WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.380 We're coming to the end. 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:06.839 Next will be the conclusion to our series in the story of Joseph and the story of Jacob 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:07.520 and his family. 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:13.160 And this is a key moment that we come to here in Genesis 48. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:18.539 So let's begin reading Genesis 48, starting at verse 1. 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.480 After this, Joseph was told, behold, your father is ill. 00:00:24.379 --> 00:00:27.160 So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:30.719 And it was told to Jacob, your son Joseph has come to you. 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:32.980 Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:38.519 And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty, appear to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and bless 00:00:38.519 --> 00:00:41.740 me and said to me, behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you. 00:00:42.019 --> 00:00:46.100 And I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:48.039 you for an everlasting possession. 00:00:48.939 --> 00:00:53.620 And now your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in 00:00:53.620 --> 00:00:54.879 Egypt are mine. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:58.840 Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon are. 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:01.280 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:04.200 They shall be called by the name of their brothers and their inheritance. 00:01:05.100 --> 00:01:09.640 As for me, when I came from Paddan to my sorrow, Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.379 when there was still some distance to go to Ephraim. 00:01:12.520 --> 00:01:15.760 And I buried her there on the way to Ephraim, that is Bethlehem. 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.560 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, who are these? 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:24.140 Joseph said to his father, they are my sons whom God has given me here. 00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:26.659 And he said, bring them to me, please, that I may bless them. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.140 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age so that he could not see. 00:01:31.240 --> 00:01:34.060 So Joseph brought them near him and he kissed them and embraced them. 00:01:34.740 --> 00:01:39.280 And Israel said to Joseph, I never expected to see your face. 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:43.379 And behold, God has let me see your offspring also. 00:01:43.379 --> 00:01:47.959 Then Joseph removed them from his knees and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 00:01:48.839 --> 00:01:50.140 Look down at verse 15. 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:57.179 And he blessed Joseph and said, the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked. 00:01:57.739 --> 00:02:01.359 The God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day. 00:02:01.899 --> 00:02:04.340 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:05.919 Bless the boys. 00:02:06.739 --> 00:02:08.800 And in them, let my name be carried on. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:16.040 In the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 00:02:17.740 --> 00:02:22.920 If you knew that you were to die soon, what would you do to prepare? 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:30.480 This past Wednesday, the Veritas Forum addressed the topic living well in light of death and beyond. 00:02:30.660 --> 00:02:35.500 It was a fascinating conversation between two very contrasting viewpoints. 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:42.979 Shelly Kagan, a philosophy professor from Yale, said we should live this life with gusto because it's the only one we'll ever have. 00:02:44.060 --> 00:02:46.400 We are like stars blazing in the night. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:51.039 But when we die and burn out, it's the end. 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:52.300 That's it. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.039 The darkness will ultimately prevail. 00:02:56.259 --> 00:03:02.340 N.T. Wright, a Christian theologian, said the Christian vision is that the same God who created this world in which we live 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:10.379 came to dwell among us in the person of his son, Jesus Christ, and he will one day resurrect our bodies and renew the world. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:16.520 And in light of that glorious future, our present existence acquires new and lasting meaning. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:22.819 Well, this morning, as we look at our passage in Genesis, we see Jacob the patriarch nearing the end of his life, 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:26.379 facing his own impending death. 00:03:26.379 --> 00:03:34.699 And we don't see him reminiscing about the past, wistfully thinking about all the things that he has lost, 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:39.979 his health, his ability to walk around, his house back in Canaan. 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:42.519 We see him looking intently into the future. 00:03:43.859 --> 00:03:45.859 In particular, we see him doing two things. 00:03:45.860 --> 00:03:50.460 Now, that sort of provide a sandwich of this story. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:56.800 At the end of chapter 47 and at the end of chapter 49, the sort of the bookends of these two chapters, 00:03:57.460 --> 00:04:00.740 he speaks to Joseph and then to all of his sons. 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:03.200 And both times he says exactly the same thing. 00:04:03.260 --> 00:04:06.940 He says, don't bury me here in Egypt, where we are right now. 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.820 Bury me in Canaan with my fathers. 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:12.020 Now, what was going on? 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:17.139 Well, this wasn't just crotchety old Jacob making funeral logistics a little bit more difficult. 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:23.240 What he was doing was making a clear statement of his fundamental identity and destiny. 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:27.079 Jacob's grandfather, Abraham, had come from Mesopotamia. 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:29.480 His family had recently moved to Egypt. 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:33.519 And it seemed like Egypt was providing them with everything they could want. 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:35.560 They were reunited as a family. 00:04:35.699 --> 00:04:37.780 They had food instead of a famine. 00:04:37.779 --> 00:04:49.459 They had plenty of land under the favor of the pharaoh instead of struggling through a difficult existence on the margins of Canaanite society. 00:04:50.159 --> 00:04:56.679 But Jacob said, no, my ultimate destiny is not where my grandfather grew up. 00:04:56.939 --> 00:05:00.379 And it's not in this pretty neat place where we live now. 00:05:00.799 --> 00:05:03.959 My destiny is in the land that God promised. 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:16.919 Even though the only thing we own is a field with a cave in it in the land of Canaan, I'm trusting the promise of God, even though I'm never going to see it in my lifetime. 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:19.099 So he says, bury me there. 00:05:20.099 --> 00:05:21.299 That's where I belong. 00:05:21.679 --> 00:05:24.979 And that's the promise that I'm staking my claim on. 00:05:26.219 --> 00:05:27.319 That's the first thing he did. 00:05:27.379 --> 00:05:32.199 The second thing he did, which is the focus of today's passage, was he pronounced blessings over his kids. 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:36.479 Chapter 48, he blessed Joseph and his, Joseph's two sons. 00:05:36.939 --> 00:05:40.500 And chapter 49, he blessed all 12 of his sons. 00:05:41.599 --> 00:05:46.620 Now to some of us, this practice of pronouncing blessings might seem a bit strange. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:54.319 And if you look at Jacob's particular blessings, especially in chapter 49, which we'll look at some of them, they seem maybe even stranger. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:06:00.339 I mean, what does, naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns. 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:03.540 Or could also be translated gives beautiful words. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.339 It's even hard for some of the translators to figure out what he was actually saying. 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:13.740 We're dealing with a very ancient Hebrew poem here with several words that appear nowhere else in the Bible. 00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:17.240 But despite all that, the main point is clear. 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:20.319 He pronounces blessings, words of blessing over his kids. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.500 And this is carrying on a pattern in the book of Genesis. 00:06:24.340 --> 00:06:29.620 When God created human beings in chapter 1, it says he blessed them and said, 00:06:29.780 --> 00:06:33.019 Be fruitful and multiply and go forth into the world. 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:35.139 Fill the world with life. 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:45.899 Of course, when Adam and Eve turned away from God, the result was they went into all the earth and they spread sin and death and a curse. 00:06:46.779 --> 00:06:47.779 But God intervened. 00:06:47.860 --> 00:06:51.579 His plan to bless the world was not thwarted. 00:06:51.979 --> 00:06:55.680 He called Abraham in chapter 12 and blessed him and said, 00:06:55.740 --> 00:07:00.979 I'll make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:05.080 And in you, all the families of the earth will one day be blessed. 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:09.379 The blessing promised to Abraham had been passed down to Isaac and now to Jacob. 00:07:09.700 --> 00:07:13.160 And now Jacob was passing it on to his sons as well. 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:15.900 And that's what we're going to focus on this morning. 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:23.319 In our passage today, we'll see what it means to receive the blessing of God and what it means to pass it on. 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:31.040 We'll look at four aspects of what it means to receive and pass on the blessing of God. 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:41.839 So the first aspect of God's blessing, what it means to receive and pass it on, is that we see God holds us together when we should have fallen apart. 00:07:43.779 --> 00:07:50.439 If you think about it, left to their own devices, Jacob's family should have totally fallen apart. 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:53.300 Scattered, self-destructed, died. 00:07:54.120 --> 00:08:01.719 I mean, just think about all the junk that's gone on in Jacob's family so far in these chapters of Genesis that we've looked at the last two months. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:06.839 Jacob's firstborn son, Reuben, slept with his dad's mistress. 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:14.100 Simeon and Levi, second and third, massacred a whole town in unrestrained rage. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:20.060 Joseph was a spoiled teenage brat who seemed to see himself as the center of the universe. 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:27.420 His brothers resented and hated him, so they threw him into a pit, sold him into slavery, and then lied to their father about what had happened. 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:33.419 Jacob was so focused on his favorite son, Joseph, that he acted as if he had no children left. 00:08:34.059 --> 00:08:36.740 He literally talked as if, my son is gone. 00:08:38.059 --> 00:08:41.019 When there were also 11 more standing right there with him. 00:08:41.019 --> 00:08:49.279 Judah got sick of his father's favoritism, and so he went off to live on his own among the Canaanites for nearly 20 years. 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:57.240 The four different mothers of the 12 boys were constantly scheming to get ahead of each other, and finally a terrible famine threatened to starve them all to death. 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:04.899 This was a dysfunctional, crazy-making family that was self-destructing over and over and over again. 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:22.079 But what we've seen in the last couple weeks is that God took this family with all its trouble, and by his grace brought them together, reconciled them to one another, and brought them to live and flourish safely in the land of Egypt. 00:09:23.500 --> 00:09:29.379 These two chapters of blessings emphasize the unity of Jacob's once divided family. 00:09:29.379 --> 00:09:35.759 Joseph's two sons were born in Egypt, completely apart from the rest of the family. 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:40.460 But in chapter 48, Jacob says, they belong to us too. 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:43.299 They're included in the blessing. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:52.220 Verses 8 through 12 of chapter 48 actually describe an ancient adoption ceremony. 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:58.840 That's why verse 12 refers to the sons being on Jacob's knees. 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:05.160 It was sort of a symbolic gesture of accepting, receiving, and claiming a child as one's own. 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:10.840 So Jacob's saying, your sons belong here, belong with us. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:17.019 Chapter 49, we see Jacob's 12 sons gathered all together and addressed one by one. 00:10:17.019 --> 00:10:25.960 And chapter 49, verse 28, the end of our passage concludes, all these are the 12 tribes of Israel. 00:10:26.779 --> 00:10:32.279 This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with a blessing suitable to him. 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:39.259 So what we see here is that it's not just, it says not just the 12 sons of Israel, but the 12 tribes. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:46.639 In other words, they're not only united as brothers in a family, but they're the seed of a great nation. 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:49.339 What God has promised he would build through Abraham. 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:56.019 The point is God kept Jacob's family together and built them into the seed of a nation when normally they should have fallen apart. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:59.019 Left to their own devices, they would have died. 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:05.460 And you know, today God continues to bless his people by keeping us together. 00:11:06.139 --> 00:11:12.319 When if we were just left to our own devices, we'd fall apart and self-destruct and die. 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:20.639 I want to share one particular story from the history of this church that expresses this kind of blessing of God 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.860 and holding us together when we could have fallen apart. 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:27.059 This happened nine years ago, 2005. 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:28.759 We didn't have this building. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.879 We were renting space from a Seventh-day Adventist church. 00:11:31.979 --> 00:11:36.179 And they came to us and said, it's been nice having you be here and rent our building. 00:11:36.619 --> 00:11:38.439 But you're growing and so are we. 00:11:38.599 --> 00:11:40.039 And so we want you to move out. 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:41.699 We'll give you six months. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.259 We had six months to find a place for 150 people to meet every Sunday in downtown New Haven. 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.259 At the same time, the Trinity elders were having some trouble. 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:55.799 Now all the elders were faithful men of God. 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:57.539 They loved God's word. 00:11:58.059 --> 00:11:59.039 They loved the church. 00:11:59.139 --> 00:12:02.399 They were sincerely committed to doing what was right and good. 00:12:03.359 --> 00:12:04.679 But they had a disagreement. 00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:10.399 And they put all their effort into working through it, but they couldn't find a way forward. 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:13.539 And it lasted several months. 00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:14.399 They did what they could. 00:12:14.459 --> 00:12:17.899 And finally, two of the elders said, we think we have to resign. 00:12:17.899 --> 00:12:22.980 So they said at the next congregational meeting, they were going to publicly resign their positions. 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:29.879 Well, the day before the congregational meeting, a woman in the church heard the news. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.240 She went to one of the elders, who was also her small group leader. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:40.860 And she said to him, the Bible says that we should make every effort to pursue the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.480 Have you guys tried everything you can? 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:53.639 It was a very bold thing that she did to take initiative to approach her small group leader and ask him that question. 00:12:54.539 --> 00:13:00.320 But the elders talked later that night and they said, you know, we've tried all that we can to work through this among ourselves, but there's one thing we haven't done. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:03.400 We haven't asked someone else to come and help us. 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:06.379 And so we should do that. 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:19.020 And they said, we'll ask a Christian leader that we all trust from outside the church to come in and be a mediator and hear us out and give us advice and help us move forward. 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:22.220 So that's what they announced at the congregational meeting that night. 00:13:22.280 --> 00:13:24.920 They said, we were going to resign, but we're going to pursue mediation. 00:13:25.220 --> 00:13:25.940 Pray for us. 00:13:26.060 --> 00:13:26.880 And people prayed. 00:13:27.380 --> 00:13:27.980 And you know what? 00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:29.940 People didn't gossip. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.540 And didn't speculate over what exactly was going on, but they prayed. 00:13:35.640 --> 00:13:37.040 And God answered our prayers. 00:13:37.760 --> 00:13:40.060 Over the next two months, the elders met with the mediator. 00:13:40.660 --> 00:13:45.480 At the next congregational meeting, all five of them stood up and said, we've fully resolved our disagreements. 00:13:46.060 --> 00:13:47.420 We're in complete unity. 00:13:48.040 --> 00:13:49.340 We're ready to move forward together. 00:13:50.280 --> 00:13:56.880 That same night, we voted to buy this building that we now meet in for $1.25 million. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.200 That was, yikes. 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:02.659 That was a step of faith. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:05.460 There weren't any other options, by the way. 00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:08.059 We were researching everything we could. 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:10.200 Abandoned movie theaters, everything. 00:14:12.100 --> 00:14:12.340 Okay? 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:17.360 And three years after we move in, the mortgage was paid off by God's grace. 00:14:17.560 --> 00:14:26.440 So we went from a disagreement that could have split the leadership of this church and undermine our confidence in moving forward as a church. 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:28.820 Averted by God's grace. 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:31.400 God kept us together and even made us grow. 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:37.340 When if we were simply left to our own devices, we could very easily have fallen apart. 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:39.900 God has blessed us. 00:14:40.900 --> 00:14:42.700 There's a lot of other stories that could be told. 00:14:42.700 --> 00:14:55.759 And God continues to bless us every time that a Christian friendship, which has been strained by gossip or neglect, is reconciled through repentance and forgiveness. 00:14:56.500 --> 00:15:07.560 Every time that a Christian marriage, which has grown distant through selfishness and fear, is renewed by tender pursuing love and patient prayer. 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:23.559 God continues to bless us every time that Christian ministry leaders who have avoided each other or mistrusted each other take the time to listen to one another and pray together and seek unity in the truth of God's word by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:15:25.239 --> 00:15:31.500 And you know God is still blessing us by holding us together and not letting us fall apart. 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:37.600 That's the first way God blesses us and that we can participate in carrying on his blessing to others. 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:44.460 The second way is that God initiates sovereign grace instead of following social convention. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.059 Look down at chapter 48, verse 13. 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:48.360 It says, 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:56.120 Joseph took them both, his two sons, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. 00:15:56.120 --> 00:16:06.779 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who is the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:12.740 Now this was not the conventional way to do things, to go like this. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:16.080 That even looks a little odd. 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:17.060 Right? 00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:18.480 So, verse 17, 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.159 Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim. 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:22.120 It displeased him. 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:25.800 And he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 00:16:25.860 --> 00:16:26.879 And Joseph said to his father, 00:16:26.980 --> 00:16:28.039 Not this way, my father. 00:16:28.659 --> 00:16:29.180 He's thinking, 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:31.539 Dad's maybe losing it a little bit. 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:32.879 No, no, no. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:33.360 Dad, not. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:33.940 No, no, no. 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:34.539 Not that way. 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:36.080 This one is the firstborn. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:37.300 Put your right hand on his head. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:38.500 But his father refused. 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:39.639 And said, 00:16:39.680 --> 00:16:40.519 I know, my son. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:41.480 I know. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:43.720 He also shall become a people. 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:45.180 He also shall be great. 00:16:45.180 --> 00:16:47.480 Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he. 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.100 And his offspring shall become a multitude of nations. 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:51.399 So he blessed them that day. 00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:52.340 Saying, 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:54.220 By you, Israel will pronounce blessings. 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:54.659 Saying, 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:57.840 God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:02.320 You see, Jacob was being very intentional in what he was doing. 00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:05.579 And again, he was following a pattern that runs throughout the book of Genesis. 00:17:06.980 --> 00:17:09.680 In a society that was ruled by firstborn sons, 00:17:09.819 --> 00:17:12.720 God often chose the younger son over the older. 00:17:13.620 --> 00:17:14.779 Abel over Cain. 00:17:15.339 --> 00:17:16.539 Isaac over Ishmael. 00:17:16.539 --> 00:17:17.599 Jacob over Esau. 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:18.680 Perez over Zerah. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:20.299 Ephraim over Manasseh. 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:21.559 Now, what's the point? 00:17:22.700 --> 00:17:27.859 God is not bound to follow social conventions and cultural patterns. 00:17:29.339 --> 00:17:33.399 Back then, the firstborn son gets the double portion. 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:34.960 He's the leader. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:39.460 That's what you're entitled to if you're a firstborn son. 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:46.440 Even today, in a far more egalitarian society, firstborn children still have a statistical advantage. 00:17:47.380 --> 00:17:52.700 The most ambitious, the best educated, you are 30% more likely than others to attend an Ivy League school. 00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:55.620 That's the statistics. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:04.980 But, you know, God says God is not obligated to give special honor in his kingdom to firstborn children or to anyone else. 00:18:04.980 --> 00:18:10.720 You see, God rules his kingdom by sovereign grace. 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:21.700 What that means is, if we're part of God's kingdom, it's because he's chosen us and brought us in and made a way for us to be included by his grace, by his mercy. 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:35.059 And it means that in his kingdom, God sovereignly assigns to us different roles, different gifts, different spheres of influence, according to his own wisdom and not according to human standards. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:48.960 You know, there's great freedom when we accept our different roles and seek to use our different gifts in order to build up the whole body instead of getting trapped in envy, rivalry, and comparison. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:53.299 Which for so long had dominated Jacob's family. 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:55.640 Envy, rivalry, and comparison. 00:18:56.539 --> 00:19:01.380 Leading to hatred and anger and all kinds of other things. 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:08.019 But here, there's quiet acceptance at the end. 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:13.960 Jacob never explained why he put Ephraim over Manasseh. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.380 You know, he didn't say, Ephraim is more righteous than Manasseh. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:23.059 Or, Manasseh is disqualified from, because of something he did. 00:19:23.299 --> 00:19:28.380 He doesn't say that Ephraim deserved a bigger portion of the inheritance. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:31.220 Now, we do know Jacob's words prove true. 00:19:32.220 --> 00:19:36.799 Ephraim came the most prominent tribe among the northern tribes in Israel. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:42.600 In fact, the northern kingdom, when the kingdom split, the northern kingdom was often simply called Ephraim. 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:42.679 Ephraim. 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:45.819 Although it actually included ten tribes. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:49.019 It was simply called Ephraim because Ephraim was the most prominent. 00:19:51.179 --> 00:19:51.939 Now, what's the point? 00:19:52.059 --> 00:19:58.939 Sometimes God doesn't tell us why he blesses certain people in some ways and other people in other ways. 00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:02.360 And this is sometimes hard for us to accept. 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:11.180 Because we want everything to be, sometimes we have this, we want everything to be equal. 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:13.440 In the sense of the same. 00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:18.000 But you know, God has made us different, and yet he's called us together. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:28.079 You know, in God's kingdom, there are faithful pastors who lead small congregations of 25 to 50 people their whole life long. 00:20:28.619 --> 00:20:32.119 Other faithful pastors lead congregations of 5,000 or more. 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:37.660 Some Christians are respected in their work and promoted to high positions. 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:41.940 Some Christians are fired or laid off for living out Christian principles. 00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:45.900 Some couples get pregnant the first time they try to have a kid. 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:49.420 Others wait anxiously for years or remain infertile their whole lives. 00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:54.000 Some Christians bring glory to God by being miraculously healed. 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:59.180 And others bring glory to God as they die in faith from the exact same illness. 00:21:00.580 --> 00:21:02.039 You know, we don't always know why. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:05.940 And we can often go wrong if we assume that we know why. 00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:12.559 Especially if we assume that the stronger your faith, the more successful you'll be. 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:16.240 And God doesn't work that way. 00:21:17.900 --> 00:21:22.100 Sometimes he simply chooses to bless people in different ways. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:25.980 And it's not a function of our merit or how good we are. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.480 He just chooses to bless different people in different ways. 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:32.140 And we don't know always why. 00:21:32.220 --> 00:21:37.079 But what we can know and what we do know is that God has called us and blessed us together. 00:21:37.819 --> 00:21:39.940 You know, both Ephraim and Manasseh were blessed. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:47.200 And in fact, we can get so caught up in the difference between the two of them that we miss the point they're both part of the family. 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:48.700 They both get the inheritance. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.039 New Testament says every Christian is blessed with every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:57.440 We're forgiven of all of our sins. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.460 We're adopted as God's children. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.779 We're reconciled with God. 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:09.200 We have the presence and power of the Holy Spirit living in us as a first installment of what God's going to do when he comes again one day. 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:18.680 You see, what we share in common through Jesus Christ is actually far more significant than any of the ways in which we differ. 00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:35.019 And whatever our roles, whatever our gifts, whether they're center stage or behind the scenes or extensive or limited or however they change over our lives, God has called us to use every blessing he has given us to build up the whole body of Christ. 00:22:35.700 --> 00:22:42.820 This is Ephraim and Manasseh were each called to different roles in the kingdom of Israel, but they were both called to essential places. 00:22:42.819 --> 00:22:48.819 They were both called to be part of God's work in that way. 00:22:48.819 --> 00:22:55.919 So we see so far that God holds us together when we could have fallen apart. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:03.539 God initiates sovereign grace instead of following social conventions. 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:14.500 The third thing we see as we look in chapter 49 is God curses our sin in order to bless us. 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:19.960 So let's read 49, verse 1 through 7. 00:23:20.019 --> 00:23:24.799 Jacob called his sons and said, gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:27.299 Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob. 00:23:27.420 --> 00:23:28.740 Listen to Israel, your father. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.420 So he begins his blessings here. 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:42.539 He says, Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power, unstable as water. 00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:45.720 You shall not have preeminence. 00:23:46.139 --> 00:23:49.500 Because you went up to your father's bed, then you defiled it. 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:51.039 He went up to my couch. 00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:54.379 Simeon and Levi are brothers. 00:23:55.420 --> 00:23:57.200 Weapons of violence are their swords. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:59.299 Let my soul come not into their counsel. 00:23:59.460 --> 00:24:01.480 O my glory, be not joined to their company. 00:24:02.399 --> 00:24:03.940 For in their anger they killed men. 00:24:04.579 --> 00:24:06.960 And in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. 00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:09.420 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce. 00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:11.840 And their wrath, for it is cruel. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:15.660 I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. 00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:21.279 As you read these, you might think, what kind of a blessing is that? 00:24:22.600 --> 00:24:26.360 Jacob rebuked them publicly in front of everyone else. 00:24:27.140 --> 00:24:31.560 He chastised Reuben for his lack of self-control, unstable as water. 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:35.440 And Simeon and Levi for their fierce anger. 00:24:36.639 --> 00:24:41.359 If you look down at verse 14 and 15, he criticized Issachar for being lazy. 00:24:42.659 --> 00:24:44.299 Crouching between the seat folds. 00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:49.359 You see, by this time Jacob knew his sons very well. 00:24:51.099 --> 00:24:59.859 There are some points in the story that we've seen so far that Jacob seems to be so focused on himself that he seems oblivious to everything else that's happened in his family. 00:24:59.859 --> 00:25:01.439 And all the conflicts among the brothers. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:04.599 But actually, he's very clear-sighted by this time. 00:25:05.699 --> 00:25:06.879 He knows his kids very well. 00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:13.579 And he knows that though they had been brought together by the grace of God, they were still vulnerable to their own worst tendencies. 00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:17.879 And he wasn't afraid to call them out and warn them. 00:25:18.699 --> 00:25:22.879 He cursed their sin in order to bless his sons. 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:29.060 You see, what Jacob didn't do here, he's not telling his sons off and sending them away. 00:25:30.860 --> 00:25:34.040 No, he's rebuked them as members of the family. 00:25:35.520 --> 00:25:38.740 Verse 4, he says to Reuben, you shall not have preeminence. 00:25:39.720 --> 00:25:44.960 Verse 7, he says to Simeon and Levi, I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. 00:25:45.060 --> 00:25:46.920 But notice, they're still in. 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:51.759 They're not the leader, but they're still part of the family. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:55.380 He's not telling them off and throwing them out of the house. 00:25:56.080 --> 00:26:00.640 He's rebuking them so they don't keep on doing the stupid stuff that got them in trouble in the first place. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:03.000 He's protecting them from themselves. 00:26:04.420 --> 00:26:09.820 One commentator said, though some forfeited their privilege, none altogether forfeited his inheritance. 00:26:09.819 --> 00:26:17.939 Even if they were disappointed individually as Israel, as God's people, they entered into the promise of God. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:25.279 Yesterday at our parenting seminar, the Snyders were talking about the discipline of children, 00:26:25.419 --> 00:26:30.960 how important it is for us as parents not to withhold discipline or correction from our kids. 00:26:31.779 --> 00:26:35.980 Now, of course, biblical discipline or training doesn't start with correction and punishment. 00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:38.740 It starts with positive instruction and blessing. 00:26:39.819 --> 00:26:47.879 The blessing of chapter 48, verse 15 and 16 is a wonderful blessing that we can, in many ways, pray for our kids. 00:26:47.980 --> 00:26:51.439 They would come to know God as the faithful shepherd. 00:26:52.059 --> 00:26:58.079 That they would know the God whom our spiritual ancestors have trusted. 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:03.000 That they would know God who is to redeem them from evil. 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:12.779 But, you know, sometimes in order to bless our kids, we also need to call them to account for their sin and follow through with appropriate corrective measures. 00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:19.480 And the Snyder said, as Christian parents, we seek to lead our kids to a right understanding of guilt. 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:26.480 In other words, acknowledging our sin and responding with confession and forgiveness that leads to resolution. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:33.180 But not shame that leads to withdrawal and alienation and despair. 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:36.480 You see, what Jacob's doing is here. 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:42.559 He's not shaming them and pushing them to the side and saying, I don't ever want to deal with you again. 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:46.099 Or I'm going to distance myself from you forever. 00:27:46.099 --> 00:27:57.059 He's calling them out so they can see their guilt and confess their sin and walk in the way that is right and good. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:06.359 You know, it's a blessing to be lovingly rebuked for our sin. 00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:07.699 Right? 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:11.659 Whether you're a kid or whether you're an adult. 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:20.279 Many of us have trouble realizing that it's a blessing to be lovingly called out for our sinful patterns. 00:28:21.060 --> 00:28:26.380 James 5 says, my brothers, if any of you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 00:28:27.120 --> 00:28:33.340 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. 00:28:35.620 --> 00:28:41.560 Do we receive loving rebuke as a blessing from God or do we run away from it or lash out against it? 00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:51.500 Do we have the courage to extend loving rebuke to others when they have a pattern of sinful anger or laziness or lack of self-control? 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:57.779 You know, the purpose of loving rebuke is not to tell somebody off so you don't have to deal with them anymore. 00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:01.180 It's to love them as a brother or sister and win them back. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:06.120 It's a lot harder to do than just telling someone off. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:09.880 It's also harder than just withdrawing and ignoring them. 00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:19.020 But that's what God calls us to as a family is to love one another enough to sometimes call each other out for our ultimate good. 00:29:21.540 --> 00:29:28.220 And you know, when a loving rebuke is extended and received, sometimes our greatest liability can become our greatest asset. 00:29:29.220 --> 00:29:30.620 So take Levi, for instance. 00:29:30.619 --> 00:29:37.459 His fierce anger led him to violently, massively overreact. 00:29:38.779 --> 00:29:46.039 But later on, his greatest asset was his fierce zeal for the purity of God's people. 00:29:47.379 --> 00:29:50.439 Levi was scattered in Israel, having no territorial inheritance. 00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:58.120 But as the priestly tribe, the tribe of Levi represented all of the tribes coming before God in prayer. 00:29:59.299 --> 00:30:08.400 You see, by the grace of God, sometimes our greatest weaknesses and even our greatest failures can be the doorway to our greatest strengths. 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:12.420 Stubborn willfulness can become tenacious perseverance. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:15.720 Fierce anger can become godly zeal. 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:19.720 Hypersensitivity can become deeply felt compassion. 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:25.620 That's the blessing of being called out. 00:30:26.500 --> 00:30:29.960 That God curses their sin to bless his sons. 00:30:30.940 --> 00:30:32.819 Finally, last point. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:38.680 The last way that God blesses us, he provides a savior instead of giving us over to our enemies. 00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:42.400 Chapter 49 includes a blessing for each of Jacob's sons. 00:30:42.620 --> 00:30:43.720 But two of them stand out. 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:47.259 Joseph, of course, at the end. 00:30:48.220 --> 00:30:49.799 Verse 22 through 26. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:52.819 And Judah in verse 8 through 12. 00:30:53.700 --> 00:30:58.660 Now for most of the last 12 chapters, for most of our sermon series this fall, our story is focused on Joseph. 00:30:59.539 --> 00:31:01.680 We've called this series The Gospel According to Joseph. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:12.720 We've seen how Joseph persevered through hardship and saved the land of Egypt from famine and provided for his starving family and reconciled with his brothers and how he's a picture of a greater deliverer to come. 00:31:14.380 --> 00:31:17.880 And Joseph is extravagantly blessed by his father. 00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:19.880 He's fruitful. 00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:20.920 He's fruitful. 00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:23.140 Blessed with abundant blessings. 00:31:23.840 --> 00:31:29.740 But you know, the greatest and most lasting blessing of all isn't given to Joseph in this chapter. 00:31:30.580 --> 00:31:32.160 It's given to Judah. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:34.660 Verse 8. 00:31:34.660 --> 00:31:37.680 Judah, your brother shall praise you. 00:31:38.420 --> 00:31:40.320 Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. 00:31:40.440 --> 00:31:43.180 Your father's son shall bow down before you. 00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:47.700 Judah is a lion's cub. 00:31:48.259 --> 00:31:50.100 From the prey, my son, you have gone up. 00:31:50.180 --> 00:31:50.880 He stooped down. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.019 He crouched as a lion. 00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:54.100 And as a lioness, who dares rouse him? 00:31:54.099 --> 00:31:59.339 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him. 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:02.019 And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:09.740 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. 00:32:10.659 --> 00:32:18.639 You see, what God is promising here is that from the tribe of Judah, God will provide a king, a savior, who will defeat our greatest enemies. 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:24.120 You see, the story of Joseph that we've looked at all this time isn't really about Joseph, ultimately. 00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:33.540 It's about how God brought Joseph all the way to Egypt to save his family from famine and to preserve the line of Judah from which the Messiah would one day come. 00:32:34.780 --> 00:32:39.660 The promise here was understood to be a messianic prophecy long before the time of Jesus. 00:32:40.340 --> 00:32:48.160 That a descendant of Judah would not only unify the family, verse 8, but also rule the nations, verse 9 and 10. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:52.700 And usher in a time of unparalleled prosperity and peace, verse 11 and 12. 00:32:56.180 --> 00:33:08.320 And in the New Testament we see that this promised Lion of Judah, who will rule the nations, is also the Lamb of God, who was slain for the sins of the world. 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:18.159 And the Lord, who ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, who lives again as the risen king, the one who conquered death. 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:24.980 The one who is our hope for this life and for all eternity. 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:33.920 You see, God has a plan that is far bigger and far more glorious, far more intricate than what any of us will see. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:38.560 Jacob came to the end of his life. 00:33:39.779 --> 00:33:43.840 And he looked forward to what he hadn't yet seen or experienced. 00:33:44.220 --> 00:33:47.200 And he trusted God's promise that it was coming. 00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:55.940 And there's a lot of times in our life and maybe even facing our death when we don't see the completion of God's plan. 00:33:57.059 --> 00:33:59.819 And we see a lot of unfinished things. 00:34:01.019 --> 00:34:04.319 But can we look back to how God has blessed us already? 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:13.719 And can we look forward and trust his promise that one day he will come again and make a new heavens and a new earth? 00:34:15.279 --> 00:34:17.139 Brothers and sisters, may we be like Jacob. 00:34:17.779 --> 00:34:19.799 May we experience God's blessing. 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:21.519 May we extend God's blessing. 00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:24.000 May we live and may we die in faith. 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:25.099 Let us pray. 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:42.200 Lord God, we thank you for speaking words of blessing to us. 00:34:43.220 --> 00:34:47.160 We thank you for accepting us into your family and providing your son Jesus Christ. 00:34:48.240 --> 00:34:50.539 So that we might come home to you. 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:56.680 We thank you, Lord, that though you call us to different roles and give us different gifts. 00:34:58.140 --> 00:35:03.980 For your own purposes that you have called us together and you have blessed us with a glorious inheritance. 00:35:05.320 --> 00:35:14.940 And thank you that you have made us together much more than what we are on our own. 00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:19.180 Thank you for calling us into your family and blessing us. 00:35:19.240 --> 00:35:25.059 We pray that we would know this blessing that you've given to us in the Lion of Judah. 00:35:25.580 --> 00:35:27.920 In the Lamb of God and Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:35:28.760 --> 00:35:29.640 We pray in his name. 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:30.120 Amen.