Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast.
We're so glad you chose to listen today.
This week's message explores the emotional and spiritual journey of Joseph and his brothers
during their reunion in Egypt.
We'll look at the themes of necessity, desperation, and divine provision as outlined in Genesis
43.
Through Joseph's compassionate actions, we see a reflection of Christ's character as
a provider, server, and blesser.
Join us as we examine these powerful moments of reconciliation, trust, and the transformative
work of God in the hearts of his people.
Thanks for listening.
Well, good morning.
If you got your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join me in Genesis
chapter 43.
It was a great morning.
I'm in our studies today.
I had a wonderful time.
I'm in here.
We're working through a study of angels, demons, and Satan here in the auditorium at 9 a.m.
I know there's other studies happening.
One's in 104.
Other ones are over in building, too.
And so if you're one of our adults, we want to encourage you to come and to be a part of
those.
Just a wonderful time that we can be together.
But then also, you know, just our kids' ministry back in this morning, our student ministry back
in this morning to meet at 9 a.m.
Just a wonderful, wonderful time.
So we want to invite you all.
Hey, it's the new year.
We're building some new practices and some new disciplines into our life and want to encourage
you to come and to be a part of that.
Just a wonderful opportunity for us to do this together.
If you are a first-time guest, at the end of the service, my wife and I will be back here
to my left at the very back at that black table back there.
And if you're a first-time guest, if you wouldn't mind, just a couple minutes, just stop by
there.
We would love to just meet you.
We would love to learn your name.
And thank you for being here and for worshiping with us.
And if there is any questions that you have about our church, about our ministry, about
our outreach, our strategy, our missions, whatever it is that you have questions about, it's
a wonderful place to get those answered.
But we would love to have you with us.
We're grateful to have you with us this morning.
So we're going to get started in our time of studying God's word together.
And by doing so, I want to read one of our verses, or two of our verses this morning from
Genesis 43, starting verse 29, it says, and he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother
Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke of?
God be gracious to you, my son.
Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother.
And he sought a place to weep.
And he entered his chamber and wept there.
Would you pray with me?
God, we thank you for the wonderful beauty and the truth of your word.
God, we thank you that we could gather together earlier this morning.
God, I pray this morning that as we look at Genesis 43, or as we continue to look at the battle and
the famine, God, that we would see very clearly and evidently the work of your hand.
And God, we would praise you for it.
God, thank you for the joy and the beauty of what it means for me to be able to pastor
this church.
God, as I share this morning from your word, God, would there be less of me and there be
more of you.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Well, last week, we've been working through Genesis.
In fact, I was working on some of my spring teaching calendar this week.
And if you're curious, we've been almost in Genesis for roughly two years.
I think in total, that's like 56 messages so far that we've worked through, which means
we've been taking some breaks.
But I do.
Berger and I were talking.
I think February 16th, actually, we'll kind of wrap up our time in Genesis.
And then I believe we're going to be jumping into Titus at that point.
So it'd be a good opportunity for us to do that.
But we've been working through this and we're seeing the work in the hand of God moving in
and particularly building on from last week in Genesis 40, at the end of 41, actually, and
then end of 42, we see that the reality of where we find ourselves is that a famine has
hit, a worldwide famine has come.
And with that, it brings all the death and the destruction and the desperation of what
we would think of when we think of a famine.
And this famine didn't just affect a village.
It didn't affect a country.
It didn't affect a region.
That God's word is very clear that it affected the entire world.
And that's the point, that's the bottom, that's the valley that we find ourselves in in Scripture
during this time.
And we ask the question in your life and in mine, what happens when earthly optimism, as
limited as that is, and earthly realities collide?
Like what happens with us then?
And what do you and I need to do as we walk through the famines of this world, as we walk
through the difficulties of this world, as we walk through the struggles of this world, how
in the world do we gain a heavenly perspective in these moments?
And we're seeing from the life of this family, this family that we've been journeying with
for a very long time, all the way back to old Grandpa Abraham, we're seeing the faithfulness
in the hands of God.
So for you and I, what do we do, what do we desire when God allows, ordains, sends famine
our way?
And what we came to last week, what we'll be pushing forward this week is continuing on to
trust that God is both working in and working through the famine, whatever that famine looks
like, medical, financial, relational, emotional, whatever famine that you find yourselves in,
that when as followers of Jesus Christ, that we can trust that God is both working in and
working through the difficulty that we find ourselves in.
And I think what we're going to see here specifically in chapter 43 is some specific examples of
how God can choose to work in these times, to give us a hope to piece these together of some
examples within this family, within this circumstance, within this family that I think that we can apply
to our life and our walk of where we find ourselves.
So the story as we look through Genesis, Genesis is built around in a lot of ways as Genesis continues
to be the story of God and His revelation of mankind for who He is and His desire and His will for our
lives.
But we see these individuals that it's themed around during that time.
And we found ourselves now that we're with Joseph.
We're with Joseph.
So just a quick little recap, not as much as last week, but if you weren't here with us,
I want to kind of bring you up to speed that almost 20 years ago in the historical timeline
of Scripture with where we find ourselves in thousands of years earlier, but in the story
of Scripture 20 years ago, Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery, sell him into slavery,
tell daddy's dead.
Right?
Like the epitome of the dysfunctional family.
And this is what we find here.
And being sold into slavery, if that wasn't enough, Joseph goes through some of the most difficult
years of his life.
But what we find is that through that, what is reassuring to us, what reminder and brings hope
to us is that through all of the difficulty, God is faithful to him.
And Joseph, and Joseph, while not perfect, is faithful to God.
So we see this man who's taken from his home, who's betrayed by his family, who's sold into
slavery, whose dad thinks that he's dead, has now found himself through the hand and the
work and the move of God, not through, I do not believe in coincidence, but through the
purposes and plans of God, finds himself, once a slave, once imprisoned, now finds himself
as the second in charge in Egypt.
He's responsible for the finances, he's responsible for the food, for the agriculture.
And so we find ourselves, there's a famine.
There's a famine.
And the beauty of the story is Joseph is not in panic because there is a famine, but Joseph
is in confidence of the plan of God because God had Joseph prepared for this.
Season, in this time, and so there's food stored up in Egypt, and so people come there who
need to buy food, and they must buy it from Joseph.
And so what we found in Genesis, the end of 41, is that when the famine comes, and remember,
it's a worldwide famine, and so it affects Joseph's family.
It says Joseph's dad, Jacob, also known as Israel, sends his other sons to Egypt to buy grain.
And so they unknowingly find themselves standing before their brother Joseph.
And Joseph, instead of bringing a death sentence, instead extends life, extends blessing, extends
favors, favor to his brothers, and sends them back home with grain, but with the expectation
that they will return, and that when they return, that they will bring their younger brother,
Benjamin, with them.
And so, starting in chapter 43, we'll pick up in verse 1.
Now, the famine was severe in the land, so it's continued on.
And when they, this is Joseph's family, had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt,
their father said to them, go again and buy us a little food.
But Judah said to him, the man, now he's speaking about Joseph, remember, but he does not know
that this is Joseph.
The man solemnly warned us, saying, you shall not see my face unless your brother is with
you.
If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.
But if you will not send him, we will not go down.
For the man said to us, you shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.
Now, Israel said, why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?
They replied, the man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, is your
father still alive?
Do you have another brother?
And what we told him was in answer to these questions.
Could we in any way know that he would say, bring your brother down?
And Judah said to Israel, his father, send the boy with me and we will arise and go that
we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
I will be a pledge of his safety.
From my hand, you shall require him.
And if I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame
forever.
If we had not delayed, we would not have returned twice.
Then their father, Israel, said to them, if it must be so, then do this.
Take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags and carry a present down to the
man, a little balm and a little honey and gum and myrrh, pustachio nuts and almonds.
Take double the money with you, carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth
of your sacks.
Perhaps it was an oversight.
Take also your brother and arise and go to the man.
May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man.
And may he send back your brother and Benjamin and ask for me if I'm bereaved of my children.
I am bereaved.
So we see this interaction, this reality of what takes place in the beginning of chapter
43 where the famine has continued.
And we see this family who had grain and now they do not.
And again, you and I have talked about, like, we understand the depth of the famine.
I mean, imagine that the pantry is bare, that the cupboard is bare, that the grocery store
is bare.
We had the winter storm that kind of came through, and I enjoyed snow for about 20 minutes.
And not in preparation for a Hoth-leveled blizzard, that's a Star Wars reference, right?
But because my wife wanted to cook chicken stew, and that's one of my favorite meals that she
fixed during the middle of all of that, I decided that it was a good idea to go to Publix to buy
the chicken, and I watched the desperation of the people piling in and piling in and piling
in and piling in, and bread and milk were flying off the shelves just as fast as they could.
Right?
You and I, we don't understand the level of famine.
We oftentimes have the understanding of being inconvenienced, but we see here the desperation
of the famine of what's there.
And if you've walked through, we were talking about this earlier this morning after my study
was over with, what it's like to walk through a season like this.
That while you're in it, you're wondering, Lord, like, why is this happening to me?
I don't know if you've ever asked that question.
I know that I've asked it.
And I'm sure if you're being honest with yourself, that you would agree with me that you've walked
through a time, a season, a circumstance, a famine of your life, and you have asked the
question, God, why is this happening to me?
And it seems like everything is building.
It doesn't just seem like there's one issue, but there's issue after issue after issue after
issue.
And the snowball of destruction is headed right toward you, and there's nothing that you can
do.
And I think in these first 14 verses, that's what we find in Jacob.
That's what we find in Israel.
And so what I want us to see, what God is doing here, is when God creates necessity and desperation.
When God, in your life and mine, creates within us the beauty of necessity and desperation.
Jacob Israel is at rock bottom.
This is hard on our end to understand in this context, but easier on our end to understand
in our context.
We've walked through this.
We've seen this.
We've experienced it.
We know what rock bottom feels like, and this is where this man finds himself.
But we know his story.
We know what he's gone through.
We know what he's experienced.
We know that this is a man of faith.
This is not a pagan man.
This is not a heretic.
This is a man who loves God, who desires to follow him.
He's seen the work and the hand of God move.
Jacob knows that he's blessed by God, promised by God, saved by God, forgiven by God.
In fact, what we see in these last several verses of the scripture, he says, listen, listen,
I kind of know what it's like to deal with someone who's kind of upset with you or they're
questionable with you of what they may do.
Because remember about Jacob with Esau?
Remember what he did at the very first with Esau?
He's like, hey, hey, let's send some gifts to Esau.
And then when Jacob finally encountered his brother Esau, that God had worked and moved
in that situation, and they were restored for a time right there.
And so he says, listen, you're going to this man in a foreign land, and here's what we need
to do.
And he loads them down with what they have left.
And he says, go and take this.
We know that God has worked and moved in the life of Jacob.
But God's not done with Jacob.
And you know that God's worked and moved in your life.
But the beauty of what God creates in famines that we walk through is God saying, but I'm not
done with you yet.
This may be what I taught you, but here's what I'm teaching you.
And this may be what I'm teaching you, but this is what I will teach you.
This may be what I've done in you, but this is what I'm doing in you.
And this is what I'm doing in you, but this is what I will do in you.
And oftentimes for God, what God has to bring us to the point that in our life, that God
has to bring us to a point of necessity and desperation in our life.
And this is what he does in the life of Jacob.
God's going to use a famine.
God's going to use the potential loss of a son.
God's going to use, in Jacob's perspective, right, the past loss of a son to work and move
in the life of Jacob.
But look at where Jacob finds himself.
Look at where Jacob finds himself.
Verse 2, and when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father
said to them, go again, buy us a little food.
Bring him to the point of the desperation of necessity.
God had to paint a picture that was clear and evident before him and brought it in famine.
He brought it in the loss of, the potential loss of a brother.
Look at verse 6.
Why did you treat me?
This is what he says to his sons.
The sons that have brought him food.
The sons who have said he promises more if we just return with Benjamin.
Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?
Not why did you treat Benjamin so badly.
Not praise the Lord.
We get more food.
You just got to bring your brother with you.
But we see the reality of Jacob's heart.
Look at verse 14.
May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin.
May he send him back.
You see, there's another brother that's in prison.
May he send him back.
May he send back the food that will be sustained.
May God Almighty work and move.
May God Almighty protect Benjamin, not even recognizing what God's going to be doing in his life and in the life of Joseph.
But he doesn't end there.
He doesn't.
It's this point where, in my Bible and yours, there's this period that's there.
It's this part where we see in the praise of God, in the confidence of God.
But then in the weakness, in the limitation of man.
But as for me, as for me, I am bereaved.
I am mourning.
I am at loss.
The lack of joy that is there for me.
And the purpose of famine shows in our life necessity.
Of what we need.
And the desperation for what God needs to do.
With the season of famine that you find yourself in.
The question is, have you humbled yourself?
We look back last week.
Have you humbled yourself to see your necessity?
Of what you need?
And have you humbled yourself?
And become desperate?
Not just that your circumstance will change.
But of the evidence of the work and the move of God himself.
When we, as followers of Jesus, hit necessity.
When we, as followers of Jesus, hit desperation.
What we find in that, the beauty of that, is dependence on Jesus.
The dependence on him.
This is the necessity of my life.
God, of where you brought me.
God, this is the desperation for where I find myself.
And in this and in this alone.
God, I can do nothing else but be dependent on you.
Dependence is the key to faithfulness.
I've heard this statement before.
You know, Jesus, he's just a phone call away.
And I disagree with that.
This isn't implying that in the walk with Christ that you have,
it's that he's far from you.
That he's away.
But that the very presence of God,
and that's why Paul says in 1 Thessalonians,
that you and I, the beauty in the relationship we have with our creator,
the beauty that we have with our savior,
is that he's right there.
And that's why he says pray, pray without ceasing.
Pray without ceasing.
So where you find yourself in these moments,
is there this desperation that's there for God?
And maybe, maybe during your famine,
what God's trying to bring you to is a point of desperation for him.
Let's keep reading verse 15.
So the men took this present,
and they took double the money with them and Benjamin.
And they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them,
he said to the steward of his house,
bring the men into the house
and slaughter an animal and make ready,
for the men are to dine with me at noon.
And the man did as Joseph told him
and brought the men to Joseph's house.
And the men were afraid
because they were brought to Joseph's house.
And they said,
it is because of the money which was replaced in our sacks
the first time that we are brought in
so that he may assault us and fall upon us
to make us servants and seize our donkeys.
Like, this just escalated quickly for them, right?
So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house
and spoke with him at the door of the house
and said,
And when we came to the lodging place,
we opened our sacks
and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack
and our money in full weight.
So we have brought it again with us
and we have brought other money down with us to buy food.
We do not know who put our money in our sacks.
And he replied,
Peace to you.
Do not be afraid.
Your God and the God of your father
has put treasure in your sacks for you.
I received your money.
Then he brought Simeon,
this is the other brother,
out to them.
And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house
and given them water
and they washed their feet
and we'd given their donkeys fodder,
they prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon
for they heard that they should eat bread there.
When Joseph came home,
they brought into the house to him
the present they had with them
and bowed down to him to the ground.
The fulfillment of the dream that God had given Joseph.
Verse 27,
And he required about their welfare and said,
Is your father well?
The old man of whom you spoke.
Is he still alive?
And they said,
Your servant, our father, is well.
He is alive still.
And they bowed their hands and prostrated themselves.
And he lifted up his eyes
and saw his brother Benjamin,
his mother's son,
and said,
Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?
God, be gracious to you, my son.
Then Joseph hurried out for his compassion,
grew warm for his brother,
and saw a place to weep.
And he entered his chamber and wept there.
Then he washed his face and came out.
And controlling himself,
he said,
Serve the food.
Let's pause here for just a few minutes.
What God does
in his graciousness and his kindness
is he brings times of famine,
times of desperation
to us in our life
so that I believe this,
that we can clearly see
who Jesus is.
when I got saved,
there were illusions
of my life that I believed.
There were things that I thought were reality,
but they were illusions.
There were things that I thought were truths,
but they were lies.
And as I look back on the events
leading up to the day
that God and his goodness
and his kindness
revealed himself to me
and I put my faith and hope
and trust in him,
what I see
is a very painful
three-day journey
for me
and my life
for those around me
where when we look
in the moment
and what we saw
was death,
lies,
and destruction.
You see,
I had convinced myself
in spite of all that was going on
around me
that I was fine,
that I was good,
and what God needed to do
in my life
was bring me
to the rock-bottom point
so that God could not only
just reveal
who he is,
but that God could reveal
to me
who I am
in light of who he is.
And that's what we see.
You've got the journey
of these brothers
and what their life
has been consumed with
is lie after lie
after lie
for 20 years
living in the lie
that their dad thinks
that their brother Joseph
is dead
and they had nothing
to do with it
when it's the sinfulness
of their life
that brought them
to this point.
And what God is doing
in this,
what God is doing
in the famine,
what God is doing
in this moment
of what I believe,
of what we see
in these 16 verses
of what we find
in Genesis chapter 43
is he's going to use
Joseph in a particular way
for us to see
in this moment
and I believe
the brothers
could look back
on this
and see in their life
that in this,
in this interaction
of welcoming them
into their home,
we see a glimpse
of who Jesus is.
And it's the reminder
for you
and for me
that it does not matter
the journey
that we've sinfully
taken ourselves down
that there's the hospitality
of Christ
waiting for you
and waiting for me.
So let's look,
seeing Jesus
in Joseph.
Seeing Jesus
in Joseph.
who are these?
In the standard
of the Egyptian
nobility
and government
and power scheme
and those
of influence,
these men are nothing.
but Joseph
is going to work
in a type of grace
that is unheard of.
Just like Jesus,
Joseph is welcoming.
He looks at his servant
and he says,
bring them in.
Bring them in.
And here's what
I want to tell you
this morning
that in Christ
it does not matter
what you've done.
It does not matter
what you are doing.
It does not matter
what you are capable of.
It doesn't matter
what you have given
yourself over to.
But in the beauty
and the hope
and the gospel of Christ
it doesn't say
that you have to be good
to come to him
but it says
the opposite of that.
It says in spite
of your badness,
in spite of your wickedness,
in spite of your evil,
in spite of your sinfulness
that he is fully good.
And that he tells us
that he's welcoming us in.
Not welcoming us
to be guests
for a meal
but welcoming us
to be sons and daughters
of the living God.
That he is welcoming.
It shows that he is relational.
He says bring them
into my house
and then specifically
welcome them in.
You're going to put them
at my table.
You're going to bring them
before me.
You're going to welcome them
beyond all that they have
and you're going to bring them
into the most intimate
time that I can have
with them together
and what I'm going to do
is I'm going to form
a relationship with them.
And the beauty
of what we find
in Jesus Christ
is that's what he invites you to.
That he's not a God
that we just come
to a building to worship
but he is a God
who is with us.
That he is a God
who we speak to.
That he is a God
that we interact with.
That he is a God
who is relationally
connected with us.
We see that he's a provider.
He gave them
what they needed.
He gave them
what they needed.
What did they need?
They needed a meal.
That he's the provider
that in that moment
Joseph says
they've been traveling.
They've been on this journey.
They're bringing gifts
of all of these things.
They're coming in a land
of famine
and when there is nothing
and when they get there
in the desperation
for what they have
and he says
I'm going to be your provider.
And the beauty
about a relationship
with God
is no matter
where you find yourself
is that Jesus
is always there
to be faithful
to those
who give you
what you need.
To give you
what you need.
To provide for you
and to ultimately
provide for you
the freedom
for your sin.
The forgiveness
of the desperation
of the evil
of your life.
And he provides.
We found that he's
a blesser.
That he's a blesser.
That we see over here
again that Joseph
was like no, no, no, no.
Like you didn't just
forget
but I blessed you
and I gave you
beyond what you needed.
That God's word
tells us
that God
desires
to bless
you and I
and that in the goodness
of who he is
that he doesn't
just bless us
with what we need
but he blesses us
what he determines
that we need
so that we can grow
in him.
So that everything
everything
is a blessing
from God.
It says
that he
served them.
That Joseph
served them.
It says
that they
walked into
his house
and as custom
he had them
wash themselves.
Had to wash
themselves.
They washed
their feet
and they washed
their hands
and they prepared
for the feast
that was before
them.
When we
think to the
gospels
and we think
about Jesus
in the upper
room
the Bible
tells us
that
while he
awaited
for the time
of the trail
he took off
his cloak
and he laid
it down
and he put
on a towel
the marking
of a servant
and he went
around
for everyone
who was in
the room
and he
washed
their feet
and Peter
wanted to
argue
Peter
wanted to
say I
should be
doing this
for you
and he
said unless
the son
of man
washes you
and makes
you clean
you can
have no
part of
him
and he
served
him
and he
desires to
serve you
and me
he's not
putting on
a towel
and washing
our feet
but he
got up
on a cross
and he
spilled his
blood
and through
the work
and the
power of
his blood
he serves
us
and washes
us
and makes
us clean
makes us
white as
snow
and he's
compassionate
he is
compassionate
he wept
one of the
number one
things that
I hear
from two
categories
of people
one those
who have
not come
to Christ
as their
word and
savior
they believe
the things
of God's
word but
haven't put
their faith
their hope
and their
trust in
him
one of the
things that
I hear
commonly
over and
over again
is God
could never
forgive people
like me
one of the
things that
I hear from
another category
of people
are people
who have put
their faith
their hope
their trust
in Jesus
and who
are going
through a
season of
famine
of moral
decline
of depravity
of sin
in their life
and they
walk in that
moment and
they say
you know
I can't
worship God
I can't
study his
word
I can't
pray to him
not because
they're angry
at him
but because
they feel
like he
is angry
at them
and in
this moment
in the
complicated
journey
of Joseph's
life
he wept
and Jesus
sees you
and sees
me
and he
sees our
sin
and he
sees all
that it
means
in opposition
for the
God who
loves us
for the
God who
saves us
in his
response
please let
this truth
penetrate your
heart this
morning
and his
response
isn't
what serves
you right
you get
what you
deserve
his response
is compassion
his response
is to seek
to serve
his response
is to bless
his response
is to desire
a depth
of relationship
with you
not because
you've earned
it
but because he
did
because he
did
and this
is the
setting
that we
find
in your
famine
in your
darkness
in your
pit
in your
suffering
are you
looking at
really who
Jesus is
let's
finish these
last few
verses
verse 31
through 34
then
he washed
his face
and came
out
and he
controlled
himself
and said
serve the
meal
then
they
served
him
by
himself
and
Joseph's
brothers
by
themselves
and the
Egyptians
who ate
with him
by
themselves
because
the
Egyptians
could not
eat bread
with the
Hebrews
for that
is an
abomination
to the
Egyptians
now
they
this is
the
brothers
were
seated
before
Joseph
just
pause
here
this
would
have
been
by
the
instruction
of
Joseph
you
will
sit
where
he
tells
you
to
sit
look
how
he
seats
them
from
the
first
born
according
to
his
birth
right
to
the
youngest
according
to
his
youth
and
the
men
look
at
one
another
in
astonishment
just
pause
there
how
in
the
world
did
he
know
this
coincidence
nope
verse
34
then
he
took
portions
to
them
from
his
own
table
okay
so
Joseph
is
taking
the
food
the
really
good
food
he's
taking
it
from
his
own
table
to
them
let
me
fix
your
plate
for
you
right
let me
say
if you
ever
have
somebody
that
says
that
to
you
it's
one
of
the
best
things
that's
great
let me
fix
your
food
for
you
and
bring
it
to
you
but
Benjamin's
portion
baby
brother
Benjamin
was
five
times
as
much
as
any
of
theirs
let's
just
kind
of
pause
here
for
a
second
remember
there
was
a
story
at
the
beginning
of
this
when
the
younger
brother
got
something
the
older
brothers
didn't
get
he
got
a
coat
they
didn't
get
a
coat
he
got
a
coat
how
did
they
respond
not
very
well
they
hated
him
for
it
what
does
Joseph
do
he
brings
all
of
his
brothers
and
seats
them
the
oldest
from
the
birth
right
the
one
who
demanded
the
most
respect
the
one
who
had
the
most
privilege
all
the
way
down
to
Benjamin
the
baby
the
youth
dad's
new
favorite
and here
you go
and here
you go
and here
you go
and I
just think
that they
had the
paper plates
like we
do
with like
the
portions
you know
on
them
on
down
the
line
one
by
one
then
maybe
you've
ever
fixed
your
plate
like
this
where
it's
like
we
gotta
balance
it
because
if
not
like
the
black
eyed
pea
juice
is
running
off
the
side
you
know
what
I
mean
and
theirs
comes
and
they're
grateful
and
they're
grateful
and
they're
grateful
and
they're
grateful
and
then
benjamin's
comes
out
the
youth
the
one
who
didn't
deserve
the
one
who's
the
least
in
the
line
and
it's
five
times
the
amount
of
anyone
else's
you
finish
verse
34
so
they
drank
freely
with
him
look
at
what
God
is
doing
look
at
where
God
is
moving
look
at
what's
happening
in
this
interaction
there's
some
brothers
who
have
gone
through
some
times
of
difficulty
these
are
some
brothers
who
have
had
areas
of
their
heart
revealed
to
them
these
are
some
brothers
who
could
have
done
the
right
thing
and we
see
the
glimpses
of
these
we
saw
earlier
in
Judah
who
said
now
dad
it's
not
going
to be
like
it
was
before
put
this
on
me
I
don't
walk
through
the
destruction
and the
lies
anymore
we
see
him
one
after
one
we
see
the
sign
of
disrespect
and we
see
that
God's
word
says
but
they
drank
freely
with
him
you
know
we
hit
a
point
where
we
need
to
examine
our
heart
you
see
when
I
entitled
this
message
this
week
the
title
was
from
famine
to
feast
I
feel
like
I've
used
this
expression
before
with
different
things
in my
life
you know
it's
either
feast
or
famine
it's
either
feast
or
famine
one
being
positive
and
one
being
negative
it's
either
feast
or
famine
but
what
we
see
here
is
we
see
God
move
a
family
from
literal
famine
to
literal
feast
literal
desperation
and
wondering
if
there'll
be
enough
for
the
next
day
and
let
me
welcome
you
in
let
me
have
an
animal
slaughtered
let
me
bring
you
to
my
table
let
me
lay
this
out
for
you
of
where
you
can
be
and
so
my
question
for
you
is
we
can
be
sit
here
this
morning
and
ask
during
a
season
of
famine
will
you
examine
your
heart
we
can
ask
in
this
moment
when
you
hit
rock
bottom
will
you
be
desperate
for
him
but
you
may
be
here
this
morning
and
you're
like
that's
great
been
there
done
that
probably
going
to
happen
again
but
right
now
I'm
good
I'm
good
and
I'm
thriving
and
I'm
excelling
and
my
family's
good
my
job's
good
my
health's
good
my
relationship
with my
friends
are
good
my
relationship
with my
church
is
good
like
it's
good
it's
good
it's
good
it's
good
and
the
question
though
is
but
not
then
for
you
during
this
season
of
famine
but
what
about
a
season
of
feast
would
you
be
willing
to
examine
your
heart
there
as
well
because
just
as
quickly
as
men
and
women
walk
away
from
God
in
the
season
of
famine
just
as
quickly
or
maybe
even
more
so
during
a
season
of
feast
they'll
walk
away
from
him
as
well
God
I'm
good
I
don't
I
don't
need
you
I'm
all
right
now
maybe
one
day
yeah
but
are
you
are
you
as
desperate
for
the
Lord
in
the
feast
as
you
are
in
the
famine
is
your
humility
before
the
Lord
the
same
in
the
famine
and
the
feast
is
your
desperation
for
the
Lord
the
same
in
the
famine
and
the
feast
is
your
obedience
before
the
Lord
the
same
in
the
famine
and
the
feast
is
your
sacrifice
before
the
Lord
the
same
in
the
famine
and
the
feast
is
your
gratitude
before
the
Lord
the
same
in
the
famine
and
in
the
feast
is
your
worship
before
the
Lord
the
same
in
the
famine
in
the
feast
God
is not
a
God
who
desires
the
pettiness
of our
infrequency
of
relationship
with
him
he is
a
God
who
desires
your
feast
your
famine
and
everywhere
in
between
he
in
all
of
those
moments
is
working
and
moving
for
his
name
and
for
his
glory
would
you pray
with
me
God
I
thank
you
that
before
us
in
you
is a
table
that
you've
prepared
for
us
a
table
of
relationship
with
you
that
you've
prepared
and
made
a
place
God
in
seasons
of
famine
it
is
easy
for
us
to
relationally
long
for
that
Lord
we
don't
have
anywhere
else
to
go
we
don't
have
anything
else
to
do
we
we've
run
out
of
options
we've
run
out
of
time
so
God
we
come
to
you
but
God
we
can
have
this
arrogant
sinful
mindset
that
when we
enter
in
to
a season
of
feast
to
a time
of
plenty
to
years
of
prosperity
to
find
ourselves
in
such
a
disconnected
relationship
with
you
because
we've
placed
ourselves
on the
throne
of our
life
God
as we
as a
people
gather
here
today
whether
it's
feast
or famine
God
may we
be
desperate
for you
God
whether
it is
feast
whether
there is
famine
God
may we
be
humble
before you
God
whether
it is
feast
or famine
we have
gratitude
for you
God
we
thank you
for your
love
we
thank you
for your
provision
we
thank you
for
Christ
we
thank you
for the
price
he
paid
on the
cross
for us
Father
we
thank you
that you
sent him
and that
he died
and he
rose
and we
find our
life
our hope
and our
purpose
in him
God
if there's
anyone
today
who has
not
responded
to Jesus
Christ
as their
Lord
and Savior
God
today
is the
day
that I
pray
that they
will put
their faith
their hope
and their
trust in
him
God
as we
go into
our time
of response
may we
respond
as your
spirit
leads us
today
and it's
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen
that's it
for this
week's
message
be sure
to check
back next
week for
another
episode
in the
meantime
you can
stay up
to date
with
everything
happening
at
Willow
Ridge
by
visiting
us
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and online
at
willowridgechurch.org
thanks again
for listening