Genesis 46 this evening. And it's been some weeks since we last looked at this story. We're almost at the end of this book of Genesis. And we're at the point where Jacob and his family, 70 of them, are heading to Egypt. And they're going to Egypt for 430 years. Just think about that. And old Jacob is about to leave the promised land. He's an old man, he's 130 years of age, and he's going to die in Egypt. And this is the tale of this journey. It says, and Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba. And Beersheba is the southernmost point. Always when they gave a geographical description of the land of Egypt, they said from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the far south. So this is really the last border point before he crosses into the land of Egypt. And Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father, Isaac. God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt Jacob and all his seed with him, his son and his son's sons with him, his daughters and his son's daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt. We'll jump to verse 26. And all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins beside Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six. And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob which came into Egypt were threescore and ten. And they sent Judah before him unto Joseph to direct his face unto Goshen. And they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father to Goshen. He presented himself unto him, and he fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto his father's house, I will go up and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me. And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servant's trade hath been about cattle from our youth even unto now, both we and also our fathers. That ye may dwell in the land of Gushan, for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. Jacob, as we said, is at the boundary of the promised land. He's about to head to the land of Egypt. He's about to meet Joseph for the first time in over 20 years. He's 130 years of age. Just think about that. It's not easy for someone in their 60s and 70s to make a radical change. migrate to a completely different culture, language, and country, nevermind a man of 130 years of age. And Jacob has had many ups and downs in those 130 years. Many of the downs were caused by his own failures and his own choices. And one of the great failures in his life was that he constantly ignored God, did what Jacob wanted, And now as he comes to the border of the promised land, particularly this place called Beersheba, a place that was significant to his grandfather, Abraham, his father, Isaac, and to him, because it was there where they lived for a period of time. It was Beersheba where Jacob left home on the run to go to Haran. place that in many respects would have reminded him of his failure, of his impulsive character that got him into trouble before. And now as he comes to that place, Bersheba, it's very interesting that he doesn't rush ahead into Egypt. Jacob has learned something in the 130 years that is always best to see as God in your choices and your decisions. Look what he does. It says, when he came to Beersheba, it says he offered sacrifices unto the God of his father, Isaac. You know, it'd be easy for Jacob just to rush on down to Egypt. There's a famine in Canaan. He hasn't seen Joseph for over 20 years, thought Joseph was dead. Joseph has sent all these wagons to bring him down quickly to Egypt and all the family where there's food and there's security and his son is the prime minister. And it'd be easy for Jacob to run ahead of God, dash down there, thinking that in such a place he would gain financially. The old Jacob would have run. but this is a new Jacob. And if you remember in chapter 45 and verse 20, when Pharaoh was speaking of Jacob and the rest of the family, he said to Joseph this instruction, regard not your stuff. In other words, don't worry about what you have in Canaan, just throw it away, more or less what he said. He says, come on down to Egypt. He says, for all the good of the land is yours. He says, I'll take care of you. I'll make sure you're fed of the luxury, the finest." And in a time of famine, that was a very tempting invitation. But old Jacob now just pauses. And one commentator said this, life begins at 130. Well, it's taken him 130 years to think like this, but at least he got there in the end. And as he waits on God in all the excitement, God speaks to him. Verse two, and God says to Jacob, and I like how God speaks to him. Look at this very carefully. He says, Jacob, Jacob. You say, well, what's significant about that? Well, it tells us that God knew his name personally and had a personal relationship with him. God repeats it just to make it clear. What I'm going to say to you, Jacob, is a very personal message for you. I have some words of reassurance and comfort for you. You have taken time to worship me and seek me before you leave the promised land. And God says to Jacob, I'm here with you. I know who you are. I know where you are, Jacob. And then Jacob replies, here am I. Then here's the message God has for Jacob, verse three. I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation. Now, the fact that God says to Jacob, don't be afraid, implies that Jacob was afraid, that he was nervous to make this huge step and head to the land of Egypt. And you know, if we think about it carefully, it's not surprising that Jacob would have been nervous. After all, he's 130 years of age. They have a wagon for him. He's not able to walk like the sons are able to walk. He's a man of great age, but then The other problem, no doubt, there was a number of other thoughts, no doubt, in Jacob's mind. He had lived almost all of his life as a farmer, going from place to place. And Egypt at that time was a very sophisticated It was a land that had all the intelligentsia of the Eastern world concentrated in the land of Egypt, with all their engineers, and their great architects, and their great philosophers. Jacob's just a country man, albeit a very wealthy one, but he's just a simple farmer from Canaan. And it's going to be difficult for someone like him to go down into such an environment. And yes, he wants to see Joseph, but Joseph, he's used to that lifestyle. He's cultured. He knows the Egyptians. He's young. But Jacob's an old man. It's going to be a difficult transition for him. But then, no doubt, there was another concern in Jacob's mind. Having lived 130 years, and having caused many problems in his own family life because of his own bad choices, temptations that he succumbed to, he would have known that Egypt as a society was a very ungodly place. We've already seen that when the likes of Potiphar's wife and her behavior towards Joseph. And Jacob knowing the state of his sons, the weakness of their character, no doubt being concerned about his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the thought of bringing them away from Canaan, away from the promised land, down to this pagan polytheistic society, a place called Egypt where his own grandfather Abraham had a great spiritual failure, a place that his father Isaac was forbidden by God to go to, Jacob, a more spiritual Jacob, is no doubt concerned about the family and bringing them from Canaan down to Egypt. They were bad enough in Canaan. How much worse would it be that environment and the temptations of that environment down in Egypt, particularly when Joseph is so rich and so powerful and so prominent, it would be very easy for them to hide behind that and take advantage of that. But then I think something else was concerning Jacob. I think Jacob understood that God had said they were to go down to Egypt, but God had also revealed to Abraham and to Isaac in Genesis chapter 15, that their descendants would come to great difficulties in Egypt. In fact, evil would befall them in Egypt. And of course, we know the story of the book of Exodus, that problem that befell them in subsequent generations when the Egyptians turned on them. And no doubt for all these reasons, old Jacob was hesitant and nervous, and that made him prayerful and careful. And as he contemplated, God stepped in and God says, don't be afraid to go. It's my will that you're to go, Jacob. And he says, go you down with all your family. And at the end of verse three, he says, and I will there make of thee a great nation. Now, 50 years or so before, just over 50 years, Jacob was a bachelor living at home in the seventies with mum and dad and big brother. Say big brother, he was probably born a minute after before you saw. And Jacob had no family, no wives, no children. And now just over 50 years later, there's 70 of them. Still doesn't look very impressed. Not much of a nation, is it? But God says to Jacob, you go down by faith and I'll make of your descendants, not just a nation, but a great nation. And of course, the nation of Israel today is still a great nation, just as God had promised Jacob all those years ago, the 70 would become great. And today the nation of Israel dominates the news, doesn't it? Because it is a great nation. It dominates science, it dominates technology, it dominates economics, it dominates politics. Because it's a great nation, as God said it would be. All those years ago. You know something else in verse three? God says to Jacob, knowing he's afraid, he says, don't be afraid to go down. And he says, I'll make of thee a great nation. But it's very interesting how God encourages Jacob. He doesn't just say to him, encourage him by saying, I'll make of you a great nation. Often when we try to encourage people, particularly the world around us, they try to encourage people by saying to them, you'll be okay. You're much more talented than you think you are. And we try to boost our self-esteem or the other person's self-esteem. But God, when he wants to encourage us, never points us to ourselves. Notice that very carefully. And you'll see that right throughout scripture. When Joshua was afraid to take over from Moses, in Joshua chapter one, you read what God says to Joshua very, very carefully. And never once does he say to Joshua, you are great, you are talented. You just look in the mirror, Joshua, and you'll be impressed by what you see. No, what does God say to Joshua? The same words that he says really here to Jacob. He says, I'm God. Remember who's with you. Remember who I really am. And you know, we need to be pointed to the same person today. How are you going to get through the next few years? How are you going to bring up your family? How are you going to get through the temptations of the age that we live in by looking inward now? by looking upward and saying, I am God. That's the one who's with us. That's the one who'll get you through. That's the one who'll keep you all of these years. And he says in verse three, I am God. And then he points out this, the God of thy father, why does he bring that up? He wants to remind Jacob, listen, Jacob, just look at the history of your family. Look at your father, Isaac, and look at your grandfather, Abraham, and look where they came from. Look how I took care of them, generation after generation, through all the ups and downs of life in the land of Canaan and in Haran and in Ur of the Chaldees, and how I kept my promises to them. You know, often we focus on ourselves in relation to God, and we forget how good God is to others. and how good God is to many generations. Lauren Mission Hall wasn't born yesterday. It was born over 80 years ago. And there's hardly a person who was there over 80 years ago who's still here. And God has been good to us in this church for a number of generations, not just this generation. But then in verse four, God says something else very personal. to Jacob. He says to Jacob, I will go down with thee into Egypt. Now this is really important because Jacob's in the promised land, the land of Canaan, the land that his grandfather Abraham had entered by faith. And now he has to leave it with all of the descendants of the promise. And he has to leave it for over 400 years. In fact, he has to leave it to die in Egypt And God says to Jacob, listen, I'll be with you in Egypt. Don't think because you're in a different geographical location that God is disinterested in you, that God has forgotten about you, that God can't take care of you there, Jacob. And he says, I'll be with thee and I'll go down with thee. And then he promises, and I will surely bring thee up. And then he adds this promise. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. Now what's that? That's a Hebrew idiom. I don't know if you watch those old movies, Middle Eastern movies in particular. When a person dies, the last thing they do before the body's put in the coffin, they close the eyes, don't they? Sometimes the more pagan ones will put coins on the eyes. So they believe that when they go to the next world, they will have some money to pay. the ferryman across to the next world or some other superstition that they have. And this was something that no doubt concerned Jacob. He's going to Egypt, he's an old man, he's likely going to die there. How will he die? And God says, listen, don't worry. Joseph will make sure you're buried properly. He'll make sure, he'll be there. the son that you can trust, the son that loves you the most, the son who loves God the most, he'll be there to help you through that journey into eternity. And he'll make sure that your remains are buried with dignity and with honor and with respect. And that would have been a big concern and a great comfort to this old man. And what does Jacob do? Verse five, and this is, Another evidence of the new Jacob. Having paused to worship God and to wait on God at the border of the promised land, and then hearing God's promises and God's very personal word to him of reassurance, the new Jacob immediately obeys. Look at that, verse five. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba. And he not only rose up himself, he made sure his sons came with him, their little ones, their wives, their wagons, their cattle, everything. They immediately obeyed. They completely obeyed. the call of God. Jacob didn't say to his sons, now let's just have a conference here and a meeting and we'll have to talk about this and decide whether we should all go or maybe some of us go down first and see how it goes. No, the new Jacob says, God's spoken and I'm the patriarch and you just go. And even though he's 130 years of age, they all get in the wagons. and they make their way down to Egypt. Now, from verse eight to verse 27, there's a long list of names. And for the sake of time, I didn't read them, but I was very tempted to read them because every word of the Bible is important. Every name in the Bible is important. And when you come to a list like that, There's a number of things you have to observe from a list like that. Number one, it reveals that God knows and God is interested in individuals. That's what it tells me when you see all those names. That God takes time to put it in the Bible, that God knows every individual's name, even though he's the God who made all things and he sits above all this vast universe that we live in. He still knows the individual's name. In fact, we saw when he was talking to Jacob, he called his name twice, Jacob, Jacob. He knows individuals. He's interested in individuals. You'll notice as well, the order of these names shows us that God is a God of order. Shows us that God is a God who's interested in families. Sometimes we forget that. because we're so selfish and so self-centered as individuals. It's all about me and God and my relationship to him. And we forget that God is also interested in your children and your grandchildren and your aunts and your uncles and your dad and your mom. And then as you read that list, it tells us that God has plans for our families. Not just you, as I say, we tend to be so self-centered in our thinking. We have to always remind you that God is interested not just in our families, but he has a plan for our families. It also shows us that God is a God who works through many generations. And he works to a timetable that may not be our timetable. And he will move families in different directions at different times and different places. Jacob himself is proof of that. His grandfather came from Ur of the Chaldees. Then they lived in Haran. Then they went into the land of Canaan. They moved around. He ran away from Canaan. Then he came back, and now he's heading to Egypt. Joseph has already been born in Haran, another country, brought up in Canaan, and then sent down to Egypt as a slave. God has moved his family around, and God often does that. He has a plan and a purpose that may not suit us. I'm sure if Jacob and Isaac and Abraham were asked, what's your plan? What's your dreams? What's your ambitions for your family? They'll be very different from the ones that God had and the plan that he had for the family. But then notice the reunion because of time. Look at verse 28. And I find this very interesting. It says, and he, speaking of Jacob, he sent Judah before him unto Joseph. Now, we've already pointed this out. Judah is not the oldest son. He's not even the second oldest. In fact, he's not even the third oldest of the sons of Jacob. But Judah, of all the sons, the unsaved sons, the ungodly sons, has changed the most. And old Jacob has picked this up from observing that Judah, a son who had brought him so much grief and heartache, a son that had let him down and let the family's name down and let God down, had really changed and become a leader in the home. become a man who you could trust. If you remember, it was Judah who offered to give up his life for Benjamin's life. And Jacob recognizes the change, which tells you that Jacob was watching the family. He wasn't just an old grandfather with the slippers watching his Emmerdale farm or whatever. and ignoring the family as some people do. No, he had his eye on them. He was interested in them. And he was wanting to see, is there a spiritual change in them? And as he saw the change in Judah, he said to Judah, you lead the family down. God's hands upon you. God has changed you, Judah. And really for the first time, we're seeing Jacob recognize the royal tribe emerge here. The leadership of Judah. And Judah takes the family down into Egypt. And then look at verse 29, the great reunion. No doubt, Joseph had been waiting for over 20 years for this. Probably thought it would never come. Because if you read the scriptures, it never says that God ever told Joseph he would ever see his father again when he went down to Egypt. And there must have been a tremendous contrast between this old man, 130, and this young, powerful prime minister of Egypt with all of his finery and all of his splendor, a man in his prime of life and a tremendously good-looking young man, a man with a brilliant mind, A man who was respected all over Egypt, even Pharaoh respected him and honored him. And here he is, an incredibly powerful, glamorous individual, and he's waiting to see his dad. And as soon as he meets his father, it says, he presented him onto him and he fell on his neck and he wept. And the Holy Spirit adds these three words at the end of the verse, notice this. a good while." This is the fifth time we read of Joseph weeping. This is the longest. And that just shows you and I that despite all his success in Egypt and his position in Egypt, despite all the hardships he'd gone through and the betrayal that Joseph never let it make him a hard person. Never let it make him a hard person. And as soon as he met the father, he wept. And then verse 30 makes me smile, because this is Jacob. Old people talk like Jacob. He says to Joseph, let me die, since I have seen thy face because thou art yet alive. Jacob's always talking about dying. If you go back to the previous chapter, you know, verse 28 of chapter 45, and Israel said, this is enough. Joseph is my son, is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die. And you know, he wasn't going to die. In fact, he's going to live another 17 years. God had work. for old Jacob to do. God had a purpose for old Jacob down in Egypt. Sometimes old people can look at their lives and say, well, I might as well just die. That's all they talk about. I don't really have any purpose. I don't have any children at home. Therefore, my life's worthless. That's not true. In fact, if you read on in subsequent chapters you'll discover that God will use Jacob to testify of the goodness of God to the mighty Pharaoh. That aged sheep farmer, cattle farmer from Canaan is going to stand before the world's most powerful man and witness to him of the goodness of God. You'll discover that in chapter 49, God will use that old man to prophesy not just of the future of his 12 sons, but the future of the world. And old Jacob will take a long time to reveal the future of his 12 sons and their descendants. And in one son in particular, Judah, God will use him to pronounce a tremendous messianic insight, how Jesus Christ will come from the royal tribe So old Jacob wasn't finished. Kept thinking he was finished. No doubt the devil said to him, you're finished. And he's all talking about dying, dying, dying, but he wasn't going to die. And let me say this to you. It doesn't matter how old you are here today. God has a work for you to do. God has a place for you. God has a plan for you. And you may even think I have very little time left. You might have a lot of time left. In fact, the ones who think they've lots of time left may have nothing left. And you might discover God has a long purpose and plan for you to do. But then verse 31, we read this. Joseph speaks to his brothers and he says, and to his father, and he says, I will go up and talk to Pharaoh. bring you to Pharaoh. And he says, and when you speak to Pharaoh, Joseph tells them what to say. And he says to him, you're to tell Pharaoh that you're shepherds. And when Pharaoh asks your occupation, and you're to hint, we may dwell in the land of Goshen. Now, here's the interesting thing. Although Joseph had been promised by Pharaoh that all the land of Egypt would be available to his brothers and his father in the previous chapter, Joseph, as a very humble person, is not presumptuous. He doesn't say to his brothers, you go down and you take advantage of that promise. He doesn't presume that just because Pharaoh said it, that they can demand it. Now Joseph says, let's just go, show respect to Pharaoh, and let God really lead through the situation. And Joseph being a very wise man, when I say wise, I don't just mean wise in terms of intellect, but spiritually wise. He understood that his brothers were not as strong spiritually as himself. And Joseph understood that it would be very dangerous for those brothers to mix with all the Egyptians, with all those temptations, and particularly the grandchildren, with all the Egyptian women and form relationships. And Joseph says to them, you go down to Pharaoh. And after introducing yourselves, you make it clear you're shepherds. And Joseph points out, for every shepherd is an abomination. The Egyptians don't want the shepherds near them. He says, Joseph in his mind, no doubt, is thinking, this will keep them separate. This will keep them pure. This will keep them from integrating too much with the Egyptian people. And Joseph, is a very wise man, spiritually, in all of this. And let me finish by saying this. We often forget that the most important unit of our lives is the family unit. It's not the work, it's not even the church, although the church is an extended family. But the most important unit God places us within, where we spend most of our lives within, is within the family unit. And our children have the ability to follow us into God's eternity to heaven, or to depart from us the other way. And that means not only must we choose our life partner with care, But it means that family life must be a priority for us all. And we must take it seriously. We must take it carefully. And Joseph here, he doesn't say, well, I'm so busy and I've got so much to do and I've done so much anyway for the brothers. I've forgiven them. I provided for them materially. That's enough. Let them do sort of the rest. No, Joseph is very careful here. to even think down the generations, to think about the spiritual wellbeing of his brothers. He's concerned about that. He's no doubt delighted to see the change in them, but he wants to see it go on, mature and develop. And that's why Joseph is such a great man. Not just because of his abilities, not just because of his responsibilities, not just because of his successes in terms of the prominence he reached in Canaan, or in Egypt, sorry, but the greatest thing I always think about Joseph is his heart, his love, and his care for others, particularly those who had hurt him so much. Despite all the pain, and we've seen Joseph acknowledge the pain in previous chapters, even in the naming of his sons, the name that he gave them revealed that he went through great pain in Egypt. He never forgot his greatest duty was to ensure his family made it all the way home to glory. And he was dedicated to that purpose, and so much do you and I. must be something that concerns us. That's why we're at the prayer meeting. Not just to pray for people in Lorne, and we're going to be doing that in a moment, and to pray for our neighbors, and we'll be doing that in a moment, but we all want to be praying for our children, and our grandchildren, and our brothers and sisters and their children. We all should be carrying that burden. We shouldn't be saying as soon as they go out the door and get married and have their own lives, well, that's their problem now. I'm just going to live my, I've done my bit. No, there should be a burden that we carry every day. There should be a concern that we have every day. And even in the busiest of our schedules, we should be saying, Lord, be with them, watch over them, protect them. And if there's anything we can do to say or guide or help in any way, like Joseph is here, we should be willing to do it. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the story of this great man, Joseph. And in many ways, he was greater than his father and his grandfather and his great-grandfather. He reached spiritual heights that few ever reached. But Lord, he's in the scriptures because God wants us to see, here's a man to follow. Here's a man to walk in his footsteps. And we pray for each one of us that we would be like Joseph, in our interest, in our families, in our concern for them, in our burdens for them. For we ask these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.