WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.200 Genesis 42, which you can find in the church Bible on page 47. 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:18.660 The story of Joseph began with him, a young man of 17, 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:24.719 giving dreams by God that one day he would be raised to a position of authority 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.719 where his family would bow to him. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:33.359 His brothers, hating that message, hating Joseph as his father's favorite, 00:00:33.519 --> 00:00:34.659 sell him into slavery. 00:00:35.379 --> 00:00:39.200 He finds himself sold to Potiphar down in Egypt, 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.920 and he's falsely accused and he lands in prison. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:49.579 So he spends some 13 years either a slave or a servant or a prisoner 00:00:49.579 --> 00:00:54.259 before we saw last week at the age of 30. 00:00:54.259 --> 00:01:01.979 Pharaoh has a dream, two dreams, about a time of plenty followed by a time of famine. 00:01:02.739 --> 00:01:07.120 Joseph reveals from God the truth of that dream. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:13.159 Joseph is now established to the place of prominence in Egypt. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:20.259 The nations are coming to Joseph in order to buy grain because of the famine. 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:27.260 And now attention turns back to Joseph and back to the other brothers. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:30.219 Chapter 42, verse 1. 00:01:30.580 --> 00:01:32.980 Let's hear the word of God together. 00:01:33.800 --> 00:01:37.280 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:40.160 why do you just keep looking at each other? 00:01:40.800 --> 00:01:43.140 He continued, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. 00:01:43.140 --> 00:01:49.120 Go down there and buy some for us so that we may live and not die. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:53.939 Then 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:58.180 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with the others 00:01:58.180 --> 00:02:01.460 because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 00:02:02.140 --> 00:02:05.099 So Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain, 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:07.719 for the famine was in the land of Canaan also. 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:13.759 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:19.439 So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:24.340 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:27.900 but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. 00:02:28.379 --> 00:02:29.579 Where do you come from? 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:30.340 He asked. 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:33.400 From the land of Canaan, they replied, to buy food. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:37.579 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:41.319 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:42.159 you are spies. 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:45.159 You have come to see where our land is unprotected. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:48.699 No, my Lord, they answered, your servants have come to buy food. 00:02:49.219 --> 00:02:50.960 We are all the sons of one man. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:54.680 Your servants are honest men, not spies. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:58.860 No, he said to them, you have come to see where our land is unprotected. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.020 But they replied, your servants were 12 brothers, 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.639 the sons of one man who lives in the land of Canaan. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.099 The youngest is now with our father and one is no more. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:12.219 Joseph said to them, it's just as I told you, you are spies. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:14.239 And this is how you will be tested. 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:19.819 As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:22.219 Send one of your number to get your brother. 00:03:22.619 --> 00:03:27.519 The rest of you will be kept in prison so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:31.600 If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies. 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:34.700 And he put them all in custody for three days. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:39.700 On the third day, Joseph said to them, do this and you will live for I fear God. 00:03:40.160 --> 00:03:47.020 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 00:03:47.860 --> 00:03:52.920 But you must bring your youngest brother to me so that your words may be verified and that you may not die. 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:54.860 This they proceeded to do. 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:59.320 They said to one another, surely we are being punished because of our brother. 00:03:59.860 --> 00:04:04.020 We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen. 00:04:04.380 --> 00:04:06.660 That's why this distress has come upon us. 00:04:07.700 --> 00:04:10.640 Reuben replied, didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? 00:04:11.220 --> 00:04:12.080 But you wouldn't listen. 00:04:12.820 --> 00:04:14.960 Now we must give an accounting for his blood. 00:04:15.980 --> 00:04:20.520 They did not realize that Joseph could understand them since he was using an interpreter. 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:25.819 He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again. 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:29.359 He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:37.120 Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man's silver back in his sack and to give them provisions for their journey. 00:04:37.779 --> 00:04:41.799 After this was done for them, they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:49.420 At the place where they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.340 My silver has been returned, he said to his brothers. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:53.860 Here it is in my sack. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:55.860 Their hearts sank. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:59.180 And they turned to each other, trembling, and said, 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:03.540 What is this that God has done to us? 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:09.079 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. 00:05:09.660 --> 00:05:10.000 They said, 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:15.100 The man who was lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:16.139 But we said to him, 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:17.720 We are honest men. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:18.740 We are not spies. 00:05:19.460 --> 00:05:22.000 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:23.540 One is no more. 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:25.980 And the youngest is now with our father in Canaan. 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:28.960 Then the man who was lord over the land said to us, 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.460 This is how I will know whether you are honest men. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.439 Leave one of your brothers here with me and take food for your starving households and go. 00:05:37.280 --> 00:05:42.660 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:47.000 Then I will give your brother back to you and you can trade in the land. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:53.439 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man's sack was his pouch of silver. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:58.279 When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:00.699 Their father Jacob said to them, 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:03.259 You have deprived me of my children. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.399 Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:09.699 And now you want to take Benjamin. 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:12.720 Everything is against me. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:14.959 Then Reuben said to his father, 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:18.860 You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. 00:06:19.459 --> 00:06:22.579 Entrust him to my care and I will bring him back. 00:06:22.579 --> 00:06:24.439 But Jacob said, 00:06:24.539 --> 00:06:26.279 My son will not go down there with you. 00:06:26.819 --> 00:06:29.199 His brother is dead and he is the only one left. 00:06:29.699 --> 00:06:32.560 If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.979 you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow. 00:06:37.899 --> 00:06:38.339 Amen. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:40.259 This is God's word. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.779 Now before we turn to sing again and then to look at this passage, 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.759 let's once again come to God in prayer. 00:06:47.860 --> 00:06:48.399 Let's pray. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.299 It's chapter 42. 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:54.959 Genesis 42. 00:06:56.159 --> 00:07:00.379 We want to think about the truth today that when life is dark, 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:05.199 we can look to God's light. 00:07:06.939 --> 00:07:09.279 One of the wonderful things about the Bible, 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:13.060 think about the picture of the Bible as being like a mirror. 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:22.879 One of the things the Bible as a mirror does for us is it gives us an accurate and an honest reflection of human life. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:28.379 When we read the events, the stories of the Bible, 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:34.939 if we let them, we will discover they reveal truths about our own situation, 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.660 truths about our own hearts and lives. 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:42.960 So Genesis 42, when you look through it, 00:07:42.980 --> 00:07:52.120 there's really a catalog in this chapter of fears and troubles facing the family of Jacob. 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:56.680 So I want us, as we enter into this story, 00:07:57.379 --> 00:08:04.300 to think how these troubles and fears perhaps speak into our own stories too. 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:07.780 The Bible is very honest and Jesus is very honest. 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:09.699 When he spoke to his disciples, he said, 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:13.579 in this world you will have trouble. 00:08:14.780 --> 00:08:22.240 One of the great mistakes that can be made when trying to share the Christian faith 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:27.280 is the suggestion that I believe in Jesus and all your troubles will go away. 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:29.040 That's not what the Bible says. 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:30.080 That's not what Jesus says. 00:08:30.080 --> 00:08:33.820 In this world you will have trouble. 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:37.000 But in the middle of that trouble, in the middle of darkness, 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:38.479 the Bible also speaks hope. 00:08:38.819 --> 00:08:42.079 The Bible also speaks light and grace. 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:48.359 And so I hope that today we'll see that no matter how dark your life is, 00:08:49.179 --> 00:08:53.759 and by that we might be thinking about failures in our past or in our present. 00:08:54.259 --> 00:08:59.759 We might be thinking of guilt or shame that we have lived with perhaps for a long time. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:05.200 It might be fear, fear for the future, fear even about death and facing God. 00:09:05.319 --> 00:09:14.059 No matter how dark our life is, in knowing God, in knowing Jesus, there is light. 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:23.100 There is hope in this chapter, even for the family of Jacob, if they would have eyes to see it. 00:09:23.100 --> 00:09:26.200 And again, Jesus spoke of that. 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:33.279 Jesus said, in this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world. 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:40.820 And we will see in this chapter, the light for this family is that God's promise is coming true. 00:09:41.220 --> 00:09:43.300 God's plan is coming about. 00:09:43.800 --> 00:09:46.960 God's deliverer is in the right place. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:49.480 But they don't see it just yet. 00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:54.120 It will take them some time to see how it all resolves. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:10:02.220 So let's think for a few moments with Jacob and his family here about when life is dark. 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:09.220 I just want to sketch out some of the challenges facing Jacob and the ten brothers. 00:10:09.420 --> 00:10:15.379 Benjamin's still very much in the background here, but the struggles facing the family of Jacob. 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:19.659 First of all, fears about the future. 00:10:20.659 --> 00:10:21.779 Verse 1 and 2. 00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:23.340 Remember the context. 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:25.500 There's famine in all the world. 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:27.600 There's famine in Canaan. 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:32.480 Jacob says to his sons, why do you just keep looking at each other? 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:34.039 There's grain in Egypt. 00:10:34.179 --> 00:10:37.960 Go and buy some so that we may live and not die. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:42.379 Two ways we see trouble and crisis here. 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:55.740 We see the brothers, ten brothers, who are lost, who are clueless, who are hopeless as to finding any solution to the famine that is affecting them. 00:10:56.179 --> 00:11:05.939 And then we also hear the words of Jacob, where he makes clear that this is a life or death situation that they find themselves in. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.960 This is a real crisis. 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:10.940 That's not our story. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:23.160 But when we look around the world, we know that there are tens of millions of people in our world today where famine and starvation are a very present challenge. 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:26.639 Wondering where that next meal might come from. 00:11:27.180 --> 00:11:31.259 Wondering how parents will provide for their children. 00:11:31.259 --> 00:11:41.519 And so one of the things we want to do is we want to pray for the global church as they suffer and as they look to show mercy to those who are suffering. 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:46.879 But in our context, where do we have those fears about the future? 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:51.899 Maybe for some of us, we are wondering where that next paycheck is going to come from. 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:54.819 How are we going to meet all our financial responsibilities? 00:11:54.820 --> 00:12:01.480 Perhaps our concern is, what will the doctor say when I have to go and visit again? 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:08.500 Perhaps we're thinking, how am I going to pass these studies that I have committed myself to? 00:12:08.540 --> 00:12:10.280 And what comes afterwards? 00:12:10.379 --> 00:12:12.960 What kind of job am I going to find? 00:12:13.660 --> 00:12:17.220 In so many ways, our future is unknown. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.920 Of course it is, because we're not sovereign. 00:12:20.040 --> 00:12:21.440 We don't know what's coming next. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.080 But that can make us feel weak. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.340 It can make us feel fearful. 00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:29.820 And we like to know, we like to feel in control. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:36.300 Jacob and his sons, they're not the first to have fears for the future. 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:38.680 And they're not the last. 00:12:39.880 --> 00:12:45.860 Perhaps that's the darkness that you find, that dark cloud hanging over your life today. 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:49.840 Perhaps that's how you identify with this story. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:53.740 But it's not just fears about the future. 00:12:53.860 --> 00:12:57.600 We also see trouble within the family. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:01.720 Verse 4 is one of those verses that highlights it. 00:13:03.060 --> 00:13:09.220 Ten brothers get sent to buy grain, but Jacob did not send Benjamin with the others because 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:12.400 he was afraid that harm might come to him. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:19.559 So again, at the beginning of the Joseph story, we discover the problem of favoritism and how 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.240 that is split apart, these brothers. 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:26.959 And we can still see that divide is there and that brings problems always. 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:35.059 But we also see, fundamentally as well, a lack of trust between Jacob and these ten brothers. 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:41.919 He doesn't send Benjamin because he doesn't trust that they will be able to care for him. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:48.859 He doesn't trust in their character to look after this son that he loves. 00:13:48.959 --> 00:13:52.539 There is clearly significant problems at the heart of this family. 00:13:53.159 --> 00:14:00.899 And then you flip to the end of our story, verse 36, and we see the heartache here at the center of 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:02.240 family life. 00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:07.539 As Jacob says, you have deprived me of my children. 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:10.679 Everything is against me. 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:12.179 Notice where he lays the blame. 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:13.279 He says, it's your fault. 00:14:14.319 --> 00:14:17.500 You, ten brothers, you've cost me two sons. 00:14:19.319 --> 00:14:26.579 I wonder today, can we identify with the reality that family brings with it much joy, 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:30.860 but also pain and fear and trouble? 00:14:32.259 --> 00:14:40.600 As parents, we have worries and fears for our children about their friendships and relationships, 00:14:40.780 --> 00:14:44.400 about the influences on their lives. 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:51.580 If we are Christians, we want them to have faith that would be strong and that would be able to 00:14:52.180 --> 00:14:52.900 persevere. 00:14:52.899 --> 00:15:01.779 We have worries and fears for our parents, perhaps as they grow older and they wrestle with 00:15:01.779 --> 00:15:03.480 illness of various kinds. 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:09.759 We worry for siblings who perhaps have got themselves in difficult situations. 00:15:10.959 --> 00:15:18.279 Again, as Christians, perhaps we have a particular heartache because of those who in our family have 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:25.000 no interest in knowing anything about Jesus, those who have walked away from the faith, 00:15:25.079 --> 00:15:28.299 who are spiritually prodigals. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:34.799 Maybe as you think about your family, your household as you were growing up or in your 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.519 present circumstances, you knew the pain of dysfunction. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:44.319 You can identify with Jacob's family here, with having family members who you weren't able 00:15:44.319 --> 00:15:49.439 to trust, who you couldn't trust to care for you, and you know the pain that that brings. 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:58.779 Maybe many of us know that those we love the most are also the ones who cause us the most pain 00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:01.399 and can bring the most sadness. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:06.679 So again, Jacob is not on his own in this experience. 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:10.500 Perhaps in our grief, we're wondering where can we find peace? 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:15.120 Where can we find comfort in all that's going on in our families? 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:19.759 But that's not the only trouble this family is facing. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:24.120 There's also the very real problem of guilt and shame. 00:16:25.019 --> 00:16:29.440 So the brothers, they go down to Egypt and they meet with Joseph. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:31.019 They don't recognize him. 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:33.360 Joseph sets them a test. 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:39.419 He's going to keep one behind and he's going to send the rest home so they can bring Benjamin. 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:42.840 How do they respond to this test? 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:45.639 It's very telling how they respond to this test. 00:16:45.740 --> 00:16:46.759 Look at verse 21. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:53.340 They said to one another, surely we are being punished because of our brother. 00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:59.519 We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen. 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:03.960 That's why this distress has come upon us. 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:10.720 And then Reuben's word in verse 22, we must give an accounting for his blood. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:18.860 20-something years later, their minds are drawn instantly back to the way that they treated Joseph. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.160 This is why this test has come. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:26.039 This is why we're facing this hardship because of how we treated our brother. 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:35.599 So 20 years on, that sense of guilt and shame, the lies and deception is still raw in their hearts. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:41.480 They were tempted by the bait 20 years before. 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:43.619 Well, let's get rid of the favorite son. 00:17:44.339 --> 00:17:46.339 Let's get rid of the dreamer. 00:17:46.339 --> 00:17:51.059 But they didn't see the devil's trap. 00:17:52.139 --> 00:18:00.039 They didn't recognize that they would then live the next 20 years having to deal with that sense of guilt and shame 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:05.939 and moral responsibility for selling their brother into slavery. 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:16.580 Perhaps you can identify with that sense of regret sucked in by the short-term gain of sin for them. 00:18:16.580 --> 00:18:19.519 Well, let's make some money and let's get rid of the problem, brother. 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:23.080 And then having to live with the long-term pain. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:27.259 Trapped in that prison of past failure. 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:31.759 Trapped in that prison of regret and bitterness. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:43.279 I wonder today, does past sin, failure, regret define your life and experience? 00:18:44.099 --> 00:18:49.420 Just as it does for the 10 brothers in our story. 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:59.200 Condemnation is something that we can heap on ourselves and it can weigh us down and it is real. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:06.980 Like those huge bags of luggage that you see people carrying around when they go on their holidays. 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:12.259 Have you found how to unload that luggage of condemnation? 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:16.920 Do you know how to lose it and to be free from it? 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:20.120 Perhaps that's your situation. 00:19:20.340 --> 00:19:24.960 Perhaps that's how you identify with this story. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:32.039 Leading on from that, there is another trouble facing these brothers. 00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:38.319 Another fear that's weighing on them and it's the fear of the judgment of God. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:47.000 In verse 22, Reuben has already alluded to it when he talks about giving and accounting for Joseph's blood. 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:50.319 But look at verse 28. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:20:03.599 When they discover that silver has been returned into the sack of grain, their hearts sink. 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:13.339 They are trembling and they say, what is this that God has done to us? 00:20:13.339 --> 00:20:16.980 Why do they not celebrate? 00:20:17.699 --> 00:20:19.379 Hey, we've got some food for free. 00:20:19.879 --> 00:20:21.379 We've got some money in our sacks. 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:22.459 This is great news. 00:20:22.539 --> 00:20:23.879 This is a great providence. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:28.059 No, they have guilty consciences. 00:20:29.139 --> 00:20:30.339 Here they are. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:32.659 Put yourself in their shoes. 00:20:33.179 --> 00:20:37.480 The last time we hear of them on a journey and returning to their father, 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:43.759 they have sold their brother Joseph and they have lined their pockets with silver. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:48.220 Here they are again on another journey, returning back to their father. 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:55.200 They've left behind another brother and they have money in their pockets once again. 00:20:56.120 --> 00:20:58.940 If you know Shakespeare and you know Macbeth, 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:02.860 maybe we can think of Lady Macbeth having killed the king. 00:21:02.859 --> 00:21:09.719 She finds herself riddled with guilt and constantly washing her hands to try and remove the guilt from them. 00:21:10.019 --> 00:21:13.000 To these brothers, this silver is blood money. 00:21:13.859 --> 00:21:16.219 Because they remember how they treated Joseph. 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.279 The Bible says, be sure your sins will find you out. 00:21:22.459 --> 00:21:30.019 And they're feeling that weight of conviction and they're living with the fear of the judgment of God. 00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:37.799 Now we will see by God's mercy, he is convicting them in order to bring spiritual change. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.599 And we'll see that especially in the life of Judah. 00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:45.839 But that conviction and that fear of judgment, it is part of that process. 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:57.339 I can still remember the first time I really had a sense of the weight of God's judgment. 00:21:57.339 --> 00:22:00.699 Being brought up in the church all my days. 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:07.759 But it wasn't until just before sort of my teenage years that I had that sense 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:14.139 that God broke into my story to reveal to me in a very personal and a real way 00:22:14.139 --> 00:22:17.959 that all was not well between me and God. 00:22:18.439 --> 00:22:22.819 I had thought that my good efforts would surely be good enough. 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:25.879 Because I wasn't like my classmates. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.700 I didn't do major sins. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:29.379 So I thought. 00:22:30.259 --> 00:22:33.619 But when I felt that weight of judgment for the first time, 00:22:33.659 --> 00:22:37.700 I realized that even though I thought I was good, 00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.019 compared to God's perfect standard, I was not. 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:43.179 And because of that, I deserved God's judgment. 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:46.159 I deserved to face eternity in hell. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:49.680 That God, as he stood, was my judge. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:51.400 He was not my father in heaven. 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:55.940 And that was a stark and a shocking revelation. 00:22:56.140 --> 00:23:01.840 But for me, that was also the turning point towards receiving Jesus dying on the cross 00:23:01.840 --> 00:23:03.060 as good news for me. 00:23:04.600 --> 00:23:06.800 That was a message that had washed over me. 00:23:06.820 --> 00:23:12.740 Because I didn't really grasp my need of it until I felt that realization of my sin 00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:15.980 and my guilt and the reality of the judgment of God. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.019 I wonder if that's where some of us are today. 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:28.160 I wonder as we look at this story, do we recognize in ourselves fears and troubles? 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:31.900 You know, we have catalogued them in brief here. 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:36.440 And if we were to stop here, great, the Bible is really honest. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:40.400 And it shows that we all have trouble and we all suffer and we all live with guilt. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:42.700 That would be a terrible place to stop, wouldn't it? 00:23:43.420 --> 00:23:46.759 It would be like going to the doctor and getting the diagnosis, 00:23:46.980 --> 00:23:49.640 but not hearing about the cure or the treatment plan. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:55.660 Praise God, the Bible isn't just a mirror that reflects our troubles. 00:23:56.460 --> 00:24:00.820 It's also the light of God's grace for us. 00:24:01.700 --> 00:24:03.920 So it's important for us to see this. 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:10.960 It's important for us to see that Jacob is somebody who'd received rich promises from God. 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:17.380 He has been told that God will bless him, God will bless his family, 00:24:17.580 --> 00:24:20.360 and his family will be God's means of blessing the world. 00:24:20.420 --> 00:24:22.140 So he has that on the one hand, 00:24:22.700 --> 00:24:28.900 but he's also experiencing significant pain and trouble at the same time. 00:24:28.900 --> 00:24:33.300 And that's something we need to be really careful to stress. 00:24:34.320 --> 00:24:42.200 It's so important that we understand that faith in Jesus is not a silver bullet to take all our troubles away. 00:24:43.060 --> 00:24:47.900 That the Christian life still brings with it trouble and it brings suffering. 00:24:49.259 --> 00:24:51.300 So for us as Christians, 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:57.140 how do you and I know that God loves us? 00:24:57.140 --> 00:24:59.940 How do you know that God loves you? 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:06.080 It's not in the first instance by looking to your experiences. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:10.100 It's not from looking at our providences, 00:25:10.100 --> 00:25:14.500 because sometimes those situations and providences are hard. 00:25:15.780 --> 00:25:18.700 And if that's all we had, it might cause us to question, 00:25:18.840 --> 00:25:20.040 does God still love me? 00:25:20.180 --> 00:25:22.660 We don't look there, we look to the cross. 00:25:22.660 --> 00:25:27.779 And when we look to the cross, we see the extent of God's love for his people. 00:25:28.220 --> 00:25:30.680 In the father being willing to send his son, 00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:34.380 in the son being willing to come and die in our place for our sins, 00:25:34.460 --> 00:25:36.500 to give us forgiveness and eternal life. 00:25:37.259 --> 00:25:39.500 So we look to the cross to know God loves us, 00:25:39.540 --> 00:25:40.880 not to our experiences. 00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:44.100 That's our hope. 00:25:44.360 --> 00:25:46.220 If we're not a Christian here today, 00:25:46.300 --> 00:25:47.940 if you're here with worries, 00:25:48.040 --> 00:25:50.540 if you're here with a sense of guilt and shame and fear, 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:52.319 there is good news. 00:25:52.399 --> 00:25:54.339 The Bible doesn't just expose the problem, 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:56.779 it also offers the solution. 00:25:56.920 --> 00:25:59.019 It promises salvation. 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:03.460 There is salvation promised even in Genesis 42. 00:26:03.819 --> 00:26:06.240 And there is hope for you and for me, 00:26:06.299 --> 00:26:08.819 if we have eyes to see it. 00:26:09.859 --> 00:26:14.019 And the hope is that God has raised up his rescuer. 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:18.680 So having seen the reality that life is dark, 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:20.180 when life is dark, 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:24.480 we are always being invited to look to God's light. 00:26:26.099 --> 00:26:29.039 So this story, we place this story in a wider story. 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:32.099 We place it in the story of God's salvation. 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:36.119 We place it in God's plan to use this family 00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:38.859 to bring blessing to the world. 00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:42.039 We also place it in the story of Joseph. 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:45.139 Joseph was given that dream that he would be raised up, 00:26:45.220 --> 00:26:47.299 that his family would bow to him, 00:26:47.379 --> 00:26:51.420 that God had established him as his chosen deliverer. 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.359 And so part of his journey into Egypt, 00:26:54.500 --> 00:26:57.379 hard as it was, ultimately is for good, 00:26:58.200 --> 00:27:01.539 good in God's plan, good for his family. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:05.879 So how does Genesis 42 offer light to Jacob's family? 00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.659 And by extension, how can it offer light to us? 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:13.600 Well, we need to see Joseph's position, don't we? 00:27:14.540 --> 00:27:17.620 We need to look at verses five to seven. 00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:20.200 So we saw the tension for this family. 00:27:20.300 --> 00:27:21.720 What if the family doesn't survive? 00:27:22.259 --> 00:27:23.720 If this family doesn't survive, 00:27:23.800 --> 00:27:25.400 then God's blessing won't come. 00:27:25.740 --> 00:27:28.160 God's word won't come true. 00:27:28.360 --> 00:27:31.060 But there is good news for these brothers. 00:27:33.120 --> 00:27:34.000 Israel's sons. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:37.860 Israel, covenant name, reminder of God's promises. 00:27:37.859 --> 00:27:40.719 Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain. 00:27:41.979 --> 00:27:46.819 Verse six, now Joseph was the governor of the land. 00:27:47.639 --> 00:27:50.099 So when Joseph's brothers arrived, 00:27:50.619 --> 00:27:55.139 they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:59.119 Here very simply is the good news. 00:27:59.699 --> 00:28:03.039 God's promise has come true. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:08.980 That prophetic announcement through the dream 20 years earlier 00:28:08.980 --> 00:28:11.420 has come to pass. 00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:17.099 God's plan of saving and blessing will go on. 00:28:17.460 --> 00:28:20.899 That their evil deeds as brothers doesn't stop it. 00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:24.220 Prison, slavery doesn't stop it. 00:28:24.639 --> 00:28:26.240 God has his plan. 00:28:27.139 --> 00:28:28.740 God will bless. 00:28:28.740 --> 00:28:31.779 And it's good news for these brothers. 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:37.299 You know, we speak about the value of having friends in high places, 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:37.839 don't we? 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:40.359 Someone who can speak for us. 00:28:40.660 --> 00:28:42.720 Somebody who can represent us. 00:28:42.779 --> 00:28:46.140 Someone who has the ear of the person who's in charge. 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:50.200 Well, they have a brother in the highest place 00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:52.799 who will save them. 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:57.019 And by extension will save the world. 00:28:57.899 --> 00:29:01.339 Joseph is God's man in God's place. 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:04.159 He is for them. 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:08.480 At this stage in the story, they don't see that clearly. 00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:11.200 They only see darkness and fears. 00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:12.899 They can't recognize their brother. 00:29:13.299 --> 00:29:16.200 They don't see God working in their story 00:29:16.200 --> 00:29:17.960 to get their attention just yet. 00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:21.000 They fail to see the light that God, as he promised, 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:24.539 has raised up their brother to be their source of salvation. 00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:25.539 But they will. 00:29:26.660 --> 00:29:27.259 They will. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:29.440 And I wonder, as we close, 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:31.680 have we got to that place? 00:29:32.740 --> 00:29:36.519 Have we come to see where our salvation lies? 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:38.359 Have we come to see Jesus, 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:41.859 the one who is raised up for us? 00:29:42.039 --> 00:29:43.740 Because we need to connect this story 00:29:43.740 --> 00:29:45.079 with the story of Jesus. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:47.839 We need to see Jesus is our brother 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:50.579 who's raised up for our salvation. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:54.059 Let's think again about the journey of Jesus. 00:29:54.919 --> 00:29:57.419 He left his father's home in glory 00:29:57.419 --> 00:29:59.419 to become one of us. 00:30:00.220 --> 00:30:03.220 And over time, as he announced that he was the king, 00:30:03.319 --> 00:30:04.059 bringing the kingdom, 00:30:04.179 --> 00:30:05.599 and people should repent and believe, 00:30:05.819 --> 00:30:06.759 he was rejected. 00:30:07.679 --> 00:30:08.319 He was hated. 00:30:08.439 --> 00:30:10.720 He was sold by his brothers. 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:14.019 But in God's plan, in God's providence, 00:30:14.100 --> 00:30:15.140 he is raised up. 00:30:16.019 --> 00:30:17.579 How is Jesus raised up? 00:30:18.600 --> 00:30:20.039 He is raised up in glory, 00:30:20.259 --> 00:30:23.900 dying on a cross as our Savior 00:30:23.900 --> 00:30:27.140 before he's then raised at the resurrection 00:30:27.140 --> 00:30:30.360 and then raised to glory in heaven 00:30:30.360 --> 00:30:33.220 so that Jesus truly is our brother 00:30:33.220 --> 00:30:35.240 in the highest place. 00:30:35.600 --> 00:30:37.500 He is the one we need to look to. 00:30:37.500 --> 00:30:39.160 And it was Jesus who said, 00:30:39.579 --> 00:30:41.700 I, when I am lifted up, 00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:44.299 will draw all men to me. 00:30:44.700 --> 00:30:47.019 Jesus understood that his raising on the cross 00:30:47.019 --> 00:30:49.180 was the source of hope for the world, 00:30:49.259 --> 00:30:51.019 for you and me today. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:52.680 How is that hope? 00:30:53.420 --> 00:30:57.359 How is Jesus raised to die on a cross hope? 00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:00.779 When we think about the things that trouble us, 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:02.259 we think about our guilt and shame. 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:03.940 Here is the answer. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.900 Here is the answer to that condemnation 00:31:06.900 --> 00:31:11.780 that we so often face and feel in our own lives. 00:31:13.900 --> 00:31:15.660 When we're honest with ourselves, 00:31:16.300 --> 00:31:18.540 when we're honest about our standing before God, 00:31:18.620 --> 00:31:21.540 we know that we can never be good enough for God. 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:24.400 And we know that we can never atone 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:26.480 for our past sin and failure. 00:31:27.320 --> 00:31:29.440 But when we look to Jesus dying on the cross, 00:31:29.500 --> 00:31:31.380 we understand that Jesus did. 00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:35.960 He has made full atonement for the sins of his people. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:38.100 That by ourselves, 00:31:38.260 --> 00:31:42.640 you and I could never earn the love and acceptance of God, 00:31:42.780 --> 00:31:43.320 our Father. 00:31:43.460 --> 00:31:46.100 Our obedience could never be that good. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:48.580 But Jesus did on our behalf, 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.440 through his perfect obedience, 00:31:50.620 --> 00:31:53.420 through his willingly dying as our substitute. 00:31:53.420 --> 00:31:56.000 when our faith is in him, 00:31:56.100 --> 00:31:58.660 we can be loved and accepted. 00:31:59.140 --> 00:32:02.640 We can be brought into the family of God. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.560 There is good news for us. 00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:08.940 There is hope for us that Jesus is raised up on the cross for us 00:32:08.940 --> 00:32:10.960 if we will confess our sin 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:13.560 and if we will trust in Jesus 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:16.299 and what he's come to do for us 00:32:16.299 --> 00:32:17.819 in dying on the cross. 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:21.460 And there's also hope for you and for me 00:32:21.460 --> 00:32:23.639 as we remember that Jesus has now been raised up 00:32:23.639 --> 00:32:24.759 and is seated in glory. 00:32:26.379 --> 00:32:27.659 What does that journey, 00:32:27.779 --> 00:32:29.159 what does that movement mean for us? 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:31.500 It means that the victory has been won. 00:32:32.159 --> 00:32:34.480 Jesus conquered Satan's sin and death. 00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:36.879 Those realities no longer hold fear 00:32:36.879 --> 00:32:37.960 for the people of God. 00:32:38.980 --> 00:32:41.079 Now Jesus has won that victory for his people. 00:32:41.079 --> 00:32:43.579 Now he is ruling in heaven as King of Kings 00:32:43.579 --> 00:32:44.720 and Lord of Lords. 00:32:45.159 --> 00:32:47.500 And as he sits on the throne, 00:32:47.699 --> 00:32:49.740 he is pleading our cause. 00:32:51.199 --> 00:32:53.699 He is praying for us. 00:32:55.539 --> 00:32:58.419 He is the basis for our acceptance. 00:32:58.679 --> 00:33:02.220 His sacrifice is how we can pray 00:33:02.220 --> 00:33:04.259 and call God our Father. 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:08.439 His sacrifice, his pleading our cause, 00:33:08.519 --> 00:33:09.779 his being our mediator 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:12.920 is the way we can know the joy 00:33:12.920 --> 00:33:15.660 of being adopted into the family of God. 00:33:15.859 --> 00:33:18.119 And this Jesus who's now raised up in glory, 00:33:18.420 --> 00:33:20.180 he will return in glory 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:22.079 to bring his people home 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:24.160 to be with him one day. 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:27.779 So that whatever our trouble today, 00:33:30.660 --> 00:33:31.940 the raised up Jesus 00:33:31.940 --> 00:33:35.279 is our hope and our comfort. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:39.200 He is the answer to all the longings 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:40.819 and all the hurtings of our heart. 00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:44.519 So I wonder, have you seen him yet? 00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:48.660 Have you seen Jesus with the eyes of faith? 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:52.859 Have you seen him as the son of God? 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:56.740 The one who loved us and gave himself for us. 00:33:57.200 --> 00:34:00.680 The one who has come as God's suffering servant 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:03.360 to die in our place for our sins, 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:06.299 to give us that gift of forgiveness and new life. 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:09.139 And if you have seen that, 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:11.159 have you responded? 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:15.260 Have you responded to his loving invitation? 00:34:15.820 --> 00:34:18.900 Have you asked him to forgive your sin? 00:34:19.579 --> 00:34:23.139 Are you trusting him to be your Lord and Savior? 00:34:23.139 --> 00:34:23.259 Savior? 00:34:25.500 --> 00:34:26.559 Jesus said, 00:34:26.900 --> 00:34:29.639 in this world you will have trouble, 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:31.719 but take heart, 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:34.579 I have overcome the world. 00:34:35.319 --> 00:34:36.799 Let's pray together.