Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Genesis

Genesis 49-50 05/25/03

Intro: A man once said, "I can face anything but the future--and certain parts of the past and present!"

    None of us can truly face the past, unless we know we are forgiven by the grace of God.
 
    None of us can truly face the present, unless we know we are strengthened by the presence of God.
 
    None of us can truly face the future, unless we are certain of the love of God.

Trans: Our study of Genesis ends with a final example of God’s grace displayed in the death of two great men of the faith: Jacob and Joseph. Yes, I said grace, displayed in death.  Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 49:1 where we will look at life, death and God’s grace.

Genesis 49:1-2 ‘The Family Called’

Jacob is about to tell his children what will become of them. Verses 1-27 are prophetic, that is they are words, deliberately chosen by God, to be passed on to Jacob’s sons.
God’s grace is demonstrated here in that Jacob’s sons were given a glimpse into their futures. Why? So that their present will be lived for Him What lies in their future? Let’s see.

Genesis 49:3-27 ‘The Family Blessed’

49:3-5 Reuben
Jacob states that even though Ruben’s sins of the past disqualify him from family leadership, he still  holds a special place in his heart as his firstborn. This is grace.

Remember, Reuben tried to take power in the family by sleeping with Jacobs concubine. It didn’t work. Reuben violated Mk. 10:31 which says ‘the first shall be last.’

How do we go about becoming leaders…at home, work or church? Are we serving others, are we willing to be last, so that God can exalt us at the proper time? Rueben wasn’t, so he was disqualified.

49:5-7 Simeon & Levi
Simeon and Levi were led by their passions rather than their God.  Remember, they were responsible for killing all the men in Shechem for what the kings son did to their sister Dinah. They were young and they were self-willed. They never sought the  advice of their father, they did what they wanted to do. And it cost them and their descendents.

The consequences of their sin was that the tribe of Simeon would be scattered and be taken in by Judah. Grace is evident that the tribe of Simeon lived longer in freedom as part of Judah, than if they had remained separate.
 
The consequence for the tribe of Levi would be that they were not given an inheritance in the land at all. But, God made them the priests of Israel and God took care of all their needs. From murderers, to priest of God, that’s God’s grace.

Two final points to consider.
 
First. Note that Jacob cursed their anger…not them. We ought to learn, in the expression of our zeal for a spiritual life, to distinguish between the sinner and the sin. Remember God hated your sin, but while you were yet sinners…Christ died for you.

Second: Young people listen closely.
 I realize you think your parents don’t know anything.
 I realize you think they are too old fashioned.
 I realize you think you know a lot more at your age then your parents did at the same age.
 And I realize that the older you get, the less you think you need to take the advice of your parents.

 But remember the consequences for the choices you will make are serious. Seek your parents advice. Consider it with great care. Then choose what God would have you do.

49:8-12 Judah
Judah sinned in his past and had to deal with the consequences for many years. But he confessed his sin and began to trust in God. Jacob praised Judah and tells him that the Deliverer, Shiloh, Jesus Christ, will come from his descendents and he will bring peace and abundance of all things good.

Do you want to know that peace and the abundance of blessing? You can if you ask Jesus Christ to be your Deliverer, to be your Savior.

49: 13-15 Zebulun & Issachar
Zebulun will become wealthy because of it’s proximity to the seacoast.

And Issachar is called a donkey? This is a blessing? It was not a put down in that day. Donkeys were strong and did much of the work in the fields. This meant that the descendents of Issachar would be strong and diligent in labor. Honorable in all they do.

Are you a donkey in God’s church? Are you an honorable worker who labors faithfully for the Lord, in service to His church? Just something to think about.

49:16-17 Dan
Dan means judge and one of the most famous judges of Israel Samson, came from the tribe of Dan. Yet, the descendents of Dan would also be the first to dabble with idol worship. The tribe of Dan was guilty of grace given..but not appropriated or appreciated. Don’t deny or take for granted God’s grace. Accept it with joy and thanksgiving and give honor to God for it.

Genesis 49:18 ‘Shout of Praise!’
What an unusual outburst of hope and praise. Jacob knew that the hope for Israel will not lie in his sons, but in God alone. Jacob loved his sons and God was going to bless them all, but salvation would come from God alone.

Remember that. Salvation, eternal life in heaven does not come from your family, your church or even your good works.
Salvation comes from God alone. That is pure grace, because if salvation came from anything else, we could never be sure we were saved. But in Christ, we can be sure.

49:19-21 Gad, Asher, Naphtali
The descendants of Gad would become a warlike tribe perhaps because of it’s location east of the Jordan River.

The descendants of Naphtali would be a free spirited people who would be good with words.

Here is something interesting. The descendants of Asher would be a very wealthy tribe with an abundance of the finer things of life. It seems God is ok with wealth, properly managed.

Remember that God has not only provided us with  the necessities of life…but many of the finer things as well. So, thank Him for His great grace and blessing to you.

49:22-26 Joseph
Joseph’s future was described as exceedingly fruitful. While Joseph had been bitterly attacked often during his life, he never fought back. Instead he trusted in God to deliver him. And God never let him down.

The word that best describes Joseph and his spiritual journey is faithfulness. What one word best describes your spiritual journey?

49:27 Benjamin
The tribe of Benjamin would be a strong, highly zealous tribe. Saul, Israel’s first king was a Benjamite…so was the Apostle Paul. It is evident that God can use any temperament to affect his will….even yours.

Genesis 49:28 ‘Summary’
Blessing? What blessing? For many of Jacob’s sons it sounded more like a curse. But we need to remember that Jacob’s sons will find their names on the gates of the New Jerusalem mentioned in Rev. 21:12.

God had been very gracious and blessed each of Jacobs son with greatness, and eternal life.

Genesis 49:29-33 ‘The Family Instructed’

It seems Jacob’s last words to his sons were not the blessings he gave but the very detailed instructions concerning his burial.
Jacob may die in Egypt, but he knows it is not his home. He is a son of the Promise of God, an heir to God’s covenant with Abraham and Isaac. He will be buried in the land of Canaan, the Land of Promise.

Jacob was certain of his final destination when he died. He will be gathered to his people. This is not a reference to being buried in the cave with his relatives. It is a declaration that he was going to Heaven, to join his godly relatives there for all eternity.
So the question must be asked, are you certain of your final destination when you die? You can be as certain as Jacob was, when you ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior. It is as easy as that. Undeserved favor from God…grace!

Well, the story of God’s grace doesn’t end with Jacob’s death.

Genesis 50:1-14 ‘Godly Remorse’

There is great sadness over Jacob’s death, even among the Egyptians who saw him as a great man of God. Joseph had his father embalmed for the long journey to the Land of Canaan. Then Joseph asked permission for he and his family to leave Egypt to bury his father. Pharaoh agreed and sent a great number of Egyptian dignitaries with Joseph. He also sent a military unit for protection as they traveled.

All this and Jacob as a foreigner. This says much about the respect we can gain from those around us when we live a godly life before others.

Jacob was buried in the Land of Promise and the group returned to Egypt.

Genesis 50:15-21 ‘Godly Response’

With Jacob dead, the brothers thought Joseph would finally let them have it, for what they did to him. Why didn’t the brothers believe Joseph when he told them that all was forgiven? Their unbelief and fear brings Joseph to tears. Joseph came to his brothers and said ‘Don’t be afraid’. Though they didn’t deserve it, Joseph reassured them of his forgiveness and love for them.

He didn’t minimize their sin, instead he chose to emphasize God’s grace.

I can’t help but see a parallel in the Christian life today. There are many Christians living with the same kind of fear and anguish that Josephs brothers lived with. They are waiting for the shoe to drop, for God to finally get them for their life of sin.
They can’t accept God’s Word that they are forever forgiven and loved by Him. And if God can be grieved over what we do, this is one of the times. ‘Don’t be afraid’ is Jesus’ word to Christians today just as it was Josephs word to his brothers.

In their blindness the brothers wanted to work for their forgiveness by being Josephs servants. But Joseph gave them a full pardon not because they deserved it , nor because they were willing to work for it. He pardoned, forgave them, because he loved them.

God offers the same thing to all who will come to him by faith in Jesus Christ. FULL PARDON of all sin. And the promise of His  presence and love forever.  That, beloved of God, is grace.

Genesis 50:22-26 ‘Godly Reminder’
More than 50 yrs have passed between vss 21 and 22. Joseph is dead and is embalmed. But, he was never buried in Egypt. His coffin was placed above the ground for 400 or so years until it was taken to the land of Promise by Moses during the Exodus.

Jacobs burial was a reminder to the Israelites that Egypt was not their home.

Josephs coffin was a continual reminder that one day the exodus from Egypt would occur. Day after day the coffin looked to Israel’s future, to Josephs’ faith and to God’s grace.

Joseph’s death and coffin was a comfort to all who were struggling and suffering in Egypt. Just like the cross of JC is a comfort to all who come to it. For in the cross we see God’s forgiveness, God’s love and God’s grace.

Conclusion
Well, we have come to the end of our study of the Book of Genesis. 61 messages in all. It has been a wonderful journey, hasn’t it?

Genesis has gradually revealed God’s purpose and method of grace to those God has called.

Genesis reveals a Deliverer who is progressively announced as the seed of the woman, of Shem, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah. This Deliverer is the second Adam who will do what humanity has never and will never be able to do…meet the conditions of God’s Holy Law for inheriting eternal life. This Deliver is Jesus Christ, and He has done that for us…for you. And by faith alone in Him, we are called sons and daughters of God, Saints…Christians.

Our study of the Book of Genesis, has been a journey of grace. Remember Grace is God’s favor given to undeserving people.

The story of Genesis is the story of God’s grace abundantly showered upon sinful, rebellious people…not unlike you and I before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and began to live for Him as our Lord.

We began Genesis in a garden of perfection and beauty. We end Genesis with two coffins, one in Canaan and one in Egypt. Pretty depressing as we see the devastating results of humanities sinfulness.

But Genesis 50 is not the end of the story of God is it? In the final book of the Bible, Revelation, we once again return to the garden, to paradise, to beauty and to perfection.

That is the promise of God to all who believe. That is the grace of God to all who will answer his call.