Take Me Back to Canaan

Today on Renewing Your Mind. You meant it for evil God meant it for good. He saying that when you betrayed me you weren't the only actor in the drama God was involved in that God was working his good plan, even through your evil plan that's hard for us to grasp, but it's a principle that we find throughout Scripture, familiar passage from the story of Joseph in the famine in Egypt. It's easy to believe that God made good for Joseph and his brothers because we know the end of the story, but are we willing to rest on that same truth in our own lives even when things are going well.

Even if we can't see the end of the trouble are we able to trust God. Let's listen as Dr. RC Sproul wraps up his series on the life of Joseph. As we come now to the end of our study of Joseph. I'm going to dip over the 49th chapter of Genesis, almost in its entirety. Not because I regarded as unimportant. In fact, Genesis 49 is one of the most important chapters in the whole book of Genesis, because it sets forth the patriarchal blessing that Jacob gives to his sons and serves as a kind of prophetic instruments to the whole future history of the nation of Israel, and for that in itself makes it extremely important but because it doesn't have direct bearing on our consideration of the biography of Joseph. I'm going to skip over most of that chapter until we come to verse 29.

Towards the end of chapter 49 where we read this Jacob says or says it is said of Jacob.

Then he charged them. That is his sons and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people bury me with my father's in the cave that is in the field of thief on the Hittite in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah which is before Mam right in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the feel of a from the Hittite as a possession for a burial place there.

They married Abraham and Sarah his wife there they married Isaac and Rebekah his wife and there I buried Leah the field and the cave. That is, there were purchased from the sons of tests and when Jacob had finished commanding his sons. He drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people melt. This of course is a poignant moment for Joseph.

The death of his beloved father, Jacob, and Jacob's final instructions are for his resting place.

He wants to be buried with his father's in Machpelah which reminds us of one of the great ironies of the patriarchal history we remember that this whole drama began when God called Abraham out of her of the Chaldees as an old man and send him to a place he knew not where he was going, and God promised him that he would be the father of a great nation and his descendents would be as the stars of the skyline of the sands of the sea and integral to that promise of the great inheritance was the promise of land, which then became the promised land and that we are told in the New Testament that Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going and hoping against hope trusted in God for his own future and became the father of the faithful.

The irony was this the only piece of real estate that Abram ever owned in the promised land was Machpelah is great.

His cemetery plot that was his personal inheritance of the promised land and that became more or less a family shrine because Abraham and Sarah were both buried there. Isaac and Rebecca were both buried there and Jacob's first wife Leah was buried there and now as he is dying. He asks that he might join that place where he may enter into his rest in the presence of the God who would be known in future generations as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So then Jacob dies in chapter 50 begins and Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him, and Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father.

So, the physicians involved Israel 40 days were required for him for such of the days required for those who are involved in.

The Egyptians mourned for him 70 days. Now there's something in this tax that may sound a little macabre at the outset, we are told that when Jacob died, Joseph kissed him were squeamish about kissing corpses something happens instantly upon death. The a very outward appearance of a dead person is is strange and frightening when life has left their body. It's even worse after rigor mortis has set in, but that particular passage spoke to me because I was present in the room when my father died just as Joseph was present when his father died and I remember what I did after my father breathed his last breath, and I was standing there by his bed looking at his lifeless body instinctively, naturally excited know what else to do. I simply leaned over and kissed him on the four that was my last outward expression of affection for the man who meant more to me than anybody in my life just strikes me that that custom has gone on for thousands of years and that what I was doing was not something extraordinary, unusual or weird it was done here by Joseph who kissed his father goodbye now and the days of his morning were passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh saying it now. I have found favor in your eyes. Please speak in the hearing. The Pharaoh saying my father made me swear saying, behold, I am dying in my grave which I done for myself in the land of Canaan. There you shall bury me now therefore please let me go up and bury my father and I will come back. Joseph asked for a leave of absence for a brief time of departure and release from his duties as Prime Minister. He says the Pharaoh. Let me go back again that I might bury my father. There and Pharaoh said go up and bury your father has a major swear. So Joseph went to bury his father and with him when all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers and his father's house, only their little ones, their flocks and their herds. They left in the land of Goshen. They went up with him. Both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering. This was a funeral court charge to beat all funeral processions. It was it like a state funeral that not only Joseph's family but members of the court of Pharaoh and those who were servants of Joseph participated in this journey for the funeral of Jacob funerals can be magnificent occasions mentioned before, unforgettable experience of a funeral.

I in 1965. I believe it was in January. One of the great leaders. The Western world in the 20th century died. His name was Sir Winston Churchill I was living in Holland at the time the couple friends of mine who were at the University where I was met with me and we agreed we wanted to go to the funeral of Winston Churchill and so we drove and took the ferry across the English Channel middle of the winter and snow and cold state in the YMCA in London got up the next morning for the funeral and there were a million people on the streets of London. In the short few blocks lined up there to pay their respects to Winston Churchill never seen anything like it before or since all the great heads of state from around the world were there and they were part of the funeral procession.

First came the horses that brought the carriage containing Sir Winston Churchill and then the carriage of Lady Churchill and the Beefeater's were all there, and so on. And then one dignitary after another. There was Charles de Gaulle marching down the middle of the street. Maury Sean B. From the Congo King Constantine from Spain. Queen Juliana from the Netherlands. Conrad Adenauer from Germany. All these great world leaders were right there on that street as part of this funeral, court, and that it was just an unforgettable experience a I think of when I think of this incident here in the book of Genesis were all these dignitaries and their chariots go up to put Jacob to rest and they came to the threshing floor of étude which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and solemn limitation to observe seven days of mourning for his father and when the inhabitants of the land.

The Canaanites saw the morning at the threshing floor related. They said this is a deep morning of the Egyptians therefore's name was called able miss Ryan which is beyond the Jordan, so his sons did for him as he had commanded them for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before memory which Abraham bought with the field for me from the tightest property for a burial place.

And after he had buried his father Joseph returned to Egypt.

He and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father. Now Jacob is God, and now a new sense of terror enters into the hearts of Joseph's brothers. They realized that Joseph had been kind to them and not vengeful in large measure out of Joseph's dedication, devotion and love for his father and now his father is gone in a real sense what the brothers of Joseph are experiencing is the loss of their protector and their thinking among themselves. Now what is Joseph going to do so would pick up this part of the narrative in verse 15 of chapter 50 when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead. They said perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him. And so they sent messengers to Joseph saying before your father died he commanded, saying, thus you shall say to Joseph I beg you please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.

Now please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father. Now isn't this interesting. There still disassembly are still not dealing directly with the problem of their guilt before Joseph.

They don't send the letter to Joseph saying we confess to you that we have done this evil against you. Please forgive us, but they couched their confession in this indirect reference to Jacob there still appealing to Jacob as their protectorate as their protector. In this case where there saying, oh by the way, Joseph, before your father died he commanded that that we make this request of you that that we should beg you to forgive our trespasses, so now were asking for that forgiveness as our father had instructed Joseph's response we read and Joseph wept when they spoke to, and his brothers also went and fell down before his face and they said behold, we are your servants know how many times have we seen the literal fulfillment of the original dream that created all this hostility in the first place, but drain the Joseph had as a boy of the sheaves of wheat bowing down, which was interpreted to mean that at some point, his brothers would bow before him, and they were enraged and filled with jealousy and anger and hatred against him and that's what precipitated their betrayal of him in the first place and now it's like a broken record. It's like a litany in these later chapters of Genesis were now this is the fourth or fifth time that they are bowing down before him and offering themselves as slaves to Joseph's household. But Joseph said to them. Verse 19. Do not be afraid for my in the place of God. But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.

In order to bring about as it is this day to save many people alive now, therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones, and he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Those of you who listen to our series on Renewing Your Mind on the providence of God will remember that this text that I just read was crucial to the classical doctrine of divine providence as it relates to one of those concepts subsumed under the doctrinal heading of Providence, the doctrine of concurrence were sometimes called the doctrine of confluence. If you recall, at that time, I mentioned the city of Pittsburgh is an example of what concurrence is or confluence is where we have what's called the Golden triangle or the point where the three Rivers Stadium is an every time the Goodyear blimp flies over that the commentators show you that that viewpoint from above the stadium and show you how these two rivers.

The Allegheny and the Monongahela flowed together at the point in Pittsburgh and form the beginning of one of America's great rivers. The Ohio River which then flows west until it empties into the Mississippi and becomes part of the Mississippi River and usually the jargon that the commentators used to describe this as they speak of the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers to form the Ohio so what does the word confluence mean it simply means to flow together.

It's a synonym for the word call on currents we get the word current from the same route that is found in the word call on currents and it means currents that come together and mix together. Know what that doctrine points to is the mysterious way in which God governs the affairs of men, whereby even though we are acting according to our desires.

According to our choices according to our will.

That God brings to pass his sovereign will not apart from the choices of human beings or apart from the actions of people, but in through and by the work of people that even though there are two streams flowing the human stream in the divine stream these to merge into one and that's what Joseph is saying to his brothers when he said, you meant it for evil God meant it for good. And now he puts his accident on the intent of the action he saying that when you betrayed me. You are the only actor in the drama God was involved in that God was working is good plan. Even through your evil plan that's hard for us to grasp, but it's a principle that we find throughout Scripture, God work through Pharaoh to bring about his redemptive work of the Exodus, Pharaoh meant it for evil God meant it for good God work through the betrayal of Judas for the atonement of Christ, God's intent was perfectly righteous.

Judas meant it for evil and he is responsible for his wicked intentions and so we see in this enormously important passage of reaffirmation that God is Lord of history and Joseph is saying even while you what you did was evil. God was bringing everything together for good for those who love him. God work through your treachery to provide for your own salvation your own rescue from the famine God used your evil intense for his righteous purposes some amazing thing and so he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

So we read at the end of this book the Joseph dwelt in Egypt. He and his father's household and Joseph lived 110 years and he saw Ephraim's children to the third generation and the children of maker of the son of Manasseh were also brought up on Joseph needs.

He had a wonderful time with his grandchildren and Joseph said to his brother and I am dying, but God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jake and Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying God will surely visit you and you shall carry out my bones from here and so Joseph died being 110 years old. They involved him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt, but his last words were prophetic of the future work of God. When God would at some later date.

Once again be present among his people and remove them from Egypt and take the promise.

It indeed was evil. What do Joseph's brothers did to him.

Joseph recognize that, but we also recognize that God did it for good. He recognize God's perfect Providence and we can look back now and see how, through God's providence, the lineage of the Messiah would continue.

Glad you joined us for Renewing Your Mind on this Saturday. I hope you stay with us because RC has more to say. You're welcome to contact us and request this full series. It's called the life of Joseph and as part of a bundle of resources that we call the RC Sproul teaching collection when you give a donation of any amount you receive eight full teaching series, including the parables of Jesus knowing Scripture and Ecclesiastes Galatians knowing Christ and the series we heard today. So request this valuable resource when you go online@renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343, but I hope that you have found today's program helpful and encouraging, and if so would you shirt with the family members or friends. When you go to our website that which is Renewing Your Mind.word just push the share button you can post a link on Facebook or twitter or send an email in that web address again is Renewing Your Mind.org. Well it's been a privilege to bring the series to you and to wrap things up with a final thought is RC. We have come to the end of our study of the life of Joseph is not quite the end of what the Bible says about this man. The book of Exodus begins with an ominous statement we read in chapter 1 of Exodus, verse eight. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph and what follows. There is the story of what had taken place 400 years after the family of Jacob moved to the land of Goshen, there arose a new king who didn't know Joseph, who had forgotten Joseph who wasn't concerned to honor the pledge that Joseph had made to his family and the pledge that the earlier Pharaoh had made to protect these people and the new Pharaoh took this opportunity to enslave the Israelites setting the stage for the most dramatic act of redemption in the whole Old Testament, namely the exodus of Israel out of Egypt. The Bible tells us later on in the Exodus that when the exodus took place before Moses led all of these people into the wilderness of the first things he did was he got the bones of Joseph and said if were leaving were taking the bones of our patriarch with us to the promised land. We've just completed this lengthy study of Joseph. I pray that none of us will ever be like that Pharaoh who forgot Joseph next Saturday. We will begin a new series, this time on the life of David, Renewing Your Mind is the listener supported outreach of leader ministries.

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