[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Like Joseph, We Can Rely On God to Work All Things Together For Good” Gen 50 Sermon Notes 8-5-18″ _builder_version=”3.11.1″]
(1) Walk Thru The Word for Today: Gen 50: 15—21
(Joseph’s Brothers Fear Retribution, But God Works for Their Favor (Good)
15When 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.” 16So 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. 18His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20As 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. 21So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
(2) Walk Thru The Word for Today: Gen 50: 22—26
(Joseph Dies In Egypt & Wants His Bones to Travel with Israel)
22So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. 24And 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.” 25Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
(3) (Yellow – Not In Your Notes)
The New Testament explains God’s principles.
The Old Testament shows us the processes of how those principles work in our lives!
- The Old Testament traces a family bloodline to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- God nurtures that family into a nation, and society that will receive and safeguard His Word.
- God’s Old Testament Word points to and prepares us for His Messiah!
- The Old Testament uses the members of that bloodline as the primary examples to demonstrate how God works in the lives of His people then and now.
- The New Testament shows how Christ fulfills the Old Testament through His redemptive “Born Again” experience, and how God uses the transformed disciples to spread the Gospel and explain God’s principles that transform our lives and civilization!
(4) #15 — “Bouncing Back From Betrayal!”
Gen. 50: 15-26
“Like Joseph, we can rely God to Work All Things Together For Good”
- Joseph’s Brothers Fear, But God Works for Their Favor (Good)
- Joseph’s Story occupies 26% of Genesis = 13 of 50 Chapters to demonstrate He Providentially Works His Will To Provide For Us Through Seemingly Suspicious Circumstances.
- He intimately is involved in the details of our lives. i His eye is on the sparrow, ii Hairs of our head are numbered
- Jospeh’s Body is Preserved (Mummified) for Future Transport To The Promised Land, as We are prepared for heaven
- God Works Good Through Those Who Submit to His Purposes
- God Gave Us Christ & Nothing Can Separate Us From The Benefits of That Sacrifice (So it is safe for us to submit!!!)
(5) Gen. 50: 15–21
(Joseph’s Brothers Fear Retribution (Reaping What They’ve Sown), But God Works for Their Favor (Good)
Gen. 50: 15–21 — Guilt and fear cause the brothers …
15to think that Joseph is thinking something that he is not thinking, which is that Joseph will hate them and pay back all the evil they did to him.”
16-177 What they say that Jacob said, may not be true.
17 But the request for forgiveness is sincere.
17-18 The brothers see how they are sinful servants of the God of your father,”
Joseph wept when they spoke to him, because like God he does not want us enslaved to condemnation (Rom. 8:1)
18 The brothers again fulfill Joseph’s prophetic dream when they “fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
(6) Genesis 37 & 39—50 (26% of Genesis) Demonstrates How
God Providentially Provides For Us Through Seemingly Suspicious Circumstances.
Suspicious Circumstances are those that are contrary to what we prefer in our humanity so we tend to distrust them, and we think they are born of a poor motive. They cause us to have the idea or impression that something is amiss or questionable, dishonest, or dangerous. Circumstances that appear negative give us the belief or impression that God is not involved in them. That they are born of Satan’s nefarious tactics or man’s dishonest activity and ungodly and unBiblical motives. So we react in the flesh and fail to give God’s hand a chance to be revealed in the circumstances.
Gen. 37 – 47 Joseph’s Life Represents How God prepares us for Service by guiding us through various experiences.
God called Joseph to save the world from a famine.
All Joseph knows is he will rule over his family (Gen 37)
To save the world from a famine one must be in a sophisticated society, where there is
infrastructure (roads & facilities), a command & control culture to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people. So God transfers Joseph to Egypt which is the last place a Hebrew would want to be.
God provided Joseph with experiences that developed his skills (both spiritual in patience and discernment. He got an education in sinful human nature, and he learned to see it as God sees it. It needs to be redeemed.
God developed Joseph’s skills so he could handle …
- agricultural production, management & distribution, which Joseph learned on his daddy Jacob’s ranch. (Gen 37)
- how Egypt’s court & government operates, which Joseph learned in the service of Potiphar a member of Pharaoh’s court (Gen 39)
- how to deal with shrewd, conniving people, which Joseph learned in Prison. (Gen 40 & Psalm 105:16-25, Matt 10:16)
Joseph’s is like our challenge is to be faithful to walk as a believer in the God of The Bible, while being in circumstances that would make one feel forgotten and no longer part of God’s plan.
In reality, those circumstances blind us to seeing at what stage of God’s plan our lives are in at any given time!
(7) Gen 50: 15 (Joseph Has A Personal Relationship with God that is Motivated by Loves demonstrated through submission
In Gen 50:15 Joseph’s brothers did not realize that Joseph has his own intimate relationship with The God of the Bible, , based upon loving God most, per The Greatest Commandment Matthew 22: 36-40 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
To Love God means Cognate: 25 agapáō – properly, to prefer, to love; for the believer, preferring to “live through Christ” (1 Jn 4:9, 10), i.e. embracing God’s will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power. 25 (agapáō) preeminently refers to what God prefers as He “is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16). See 26 (agapē)
And how our faithfulness in a relationship with God makes us Matthew 6 and Luke 6 disciples who walk with God, fulfilling the mandates Jesus gives us in …
- Matt 6:1 Joseph is privately pious – not practicing his righteousness before men “to be seen by them.”
- Matt 6:2-4 Jacob supported his “needy” brothers in secret, and secretly gave them back the money they gave him in exchange for food. He did this before he was convinced of their repentance. Matt 6: 4 says, “so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Luke 6: 27-28 says, 27“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
- God Works through those who like Joseph submit to fulfill the discipleship call of Matthew 6: 5-13
(8) Yellow Nin — God Works Through Those Who Like Joseph Submit By Fulfilling The Discipleship Call of Matthew 6: 5-13
- Joseph Fulfilled The Requirements In “The Lord’s Prayer” — The Prayer The Lord Taught Us To Pray in Matthew 6: 5-13, as we see him …
- per vs. 9 we see Joseph Honor and esteem He tells Mrs. Potiphar in Gen 39:9 he is not going to sin against God with her. & per vs. 13 Joseph resisted temptation, by doing what 1 Cor. 6:18 says, which is to “flee immorality,” and thus he was delivered from evil.
- per vs 10, we see Joseph believes God’s kingdom will come, so he makes preparations (is mummified) and provision (requests) for his bones to be transported to The Promised Land.
- also per vs 10, Joseph’s life is a model of one who lives out that [God’s] will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Joseph performed as the best Christian he could in the middle of challenging circumstances.
- per vs. 11 God gave Joseph his “daily bread” even when he was a slave.
- Per vs. 12 &14-15 Joseph forgave his brothers sinful debts, as God forgave Joseph of his sins. 14For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
- Per vs. 19-21 Joseph Laid Up Treasures in Heaven, rather than amass treasures for himself. We’ve no evidence that Joseph owned anything, and stored up for Pharaoh food and all that food later purchased. He continuously was surrounded by wealth, but never grabbed any of it for himself. He never embezzled, nor accumulated for himself that which belonged to someone else. He was faithful in his father’s house, Potiphar’s House, in prison and in Pharaoh’s house.
- per s. 22-24 Joseph’s eye was single as he served one Master, God. He tells his brothers, “I was focused on God’s Providential hand in my life.” Perhaps Joseph is like us, and we don’t understand why certain things are happening to us, but we trust that God is going to work it out for our good.
(9) Yellow Nin —By Contrast Gen 50: The Brothers guilt Cause Them To Fail To Expect God’s Love & Care) [bctt tweet=”So God covers us from a-z in salvation. He convicts us of sin, so we get saved, (John 16: 8 and are justified by grace Eph 2: 8-9) Then God works with us experientially to order circumstances and divine appointments that cause us to grow, and glorify His name. ” username=”LibertyCF3″]
The Brothers, by contrast, have fear and guilt over their past and that it will come back to bite them. Joseph weeps being deeply grieved in a Godly way that they are suffering under such guilt and condemnation, and reassures them that He is an agent/disciple of Christ, Who provides favor through Joseph’s hardships.
- 22“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
- 24“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
- 25“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
- 34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(10) Gen 50: 25-26 Jospeh’s Body is Preserved (Mummified) for Future Transport To The Promised Land, As We Are Preserved & prepared for heaven
Gen 50:25-26 25Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
26…Joseph died at 110 years old, and was embalmed (salted and tarred with pitch over a 40 day process), and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Joshua 24:32 records the fulfillment of Gen 50:25-26 and Joseph is buried in the promised land site of patriarchal resurrection.
Joshua 24:32 — “As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.”
(11) Gen 50: 19-20 & Gen 45: 4-5
God Gave Us Christ & Nothing Can Separate Us From The Benefits of That Sacrifice
In Gen 50:19-20 Joseph acknowledges the reality that…
- 20his brothers meant to do evil and sin against him.
- 20but God meant “to bring it about” good through it, meaning God’s providence (gracious visitation to take custody over and provide oversight to order circumstances after God’s reckoning, judgement & will) was at work, so that many people should be kept alive.
- 21Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them, saying “do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.”
Gen 45: 4-5 4So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
ESV Providence
Job 10:12 You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit. …
Ecclesiastes 5:6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not say before the angel: There
is no providence: lest God be angry at thy words, and destroy all the works…
2 Corinthians 2:12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel…
… Now when I came into the Troas to spread there the Good News about the Christ, even though in the Lord’s providence a door stood open before me…
(12) Walk Thru The Word: Rom. 8: 28 – 30 (ESV)
(God Works Good For & Through Those Who Submit to His Purposes)
28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
So God covers us from a-z in salvation. He convicts us of sin, so we get saved, (John 16: 8 and are justified by grace Eph 2: 8-9) Then God works with us experientially to order circumstances and divine appointments that cause us to grow, and glorify His name.
(13) Walk Thru The Word for Today:
Rom. 8: 31–39 (ESV)
(God Gave Us Christ & Nothing Can Separate Us From The Benefits of That Sacrifice) 
31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
(14) Rom 8: 36-39 We Are More Than Conquerors
We are not mere cannon fodder for fickle fate.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Paul quotes Psalm 44: 11 & 22, which was written in view the captivity of Babylon, or the sufferings of the Jewish church under Antiochus, which is not unlike the afflicted state of the Christian church in its earliest days (to which v. 22 is applied by the apostle, Rom. 8:36),
(Psalm 44:11You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations.
Psalm 44:22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.)
Though it may be that some of us are destined to enter into the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations, we must keep in mind that the tribulation indeed will have an end.
Psalm 44 was written in view the captivity of Babylon, or the sufferings of the Jewish church under Antiochus, or rather the afflicted state of the Christian church in its early days (to which v. 22 is applied by the apostle, Rom. 8:36), and indeed in all its days on earth, for it is its determined lot that it must enter into the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations.
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors (those who prevail mightily, as a super-conqueror” who is “completely and overwhelmingly victorious”) through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Conquerer = Verb, Transliteration: hupernikaó, Phonetic Spelling: (hoop-er-nik-ah’-o)
Love here is a Verb Transliteration: agapaó Phonetic Spelling: (ag-ap-ah’-o) = wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem.15) Let’s Pray that God ReAwakens, ReInvigorates & ReEstablishes Us in Our Calls In Christ!
(15) Let’s Pray: God give us the mercy to discern Your Will in our lives, and grace to go about doing Your Will Your Way even in the midst of “Suspicious Circumstances”! [email-download-link namefield=”YES” id=”300″]
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