WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.500 Now we're going to read in our Bibles Genesis chapter 50. 00:00:06.020 --> 00:00:11.279 So we've come to the end of the Jacob and Joseph story. 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:19.100 So last week we were seeing and hearing Jacob's dying words. 00:00:19.539 --> 00:00:23.280 And then we see what happens next in chapter 50. 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:26.440 Let's hear God's word together. 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:32.460 Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:37.679 Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:44.560 So the physicians embalmed him, taking a full 40 days, for that was the time required for embalming. 00:00:45.040 --> 00:00:47.740 And the Egyptians mourned for him 70 days. 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:52.219 When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's court, 00:00:52.219 --> 00:00:56.299 If I have found favour in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:01.539 Tell him, My father made me swear an oath and said, I am about to die. 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:05.180 Bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:09.460 Now let me go up and bury my father, then I will return. 00:01:10.259 --> 00:01:14.180 Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do. 00:01:15.019 --> 00:01:16.900 So Joseph went up to bury his father. 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:22.900 All Pharaoh's officials accompanied him, the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt, 00:01:23.380 --> 00:01:29.060 besides all the members of Joseph's household and his brothers and those belonging to his father's household. 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:33.020 Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:36.040 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:37.920 It was a very large company. 00:01:38.740 --> 00:01:41.719 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad near the Jordan, 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.280 they lamented loudly and bitterly. 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:48.579 And there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. 00:01:49.179 --> 00:01:52.840 When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.539 they said, The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning. 00:01:57.219 --> 00:02:01.400 That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim. 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:04.359 So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them. 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:10.020 They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:15.300 which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. 00:02:15.939 --> 00:02:18.819 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:22.740 together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:26.879 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:32.240 What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him? 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.500 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, 00:02:35.020 --> 00:02:37.280 Your father left these instructions before he died. 00:02:37.760 --> 00:02:39.480 This is what you are to say to Joseph. 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:44.620 I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly. 00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:48.460 Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. 00:02:49.160 --> 00:02:51.879 When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 00:02:52.939 --> 00:02:55.460 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.960 We are your slaves, they said. 00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:00.780 But Joseph said to them, Don't be afraid. 00:03:00.780 --> 00:03:02.379 Am I in the place of God? 00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:07.060 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, 00:03:07.420 --> 00:03:11.199 to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:13.420 So then, don't be afraid. 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:16.159 I will provide for you and your children. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:19.500 And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.199 Joseph stayed in Egypt along with all his father's family. 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:28.360 He lived 110 years and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:33.460 Also, the children of Machiair son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:45.140 Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die, but God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 00:03:45.820 --> 00:03:54.440 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, God will surely come to your aid and then you must carry my bones up from this place. 00:03:54.439 --> 00:04:03.139 So Joseph died at the age of 110 and after they abandoned him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt. 00:04:03.139 --> 00:04:14.819 So we're going to think about that for a few minutes, recognising faith looks to God and his promises. 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:18.839 So we've come to the end of the story of Joseph, which has taken us a few months as a church. 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:22.860 And for us, the story ends obviously in unusual circumstances. 00:04:23.099 --> 00:04:29.099 Everybody's in their different places and the nation and the world is facing a time of great upheaval. 00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:37.340 But you know there's a sense in which that's okay for us because it reminds us as people of faith that we are called to live by faith. 00:04:38.320 --> 00:04:44.260 You know, what we've seen in the story of Joseph, we've seen that life brings strange plot twists. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:49.080 And sometimes those are very hard, just as it was with Joseph. 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:52.659 But in those times, God is who we look to. 00:04:53.359 --> 00:04:54.899 God is who we trust. 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:58.979 That God who is always faithful to his people and his promises. 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:05.360 We're also being reminded at the end of this story, as we think about the death of Jacob and the death of Joseph, 00:05:05.419 --> 00:05:09.259 that life is fragile and that we are fragile. 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:16.339 But that again should help us as the people of God to have that perspective that we look to a better home, 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:19.199 that we are just passing through. 00:05:20.099 --> 00:05:24.379 So for one last time, as we come to the end of Genesis and the end of Jacob and Joseph, 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:27.159 let's see what they can teach us. 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:28.759 Two things to think about. 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:34.079 First of all, that Jacob and Joseph, they anticipate Exodus. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.759 They anticipate what's coming next and ultimately they point us forward to Jesus. 00:05:39.479 --> 00:05:44.859 But we also learn that Joseph is someone who trusts God's providence, 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:51.899 which I think is something at this time in our lives is useful for us to think about. 00:05:52.659 --> 00:05:56.139 So first of all, anticipating Exodus. 00:05:56.779 --> 00:06:01.919 We'll think about the first 14 verses and then the last few verses, the death of Joseph. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:07.520 What's been the promise theme that we've seen through the story of Jacob? 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:14.080 Time and again, God has been saying and restating to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.939 I will give you a land. 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:17.860 I will make your name great. 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:20.060 I will give you blessing. 00:06:20.660 --> 00:06:28.259 And even here, as we come to the close, we see the themes of land and a great name are in focus. 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:34.120 These promises are beginning to be fulfilled in Jacob and Joseph's lives. 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:42.500 Partly fulfilled, more fulfilled in the Exodus, but ultimately fulfilled with Jesus and his kingdom. 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:49.240 But notice how Jacob, this elderly man, is honoured by Egypt. 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:57.680 If you have a look at verses 2 and 3, you'll see that he gets royal treatment in his death. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:05.639 Boys and girls, some of you may have been to the National Museum and seen the mummies from the Egyptian section. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:08.500 Well, this is what happens to Jacob. 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:10.439 He is embalmed. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:12.060 He is mummified. 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:19.339 And notice in verse 3 that the Egyptians, as a nation, mourned for him 70 days. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:24.100 That's the kind of mourning you would say for a member of the royal family. 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:36.340 And then, in verses 6 to 9, we also see the equivalent of a state funeral procession. 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:42.879 We see Joseph, first of all, asking the pharaoh, can I go to the promised land? 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:44.879 Can I go back to Canaan and bury my father? 00:07:44.979 --> 00:07:48.699 And notice this pharaoh says, yes, you may go. 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:51.939 Very different to Moses' pharaoh. 00:07:52.060 --> 00:07:53.500 He says, no, absolutely not. 00:07:53.819 --> 00:07:57.639 And God has to work in power to bring them out. 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:07.899 Notice that there's a huge crowd of royal officials and dignitaries that go with the body of Jacob. 00:08:07.899 --> 00:08:19.459 So that by verse 11, when Jacob is being buried in Canaan, the locals say the Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning. 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:26.419 God has raised up the name, the honour of Jacob because of his son Joseph. 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:32.220 So there is the great name, honour being given, even at death. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:36.680 And then we see the land emphasis, verse 12 and 13. 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:44.300 Jacob's dying words, bury me in the family burial plot in the promised land. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:46.740 And that's what we see happening. 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:52.139 So God has been keeping his promise to this family. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:55.379 Their name is being made great. 00:08:55.379 --> 00:09:05.460 And Jacob, his body returns to the land of promise, which he wanted because he wanted to show he was trusting in God and his word. 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:06.620 Now, what about Joseph? 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:09.820 How is Joseph's name great? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:16.460 Well, we know, boys and girls, don't we, the story of Joseph, that he becomes a national hero in Egypt. 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:20.900 He goes from being a prisoner to being second in command. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:26.320 And it's his plan that comes from God that saves the nation of Egypt. 00:09:27.160 --> 00:09:34.800 Now, we're told in verse 22 that Joseph stayed in Egypt along with his father's family and he lived to be 110. 00:09:36.300 --> 00:09:38.240 A little bit of maths for you, boys and girls. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:39.840 He arrived when he was 17. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.539 He stayed until he died at 110. 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:48.220 How many years did he live in Egypt? 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:52.659 Keep those brains on. 00:09:52.740 --> 00:09:57.259 93 years he was living in Egypt. 00:09:57.659 --> 00:09:59.860 And while he was there, he was given wealth. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:01.580 He was given honour. 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:06.020 He was given that position of being second only to Pharaoh. 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:12.180 But notice, just like his father, verse 24 and 25, 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:17.920 I am about to die, but God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land, 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:21.280 to the land he promised on oath, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 00:10:21.540 --> 00:10:24.360 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. 00:10:25.040 --> 00:10:30.860 God will surely come to your aid and then you must carry my bones up from this place. 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:38.519 He also wants to be identified with God and the promised land. 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:45.480 And then Genesis ends, verse 26, with the death of Joseph. 00:10:45.680 --> 00:10:48.379 And he's placed in a coffin in Egypt. 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:54.480 And there's almost a sense of, well, what's going to happen next in this family story? 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:02.379 It's a cliffhanger preparing us for the next book of the Bible, which of course is Exodus. 00:11:03.060 --> 00:11:06.680 And Exodus is the story of God's promised salvation continuing. 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:12.720 We see that Jacob's family, Joseph's family, grows to become a great nation. 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:17.879 We see God working in great power to keep his promises. 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:24.320 We see God raise Moses up to be a deliverer who brings this nation, 00:11:24.779 --> 00:11:29.340 honored nation out of Egypt towards the promised land. 00:11:29.680 --> 00:11:32.480 And what of Joseph and Joseph's bones? 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:41.500 Exodus 13 and verse 19, we discover that as Moses was leading the people out of Egypt, 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:47.620 chapter 13, verse 19, Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:52.539 because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:57.460 And so if we put those stories together, what we see is Jacob and Joseph, 00:11:57.460 --> 00:12:01.200 even in death, they both leave Egypt honored. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:08.240 They both leave Egypt anticipating God's promise, God's promised land. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.840 And that's just like Moses. 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:15.480 Moses left and he had been raised up in the estimation of the Egyptians, 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:19.740 and he's leading the people of God towards the promised land. 00:12:20.180 --> 00:12:28.519 And it reminds us, as we read the Bible, that the Bible is one big story of God's plan to save sinners by his grace, 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:33.939 so that by faith in Jesus we might become God's people, 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:39.439 living in God's place, under God's rule, and enjoying God's blessing. 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:45.059 And we see Jacob and Joseph, they live with that reality in view. 00:12:45.059 --> 00:12:50.639 So we're thinking about anticipating Exodus, but I guess the question is, 00:12:50.739 --> 00:12:53.899 what does this have to do with you and me today? 00:12:54.959 --> 00:12:57.859 Well, let's think about the times and the circumstances we're living in. 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:04.599 Let's think about living in the time of this coronavirus and the crisis. 00:13:05.339 --> 00:13:06.299 And what are we seeing? 00:13:06.359 --> 00:13:10.399 We're seeing many people are trying to get home. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:17.439 And we see desperation among some, we hear sad stories of separation from loved ones, 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.419 because home is a place of security, isn't it? 00:13:20.419 --> 00:13:24.319 In the midst of chaos, home is a place of security. 00:13:25.220 --> 00:13:29.480 Jacob and Joseph, they had a vision, a longing for home. 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:35.279 For us as Christians, our mindset should be that we are citizens of a different country, 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.399 that this world is not our home. 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:47.100 We are to set our heart on Jesus and to recognise that where he has gone, we will follow. 00:13:47.199 --> 00:13:52.539 He has gone to glory and to be with his father, that he's still praying for us, 00:13:52.579 --> 00:13:56.139 he's still king over us, and he will one day bring us to be with him. 00:13:56.220 --> 00:13:57.459 That's home. 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:04.539 So we think about heaven as our home, the new heavens and the new earth as our true home. 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:14.019 So even when there is insecurity, when our heart is settled there, we can have peace. 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:18.299 Also thinking about Joseph's perspective. 00:14:18.699 --> 00:14:24.299 You know, the country at the moment is, and we're being told, on a wartime footing economically. 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:33.279 And that gives us a chance to learn, like Joseph, that if I have lots of wealth, or if that wealth begins to dwindle, 00:14:33.339 --> 00:14:38.719 if I have status or not, if I have comfort, that is not what should define us. 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:44.720 Joseph's identity, I am someone who's trusting in the promises of God. 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:49.399 Christian identity says, I am a child of God. 00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:56.759 I am loved and valued and known and protected by my father, and that's what matters. 00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:08.700 Joseph, Jacob, Moses, all part of the Exodus story, but they help us to anticipate Jesus' Exodus. 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:17.139 And there is a time recorded in the Gospels where Jesus takes James and Peter and John up a mountain, 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.080 and there he is transfigured before them. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.500 So his appearance changes for the first time. 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:26.020 They see Jesus shining with the glory of God. 00:15:26.379 --> 00:15:31.940 And while Jesus is on the mountain with the disciples, he's also talking to Moses and to Elijah, another prophet, 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:35.879 about his departure, about his Exodus. 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:41.840 He's thinking about his death for sin, for sinners. 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:48.660 He's thinking about his resurrection, showing the victory that he won over Satan, sin and death for his people. 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:53.519 He's thinking about his return to the glory of heaven. 00:15:54.719 --> 00:16:01.199 And just as Moses went before the people of Israel, so Jesus goes before us. 00:16:01.319 --> 00:16:02.939 He is our forerunner. 00:16:03.079 --> 00:16:09.000 And where he goes, the Bible promises, if our faith is in him, his people will follow. 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:12.339 So we are to look to Jesus. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.679 Jesus, who is described as the author of our faith. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:19.279 He is the one who begins our salvation. 00:16:19.479 --> 00:16:22.859 He establishes our salvation through his death on the cross. 00:16:23.319 --> 00:16:25.839 And he is the perfecter of our faith. 00:16:26.979 --> 00:16:32.239 That he who has begun a good work in us will carry it on to completion. 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:35.459 He will take us safely home. 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:41.259 So we think about Jesus' Exodus as good news for us. 00:16:41.259 --> 00:16:52.519 But the other thing that really stands out in Joseph's life of faith is that here is someone who is trusting God's providence. 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:59.299 I was reading a few different writers and their thoughts on providence. 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.200 So here's a few different thoughts. 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:03.720 First from the reformer John Calvin. 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:10.779 He said that ignorance of providence is the ultimate of all miseries. 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:16.940 There is nothing more sad than to not know God's in control and to know the God who's in control. 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:25.380 And by contrast, Calvin said the highest blessedness lies in the knowledge of God's providence. 00:17:25.380 --> 00:17:31.640 Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Mis, among other things, he said simply, 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:34.020 Go to sleep in peace. 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:36.600 God is awake. 00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:38.920 It's similar to Psalm 121. 00:17:39.540 --> 00:17:45.720 Paul Tripp, biblical counsellor, says all God's children can know today 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:54.140 that all the things that are out of their control are under the careful control of their heavenly father. 00:17:54.140 --> 00:18:00.820 And we're being reminded, aren't we, how much of life is actually out of our control despite our best efforts. 00:18:01.580 --> 00:18:09.480 But there is comfort as the people of God to know that they are in the careful control of our heavenly father. 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:15.140 So Joseph, as he comes toward the end of his life, 00:18:15.579 --> 00:18:22.599 and we see he looks back through the years, he looks back to what his brothers did to him. 00:18:22.860 --> 00:18:27.740 But he sees God's providence as a reality that overarches everything. 00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:31.299 That providence is a shelter in the storm for him. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:35.579 It's a safe place in the darkness for him. 00:18:35.579 --> 00:18:39.599 So what difference does believing in the providence of God make to Joseph? 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:42.720 And why is it important to our faith? 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:49.659 Well, most significantly, it enables him to see and to trust God's loving plan. 00:18:49.660 --> 00:18:53.420 So we see in verse 15 to 19, the brothers are afraid. 00:18:53.560 --> 00:18:54.440 Their dad is dead. 00:18:54.540 --> 00:18:56.220 How is Joseph going to treat them now? 00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:59.860 Has he just been keeping up appearances of family unity? 00:19:00.620 --> 00:19:02.220 And so they invent a story. 00:19:02.600 --> 00:19:08.320 So they go to Joseph and say, well, before dad died, he said, you know, you need to forgive them. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:10.140 They did wrong to you, but you must forgive them. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.160 And they throw themselves at the mercy of Joseph. 00:19:14.779 --> 00:19:16.320 These brothers are panicking. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:23.740 They realise that they could fall into the hands of Joseph and they're not sure if Joseph means good for them. 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:32.659 This pandemic is unsettling many people today as it reminds us of our limitations, 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:40.559 as it teaches us that we cannot control or dictate our present and our future, perhaps, as we would like. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:49.339 But what the Joseph story highlights is that the providence of our God is good news. 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:53.559 Our God is great and our God is good. 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:59.299 We have a God who works all things together for the good of those who love him. 00:20:00.659 --> 00:20:03.399 Now Paul wrote that in Romans, but Joseph believed it. 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:10.019 In verse 19 and 20, Joseph said to his terrifying brothers, don't be afraid. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.000 Am I in the place of God? 00:20:12.620 --> 00:20:23.380 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:26.060 You intended evil. 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:29.259 God used it for good. 00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:32.359 Is favouritism good? 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:32.759 No. 00:20:32.879 --> 00:20:34.839 Is jealousy good? 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:36.019 No. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.799 Is slavery and false imprisonment, is famine good? 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:41.879 No. 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:48.559 But is God able to work through those bad things to achieve his good purposes? 00:20:48.859 --> 00:20:49.140 Yes. 00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:58.300 And Joseph can see that, that God used all those events and experiences to raise him up so that he might save the nation of Egypt, 00:20:58.300 --> 00:21:06.480 but more significantly for the biblical story, to save the people to whom God had made those great promises. 00:21:07.280 --> 00:21:10.120 God's great good was worked out. 00:21:10.500 --> 00:21:13.560 The saving of many lives. 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:20.819 So for Joseph, the providence of God is a source of hope and comfort, and it has always been for the people of God. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:29.399 R.C. Sproul, another Bible teacher, says there is no maverick molecule if God is sovereign. 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:32.000 We need to recognise that. 00:21:32.539 --> 00:21:34.980 Is the coronavirus good? 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:36.240 No. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:40.500 But can God use it in his good and wise purposes? 00:21:41.139 --> 00:21:41.700 Yes. 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:43.940 Does God know what's happening? 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:46.539 And more than that, is he in control of what's happening? 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:47.680 Yes. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:50.279 And that's good news. 00:21:50.920 --> 00:22:04.700 And it's encouragement for us to pray to God, indeed to plead with God, that he would work in ways that are wise and good and gracious for us and for people that don't know God. 00:22:04.700 --> 00:22:12.840 We can pray that this might be a time when the many people that perhaps we know who would say that they are happy without God, people, 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:20.400 perhaps this time of unsettling would cause many to start to realise their need of God. 00:22:21.259 --> 00:22:23.000 That they might start reading their Bibles. 00:22:23.120 --> 00:22:23.960 They might start praying. 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:29.539 They might start thinking, where can I hear a message that can give me hope in the face of all this fear? 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:35.379 Perhaps there is the loss of things that people value. 00:22:35.379 --> 00:22:38.539 Perhaps as we lose things that we value. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:47.480 Maybe it will cause us to reprioritise and to seek and to treasure the treasure in heaven. 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:59.860 Maybe it will be that God will use our loss of community for a short time to give us, in the long term, a high view of church. 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:02.620 To realise what we are missing. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:06.779 So that we will be glad to be able to gather together to worship. 00:23:07.380 --> 00:23:15.519 Maybe it will teach us the importance of community so that as society, as nations, we will make room for others. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:21.200 That we would care for the lonely, we would care for the isolated, we would do mercy. 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:27.200 Maybe this time will remind us of how fragile life is. 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:32.920 So that we would eagerly hold on to and share the gospel. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:42.859 To see that our only hope in life and in death is that we belong to God and to Jesus, our Saviour. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:52.740 It's a comforting truth in the Joseph story that God in his providence can use a spectacular evil. 00:23:53.619 --> 00:23:59.920 The hatred of brothers who would sell him into slavery to achieve a great good. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:08.820 Now when we think through the pages of history, what is the most spectacular sin on those pages of history? 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:15.860 What was when cruel men killed Jesus, the Son of God? 00:24:16.539 --> 00:24:18.620 That greatest evil. 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:25.240 But from that and through that and in the plan of God came God's greatest good. 00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:29.500 God's greatest expression of his love. 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:31.660 The saving of many lives. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:38.920 Not from famine, but from living under the just judgment of God against our sin. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:41.339 Living in slavery to sin. 00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:43.120 Unable to break free from it. 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:45.160 Unable to have peace with God. 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:49.200 Apart from Jesus coming to die for us. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:54.640 And so through the cross comes that great good of our salvation. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:57.900 Of us becoming children of God. 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:06.779 Today have you received the goodness of God through Jesus in your life? 00:25:06.860 --> 00:25:11.440 Do you know his love as a personal reality? 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:17.380 This is a time for you to think about what really matters. 00:25:18.019 --> 00:25:25.920 To think about the grace and the love that God offers you in sending his son Jesus to die for you. 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:30.180 To take your place, to take your punishment so that you might live. 00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:37.960 And that you might live knowing God is your Father in heaven who cares for you and who works for your good. 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:52.440 And for those of us who are Christians, that we would take confidence in believing that since God is for us, who and indeed what can be against us. 00:25:53.620 --> 00:25:55.600 That our hearts will be settled on God. 00:25:56.460 --> 00:26:01.940 Joseph believed his life and his times were in God's hands. 00:26:01.940 --> 00:26:07.980 He could trust in God's providence and keep looking to God's promises. 00:26:08.860 --> 00:26:20.620 As we leave his story, will we look with faith to the God of providence and the God who makes great promises.