The End of Genesis

[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.

[0:12] Genesis chapter 50. Again, I'm reading in chapter 49, verse 28.

[0:24] So if you have a copy of the scriptures, close at hand, I think that would be helpful. Beginning in chapter 49, verse 28, it says, All these are the twelve tribes of Israel.

[0:40] This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. Then he commanded them and said, I am to be gathered to my people.

[0:53] Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephraim the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephraim the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

[1:12] There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there I buried Leah.

[1:23] The field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites. When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into his bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

[1:41] Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father.

[1:53] So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

[2:08] And when the days of weeping for him were passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, If I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, I'm about to die in the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan.

[2:29] There shall you bury me. Now therefore let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return. Pharaoh answered, Go and bury your father, as he made you swear.

[2:45] So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of the household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household.

[3:03] Move down to verse 15. When 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.

[3:18] So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, Your father gave this command before he died. Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and for their sin, because they did evil to you.

[3:33] And now, Joseph, please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

[3:46] His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, Behold, we are your servants. But Joseph said to them, Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?

[4:03] God, as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. To bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.

[4:21] So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. So Joseph remained in Egypt, he in his father's house.

[4:37] Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children also of Macher, the son of Manasseh, were counted as Joseph's own.

[4:50] And 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.

[5:00] And to Isaac and to Jacob. Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here.

[5:14] So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

[5:24] This is the word of God. I know that there could be a more appropriate text for us to consider this morning.

[5:38] I heard years ago a true story of a man whose work demanded constant reading. He might be in my field. All the reading began to take its toll and he began to have difficulty with his eyes.

[5:54] He consulted a physician. After the exam, the doctor said, there's nothing wrong with your eyes. Your eyes are just tired. You need to rest them.

[6:09] But the man replied, that's impossible to rest in my type of work. After a few moments, the doctor asked, do you have windows in your office?

[6:22] Oh yes, he answered. Now this is where the envy might set in. Oh yes, he answered. From the front windows, I can see the peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And from the rear windows, I can look out on the ridges of Appalachia.

[6:36] The doctor replied, that's exactly what you need. When your eyes feel tired, go look. At your mountains for 10 minutes.

[6:48] 20 minutes would be better and the far look will bring rest to your eyes. So often, what we need to straighten out the things in our lives is the far look.

[7:01] This morning, we're concluding our study on the book of Genesis. We began by saying that the Genesis is a word from God to a people who have lost their way. Literally, it's written to the people wandering through the wilderness.

[7:17] People, though they're far from Egypt, they're still far from home. They're facing trouble. They're struggling. They're forgetting who they are. And Genesis was written to say to them that their God, that your God, is the God of your fathers.

[7:31] He's the one who is faithful all along. And so, too, Genesis is a word from God to us to remind us who we are in past generations.

[7:45] When you ask someone who they were, they would start talking about their family, start talking about where they live, start talking about what they've done for generation after generation.

[7:55] Nowadays, you ask somebody who they are, they start talking about their feelings. We are in a therapeutic age. They start talking about their passions, their likes, their personality, their dislikes, their longing.

[8:08] But Genesis is placed in our Bible so that when someone asks, who are you, we might look somewhere else so that we might respond by looking to the living God.

[8:20] You know, Genesis includes so many wonderful stories. That's what I've loved about this series, all these stories about Abraham and Isaac and Joseph and Noah. But it's really all about God.

[8:35] It's the first word to the world about God and it's all about Him. It is the first installment, if you will, of His resume.

[8:46] You want to know what God's like. You want to know what His past is. You want to know what jobs He has taken. It's the first record of what He's like, the rundown of who He was. It calls us to look at this God who was not made and was before anything that was made.

[9:02] It does not need anything that was made but made everything to display His overhanded goodness. It calls us to look up at this God who searches for us when we stray.

[9:15] At this God who doesn't wait on us to clean up our act but makes His own promise. At the God who keeps His promises from generation to generation even when it seems like suffering and evil are going to have their sway.

[9:29] Why? Why did they need this? So that when they took a hold of the hand of this God by faith, they might know that the same way that He was to them is the way He'll be.

[9:43] The same way He was to them back then is the way He'll be to them now. That's the far look we desperately need especially in times of trouble.

[9:54] In a word, where we're going is you are a creature who despite suffering, evil, sin, and death is held completely secure in the grip of God's sovereign grace.

[10:09] You are a creature who despite suffering, evil, sin, and death is held completely secure in the grip of God's sovereign grace. Matthew, one little thing.

[10:21] Could you actually take me out of these wedges? It's a little loud. Too much of myself up here. Alright, first point is God's sovereign grace in the suffering of Joseph. God's sovereign grace in the suffering of Joseph.

[10:35] Our passage begins with the death and the burial of Jacob. After reconciling with his brothers on their second trip to purchase grain, Joseph sends them home to tell their father that he's alive.

[10:49] Remember that from last week, this wonderful moment of reconciliation. Then they send Joseph home to tell Jacob that he's alive. Their son that was dead is alive and Joseph sends them with wagons to bring back all their children and all their possessions to live in Egypt and to survive five more years of famine.

[11:11] There Jacob lives with Joseph and all his other sons for 17 years. Then Jacob gathers his 12 sons, the 12 tribes of Israel to bless them.

[11:24] That's what chapter 49 is. Didn't get to read it all but that's what it is. He's blessing all his 12 sons and he breathes his last. Joseph falls on him and begins to weep.

[11:38] We see that in verse 1. Then Joseph fell at his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. Joseph, this is the sixth time he's mentioned as weeping.

[11:52] And then Jacob is embalmed and the Egyptians weep over him for 70 days. Normally 40 days but 70 days. 7 times 10 the number of fullness.

[12:07] After the morning is over, Joseph takes Jacob's body to be buried in the land of Canaan. Verse 7. So Joseph, of chapter 50, Joseph went up to bury his father with him when all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, all the elders of Egypt as well as the household of Joseph, his brothers and his father's household.

[12:31] Now, after his father is buried, the brothers begin to get a little worried. Like, with dad out of the way, is Joseph going to get back at us? Is he going to make us pay for what we did to him?

[12:44] And so they say to themselves, look at verse 15, they kind of said to themselves, it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we've done.

[12:57] And so they develop a plan. Look at verse 16, they sent a message to Joseph saying, your father gave us this command before he died, say to Joseph, forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin for they did this evil to you.

[13:10] And so, Joseph, please forgive it. Now, did Jacob really tell his brothers to go to Joseph after he died?

[13:21] All the scholars don't think so, nor do I. This was just a plan these brothers concocted on their own. And so, as they tell Joseph this, look at verse 17, Joseph wept when they spoke to him, the seventh time.

[13:39] There's lots of sevens running through this passage. In chapter 49, these numbers of completion, no wonder this is a final chapter of Genesis.

[13:49] He weeps a seventh time as they're talking to him. They bow before him and pledge to be his servants. Joseph's response to them is staggering.

[14:01] On the one hand, Joseph clearly forgives them. Twice he says to them, do not fear. Look in verse 18, he says, or 19, do not fear.

[14:15] Then in 21, so, after he said all he did in 20, do not fear, I'll provide for you. I'm not going back. I'm not going to punish you. I'm not going to take it out on you finally when dad's out of the way.

[14:27] But look at what he says about why they should not fear. Look at verse 19, for am I in the place of God? Do not fear.

[14:39] Am I in the place of God? Now, the most widely referenced Bible verse in our culture is not, for God so loved the world, it's only God can judge me.

[14:51] Right? But that's just it. God can judge and God will judge and this is the truth that Joseph has found rest in, a truth that he's come to agree with and hold on.

[15:05] So what he's saying essentially is, am I in the place of God? Am I in the place of deciding what you deserve for what you've done? And he says, no.

[15:17] Joseph forgives his brothers. Joseph releases them of the debt. Joseph frees them.

[15:28] He lays his weapons down. Leaves judgment and vengeance in the hands of God as Romans 12 counsels us to do. But not only does he forgive, look at how Joseph thinks about what they did.

[15:47] Verse 20, do not fear for him on the place of God. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.

[16:02] You meant evil against me, God meant it for good. Now this statement is staggering, firstly, because of what Joseph does not say, and now we're going to hold the hands of a brighter man than me and D.A.

[16:20] Carson and see what he says. He says, the profundity, the profoundness of this reasoning comes into focus as we reflect on what Joseph does not say.

[16:31] He does not say that during a momentary lapse on God's part, Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, but that God, being a superb chess master, turned the game around and in due course made Joseph the prime minister of Egypt.

[16:48] He doesn't say that. Still less does he say that God's intention had been to send Joseph down to Egypt in a well-appointed chariot, but unfortunately Joseph's brothers rather mucked up the divine plan, forcing God to respond with clever counter moves to bring about his own good purposes.

[17:06] He doesn't say that. He does not say you meant it for evil, but God rescued it for good. He doesn't say you meant it for evil, but God repurposed it, recycled it for good.

[17:21] He doesn't say even that you meant it for evil, but God used it for good. Carson continues, rather, in the one event, the selling of Joseph into slavery, there were two parties and two quite different intentions.

[17:41] On the one hand, Joseph's brothers acted, and their intentions were evil. On the other hand, God acted, and his intentions were good.

[17:53] Do you see what that statement, the profound statement is bringing together that at the one in the same time, in one in the same event, in one in the same action, not just the same period of time or general time, but one in the same action, the brothers were doing evil, and God was doing good.

[18:12] But, while they were doing evil, God was sovereignly and graciously doing good.

[18:31] Now, the major good that we're going to meditate on was all that God was going to do through Joseph, but, first, we must see what God was doing in Joseph.

[18:42] God had a plan for Joseph's life. God gave him two dreams as a young boy. We know the doubling of dreams means that they will come to pass. God has spoken and he doesn't lie.

[18:53] He had a future, he had a destiny, he was going to be the man, all his brothers were going to bow before him, but everything turned wrong. It must have caught him by surprise. Tells the story in chapter 37, he dreams the dreams and comes down to breakfast as it were and says, bow to your sensei, I am here, the one who will rule.

[19:18] But the boys don't bow. They turn against him, they cannot talk with him peacefully without getting angry. When they find him all alone, they strip him of his multicolored robe, they throw him in the pit, they sell him into slavery, and though all the evil must be traced back to the brothers, the invisible hand of God, was working good in and through their evil deeds in the life of Joseph.

[19:47] Now, we know the story of Joseph. Things go from bad to worse in the life of Joseph. He rises through the ranks of Potiphar's house, and it seems like this might be the moment when all of the world might bow down to him.

[19:59] But then he's falsely accused, thrown into prison, forgotten for years, interprets two more dreams, and is forgotten for two more years. What good could God possibly be doing in the life of Joseph?

[20:18] Teaching him patience. Teaching him that his timetable was not the Lord's. That his plans and purposes were different from the Lord's.

[20:31] Listen, where did Joseph learn that God can work good in unimaginable pain? in being betrayed and sold? Where did Joseph learn to wait patiently through the years of famine?

[20:45] Where did he learn to not give up? Where did he form, where did God forge the strength of character to keep working, keep helping, keep trusting that the end of the famine would come?

[20:57] In the prison. We've said it before that the hardest test of faith is not disappointment or disaster. The hardest test of faith is delay.

[21:09] Nothing is harder for faith than waiting, but God wastes no delays. That's what's going on here. God wastes no delays.

[21:29] What are you waiting for? What might God be working in your waiting? Don't let waiting take a toll. Don't let waiting begin to unravel your faith.

[21:44] Don't let it dull your affection. Don't let it dampen your prayer life. Don't let it diminish your appetite for God's word in the community. Don't let it cause you to drift away into worldly passions and pleasures.

[21:55] The idea is if God doesn't waste any delay, if God's always working good in the midst of our delays, then the watchword of the Christian life must be Psalm 2714.

[22:07] Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. That's our song. That's our prayer. So God's sovereign grace in the life of Joseph, or in the suffering of Joseph, also God's sovereign grace in the suffering of the people of Israel.

[22:26] God's sovereign grace is not just at work in the suffering of Joseph, it's also at work in the suffering of the people of Israel. That's what Joseph has come to understand.

[22:38] Look in verse 20 again, this incredible statement. He says, 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.

[22:56] This is similar to what Joseph said to his brothers at the reunion. We have it for you. Chapter 45, he said, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

[23:15] For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest, and God sent me before you.

[23:26] To preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. Now, this is incredible.

[23:39] What Joseph has, he's telling the brothers what he's come to learn, what he's come to understand about God's providence. No prophet talked to him. He began to understand all that God was doing by providence.

[23:54] Now, if you remember, in the covenant with Abraham, God declared that the people of Israel, so this is way back, hundreds of years before this, God declared to Abraham that the people of Israel would dwell in a foreign land for 400 years and be slaves.

[24:11] Look in chapter 15. We have it for you. He said, the Lord said to Abraham, know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years, but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

[24:35] sins. So if we were reading the book of Genesis, we would be wondering, how is God going to bring the family of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob into a foreign land to fulfill his promise?

[24:57] Well, first, God worked in the suffering of Joseph. God sent Joseph ahead through the evil deeds of his brothers. What they meant for evil, God meant for good.

[25:09] Then God worked in the suffering of the people of Israel. God brought the rest of the family of Abraham and of Jacob to Egypt through the famine.

[25:21] The famine threatened to end the people of Israel. The famine brought all manner of suffering into their lives, and the famine meant to kill them, but God meant to save them through it.

[25:33] It was all according to plan. After all of Jacob's 12 sons were born, after the 12 tribes of Israel were established, God gave Joseph the dreams.

[25:48] God sent Joseph ahead through his brother's evil deeds. God brought more dreams to restore him to power. Then God brought a famine. Psalm 105 said the Lord summoned the famine.

[26:01] The Lord called famine, come on out. Do what you must do to get my people where they need to be. And when the famine came, God had his man in charge, and all the people came to Egypt to survive.

[26:13] So God meant, planned, and purposed the famine not to kill, but to preserve life, to preserve a remnant, to secure many survivors. So that's what's going on in these chapters.

[26:25] They're all making their way to Egypt in fulfillment of the promise of God. Genesis 46 lists all their names.

[26:39] Turn there with me if you would. It lists all their names. There's a whole chapter devoted to the names of the sons of Jacob and their sons.

[26:51] Look at 46, 27. All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, which were 66 persons in all.

[27:14] And the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Egypt were two, all the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were 70.

[27:27] There's 70 names, 70 men. Seven is the number of completions. Seven times ten, 70 is the full number of completions.

[27:39] If you remember, we talked about this in chapter 11 in the table of nations. In chapter 11, before the promise of Abraham, there were 70 names there. Well, so too there's 70 names here.

[27:50] What's he saying? No one is left behind. All the people in fulfillment with the promise arrive in Egypt. Not one is forgotten. Not one is missing.

[28:04] But not only are they all there, they begin to prosper. Look in verse 27 of chapter 47. It says, thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt and the land of Goshen and they gained possessions in it and were fruitful and multiplied.

[28:20] God promised that he would make a great nation. That's what he said to Jacob before Jacob went down in 46.3. He said he'd make them a great nation and so they are being fruitful and multiplying there.

[28:32] God promised that he would give many possessions. So here they are gaining many possessions. So that's all of this is what Joseph had come to see. God worked in the brothers wicked deeds to get him to Egypt and God worked in the famine to get the people of Israel to Egypt as well.

[28:51] God was working all along to get Joseph the right man in the right place at the right time. All of it was God's doing. All of it was in fulfillment of the promise.

[29:15] We're often led to believe that one of the most important questions we can ask is what is God doing in my life? You know we're often writing that in the margins of our life so to speak. What is God doing? What is he up to?

[29:26] What's going on in my life? And when we do we're living like the purposes of God center on us. Several nights ago I went to see my daughter in the sound of music.

[29:39] I couldn't help but be struck by the meaning of the song no way to stop it. For those of you don't know the sound of music is set in Austria in World War II on the eve of the Nazi invasion.

[29:54] It follows the family of Captain Von Trap. A retired naval officer who's a staunch Austrian and refuses to bow to Hitler. Is ready for the invasion and ready to receive whatever they bring to him.

[30:11] The song says every star on every whirling planet and every constellation in the sky revolves around the center of the universe that lovely thing called I.

[30:23] There's no way to stop it. No way to stop it. If the earth wants to roll around the sun you're a fool if you worry. You're a fool if you worry over anything but little number one.

[30:36] That's what Captain Von Trapp's sort of girlfriend I guess is trying to convince him to believe. Thankfully he ditches her soon after the song.

[30:47] Not only is that advice just a fast road to misery. It's a fast road to confusion about what God's doing in your life.

[31:01] While God cares deeply for you and has deep purposes for you. His purposes do not center on you. God is always multitasking. I like to say in my house multitasking is a lie except for God.

[31:15] Everybody's solo tasking and we would all be happier if you just solo task right now. God is always working in countless ways in our lives and in the lives around us. God's always working multitasking to prepare us for his purposes.

[31:29] The trouble with asking what is God doing in my life is that often there's no apparent reason before you. God is often not working right now for you.

[31:43] If I could say it that way. God's not running around right now making sure all your felt needs are met from moment to moment. God is often working right in your life right now to prepare you for something later.

[31:59] And so we ask that question we get ourselves in all sorts of trouble. Some time ago I was counseling a couple walking through adultery. The wife had betrayed her husband.

[32:13] He called him couple number one. The wife repented and the husband forgave her. But they were continuing to walk through all the wreckage.

[32:27] He was striving to continue forgiving her and to avoid the sins of anger, of bitterness, withdrawal, apathy. You go down the line.

[32:38] They were working hard and growing. Years later they met new friends and quickly became close. Call them couple number two.

[32:51] The husband of this new couple committed adultery. He wanted to turn and repent but needed help. His wife wanted to turn and forgive but needed help.

[33:03] Who were the first friends they told? Couple number one. Though they didn't know anything about what had happened in their marriage.

[33:16] The wife of couple number one. The one who had been betrayed by her husband. Begins caring for the one who was betrayed.

[33:27] The one who had betrayed her husband. Was caring for the one who was betrayed. The husband of couple number two. Or couple number one. The one who was betrayed. Begins caring for the one who betrayed.

[33:38] now stop that first couple at any moment and ask them what is God doing in your life they'd say nothing throwing me in the pit you stop them later and they would say God's preparing us to care for others that's the way providence works don't give up on providence don't conclude God has done work and don't know what God's doing in your life good you might be useful to him a man's steps are from the Lord how can he understand his way Proverbs 20 24 what is God preparing you for what is God preparing for you point three God's sovereign grace in the suffering of Jesus God's sovereign grace in the suffering of Jesus

[34:39] God's sovereign grace at work in the suffering of Joseph the people of Israel so too is sovereign grace is at work in the suffering of Jesus look at the way Peter talks about the suffering of Jesus in Acts 2 he says at Pentecost men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men Peter is speaking to the Jews gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover he's saying do you remember Jesus of Nazareth do you remember this man who amassed a great crowd he was crucified and killed by lawless men on the one hand it carefully underlines Jesus was sinless he was wrongly betrayed denied tried mocked flogged condemned and crucified and yet it said this Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God they killed Jesus but God delivered him up it's the same word repeated throughout paradidomy repeated throughout

[35:58] Mark's gospel to say that you know that Jesus is going to go into Jerusalem he's going to be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes and delivered up unto death so it is somebody else doing the delivering in the hands of these wicked men but then Peter takes it a step further in Acts 4 look what he says here he says truly in this city Jerusalem they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place they were gathered against all these people they were gathered against Jesus all these people were gathered against him and it's listing the leaders Herod Pontius Pilate all along with the Gentiles the people of Israel to do whatever but they're doing whatever God's hand and plan had predestined to place now that's a weird way to talk what does it mean your hand and your plan had predestined to take place in the scriptures we often talk about the hand of God

[37:00] Pedro Martinez a baseball player called himself the right hand of God we think about the hand of God meaning meaning God's man not in a theoretical way but God's man in real time God's man working on God's behalf in real time well that's kind of what's going on here it's not power in the abstract what he's saying is Herod and Pontius Pilate thought they were in power remember what Jesus said Pilate you only do what my father in heaven lets you do something like that they thought they were the ones who were deciding what happened to Jesus but what Peter is saying right here is that the unseen hand of God is behind it all making sure everything worked according to the plan and purpose that God had predestined so just as in the suffering of Joseph and the suffering of Israel God's sovereign grace was at work in the suffering of Jesus what they meant for evil God meant for good what they meant to kill

[38:03] God meant to give life what they meant to destroy God meant to save it's been said that Genesis 50 20 is the Romans 8 28 of the Bible all things work together for those who love God we're meant to look back providence is only seen in reverse we're meant to look back and see that all the betrayal the false accusation the prison the forgotten the famine all of it work together for good for Joseph for the people of Israel and indeed for our Lord Jesus Christ I think in a word what we're meant to take away from this passage and what we're meant to take away especially today is what the Puritan John Preston said what I was to them I will be to you what is this resume all about it's all about the character of this God who never forgets any of his own and what he was to them he'll be to you he'll be to you in every step of this way every step of this journey in everything that comes your way if God is for us

[39:12] Romans 8 tells us who can be against us if he can work through these tragedies that come our way who can be against us who can take anything out of the hand of God that's where his beloved are in his hand and none shall snatch them out John 10 tells us who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation distress persecution famine nakedness danger a sword no in all these things were more than conquerors to him he loved us so who are you you're a creature who despite suffering evil sin and death is held completely secure in the grip of sovereign grace what do we do interestingly the book of

[40:18] Genesis carefully details two burials Joseph dies or Jacob dies rather Joseph takes his body to be buried in the land of Canaan why because that's the land they're going to receive the fulfillment of Genesis 12 and the promise but at the very end of the book Joseph dies look at what he says to his brothers verse 24 Joseph said to his brothers I'm 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 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear saying God will surely visit you he makes him swear God will surely visit you you'll carry up my bones why is he saying that well that's the promise they'll be there for 400 years and they're going to the promised land so Joseph died being 110 years old they embalmed him put him in a coffin in Egypt why didn't they take

[41:34] Joseph's body to Canaan because they buried him in hope they buried him in hope that's that's that's what every burial is for a Christian it's a burial in hope you lay the body into the ground not because it's the final resting place but because he's coming soon he's coming soon he's going to come and raise all those bodies and reunite them with their spirits that are already gathered before the Lord to worship the Lord to praise him forever and ever in so many ways Genesis wonderfully ends with us on the edge of our seat waiting for God to do all that he promised to do and so we rest in that hope this morning that death is not the end we are buried because he conquered sin and death through his death and resurrection on the cross we are buried not as a final act but as the beginning of what he's coming to do to restore all things to Jesus

[42:52] Christ as the head over all things unite all things in him so that we might sing to him and rejoice in him forever and ever and ever at the beginning of 1776 a bloody year in the history of America Augustus Toplady you probably heard of his song Rock of Ages cleft for me let me hide myself in me he said this where do we go in the face of death he said many a lofty head will be laid low before the expiration for the end of 1776 the sad ravages of civil war will to probably people the regions of the grave with additional thousands over and above the myriads who never fail to swell the ordinary bills of mortality kind of a funky way to say it but there will be more people that will die in 1776 that's all he's saying but listen what he says but providence unerring providence governs all events and grace unchanging grace is faithful to its purpose may we live by faith on both you're a creature who despite suffering evil sin and death is held completely secure in the grip of

[44:33] God's sovereign grace may God help us father in heaven we offer ourselves to you sincerely and completely we hide in you God help us to rest in the security of these truths you have loved us you sought us you found us and you will keep us to the end we thank you and praise you in Jesus name amen you've been listening to a message given by Walt Alexander lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens Tennessee for more information about Trinity Grace please visit us at