the wisdom of God. Look at any situation and then look at Christ, and you can work out what God wants to do.
[00:44:57] What does God want to do? He wants to reconcile all things to himself. He wants to redeem all things. He wants us to bring everything under his lordship for his glory, for our good. He wants to set us free from the desires of our flesh. He wants to deliver us out of the hands of the fools of the world. He wants to redeem us out of the clutches of Satan. He wants to rescue us out of the pit of hell. He wants to keep us from the just judgment. Everything God wants to do is wrapped up in Christ Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the plan of God. He is the wisdom of God. And just like Joseph had to learn to walk by wisdom and lead kings to reign by it, we are meant to live under the reign of King Jesus, who is the wisdom of God.
[00:45:47] I got you one of these crazy stories in closing that I'm going to have to use a little bit of code language, okay? A little bit of code language. Adults. I never liked those places where I had those certain kind of dancers, y'all picking up what I'm putting down. I never liked them.
[00:46:07] And even with all my travels in the army, you know, I went all over the world, I generally avoided those places. Experiencing a couple of them, I didn't like that.
[00:46:18] You know, I'll take the average guy here and throw him in a limb grinder, you know, But I really. Some of the most powerful influences in my life are the women I grew up with. And somewhere along the line, they just gave me a great respect for women. And so I didn't go in those places, right?
[00:46:39] But there were a couple times I was with my friends and I melted under the pressure of them saying, like, you know, what are you, some kind of wimp? Y'all picking up what I'm putting down? They used a code word on me. No, show me the dancers.
[00:46:59] Well, I was working at this place that's now closed, Wolverine tube. And our team had won best maintenance team. And we were given some kind of reward where we all got a steakhouse in Burlington. I. I remember it was on Church street, but it's closed now. It was a great steakhouse. And so they say, listen, Bose, you know, you're, you know, you're straight laced. You don't drink. Why don't you drive us all? And I was like, oh, yeah, I will, you know, love to go to dinner with you guys. That'll be great. And so they were drinking and I wasn't. And when we left there, they wanted to go to one of these dancing places they used to be right over in Hull River. Don't smirk because we'll know you went there.
[00:47:41] Casey.
[00:47:46] Y'all see what I did, right? I got somebody.
[00:47:49] I'm better at this than y'all give me credit for.
[00:47:53] And, man, like, I was. I was really conflicted. Like, I. I'd already. I'd already. I mean, I've been witnessing These guys, I've been trying to lead to them, to Christ. And I'm like, I. I don't want to seem like a chump. I don't want to seem like a weakling, but I don't want to give up my testimony. And I. I don't want to go in that place.
[00:48:14] And so I drove them to the place, and they all got out of this borrowed minivan we had, and they began to walk inside, and I began to walk up to the interstate. My plan was to walk home.
[00:48:28] I knew I was being given a fortitude by the Holy Spirit and wisdom by the Holy Spirit. The best thing I could do for my testimony was walk away. The hardest thing I could do for my body is walk home from Burlington on a Friday night down 49.
[00:48:42] No mobile phones.
[00:48:45] And so I went up to the. To the. To the truck stop there. Flying Jay. And this will blow your mind. They used to have these things called public phones, payphones. You put quarters in them and call people. And care was off. Some friends, I couldn't get her. And no mobile phones, right? And I. I called and left strange messages with two or three friends. And one of them was my friend Dave. And I says, somebody need to come get me. I'll be walking down 49, trying not to get run over. Somebody come get me. And I start walking to Roxboro. And every step I take, I'm mad as fire.
[00:49:18] You know what I'm saying? I'm madder than fire.
[00:49:22] Going over to see the dancer. I ain't gonna see no dance. I ain't going. I'm going. I'm walking with Jesus down 49. That's what I'm doing, y'all. We'll say we're going to steakhouse and come back home. Go to steakhouse. You drive mad.
[00:49:38] I get down there to where you come off 49, you know, at green level. Other side of green level, if you know what I'm talking about. What's that, two or three miles? Whatever. I go four or five miles. I don't really know how far that is, but guy pulls over and it's my friend Dave. He go, what are you doing? I said, I ain't at the dancing. That's what I ain't doing.
[00:49:58] I'm walking to Roxborough.
[00:50:02] He gets in the car. He's not a Christian, my friend Dave. And he lets me calm down. He says, do you suppose this newfound faith of yours just saved you from something you didn't need to be involved in? And I'm Telling you a switch was hitting my life.
[00:50:19] I'm angry about being embarrassed.
[00:50:22] I'm angry about walking. I'm not joyful that simply walking for Jesus kept me out of a place I had no business being in.
[00:50:33] This wisdom and living by it is as exciting as getting saved. Because we're being saved.
[00:50:42] We're being saved.
[00:50:45] We're being. And there's a lot of. I can't tell a better story now. I'm so mad, y'all.
[00:50:50] Every step I took, I got mad or mad. I'd have fought all them guys. I'd have punched the dancers, the bartender.
[00:50:58] I was so mad because I told him, I said, we ain't getting into nothing now. We're just going to the steakhouse.
[00:51:05] They had different kinds of cuts on me. Don't mind. And I did.
[00:51:10] Brothers and sisters.
[00:51:13] Getting his family to Egypt was a big deal. Amen.
[00:51:18] Reconciling with his brothers was a big deal. Amen.
[00:51:24] Reunified with his dad is beautiful. Amen.
[00:51:28] Getting to know his younger brother is an incredible portrait.
[00:51:33] But settling in the land to prosper under the hand of the Lord is just a bigger deal.
[00:51:42] And you, brothers and sisters in this place, learning how to prosper under the hand of the Lord is a big deal.
[00:51:49] And you need wisdom.
[00:51:54] You need wisdom. Do you know him?
[00:52:01] Did you hear me? What did I just say?
[00:52:04] Or I asked, actually, what did I ask?
[00:52:07] What did I not ask?
[00:52:10] Do you know it?
[00:52:12] Right? Because what is the wisdom of God? Who is the wisdom of God? It is Christ. Do you know him? Do you actually walk in him?
[00:52:25] This wisdom, the one who saves, saves. Do you know him?
[00:52:36] If you don't, how do you know him?
[00:52:39] The Bible says you repent.
[00:52:41] Repent of the wisdom of the world. That says you don't need to be saved. Repent of the wisdom of the world. That says you can save yourself. Repent of the wisdom of the world that says there's nothing immoral and there's no enemy worthy to be saved from. Repent of the wisdom of the world and receive the wisdom of God. Repent and believe. Believe on Jesus. The Bible says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. You believe God about Christ and Christ will be counted to you as righteousness. And you'll be hidden in the wisdom of God. And he wants you to learn to walk by the wisdom of God. And the wisdom of God is Christ.
[00:53:19] Do you know him?
[00:53:23] Monday is not a day to hate. Monday is a day to walk in him.
[00:53:30] Do you know him? Let's pray, Father, this. This. This revelation, this account of how you formed this people Israel, how you created a garden from which you would bring forth a vine, a vine that would grow so strong that all the little birds of the air could gather in it.
[00:54:10] This story is not a collection of literature. It is a revelation to us. There is nothing you cannot move. There is no situation you can't use to get to people, to make them your own and to sustain them.
[00:54:31] I pray, Father, that if there's a single soul that is yet to believe on Jesus, that you would rescue us out of darkness and deliver us into the kingdom of your beloved Son. And that wisdom, that Jesus Christ himself would save us and be saving us until we're saved.
[00:54:55] Father, lead this local church to walk in wisdom. This world is confused that you long to lead us. Lead us, oh Lord, make us a humble, ready people. Humble before you and ready to be led by you. Lead us by wisdom. Lead us by Jesus in Christ I pray. Amen. Let's stand together and sing right.
