The Life Of Joseph Part 6

Father, as we approach the rest of the story this morning of the life of Joseph, I'm reminded! I'm reminded at least of the significance of enduring well, finishing well, of going! That as we consider a life, it's not necessarily how a life begins, but how a life ends that matters. So as we look at the life of Joseph and we see this life of enduring faithfulness, consistency, a life of integrity, I pray that we will be inspired and challenged to be that kind of person through this Christian life that you have so blessed us to live in representing our Savior. So Lord, I pray that you would guide our conversation, guide our time in your word as we have much ground to cover in finishing this story, and I pray that you would be magnified, that the story of God would continue to rise out of the story of Joseph, this enabling strength that you gave him, this ability to be useful. And God, that's what we desire for ourselves. We want to be people of potency, people of impact, people of legacy. So we pray that you would do that for us, and that your Spirit would live and abide within us, helping us to walk in strength, and helping us walk with integrity and with honor, so that the name of Christ, the name of God might be glorified.

So again, go before us in our time, in the word, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, if I were to ask you the question, how many of you know the name Chuck Templeton?

How many of you would say, oh yeah, I know Chuck Templeton? Of course, Chuck Templeton. But if I were to ask you the question, how many of you know the name Billy Graham?

Every head in this room would nod. Do you realize that in 1945, two men began in ministry? Billy Graham and Chuck Templeton. And do you realize that as they began in ministry, the one who was considered the most accomplished, the most fit, the most destined for success in life was not Billy, but it was Chuck. Chuck had this flamboyant, charismatic, just preach the gospel kind of way about him. And as a result of it, many predicted that Templeton, and not Graham, would become the biggest evangelical preacher in history. Well, Templeton was dynamic. Within six months of beginning his ministry and planning his first church, his church had reached 1,200 people. Incredible for the time.

This mega church that he was beginning to form. Chuck Templeton, it was said, was the most versatile of all of our preachers. Dr. Torrey Johnson of Youth for Christ, that's what he said about Chuck Templeton.

And the reports of newscasters in the area says, his brand of new church, excuse me, where was this? It says, Chuck was the most brilliant, able man I've known. A true intellectual. He could do anything.

He was a genius, I think. That's what was said about Chuck. And then through a series of events, circumstances that struck his life, a church that was destroyed in a fire, wrestling with doubt as he was going to school and just struggling with the deity of Christ and really pertinent things like, what does the Bible say about creation and how does that reconcile itself with science of today? He suffered chest pains at age 35, which left him short of breath and tightness in his chest. Meanwhile, his ministry continued to flourish. Stories about him were written. It says, I have seen the man who's given religion a brand new look, says one newscaster. He's winning converts at an average of 150 a night. He is booked two years ahead and observers have closely followed his progress, say that Templeton has not yet begun to hit his stride. But as Templeton read these articles, he debated with himself whether or not he should quit the ministry. Doubt began to overwhelm him.

So that at the end of his life, he actually dropped out of ministry, became an agnostic, and wrote a book. See if I can find the title of that book. Farewell to God. Farewell to God.

So that today we'd have no idea about Chuck Templeton except for this legacy of failure. You see, it's not how you begin your life that people will talk about. It's how you end your life that people will talk about. It's not the moments of real fitness and moments of great working for God that will really make a difference. It's the enduring legacy. It's the end of the story that people will remember the most. When we think about the thief on the cross, what comes to mind when we think about that story? We think about a man who was changed, right? A man who in his final moments said, remember me in paradise. And for all of the moments leading up to the last few hours of his life that we're a train wreck, that we're a mess. And what we remember about his life is the last couple of hours. So that's what makes, I think, this story of Joseph the most impressive to me.

As you read, it doesn't sound, it sounds almost anticlimactic in many ways. But as we read this story, I want us to understand that there is a life of consistency, a life of endurance, a life of faithfulness. And as we read maybe some mundane things about the end of his life, it will continue to demonstrate integrity and consistency to the end. And that is inspiring. That should be a challenge to us as we consider what does it take to be a person of God, a person who is potent and impactful in life, a person who has an enduring legacy. What does that look like? I think what we're going to find is that it's not just about the moments of greatness, perhaps, that we'll have in life. It's about the consistent, faithful, enduring steps that you do, maybe even in quietness, maybe even, even undercover in, in the private realms that God has, has placed you, whether it's in a home or, or in a workplace where there's not a whole lot of notoriety. That's where it's going to matter. It's going to matter as there is consistency in your life. Here we find at the end of Joseph's life, the same qualities that we've revered and upheld and have been distinctive throughout the test of time. That's what makes him a man worth modeling your life after. In many ways, he's a symbol or a type of Christ who will come.

The greatest example of all time, Joseph emulates himself after, after Christ in many ways. So I want to look at some qualities that, that, that we'll see here, even at the end of his life, that continue to, to give us pause and, and encouragement as we consider what, what this man was like. So, um, we've got a lot of chapters to cover. We're not going to be able to dig in, uh, to any great depth, but, but I want to just bring these to the surface and then hopefully we'll have time at the end to, to really discuss them and talk about them and kind of bring it home, bring this, this, this home to our own experience in our own lives. Uh, so chapter 47, uh, remember, uh, this narrative, uh, now Jacob's family have come to, to Egypt and they've been settled in the land of Goshen. Uh, Joseph has introduced his brothers, at least five of them to, to Pharaoh and his father to Pharaoh and, uh, and now they're, they're settled in Goshen. Now it's towards the end of his life and we pick up the story in chapter 47 verses 27 and 28. Let me read this for us. It says, thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they gained possession in it and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years. So the days of

Jacob, the years of his life were 147. Now, now in these two verses, there is so much that we could unpack. We, we could spend our entire time in these two verses. We just don't have the, the, the luxury of that. Um, but if you were to, to use one word to describe what you've just read, what, what would you, what, what one word would you use to kind of describe the situation of, of this family, uh, Jacob's family in Egypt? How would you describe it? Settled. That's a good word. Prospered, blessed. You bet.

Those are good words. Other words you might use. Thriving. That's, that's right. That's a great word.

I think I have all of those written down here. This multiplication that's taking place. There is, there is this thriving and, and blessing and prosperity that's happening for them.

Isn't it unusual in a sense that this is taking place in a foreign land? And, and yet almost, uh, in, in, in, one sense there, there is this haven that, that has been afforded to them because of, because of Joseph's direct influence. There are two words here that describe kind of their residency in the land.

What, what, what, what two words does it use to kind of describe their, their occupation of the land? Okay. Um, that, that describes, uh, the product that they were fruitful, they multiplied, but, but I was, I was referring directly to the fact that they, they settled in the land, okay? And they had possession of the land. Isn't that interesting? Here they are away from home, and yet it's kind of like this home away from home, away from home, and there was this, this, this true sense in which, which, which God was setting them aside and, and helping them to, to enjoy, um, kind of the, the blessing of being nurtured by God in this foreign land.

But they never were settled in peace. They never were able to take possession there. So this is the first time that Abraham promised that he'd really been able to.

That's a good point. That's a good point. Because leading up to this point, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, they were very nomadic and moving from place to place. And, and even as you look in the, in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, you kind of see that, that Abraham, he was looking forward to that future permanent dwelling because his, his, his, uh, occupation in Canaan was so varied and, and, and not quite established. And yet here, in this foreign land, God blesses his people through the catalyst of Joseph to actually be able to settle down. God's ability to provide blessing even in a, even in a place that was not the full intended place for them. Now what's the significance of them kind of being in Goshen and, and having possession of this land within an empire? Why, why would that be significant for the people specifically? Any thoughts?

That's great. There's a sense of autonomy. And what does autonomy do for a people? What's that? It brings them together. It helps them maintain their, their family relationships.

That's for sure. What else? Okay. It, it, it helps provide, uh, protection from outsiders. Here they are kind of this, in this bubbled environment within a powerful empire. So there's protection. That's good.

That's good. So there, there's a sense of, of, of unity and being able to, to really kind of look introspectively and, and look out for the welfare of one another without, uh, this outside, influence, pressuring them to kind of filter in and become part of the, uh, society. That's good.

What else would that do for them? Think, what's that? Gave them hope. In what way? That's good. The pressure is really off in a lot of, in a lot of respects, isn't it? They, they don't have to worry about protection. They don't have to worry about provision. They don't have to worry about the, the future legacy of their people because they have a land that's kind of been reserved for them.

And by the way, remember what God did leading up to this point. The Egyptians don't own any property anymore. It, it, it belongs to the people in charge. Okay. That they, they sold everything up to the empire. They don't own property. They don't own money. They don't own livestock. There, there's nothing to, to, to give them the, the, the scope of, of looking outward because they're, they're beneficiaries really of, of the benevolence of the empire. Okay. God did that to help preserve a nation. How about future legacy? How about ethnicity?

ethnicity. Is that a, is that a factor here? Okay. Sense of nationalism, you bet. And, and, and don't you think that, that kind of being autonomous and, and having your own, own little area, being kind of isolated in, in, in a sense, helps you maintain your ethnicity in terms of being Hebrews to the end?

How about in relationship to, what do we know about the religion of, of Egypt? Was it serving the one true God? No. So helping to preserve this nation religiously.

God had all of these things in, in mind. All of the details were, were worked out and, and here they are enjoying health and vitality and babies, production, long life. I think, I find it significant here, that God gives Jacob 17 more years. 17 more years. It's almost like a replay of the first 17 years.

An opportunity to, to kind of relive and, and re-experience, rekindle that relationship that had been missed for so long. And that Jacob, what do we know about his health when he first came to Egypt?

He thought he was over, right? I mean, it's like, I, I, I sure hope he makes the trip kind of thing, right? And here he is, 130. He's rolling into Egypt. And then 17 more years. 17 more years that God gives as another lavish blessing for this family. To, to help, help the reader and to help the people understand, listen, I've got my mark on you as a people. I, I am with you even in this place.

And as you mentioned, as Sarah mentioned, God had promised that he would bless and multiply this people. And now we're beginning to see the, the real beginnings of that taking place. With Abraham only really having one heir in Isaac. Isaac having two sons, but, but one who was the heir. And, and then now Jacob having 12 sons. And now this explosion of people. 70 that come. And by this point, we're, we're, we're, we're certainly up over a hundred. It's the, the multiplication of, of, of this people in, um, in experiencing God's, God's blessing on their life here in this, this place. And God had used Joseph. And he kind of confirmed those dreams that Joseph had younger in life. And here they are kind of culminating together. We see God working out his plan in them. So, Joseph had fulfilled some promises that he had made to his family. And so that leads us into this next part. And not only being a man of his word in the past, but, but, but now Jacob comes to his son and, and, and he's saying, based upon your past faithfulness, I'm going to ask you for something for the future. We come to verses 29 and 31. It says this, and when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, if now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.

He answered, I will do as you have said. And he said, swear to me. And he swore to him, then Israel bound himself upon the head of his bed.

See a couple of things here. I just want to, after verse 29, let me just read, read a snippet of this again. At the very end of this verse, if you have found, if I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and do not bury me in Egypt. I just want to pause there for a moment.

What do you see? What are some of your observations about the dynamic now between father and son? Isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting? Father Jacob is approaching son, if I have found favor in your sight. Now, what does that, what does that demonstrate? What do you see with that?

There's some humility there, for sure. What else? I think so. There's kind of this role reversal that's taking place, isn't there?

Where Joseph begins to now assume the, in some sense, the patriarchal duties, the leadership responsibilities of the family. And now we begin to see, I think, the culmination of what Joseph had envisioned so many years before when he was 17. God was bringing it to focus. And if it didn't happen before, it clearly happens here. Where now all that God had promised to Joseph is becoming a reality.

Now, his dad makes a request in verses 29 and 30. He says, let me die, lie with my fathers. And Joseph says, I will do as you have said. Now, give me some thoughts. What does this say about Joseph's character when he says, I will do as you have said? We've noticed a lot of things about Joseph's life leading up to this point. How does this continue to confirm some of those observations that we've made of Joseph's life? I will do as you have said.

Okay? That's right. He's still serving his dad. He's still honoring and revering his father. That's remarkable. What else? That's good. So, elaborate on that for me a little bit.

That's good. That's good. Now, let's think about the complexities of that request.

What does this mean for him as a leader of Egypt? Bob? That's right. He was still number two in Egypt, right? So, he couldn't necessarily make this unilateral decision that he was going to do this. He needed to check with Pharaoh, and we'll find that in the next chapter here. Okay? So, it's good. What else?

What else? What else? What else? That's good. That's good. That's good. And, go ahead.

Sure. Sure. That's good. That's great. That's great. So, recognizing that they're, even though they're in Goshen and in Egypt, they don't belong there. That's not their home. And a willingness for Joseph to recognize that and to reinforce that in his father and his family. Because this would be an enduring testimony for his family.

We're going to send you back to the land of Canaan, bury you in the burial place of your fathers, because we want to maintain our connection there. We don't want to forget about where our true identity lies.

That's good. How about the trip itself? How about the length of that trip? The time away from his responsibilities? I think there's a lot of things involved with this.

And yet, Joseph is willing to make this commitment to his father. Now, in verse 31, at the very end of this, it says, Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

Now, there's a couple of words there that pose some translational issues. The first is the word worship, or bow. And the second is the word bed, or staff.

Some of your translations may have, He bowed himself on his staff. How many have that? Others of you have, He worshipped at the foot of his bed, or at the head of his bed.

What is going on here? Well, I think Hebrews 11, verse 21, gives us some help. In Hebrews 11, verse 21, it says, By faith Jacob, you can just listen, or write it down, whatever you want to do.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff. Now, here's where we really begin to see the fulfillment of the promise that God had given to Joseph years before in that dream.

But now we begin to understand, really, what the full meaning of that was. When Joseph was 17, and he sees his dad as one of those stars bowing down to him, what do you suppose, as a 17-year-old, he was assuming about that turn of events that he saw in his mind?

Dad's bowing down to me. What does a 17-year-old normally think? I'm the great one. Here we go. My family is going to bow down to me.

But after the course of a life, and here we are at the end of Jacob's life, how might things change in Joseph's perspective of what that really means now?

That's right. God is the one who deserves the worship. And Dad may be bowing my direction, but he's bowing understanding that it was God who worked this through.

It was God who made this happen. And Joseph has been very clear throughout his life who is really responsible for all the events that have taken place up to this point. So yes, there was a bowing of father to son, but it was in worship to God.

Praising God for what he accomplished through his son's life. And now we begin to really understand the full significance of this scene of what's taking place.

It's really, it's really amazing the impact that Joseph had on his father. Here we find at the end of Jacob's life, the man of faith beginning to reemerge.

The influence that Joseph had on his father's life so that Jacob, here again at the end of his life, begins to show some real glimmers of a man who is of a person of character.

He's gone, he's had his ups and downs, but I think Joseph has really helped to bring this part of his father to the surface. So then we transition to chapter 48.

So we see that Joseph was not only a man of his word, but we see that Joseph was a man of faith. Let me just read the first six verses here.

It says, After this, Joseph was told, Behold, your father is ill. So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, Your son, Joseph, has come to you.

Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me and said to me, Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you a company of people and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.

And now your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Sibion are.

And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. Now this may not seem to be terribly significant, but I think it's pivotal.

Why is this significant? And how does this point to Joseph as a man of faith? What is happening here? Maybe I should, let me just ask this question.

We'll walk into the answer. What did Ephraim and Manasseh know in relationship to their position, to their, as far as their heritage was concerned, their experience was concerned in Egypt?

What was their feeling about relationship to Israel and Canaan? Does that make sense? That's good.

Maternal grandfather was a priest of An, a priest of this heathen god in Egypt. Okay? That was part of their experience.

Up to this point, had they ever, as far as we know, had they ever been out of Egypt? Okay? Up to this point, their experience of life had it been anything else but the palace and grandeur and position.

Right? They were Egyptians through and through. That's where I'm going. Thank you. You guys are, you guys are so good. You read my mind so well. As far as Ephraim and Manasseh were concerned, they were of the stock of Egypt.

They were of the heritage of Egypt. They were in the upper echelon, the highest classes of Egypt. Not only authoritatively but also religiously in terms of their connection to the priest of An, the big cheese when it came to leading worship in Egypt.

So now, stepping back away from that why then, was this a significant step for Joseph in relationship to his family?

Why would this be important? Okay. That's right.

That's good. So you see something similar to what took place with Moses here happening? There was a sense of disowning that Egyptian heritage and taking upon himself the identity, the sole identity of being a Hebrew.

That's really what, that's the transaction that is taking place here. That's a significant aspect of this story that is happening, is unfolding.

having been at the highest levels of Egypt and potentially having a future set for them as officials in Egypt and for their family.

Now, Joseph is seeking to help them understand what their true identity was. He wants his sons to know that their future, their destiny resides with Jacob, not with Egypt.

And it resides with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not with the gods, the pantheon of gods there in Egypt. Here, these two boys that are probably right now between 24 and 25.

They were born the year before the famine came. And so, we got the seven years of famine, seven years of productivity, and then 17 years since, and actually says, I'm sorry, before, what does 4150 say?

Right. So, 4150, what does that say? I think I wrote this down wrong. Before the year of the famine came, two sons were born to Joseph.

Okay. So, 14 years plus 17. Who can do math for me? There you go. Oh, that's right.

I'm sorry. There were seven years of good plenty before the seven years of famine. So, seven years plus 17. There we go. 24, 25. I was right the first time. Thank you. The years before the famine.

Yep. So, this would be their official induction, their official introduction to this nation of Israel, this people of Jacob.

Many painful and difficult circumstances had tormented Jacob since this day. This would be a time of ease for him, but here in the final moments of his life, this man of faith emerges again.

We see him speaking words of faith into his future legacy. these two boys. And we find that he has essentially adopted them into his family.

They become as part of his kids, just like Reuben and Simeon. And certainly in the lists that we find of the tribes, we find Ephraim and Manasseh. So, the things that Jacob prophesied would happen did indeed take place.

As if they were just married into his family, became part of him. It's encouraging. This Joseph, man of faith. And we find in chapter 49, we're going to continue to move this on.

Chapter 49, we see a man of God. And so now Jacob is getting to the very end of his life here. It says in 49 verse 1, Then Jacob called his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the days to come.

And then throughout the rest of this chapter, we find that Jacob is giving prophecy about and essentially blessing his kids that are standing before him. I want to read a couple of snippets, and then I want to pause for just a couple of moments on Joseph's blessing.

Here's what he says in verse 3 to Reuben. Reuben, you're my firstborn, my might, the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity, and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed, then you defiled it, he went up to my couch.

Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence, are their swords, let my soul come not into their counsel, oh my glory be not joined to their company, for in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen, cursed be their anger for it is fierce, and their wrath for it is cruel, I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

Let's skip down to verse 13, Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea, he shall become a haven for ships, and his borders shall be at Sidon. Verse 14, Issachar is a strong donkey crouching between the sheepfolds, he saw that a resting place was good, and the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor.

Then on and on it goes. But then we get to verse 22, and we're going to see, even from those few snippets, we're going to see some stark contrast to the words that are spoken to Joseph.

Verse 22, Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring, his branches run over the wall, the archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow remained unmoved, his arms were made agile.

By the hands of the mighty one of Jacob, from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. By the God of your father who will help you, by the almighty who will bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breast and of the womb, the blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills, may they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who set apart.

From his brothers. Okay? What are some of the things that you notice, even in just the couple of verses that we read? Some of the differences?

Okay? This is the only one I think that I can remember at least, where God is mentioned. And not just once, but like, I think there's at least four mentions of God, the mighty one of Jacob, the God of your father, by the Almighty.

So this resonating sense that God is the one who will bless you. I can pronounce blessings on you, but God's going to take this and he's going to make it better than I ever could.

Okay? So God is mentioned. What else? Anything? Anything? Anything? Okay? That's an interesting observation.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but the fruitfulness of Joseph is mentioned and just overflowing in his bounty.

So that's good. Yes, he did. That's right. He points to this enduring testimony of Joseph's faithfulness.

They all had points in their life where they were broken, right? Where they blew it big time. But here at the end of Jacob's life at least, there is this attention drawn to the fact that he has been faithful to the end.

He endured. He endured persecution and God will be the one to personally bless Joseph for his life. Yeah?

Yeah? That's good.

That's good. That's good thought. Yes? Yeah, I...

Yeah, that's good. Good point. In essentially incorporating Ephraim and Manasseh as his new heirs, he's essentially giving Joseph the double blessing that would normally go to the firstborn.

But I think what's really interesting here too, that Joseph is given more time than any of his brothers, and the direct blessing is not coming from Jacob himself.

Essentially, Jacob is deferring blessing to God who will bless Joseph better than Jacob ever could. God's got this handled. He's going to take care of it.

He's going to bless you in all these ways. We find them showing up here in verse 25. He's going to bless you from heaven. He's going to bless you from beneath. He's going to bless you from the womb.

He's going to the blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents. And so just this incredible blessing that God is going to bestow on Joseph because of the life of faithfulness that he leads.

we find that Joseph is so saturated in the power of God that it explodes from the blessing of his father. Jacob can't help but mention God in the same space that he mentions Joseph's life because the two have been so integrated throughout the course of life that the reason for Joseph's faithfulness and strength and endurance is because of God.

And Jacob sees that. He sees that. Well, no, quickly. We need to move through these other ones so we can get to the punch line here at the end.

So Joseph, or excuse me, Jacob is coming to the end. We find that in verses, chapter 49, beginning in verse 29. It says, Then he commanded them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron, the Hittite.

He goes to describe that. Then in verse 33, when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into his bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Talk about timing. That's pretty amazing. Then verse one of chapter 50. Then 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 embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for it, for that is how many were required for embalming.

And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. What do you see there? What stands out?

Yeah, you said it. Why is that remarkable? You said the Egyptians. That's right.

That's right. That's good. So here is this group of individuals, this Egyptian people, and what do we know about how they think, at least initially, how they thought about this ragtag group from Canaan?

What was their initial thought about them? What's that? They hated them. They wouldn't eat with them. They were of a lower class. They were unworthy. Right?

So not only them as a people, but also occupationally, there was some distance because they were shepherds. They were those who tended flocks. Again, kind of relegated to the lower classes of society.

And yet, here we find this same group of individuals, not just spending a couple of days mourning with Joseph, but seventy days of mourning set aside.

them. Now, what does that say about, I know it says something about them, but I think it says something even more about Joseph. What does that indicate about Joseph and their feelings for Joseph?

They respected him greatly, didn't they? What else? exactly.

Exactly. They were blessed through Joseph. And I have to believe, even in feeling blessed by him in terms of him helping to preserve them as a people from a lot of hardship that other nations were experiencing, that there must have been a sense of tenderness in Joseph's approach towards this people.

Right? He endeared himself to them. He showed grace to them. He was compassionate. He must have been compassionate towards them for them to express that same sympathy towards him for this amount of time.

There was this mutual giving and taking. Joseph just pouring himself out in affection for this people. Now, I think we can make that as a fair assumption based upon Joseph's affection towards his family.

Right? And here we find again this unrelenting, Unashamed man who is falling on his father and weeping over him.

He doesn't have to maintain the sense of dignity, but he's willing to really feel the loss. He's willing to express compassion.

And I have to believe that Joseph, that same heart came through in his dealings with the people of Egypt. In the way that he led them. In the way that he cared for them.

In the way that he dealt with the issues that came up among the people in dealing graciously with the people. And because of that, the compassion that he expressed to them was the same compassion, reciprocated compassion that he received from them.

that's a good point.

That's a good point. Knowing the Egyptian culture and knowing kind of how they would kind of oppress the people and for Joseph to kind of stand as a buffer for that.

Probably enhanced this sense of endearment towards Joseph as a leader. Good point. Thank you. Well, there's a funeral procession that takes place.

That kind of picks up in verses 4 and following. And essentially in verse 6, Pharaoh is, he's gone to Pharaoh, he's asked for permission to take and bury his father.

And Pharaoh says, go up and bury your father. So in verse 7, it says, so Joseph went up to bury his father with him when all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as the household of Joseph, his brothers, his father's household, only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.

And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great grievous lamentation, and he made mourning for his father seven days.

When the inhabitants of the land of Canaanites saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, this is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians. This continuing heart of compassion that we find in Joseph.

It's so noticeable. In chapter 50, verses 15 to 21, we find a man of forgiveness. The brothers, just to summarize this part of the story, now that dad is out of the way, the brothers are a little nervous.

What is going to happen with us? We find here probably the best example in all of the Old Testament may be saved for Psalm 32 and Psalm 51, of true heartfelt confession and repentance.

His brothers come to him in verse 17. Let's see here. Yes, in verse 17.

Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you. And now please forgive the transgression of the servants of God, your father.

Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him. Behold, we are your servants. Joseph tells 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 don't fear, I'll provide for you and your little ones.

Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. We find in this another clear example of those marks of forgiveness that were true in Joseph's life.

Pointing to the sovereignty of God, speaking honestly about the past, his willingness to continue to embrace and desire for there to be intimacy and restore relationship with his brothers and then providing for them and dealing kindly with them even when they didn't deserve it.

A man of forgiveness and finally a man of legacy. And just to touch on something briefly here, let me, verse 22, this is interesting.

So Joseph remained in Egypt, he in his father's house, Joseph lived 110 years, and Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation, the children also of Macher, the son of Manasseh, who were counted as Joseph's own.

Okay, and some of your translations may also say, where is it? The New King James takes a more literal translation, says, the sons of Manasseh were also brought up on Joseph's knees.

Here is great-grandpa, bouncing his great-grandkids on his knee. This dignified ruler of Egypt, who is taking personal interest in his personal legacy.

He did not forget the significance of passing on his faith to his children, and his children's children, and then on down the line.

the significance of not losing touch with his family. I think that's significant. We could talk about all of the examples of fathers who blew it with their kids in the scriptures, right?

We could talk about how Samuel, even Samuel, blew it with his two boys. We could talk about how Aaron blew it with two of his boys. We could talk about how David blew it with his sons.

Here are these standout men of the scripture who did so well in their own personal lives, and yet left disaster in their wake because of forgetting the significance of their own children.

This man, Joseph, this comprehensive view that he had of faithfulness in every part of life, it just encourages and challenges me.

So, we don't have time to really talk about this much, but I want us to understand the significance of finishing well, the importance of finishing well.

How do we finish well? What does it take to finish strong, to go the distance, to endure? What does it take?

Maybe you can look, use a Joseph's life as an example. So, what are some thoughts? What does it take to go the distance? Okay?

Okay? Patterns of discipline that we see in his life. That's good. what else? How else does Joseph model endurance? The ability to stand the test of time?

Good. Sorry. That's good. Amen. Recognizing that God is in this through hard times and through good times.

So, it doesn't make him despair when times are tough. It doesn't make him proud when times are good. God is in this. God's got a role for me to play. I want to be faithful to him.

It's good. Right. Right.

Right. Right. It's interesting.

And, you know, I touched on it briefly and I'm not sure it's the right answer, but there was a season in Jacob's life where the man of faith began to emerge during the early parts of Joseph's life.

Where he wrestled with God, where he was faithful to bring his family back to Canaan, where he's offering sacrifices, where he's purging his family of these foreign deities, and he's helping to realign their perspectives.

And during that incubation period of Joseph's life, I think God used that to nurture faith in him, and so when his dad kind of went off the rails after Joseph left, he at least had that as a starting point for his life.

Yes. And the only true answer is that God strengthened him and helped him, right? God strengthened him through that.

Any other thoughts before I let you go? That's right. That's right. We can all think of people like Demas, who were faithful in ministry with Paul, and then at the very end of Paul's life, he says of Demas, for Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.

May that not be the case for us. May we finish well. And praise the Lord for Joseph's testimony. Thanks for listening and walking through this story with me.

It's been a joy. Sorry.