Gold for the heart - Genesis 45-47

Genesis 45

1 Then Joseph was not able to control himself before all those that stood by him; and he called out, Out! All of you. And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians heard and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph; Is my father still alive? And his brothers could not answer him because they were terrified at his presence. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, Now come near to me. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, who you sold into Egypt.

God sends ahead to preserve life

5 Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves that you sold me here: for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land two years: there are still five years in which there will not be plowing or harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve a remnant for you in the earth, to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you that sent me here, but God: and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all of his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Each time you share your faith with another person you are preserving their life eternally, if they believe. The eternal deliverance that god gives us is far greater than this deliverance from starvation.

Mark 16:15 Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and have set down with my Father in his throne.

9 Hurry, go up to my father and say to him, Your son Joseph says this, God has made me lord of all Egypt: come down to me, do not delay: 10 And you will live in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me, you and your children, and your grandchildren, and your flocks, and your herds, and all that you have: 11 And I will nourish you there; for there are still five years of famine; so you, and your household, and all that you have not come to poverty. 12 Behold your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 And you will tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; hurry and bring my father down here.

Joseph told his brothers to tell of all his glory.
The glory of Jesus is far greater. Jesus wants to bring us to live with Him.
God paid the greatest price ever to make this possible. He is preparing a place for us.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1 Peter 1:18-19 For you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold… 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot:

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

14 Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15 He kissed all his bothers, and wept on them: and after that his brothers talked with him. 16 And the fame of it was heard in Pharaoh's house saying, Joseph's brothers have come: and it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this; load your animals, and go to the land of Canaan; 18 And take your father and your households, and come to me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Philippians 4:19 But my God will supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

19 Now you are commanded, do this; take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father and come. 20 Also do not regard your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. 21 And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22 He gave changes of clothing to each man; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of clothing. 23 And to his father he sent the following; ten asses loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses loaded with grain and bread and food for his father on the way. 24 So he sent his brothers away and they departed: and he said to them, See that you do not quarrel on the way. 25 So they left Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan to Jacob their father, 26 And told him saying, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he did not believe them. 27 And they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them: and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive: I will go and see him before I die.

Jacob had favored Joseph, causing His brothers to be jealous. The jealous brothers hated Joseph, nearly killing him and then sold their little brother into slavery. God turned all that evil and wrong into good.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Genesis 46

God goes with us into uncertain places

1 Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here I am. 3 And he said, I am God, the God of your father: do not fear to go down to Egypt; for there I will make you into a great nation: 4 I will go down with you into Egypt; and I will surely bring you up again: and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.

Putting his hand on Jacob’s eyes was closing his eyes at death.
The sacrifices Jacob offered pictured God sending His Son to die for our sins.
To approach God today we remember that Christ died for all our sins and we are accepted in the Beloved in Christ.
God speaks to us when we read His word.
Men who cannot make a breath of air or a blade of grass wrote all the books in the world except one.
The Creator of the universe gave us the Bible (2 Timothy 3:15, 16, 2 Peter 1:21).

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you.

5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 And they took their livestock, and their goods that they had gotten in the land of Canaan and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: 7 He brought with him all his seed, his sons and his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters into Egypt.

This fulfilled the prophecy that God gave Abraham in Genesis 15:13, that his seed would be foreigners in a land not their own.

8 And these are the names of the children of Israel that came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn. 9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, Phallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. 11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 And the sons of Judah; Er, Onan, Shelah, Pharez, and Zerah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.13 And the sons of Issachar; Tola, Phuvah, Job, and Shimron. 14 And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These were the sons of Leah that she bore to Jacob in Padan-aram, with his daughter Dinah: 33 souls of his sons and daughters. 16 And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and she bore sixteen souls to Jacob.

God loves people.
He carefully records their names and lives.
These people are the building blocks of God’s beloved nation Israel.
Each person is a unique creation of God—special to God—made in His image— precious to Him.

Deuteronomy 32:9 For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt, who Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare to him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel that were born to Jacob: fourteen souls. 23 And the sons of Dan; Hushim. 24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these seven souls to Jacob. 26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, that came out of his loins, not including Jacob's sons' wives, 66 souls; 27 And the sons of Joseph that were born to him in Egypt were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob that came to Egypt were seventy.

God had promised to make Abraham’s descendants too numerous to count.
The number given here is seventy.
At a 5% yearly increase, or 5 children per 100 people, they would be 3,000,000 at the end of the 400 years (Genesis 15:13).
God calls forth the generations from the beginning.

Isaiah 41:4 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

28 And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to direct his face to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph hitched his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel and presented himself to him; and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.

Jesus also will come out to meet us.

1Thessslonians 4:16-18 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first: 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so we will ever be with the Lord.

30 And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die since I have seen your face, because you are still alive. 31 And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's house, I will go up and show Pharaoh and say to him, My brothers, and my father's house that were in the land of Canaan have come to me; 32 These men are shepherds, livestock breeders; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. 33 And it will happen, when Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation? 34 You say, Your servants' have been livestock breeders from our youth even until now, both we, and our ancestors: so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Goshen was the lush Nile River delta region—the best land in Egypt.

Psalm 40:5 O LORD my God, you have done many miracles for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

Genesis 47

1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh saying, My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen. 2 And he took some of his brothers, five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers. 4 They said to Pharaoh, We have come to stay for a short while; because your servants have no pasture for their flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we ask you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. 5 And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph saying, Your father and your brothers have come to you: 6 The land of Egypt is before you; make your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen: and if you know any capable men among them, then make them rulers over my livestock.

Joseph had told the brothers to tell Pharaoh that they were herdsmen and livestock breeders (Genesis 46:33, 34), because shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.
The brothers told the truth and were accepted by Pharaoh. Jesus will present before his angels those who confess Him before men.

Luke 12:8 Also I say to you, Whoever will confess me before men, the Son of man also will confess him before the angels of God…
Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and have set down with my Father in his throne.

7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How old are you? 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years: the days of the years of my life have been few and evil, and I have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

God has given His people the power to bless others.
Jacob had trouble with his brother Esau, then his four wives, his sons (Genesis 34) and then his uncle Laban. God turned suffering into blessing.

Romans 8:18-19, 28 For I conclude that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us…28 For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose.

11 So 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 nourished his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household with food, as a little child is nourished. 13 And there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted because 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, 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: for why should we die in your presence? For the money is gone. 16 And Joseph said, Give your livestock; and I will give you for your livestock, if money fails. 17 And they brought their livestock to Joseph: and Joseph gave them food in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with food for all their livestock for that year. 18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year and said to him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of livestock; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands: 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land not be desolate.

Notice that there was no free ride, no handout.
The people worked, retained their dignity, and were humbled in heart.
God gave man work to bring good to his soul (Genesis 3, Psalm 107:10-13).
God cannot bless pride and self-centeredness.
God is the source of prosperity. When He is neglected this is the result.
God nourishes us with His best.

John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me will never hunger; and he that believes on me will never thirst.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you.

20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians, every man sold his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he moved them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end of it. 22 Only he did not buy the land of the priests; for the priests had a portion assigned them from Pharaoh, and ate their portion that Pharaoh gave them: so they did not sell their lands.

Egypt’s priests kept their lands because they ate from the Pharaoh’s table.
Later, in the nation Israel, God’s priests didn’t have land as their portion.
The Lord was their inheritance and provided their food through the offerings of the people.

Lamentations 3:24 The LORD is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in him.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: look, here is seed for you to sow the land. 24 And it will come to pass in the increase, that you will give the fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for those of your households, and for food for your little ones. 25 And they said, You have saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, for Pharaoh to have the fifth part/20 percent; except the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.

Notice their gratitude. Welfare often produces the attitude of entitlement while work produces humility.
God has saved the eternal lives of those who trust in Him. He has poured His grace upon us.

27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions in it, and grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was 147 years. 29 And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph and said to him, Now if I have found grace in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; I beg you, do not bury me in Egypt: 30 Let me lie with my fathers, and carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as you have said. 31 And he said, Swear to me. And he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself on the bed's head.

Many Jews today send their remains to Israel for burial because that’s where they want to be resurrected. God will raise the dead.

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead men will live, together with my dead body they will rise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the dead.

John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet he will live: 26 And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?

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SUMMARY: Genesis 45-47

He sends ahead to preserve life
He goes with us into uncertain places
He provides and promotes in the most uncertain circumstances