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Genesis 50
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;1 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 people2 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.3 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
[1] 50:11
[2] 50:20
[3] 50:23
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
This morning church, we are finishing our study of Genesis that we began last fall. And so if you would turn to chapter 50. Chapter 50 really is a summary of all 50 chapters that we have found in Genesis, all the way from the creation story to the end of the life of Joseph. And we won't be reading all of chapter 50, we'll begin in chapter or verse 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.
Joel Brooks:So they sent a message to Joseph saying, your father gave this command before he died. 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. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, behold we are your servants.
Joel Brooks:But Joseph said to them, do not fear for am I in the place of God? 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. So do not fear, I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus, he comforted them and he spoke kindly to them.
Joel Brooks:This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Pray with me. Father, we ask that you would honor the very reading of your word and through your spirit, you would now open up our hearts and our minds to receive what you would have for us. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but, Lord, may your words remain and may they change us.
Joel Brooks:We pray this in the strong name of Jesus, amen. The last time that Joseph was in Canaan was 35 years earlier, And a lot has changed during this time. I can't imagine the emotions that he had to be feeling after burying his father and then walking that road back to Egypt. The last time that he had walked that road, he was being led out as a slave. But now this time, he is being, he's going back on that road and he's going back to Egypt as the second most powerful man in all of Egypt.
Joel Brooks:It would have been quite an emotional time and I'm sure every landmark he saw triggered a memory. And his brothers had to be watching, seeing this emotional time for Joseph, and they began to get worried. When they arrived back in Egypt, that worry turned to a panic. What if Joseph had only been nice to them because their father was alive, but now that Jacob is dead, Jacob or Joseph is going to kill them. So they're terrified, so they come up with a plan.
Joel Brooks:And this is the best plan that they can come up with. They send a letter to Joseph that essentially says, dad said be nice to us. That's their plan. I mean, they've they've had about 17 years knowing this day was coming to think of it. That's the best they could come up with, dad said be nice to us.
Joel Brooks:Obviously, you can see right through that. And so when Joseph got that letter and he read it, he wept. He wept because he realized that that moment that his brothers never actually thought he had he had truly honestly forgiven them. He wept because he knew that for all these past years, they've been living with guilt and they've been living with shame, They didn't have to live with that. I mean, can you imagine the guilt and the shame that these brothers felt?
Joel Brooks:I mean, think of it when they had to go back and they had to tell their dad that Joseph was actually alive. I can remember as a kid, I once I was in our church parking lot and I threw a baseball and I hit someone's car and I damaged it. When I had to go to that owner of the car and tell them what I did, I thought I was going to throw up. Such guilt and shame from that. This is a lot worse.
Joel Brooks:I'm not even sure how you begin this conversation. I mean, dad, you have a minute? I'd like to talk to you about something. You remember that time we brought you your favorite son, Joseph's coat, and it was it was covered with all blood, and we told you that, you know, wild beast had killed him. Funny story actually, Joseph's not dead, he's actually alive, he's in Egypt, God's raised him up to position of power, he's taken care of all of us so everything's alright, right?
Joel Brooks:Can you imagine that? I'm sure that when Jacob heard those words, he let a lot of 4 letter Hebrew words fly. And they felt total guilt and total shame. And they have been living under this shame for a long, long time. 1 of the obvious omissions that we have when we were in the mid forties chapters in Genesis, when Joseph reveals himself, we don't have any word of the brothers asking for forgiveness.
Joel Brooks:It's an obvious omission there. You would expect it. But I don't think they were, I think they were so filled with guilt and shame, they couldn't even hope for such a thing. And so what happens is you see them waiting 17 years for they finally, they can ask for forgiveness. But even now, when they ask for it, they don't think Joseph will freely give it.
Joel Brooks:And so they come up with a lie in order to ask for Joseph's forgiveness. I mean, this family, this family makes you want to pull your hair out. So they're they're lying to Joseph while asking for forgiveness from Joseph. So this family still has some issues. But I don't want us to miss actual beauty of this moment because it is beautiful.
Joel Brooks:Think of this, Abraham had 2 sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and they didn't get along and they forever separated. And then you have Isaac, he had 2 sons, He had Esau and Jacob. They hated one another, so they separated, briefly met again, and then forever separated. And it's not until we get to Jacob that we actually see a family reconciled. And this is what God has been after all along in this story is reconciliation.
Joel Brooks:When we think of the story of Joseph, we often, think about how God has used all that's happened in Joseph's life in order to save thousands of people from the famine. And that's perfectly right. That's appropriate to think of the story that way. But remember, God could have saved all these people thousands of different ways like by not bringing a famine in the first place. But here we get to see the real reason he was doing all of this.
Joel Brooks:It was reconciliation. This family, if you remember, they were a fractured mess when we first met them. But then we see God start exposing idols and and ripping those idols away, throwing people into prison, taking father and children through unspeakable pain, unbelievable grief, all so he could make that family whole. And what we learn here is that reconciliation is so important to God, there is no lengths that he won't go to. There's no amounts of pain he will not bring or suffering he might bring in order to accomplish reconciliation.
Joel Brooks:And of course what we learn here, what we see here, in its seed form, we see fully grown in the tree of Jesus. Who went through horrible injustice and pain, all in order that we might be reconciled with God. This is certainly one of the things that I have learned, from my friendship with Alton Hardy. If you remember when Alton came and preached at our church, he he talked about the horrible injustice that he had to endure, the the the evils that were done against him. But what the people around him meant for evil, God meant for good.
Joel Brooks:And like Joseph, God began to work into Alton's heart to make it grow hot with compassion, warm with mercy, not vengeance. And God rose up Alton in such a way that he might be used as a instrument of reconciliation, and it's become a beautiful thing. And Alton and I, we have actually, we've talked a lot about this, but one of the ways I can see this playing out in the future, concerning both Christianity and and race is this, a day is coming, perhaps rapidly coming, in which white evangelical Christians will no longer be in a position of power and influence. This is a position that white pastors have enjoyed through much of America's history. White pastors have certainly had a whole lot of sway and a whole lot of influence over the last 200 years, and it doesn't take a genius to see how this influence is rapidly coming to an end in our society, and we haven't handled that power very well anyway.
Joel Brooks:So as a white pastor now, I have to ask a question, where will I go? Who am I gonna go to lean on to help guide me through, what for me is gonna be uncharted waters? Who can I lean on that's endured this? Who has already over the years faithfully served God when they haven't had the power? Faithfully served God in the face of injustice or oppression.
Joel Brooks:Well, I'm gonna lean on my black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ. That's who I will lean on Because they have modeled what it meant or what it means to follow Jesus and to love their neighbor when they are powerless and oppressed, and so I'm gonna rely on their leadership. I'm gonna rely on their guidance. I I already do. And so I thank you, Pastor Elton, I thank you, Doctor Beavers, for your friendship and for the way that you have already been leading me, in preparing me for the days ahead.
Joel Brooks:Whatever people have intended for evil, we rest in the fact that God intends for good. When Joseph's brothers here, when they fall on their faces before him, Joseph responds with those words. Verse 20, it's the it's one of the most famous sections in all of Genesis. What you meant for evil, God meant for good. And these words serve not just as the summary of the Joseph story, they actually serve as a summary of all of Genesis.
Joel Brooks:Why did God create a world that he knew would go awry? Why did God allow the serpent into the garden? Why didn't God just eradicate evil when it first came into this world? Why do we have to live in a fallen world? Why is there so much suffering and pain?
Joel Brooks:The answer is this, whatever was intended for evil, God has intended this for good. God is sovereign. God is in control and God is good. And the end result of all of this is going to be salvation and reconciliation. That's the answer.
Joel Brooks:You meant this for evil, God meant this for good. And understanding God's goodness and his sovereignty allows us to weather any storm. It allowed Joseph to weather any storm. He knew who God was, and he also knew who he was. When Joseph's brothers, they come to him, and they're seeking, Please don't punish us, Joseph.
Joel Brooks:Joseph responds by saying this, am I in the place of God? Vengeance belongs to God, not me. I'm not God. And once again, I believe that this is a summary statement of what we have been seeing throughout Genesis. We have seen throughout this book what happens when people have tried to put themselves in the place of God.
Joel Brooks:Things have gone horribly wrong. We actually saw that in the very first sin, in the very first pages of Genesis, when Adam and Eve ate from that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why did they eat it? We read because they looked at it and they knew that they wanted, they saw the fruit and that it can make them like God. They wanted to be like God.
Joel Brooks:1000 and 1000 of years have gone by, but the desire to be like God has never gone away. It's something that we as humans still struggle with. It's actually the the source or the root of all of our sins. We put ourselves in the position of God. And it's easy to come up with examples for this, but I just want to give us 2 or 3 examples of how we put ourselves in the position of God.
Joel Brooks:1st is this, we become our own moral authority. The Bible clearly tells us that certain things are right, certain things are wrong, But how often do we look at those things and we think, Yeah. I mean I I I can see that's clear, I can yeah, I may understand what God is saying, but I personally don't think that is right, and I'm going to do what I want to do. And we become our own moral authority. In other words, we treat God's moral law kinda like we treat the laws to social distance ourselves right now.
Joel Brooks:Have you noticed there is absolutely no consistency what so ever in social distancing practices? The only constant that I have found is that people will use social distancing whenever it's convenient. And so, if you don't wanna go into the office or if you don't wanna meet that person for lunch, you just pull out social distancing and say, you know, I wish I could, but you know, the law says I've gotta do this. But if you want to be with that group, if if you want to be with your friends, well social distancing is out and you could just go hang with them. Because I can assure you of this, I've walked Jameson Trail many times and there is absolutely zero social distancing as you see the herds of people walking by.
Joel Brooks:And redeemer couple, you know who you are, who's dating, I saw you holding hands, and you are not in the same household. You know who you are. So we treat God's moral law like that though. It's just a suggestion, but we're our own moral authority. So God's word concerning sex, marriage, how we need to forgive one another, how we need to be generous with our money and give to the poor.
Joel Brooks:We know that those things are crystal clear, yet we choose to do what we want to do. During this quarantine, Lauren and I probably like many of you have taken this time to clean up pretty much everything that you could possibly clean up in a home. We've been throwing things away, we've been purging the house and, we've we've reached these levels. We've actually gone into our basement, pulled out all these old files and we've started shredding them, which is a very satisfying thing to do. Our children have loved shredding all the documents, but we actually found our old w twos.
Joel Brooks:We have saved all of them for the last 24 years and, so I'm looking at our old w twos. Do you have any idea how much, Lauren and I made collectively, in our 1st year of marriage? Together, we made $16,000 our 1st year. Even after, you know, I finally finished seminary, my first 4 years in ministry, the most I ever made was $24,000 a year. So the college students that I would take out to lunch had more money than I did in those times.
Joel Brooks:Yet, during all of that, it was just a non negotiable that Lauren and I would tithe and we would give. It's just not really something we even had to think about it's just something you would do. And I'm not saying this in order to pat myself on the back because we were only doing what God had required of all believers, all believers to do this. I'm telling you this story because I want you to know that Lauren and I never once lacked ever. God always provided.
Joel Brooks:And this is true of every one of God's commands he gives us. I know that there are some commands that you hear and you read and are crystal clear and you hear, but you think if I obey that, that will be the absolute end to me. If I with stain, withhold, you know, not having sex until I'm married, that's gonna be the end of me. If I if I have to give up on this grudge I'm holding against some person and forgive them, that's gonna be the end of me. If I have to give when I don't feel like I have much money, well that's going to be the end of me.
Joel Brooks:But hear me, it won't be. You will never lack. And what you find is the very thing that you thought was gonna mean your destruction, where the end of you is the very pathway in which God brings you unspeakable joy. God doesn't set up his moral commands as a way of keeping us down. They're a way of infusing life and joy into us because he's teaching us what we were designed for.
Joel Brooks:So submitting to His moral authority becomes the pathway for joy. Alright, let's look at another way. Another way that we put ourselves in the position of God is by acting like we are all knowing. How many times have you thought you could read someone else's mind? I mean, think about it.
Joel Brooks:And how often has that gotten you in trouble, yet you keep doing it, you keep ascribing motive to people, you keep thinking, of course, I could look in there and see the inner workings of everything going on in your heart and your mind. But this is something that belongs to God alone. Think of all the evils that we ascribe to people because we believe we know what they are truly thinking. You know, if a politician that you really dislike does something good, what's your first thought? You can read their mind.
Joel Brooks:The only reason they're doing this good thing is because they're just trying to win win votes. And so we've become a people who cannot even praise a good action done by somebody we dislike. We can't do it because we just have to ascribe motive yet that is something that belongs to God alone. He alone knows what makes people tick. He alone can read the people's minds.
Joel Brooks:If someone says to you, you know that they were gonna give you a call and they were going to invite you to join, you know, this group of friends as they were going out to dinner but I was gonna do it but my phone died. And you immediately think liar. They would have called, they could have borrowed a phone, they just didn't want me there. You believe you can read that person's mind. How many times has that gotten you in trouble?
Joel Brooks:This is something that only God can do. A final one, and once again there's many that we could pull out, but a final way that we put ourselves in the place of God is by worrying. When we worry about something, what we are saying is that we are in control. That we are the ones who should be in control of the situation, not God. So when we worry about whether or not we're going to get sick or whether we are still going to have a job or whether our kids are gonna turn out okay or or whether we're ever going to find a spouse.
Joel Brooks:When we worry about these things, what we are doing is we're saying we're in control of all of them. Not God, but but me. And hear me, we were not meant to carry that weight. That's God's job. Martin Luther, his best friend was a man named Philip Melanchthon who was prone to worry.
Joel Brooks:He was actually a very timid fearful man, and any time the Pope would just lash out at, at Martin Luther, it was Philip who would tremble with anxiety. And one time, Martin Luther just looked at Philip and he said, Let Philip cease to rule the world. Because that's really what anxiety is, is when we think we have to rule the world, but we were not meant to carry that weight. That's God's job. And so these are the ways that we put ourselves in the position of God.
Joel Brooks:And what we see here is that although Joseph was one of the most powerful men in the world, he refused to do that. He knew he was not God. And this put him in a position to actually be used by God for reconciliation and salvation. At Joseph's best, he merely points us to the one that is greater than him. He doesn't point to himself.
Joel Brooks:Jesus was the one who died and rose again to bring in reconciliation for us. And it's in Jesus that we place our trust, not in men like Joseph. Alright. So let's look how Genesis ends here. Genesis ends by looking at a future hope.
Joel Brooks:Look at verse 24. And Joseph said to his brothers, I'm about to die. But God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died being a 110 years old.
Joel Brooks:They embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. So we read here as Joseph was dying, he says to his brothers and I I think the brothers there is just his way of saying his family, I don't think it's his older brothers who are likely dead at this moment. But he he says to his brothers here, God will visit you and God will bring you to the promised land. And these are very comforting words, but I want also want you to hear this. They are a acknowledgment of failure.
Joel Brooks:Israel's descendants are fully capable of going back to the promised land now. They're fully capable. They could do it now. No one's holding a gun to their head saying you have to stay in Egypt. You can't go back home.
Joel Brooks:No one is doing that. They're not being forced to stay. They're not slaves. Yet here Joseph says, God has to come and to deliver them. And what we actually see is they are slaves.
Joel Brooks:Israel's slavery begins here. It's not it's not the slavery in which you're bound by chains and you have to do hard work. It's the exact opposite slavery. They are now a slave to comfort. They're a slave to wealth.
Joel Brooks:They become slaves to all the comforts of Egypt. I mean once the famine was over, they should have gone right back to the promised land. They should have gone back to Canaan, but they chose not to because Egypt had grown on them. They got roots there. They've become comfortable.
Joel Brooks:I mean with Joseph being in command and all, they they've now got some clout, they've got some wealth, they've got the best land in the land of Goshen and Egypt. And so they decided, let's quit being sojourners. Let's plant ourselves right here. But they didn't plant themselves in the promises of God. They didn't go back to the land God had promised them.
Joel Brooks:And Jacob Jacob, at the end of his life, I think he recognized his failure. I think he made a final plea to Joseph and his blessing. Do you remember last week, when we were looking at Genesis 48 and Jacob, he crosses his hands there and he's making this blessing but all the while he's looking at Joseph while he's blessing the grandchildren. When he finishes blessing the grandchildren, he speaks these words to Joseph. It's his last words to him.
Joel Brooks:Joseph, I'm gonna leave something to you. I'm not leaving it to the brothers. I'm leaving it to you. I've got this one little mountain slope that I fought for and acquired. It's small.
Joel Brooks:It's this little mountain slope. It's yours. And he leaves Joseph with that. And what that is by this this old dying man, it's actually a plea to Joseph. Joseph, I know you've become powerful.
Joel Brooks:I know you have become wealthy. You have every comfort and pleasure imaginable here. But, Joseph, this is not your home. I know you have endless tracts of land, all of that here, but plant yourself in the promise of God. I know it's small, but go back home.
Joel Brooks:God has promised us that land. So he please pleads with Joseph. But Joseph does not go back. Neither do his brothers. And now Joseph is dying and Joseph realizes his failure.
Joel Brooks:So his dying words is this, he makes his family promise, don't leave my bones here in Egypt. Take them back to the promised land. Take them back to Canaan. But he realizes if that were to ever happen, God would have to do a miracle. God himself would have to come and to save them because they were enslaved to their comfort.
Joel Brooks:And later, they would become enslaved in chains. God did come and visit them 400 years later when he came and visited them visited them through Moses, and he freed them. But more than that, we see that deliverance coming through Jesus Christ. Through that promise that we read here, God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land he swore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's a summary of the new testament, and it's also the promise to which we still now hold.
Joel Brooks:It's why we pray, Jesus, come, Lord, quickly. Take us home. So I hope you're hearing these words, It's not just a blessing. It's not just words of comfort. This is a challenge for us, church.
Joel Brooks:Will you hold on to that little piece of land? Will you plant yourself in the promises of God rather than enjoying the passing pleasures of sin? And all the while, we are hoping and praying that God will come, Maranatha, come, Lord, quickly and save us. Pray with me. Our father, we thank you for this great book, Genesis, that you have preserved over many, many years so that we might read it and know you.
Joel Brooks:We thank you for the things that it teaches about us, the ways that it points us towards Jesus, and we just want to declare that Jesus is our hope. Unless you sent Jesus for us, we'd be lost, enslaved with our sins, but you have freed us and you have brought reconciliation, and you are our hope. We love you, father, son, and spirit. We pray this in your name. Amen.