to Genesis chapter 47 on page 54.
We find ourselves coming to the last words of Jacob
as he blesses his grandchildren, his sons,
and as he places his hope in God and God's promises.
Now let's hear the word of God, first of all,
in Genesis 47 and at verse 28.
Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years,
and the years of his life were 147.
When the time drew near for Israel to die,
he called for his son Joseph and said to him,
if I have found favor in your eyes,
put your hand under my thigh
and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness.
Do not bury me in Egypt,
but when I rest with my fathers,
carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.
I will do as you say, he said.
Swear to me, he said.
Then Joseph swore to him,
and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
Sometime later, Joseph was told,
your father is ill.
So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim,
along with him.
When Jacob was told,
your son Joseph has come to you,
Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.
Jacob said to Joseph,
God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan,
and there he blessed me and said to me,
I am going to make you fruitful
and will increase your numbers.
I will make you a community of peoples,
and I will give this land as an everlasting possession
to your descendants after you.
Now then,
your two sons born to you in Egypt
before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine.
Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,
just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
Any children born to you after them will be yours.
In the territory they inherit,
they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers.
As I was returning from Paddan,
to my sorrow,
Rachel died in the land of Canaan
while we were still on the way,
a little distance from Ephraim.
So I buried her there beside the road to Ephraim,
that is Bethlehem.
When Israel saw the sons of Joseph,
he asked,
who are these?
They are the sons God has given me here,
Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said,
bring them to me so that I may bless them.
Now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age
and he could hardly see.
So Joseph brought his sons close to him
and his father kissed them and embraced them.
Israel said to Joseph,
I never expected to see your face again
and now God has allowed me to see your children too.
Then Joseph removed them from Israel's knees
and bowed down with his face to the ground.
And Joseph took both of them,
Ephraim on his right towards Israel's left hand,
and Manasseh on his left towards Israel's right hand
and brought them close to him.
But Israel reached out his right hand
and put it on Ephraim's head,
though he was the younger and crossing his arms,
he put his left hand on Manasseh's head,
even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
Then he blessed Joseph and said,
may the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
the angel who has delivered me from all harm,
may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly upon the earth.
When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand
on Ephraim's head, he was displeased.
So he took hold of his father's hand
to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
Joseph said to him,
no, my father, this one is the firstborn.
Put your right hand on his head.
But his father refused and said,
I know, my son, I know.
He too will become a people
and he too will become great.
Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he
and his descendants will become a group of nations.
He blessed them that day and said,
in your name will Israel pronounce this blessing.
May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
Then Israel said to Joseph,
I am about to die,
but God will be with you
and take you back to the land of your fathers.
And to you, as one who is over your brothers,
I give the ridge of land I took from the Amorites
with my sword and my bow.
And then into Genesis 49,
we find Jacob blessing each of his children,
speaking prophetic words of them.
But I want us to turn to chapter 49 and verse 29.
So just over the page.
So after he blessed them,
then he gave them these instructions.
I am about to be gathered to my people.
Bury me with my fathers in the cave
in the land of Ephron the Hittite,
the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in Canaan,
which Abram bought as a burial place
from Ephron the Hittite along with the field.
There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried.
There Isaac and his wife Rebecca were buried.
And there I buried Leah.
The field and the cave in it
were brought from the Hittites.
When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons,
he drew his feet up into the bed,
breathed his last,
and was gathered to his people.
Let's pray once again.
Now, can we turn back in our Bibles
to Genesis 47 to 49
in our church Bibles on page 54?
Let me say at this time,
welcome to those who are listening online.
It's great to be able to worship together.
As we think today about Jacob,
as we think about a dying man's faith,
and as we see in his experience
and in his words,
hope for a fearful world.
It's almost hard to avoid fear right now.
There are words that are becoming
such a normal part of our vocabulary.
Pandemic,
self-isolation,
virus that cannot be contained.
And we can see that these words
and the reality of the virus
are striking fear around the globe.
And perhaps as we gather here or at home,
perhaps there is fear in our own hearts too.
We're waiting,
always waiting,
waiting for the World Health Organization
or for government
or for the NHS to issue guidelines.
It's dominating every conversation
in every household,
so it seems.
And I wonder if we're finding too
that it's setting the beat
for our own hearts,
that it's determining how we think
and how we feel.
So I want to use the words of Jacob
to speak to us in this situation.
How can Jacob's dying words guide us?
Two questions to think about this morning.
The first is to do with promise,
to ask ourselves the question,
what is it that I am hanging my hope on?
And then a question to do with peace.
How can I have rest
in a climate of fear?
Whether we're Christians
or whether we're not Christians,
it's always good for us to think,
what is my life built on?
And what do I look for,
look to for peace and security?
So let's first of all,
think about this question,
what am I hanging my hope on?
And let's see it in Jacob's experience,
first of all.
So we began reading in chapter 47
from verse 28 to 31.
And there we see that Jacob,
who'd arrived as an old man in Egypt,
130,
he enjoyed prosperity and plenty
in Egypt for 17 years,
cared for, provided for by Joseph,
his son.
But now he is dying
and his thoughts turn to his burial
where his bones will rest.
And you notice what he asks,
what he wants Joseph to swear to,
do not bury me in Egypt,
but when I rest with my fathers,
carry me out of Egypt
and bury me where they are buried.
Now this is not some kind of superstition
and this is not a simple sentiment.
This is Jacob showing that he is holding onto
a greater hope,
that God's promised land is his true home.
Jacob has been in Egypt for 17 years,
but still he is homesick
for the promised land.
His heart is back in Canaan.
That was the land of God's promise.
And that was the land where God had promised
to be with his people.
So just as at the beginning of Genesis,
you discover God creating the world
and God establishing the Garden of Eden,
that good, that perfect land
where God and his people could dwell together.
So Canaan becomes Eden part two
in Jacob's thought.
So he wants to be home.
We see how important the promise of God is
to him and to his family
at the end of chapter 48,
which we read.
What is his dying wish for Joseph?
What does he give to Joseph?
To you as one who is over your brothers,
I give the ridge of land.
I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.
So Joseph has become really wealthy in Egypt.
He has power and influence in Egypt.
He is second only to the Pharaoh.
But Jacob in his dying words reminds Joseph,
this is not your true home.
So he gives him that ridge,
that portion of land that connects Joseph
to the promise of God.
And we'll see in chapter 50
how Joseph, the man of faith,
also in his heart longs for the promised land
because it's God's land.
And then we concluded
and we heard the dying words of Jacob
in chapter 49,
his last will and testament.
What are the last instructions he gives
to his sons?
His detailed instructions
for where he is to be buried.
He wants to be buried with the people of God
in the land that God had promised.
And what we see here is that Jacob
both lives and dies
standing on the promises of God.
We have that wonderful picture
when he anticipates his own death
there at the end of verse 47.
We see him worshipping.
He worships the God that he knows.
The God who has proved faithful to him,
who has proved faithful to his family,
and who will prove faithful to those promises
even after he has died.
So we can say that Jacob's life
and especially here Jacob's death
reveals the foundation for his life.
All of us have something
that we build our hope and identity on.
All of us, when we are pushed,
whether we would say it explicitly
or whether it's just the implicit reality
of our lives,
we think and we act
as if my life is about something.
When I face trouble,
we turn in a particular direction.
Now we see for Jacob,
his life was built on God
and his promises in his heart
and mind is turned there often.
In different industries,
we talk about stress testing.
In the construction industry,
the stress testing of materials
to see if they will stand the strain
or the stress testing
of banking procedures.
Will they be able to cope
with financial strain and crisis?
I want to suggest to you and to me today
that the coronavirus
is serving for us
as a stress test
to the foundation of your life and mine.
It's making us
perhaps ask questions
that we hardly ever find the time
to ask ourselves.
Am I hanging my hope
on something solid and firm
or is my whole life
hanging on
a sugary pang?
Jesus,
speaking to the crowd,
said that he was
a solid rock,
that his word
was a solid rock
to build on,
that anything else
is shifting sands
that will not
hold the weight
of a life
and especially not
as we consider
eternity.
One of the striking things
that this virus
is revealing to us
is that our gods
are too small.
What is it that our culture
and society,
what is it that we often live for?
Wealth.
What's happening?
The stock markets
are crashing.
Businesses are collapsing.
Work is coming to an end.
That God
is not one
that people are able
to rely on.
Health.
We so often
live as if
health is everything,
but here we have
this unseen virus
that can take it
and it is no respecter
of persons.
For many people
in our culture,
we love
and we live
for leisure.
But what are we seeing?
Sports closing down,
holidays being cancelled,
life is grinding
to a halt.
We cannot
bank on these.
What we are seeing
in these weeks
is that all the pillars
of modern life
are shaking.
That they are failing
the stress test
and they are reminding us
if we're Christians
or not
that we need
to find a hope
that lasts.
Something to build
our life on
that will not fail
and disappoint us.
And what do we see
in Jacob?
We see a man
who trusts God
and who trusts
the promises of God
and we see a solid
and stable foundation
both in his life
and in his death.
Jacob points us
to the better way,
the way of faith
in God.
And when we think
about the coming
of Jesus,
we have the one
that we are called
to look to
and to place
all our trust
and confidence in.
This Jesus
who in love
entered into
our world.
Jesus who suffered
with us,
who knows what it is
to experience
want
and to suffer.
Jesus who goes
to the cross
to deal with
the great enemy
that so many of us
are confronting
in our mind's eye,
the enemy of death,
the wages for sin.
And Jesus goes
to the cross
to defeat
that enemy
so that
by faith in him,
through his loving
sacrifice,
we might be forgiven,
that we too
might become
the people of God
adopted into
God's family,
that we too
might live
in the presence
of God
with a hope
of the place
of God,
glory,
the new heaven
and earth
still to come.
This virus
is proving
a wake-up call
to all of us.
God
and his word,
Jesus
and the gospel
are the only
virus-proof
and future-proof
hope that we
will find
anywhere.
Another thing
that we see
in Jacob
is just that
his heart
has that
longing
for home,
the place
where God's
promises
lie.
It explains
why when people
move to different
countries,
they treasure
and they hold
on to their
home culture
really tightly,
move to a different
part of the world,
but hold on to
language and food
and festivals.
Home is where
the heart is.
and this virus
is exposing
to us
where our
hearts
really lie.
We see
stories,
we read stories,
we watch
videos of people
panic buying,
people fighting
over toilet paper
and packets of
pasta,
people living
with fear
because if all
I have is
now,
if this life
is it,
then I need
to grab hold
of everything
I can get.
And so this
virus is striking
real terror
into many
people's hearts
because this
is it
in many
people's
thinking.
But there's
a different
response.
It's gone
under the
radar,
but maybe
you heard
of what
the Christians
in Wuhan
were doing,
the center
of the epidemic
as the virus
was just
beginning to
become news
for the rest
of the world.
There were
Christians,
while facing
opposition from
a government,
they were
caring for
the sick.
They were
bringing supplies,
they were
showing mercy
and sharing
the hope
of Jesus
Christ.
Why?
Because as
Christians,
they knew
they had a
true and
better home
coming.
That's where
their heart
is.
So they
were able
to serve
rather than
to cling
on,
able to
show peace
rather than
panic.
What is our
source of hope
really and
truly?
The source
of hope
we long
for can
only be
found in
Jesus,
not in
stuff.
Jesus in
his mercy
and his
grace,
he offers
himself to
us.
He offers
himself to
our fearful
and fragile
world to
receive by
faith.
So that
was Jacob
showing us
that he was
holding on to
God's promise.
But what
about this
question of
peace?
How can I
have rest
in a
climate of
fear?
Chapter 49
and verse
33 is a
beautiful
deathbed
scene.
When Jacob
had finished
giving instructions
to his
sons,
he drew his
feet up
into the
bed,
breathed his
last,
and was
gathered to
his people.
Here is
Jacob,
a man at
peace with
God,
now enters
his eternal
rest to be
with God.
Catechisms,
the Heidelberg
Catechism,
the New City
Catechism,
more recently,
begin with the
question,
what is our
only hope in
life and
death?
The answer
that we are
not our
own,
but we
belong body
and soul
to God
and to
our
Savior,
Jesus
Christ.
I had
hope that
we would
be learning
as a church
together a
new hymn for
Easter by the
Gettys and
some of their
friends,
Christ our
hope in
life and
death,
which speaks
to this
truth.
And we see
Jacob,
this dying
man of
faith,
he gets
it.
He's got
hope and
he's got
peace because
his faith
is rooted
in God.
The God
who has
entered into
covenant with
his family,
with Abraham,
with Isaac,
and now with
Jacob,
the one who
has shown
himself faithful
to those
covenant promises
so that Jacob
is able to
rest in
peace.
Isn't that
what we
would all
want?
To have
peace.
To have
peace in
our hearts
regardless of
circumstances.
To have
peace in
our hearts
for life
and facing
death.
Isn't this
what we want
for ourselves,
for our
families,
for our
city,
for our
country,
for our
world?
That instead
of panic
and fear,
there'd be
hope and
peace?
We find
it in
God's
word.
I love
as well
how Jacob
wants this
legacy of
faith for
future generations
that they
might have
the peace
that he
has enjoyed.
Genesis
48 and
49 is
one extended
deathbed
scene where
Jacob,
first of all,
blesses
Joseph and
his
grandchildren,
Jacob's
grandchildren,
and then he
turns to bless
his sons.
But I want
us to focus
on the
words that
Grandpa
Jacob has
for Ephraim
and Manasseh
in verses
15 and
16.
So remember,
these are two
boys born to
Joseph,
born in
Egypt,
never been to
the promised
land,
born and
raised
Egyptian.
As he
blesses
Joseph,
extending
blessing to
Ephraim and
Manasseh,
he said,
may the
God before
whom my
fathers,
Abraham and
Isaac,
walked,
the God
who has been
my shepherd
all my life
to this
day,
the angel
who has
delivered me
from all
harm,
may he
bless these
boys.
May they be
called by
my name
and the
names of
my fathers,
Abraham and
Isaac,
and may they
increase
greatly
upon the
earth.
what's
happening
there?
He's
adopting
his
grandkids
into
the
family
of
faith.
He is
desiring
for them
that they
would have
God as
their
Lord and
that they
too would
come under
the blessing
of God's
promises.
Here is
Grandpa
Jacob saying
to them,
I want
you boys
to know
God as
your good
shepherd,
just as I
have known
him as
mine.
I want
you to
trust him
to guide
you and
protect
you.
I want
you to
see your
true identity
not as
an Egyptian
but as
a child
of God
to place
your hope
in the
promises
of God
not the
wealth
of
Egypt.
This is
the legacy
that he
wants for
his children
and his
grandchildren.
Let me
speak to
our parents
and our
grandchildren,
our
grandparents.
What legacy
is it that
we want
to pass
on to
our kids
and our
grandkids?
What is it
that we
want for
them?
Of course
we want
health,
we want
success,
and we
want happiness,
and we
want security,
but do we
want above
all that
they would
know God,
that they
would love
Jesus,
that they
would walk
by faith,
that they
would live
lives of
obedience?
obedience.
Nothing
else
matters,
really,
eternally,
nothing
else
matters,
except that
our children
and our
grandchildren
belong to
God.
They need
Jesus.
They need
the peace
of God,
and so
do we.
how can
we have
this peace
that allows
Jacob to
die and
rest in
peace?
We need
to look to
Jesus,
who comes
to us as
the prince
of peace.
We've heard
Jacob's dying
words.
Let's hear
Jesus'
words,
dying words
spoken on
the cross.
Let's see
how they can
give us
peace and
rest.
Think about
Jesus saying,
Father,
forgive them.
They don't
know what
they are
doing.
Think of
Jesus extending
love and
seeking forgiveness
for his
enemies,
and recognize
that Jesus'
death on the
cross is the
answer to the
problem of
sin and
guilt and
the fear of
judgment that
lies in all
of our
hearts.
There is hope
for peace
beyond that
because of
the forgiveness
that Jesus
came to
secure.
And how does
he secure it?
He secures it
by becoming
a sacrifice.
Think too
of the words
of Jesus
as he cried
out,
my God,
why have
you forsaken
me?
Here is Jesus
at the cross
having
experienced and
enjoyed the
eternal
love of
the Father,
enjoying
fellowship with
the Father,
but here in
this moment
as he takes
on himself
the crushing
weight of
the Father's
anger against
our sin,
he cannot
feel that
love.
He feels
forsaken.
Why?
He is going
there so that
you and I
could be
adopted into
the family
of God.
He knows
no peace
so that we
might have
true and
eternal peace.
Think too
of Jesus'
words,
it is
finished.
What is he
saying there?
He's saying
his work of
salvation is
complete.
The victory
had been won.
Those great
enemies of
Satan,
sin and
death,
no longer
rule and
reign.
for us
as the
people of
God,
we are no
longer
slaves to
sin.
We don't
need to
live with
a fear
of death.
The way
home to
God is
now open
through the
sacrifice of
Jesus and
that's a
finished work
that we
don't have
to earn
for ourselves,
we receive
it as a
gift of
his grace
and there is
peace in
that because
our salvation
and our
eternal
security does
not depend
on me and
my effort.
It depends
on me looking
to Christ and
clinging to
him and
trusting in
what he
has done.
And we
also hear
Jesus on
the cross
say,
into your
hands I
commit my
spirit.
Jesus ready
to be received
back to
return to
glory with
his father
and Jesus
had already
said to his
disciples that
where he
would go
his people
would follow.
Here is a
promise of
eternal
lasting peace
in the
glorious presence
of our
God and
our Savior
in a world
made new,
in a world
free of sin,
in a world
free of
virus and
the threat
of death,
all because
of Jesus.
What promise
can we rely
on?
What peace
will never
fail us?
Jesus said,
in this
world you
will have
trouble.
And the
coronavirus is
just one
example,
isn't it?
We've lived
long enough,
we know there
are many
troubles,
but it's
certainly a
wake-up call
to how
fragile life
is.
And one of
the things
that we can
do as a
church,
as Christians,
is to pray
that God
would use
this in
his wisdom,
in his
mercy,
in his
desire to
save,
that he
would open
people's
hearts and
minds at
this time
to the
goodness of
Jesus.
But Jesus
said,
more than in
this world
you will have
trouble,
he also said,
take heart,
I have
overcome the
world.
He said,
do not let
your hearts
be troubled,
you believe in
God,
believe also in
me.
Here is the
peace that all
our hearts are
longing for,
is found
and trusting in
Jesus,
Jesus' death,
Jesus'
resurrection.
That's the
hope and the
peace that a
dying world
needs.
So as we
consider the
words of
Jacob, as we
consider the
words of
Jesus, let me
invite all of
us to
repent of
sin and
unbelief,
to believe in
Jesus, to
trust the
promises of
God, to
find true
rest, not
in people or
things,
circumstances,
to find true
rest in
Jesus.
Let's pray
together.