Sermon Nuggets Mon Jan 14 Principles
for Living
Gen 47: Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father
and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come
from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” 2 He
chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What
is your occupation?”
“Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh,
“just as our fathers were.” 4 They also said to
him, “We have come to live here awhile, because the famine is severe in
Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let
your servants settle in Goshen.”
5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your
father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and
the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in
the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any
among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought his father
Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh
asked him, “How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The
years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few
and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my
fathers.” 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and
went out from his presence.
11 So Joseph settled his father and
his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the
land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph
also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with
food, according to the number of their children.
Principles for Living.
As we come
to the close of Jacob’s life we see the family now in Egypt. Even while living
in a foreign land, they had a faith in God. How we live out our lives in
whatever circumstances we find ourselves in remember some important principles
of living.
1. Using his Gifts
and Position for God’s Service:
God gave Joseph his
abilities and his position. There was no question about that. He was raised up
into his position by the Pharoah for a particular reason. It was to save the
people of Egypt as they were to face 7 years of famine, which was a divine
message from God through Joseph. God’s plan was also through redemptive history
was to save the nation of Israel. Prophecies told that the people would come
out of Egypt. That was true for Jesus as well, since Mary and Joseph had to
leave Bethlehem and go into exile into Egypt.
Joseph was capable of doing good
for all the peoples of the earth, for it was God who had granted to him all the
power and influence which he possessed. He was an influential participant in
the life of his adopted nation, administering the affairs of Egypt during seven
years of plenty and seven years of famine. Thus, Joseph was God's handpicked
man whom he chose for the purpose of orchestrating and moving world events for
righteous results.
Joseph was in a position to benefit
the people of God and the cause of God. The Lord gifted him and placed him to
do good for the fragile clan of seventy members, the family of Jacob, who went
down to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan.
There is no question that what ever
abilities you have are God given. You may develop them and use them, but are
talents and gifts are from above. Now here is the question: Have you ever
thought that the place of your employment, or school, or neighborhood is also a
divine appointment to be his unique witness? Allow God to use you where you are
and with others you may come into contact.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues
Jan 15 Wisdom
Gen 47:1-12
2. Demonstrate Cultural Wisdom.
Another principle for living is Joseph
learned how to get along in an unfamiliar culture. He realized what would work
and what wouldn’t in that place. Some people are stubborn and never change.
There is a difference between Biblical principles and cultural concerns.
Hudson Taylor, missionary to the
Chinese, was like most of the British missionaries when he arrived. They were
taught to sing fine British hymns, dress in British clothing, and have high tea
at the proper time. Converts were few. When Taylor decided to grow his hair and
put it in a pig tail and wear Chinese dress, and speak in ways that brought
inroads into the culture people started listening to the message of Jesus
Christ.
We always in every generation
struggle with what are Biblical principles and what are cultural concerns.
Resisting change is normal. We have loved our music, our dress, our habits, and
our traditions, but another culture and land does things differently, not
necessarily wrong. And that is also true for other generations, other parts of
our own country.
I worked on a committee for ministry with Native Americans
for our conference. The issue that some churches struggling with is the use of
drums in church. We struggled with that same issue. The Native issue, however,
has some cultural implications. The Indians are not concerned with drums sets,
but the large spirit drums that are typically used to call the spirits. For
some it isn’t just a cultural difference it can also be a religious difference.
Being culturally sensitive to Egypt,
Joseph chose five of his brothers, no doubt the most civilized and well spoken
among them, and presented them before Pharaoh. He coached them on what to say, being
well aware that Egyptians hated shepherds and thus they would leave the family
alone in Goshen, a fertile but unused part of Egypt. There they would not be in
danger of being co-opted by the Egyptians, as they were so endangered in
Canaan, but would be allowed to thrive, away from the Egyptian centers of
power. Thus Joseph used the means at his disposal to do good for his family
and, by extension, the nation of Israel. Pharaoh even asked them to care for
his flocks as well. Joseph therefore placed his family in Egypt in a way that
maximized the benefit to the nation.
3. Be a Person of Integrity..
Another principle of living as wise is living with integrity. Joseph was
second in command of the whole known world. He could have let this go to his
head. Many politicians do. It is difficult to be in power without abusing it.
But all that we know and read shows that Joseph worked for his boss, Pharoah,
to do the best job possible of helping the people and prospering Pharaoh. He
was trusted because he was a person of integrity. He did what he did with
effectiveness and honesty.
We have seen Joseph's integrity
before. When Joseph was a servant of Potipher he was so trustworthy he was
trusted with all household affairs. When Mrs. Potiphar tried to seduce Joseph,
he refused, even though he knew it could cost him his life. He ended up in
prison being falsely accused. While there he was a model prisoner and was put
in charge of the other prisoners and even interpreted the dreams of the baker
and cupbearer. And when he was called before Pharaoh, he refused credit for the
interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams but instead he gave full credit to the Lord.
He was a model of consistency and integrity.
Now in Genesis 47 we see the record
of how Joseph managed the food supply for all of Egypt during the seven years
of famine. It was tough.
It is important in our world to be
people of good reputation, like Joseph was. We are examples to those for Jesus
sake. If we claim the name of Jesus, we will be watched. Will we make mistakes?
Absolutely, but we will also show the love of Christ in our weaknesses if we
keep pointing to him.
Dr. George Sweeting, past president
of Moody Bible Institute, told a story of a trigonometry professor who, upon
giving an exam, would always share these words with his students: "Today I
am giving you two exams. The first is in trigonometry; the second is in
honesty. I hope you can pass them both. However, if you are going to fail one,
fail trigonometry. There are many good people in this world who have failed
trigonometry, but there are no good people in the world who have failed the
test of honesty.”
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds
Jan 16 Perseverance
Gen 47: 13 There was no food, however, in the whole
region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because
of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt
and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to
Pharaoh’s palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone,
all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your
eyes? Our money is used up.”
16 “Then bring your
livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock,
since your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he
gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their
cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange
for all their livestock.
18 When that year
was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from
our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to
you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why
should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land
in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give
us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become
desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought
all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their
fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s,
21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the
other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they
received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the
allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.
23 Joseph said to
the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here
is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in,
give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for
the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”
25 “You have saved
our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be
in bondage to Pharaoh.”
26 So Joseph
established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a
fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests
that did not become Pharaoh’s.
4. Persevere toward the goal.
Another one of the important principles for
living is to persevere in the task that you know to be right and true,
regardless of the outward circumstances.
Joseph also suffered much hardship,
and did so innocently. God does not offer you a life of ease, but a life of
learning to rely upon Him, of looking for Him to exalt you in the proper time,
rather than your getting ahead at the expense of others.
But in the events of the famine,
Joseph followed the plan. It may not seem honorable. In fact it may seem
mercenary. When people are down and out, do you take the little they have and
make the rich richer? Doesn’t this seem contrary to other principles of the
Bible? Didn’t Jesus say, “If you have two coats, give to him who has none”?
But in spite of the famine, Joseph
realized his job was to save the people and have provision to restart the
nation economically. He prepared for the hard times when there was plenty and
now there is little he is still preparing the nation for when they would
prosper again.
The larger picture was to serve God
by saving lives. Sometimes you make friends and sometimes you make enemies. He
was universally praised for his fairness. He ruled with wisdom and good
judgment. It is not wrong for people to be organized in companies and
governments. Neither is it wrong to use whatever positions God has blessed us
with to use our influence for greater and long term good.
The apostle Paul was never shy
about using his Roman citizenship to gain a hearing for the gospel. Joseph knew
the psychology, the sociology and the politics of Egypt. He used his position
in a righteous manner to save his family, the bearers of God's message of
salvation to the world.
The animals and the land were
worthless to the people at this point. If Joseph did not take the animals they
would have died of starvation. And when he took their land, it was parched and
worthless. Joseph moved them to the cities to make it easier to help the people
and administer the food. And when the people offered their animals for food for
their families, Joseph was still merciful. He cared for them when they were
dying. They were grateful to live. But notice also that when the famine is
over, Joseph put the people back on their own land, presumable returned their
animals to work the land, provided the seed for the land and let the people
keep 80% of what they earned. Wouldn't you be grateful for only a 20% tax rate?
By not simply giving handouts, Joseph preserved the dignity of the people. He
avoided a welfare state which would have led the people to feel the government
"owed" them a living.
Joseph created neither the seven
years of plenty nor the seven years of famine; he predicted both and proposed a
program to deal with them. His plan did cost the Egyptians their fortunes and
some of their freedom, but it also saved them from certain death.
The Pharaoh praised him for putting
in place an economic revolution in Egypt, and the people likewise praised him
for his wisdom in planning for the seven-year famine so that they had food in
times of scarcity. In response to Joseph the people do not rebel or grumble-
they praised him.
Joseph is a model of how to live
wisely and righteously in pressure-filled times. God may present us with
similar opportunities. The company you work for may be facing reorganization
and you may be the one who will act wisely and righteously to save jobs, to
perhaps even put bread on peoples' tables.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Jan 17 Worship
Gen 47: 7-10 Then
Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After
Jacob blessed Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him,
“How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The
years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few
and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.”
10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and
went out from his presence.
27-31 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the
region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased
greatly in number.
28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of
his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near for Israel
to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in
your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me
kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my
fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”
“I will do as you say,” he said.
31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and
Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
5. Worship
Jacob had reached the end of his days on earth. He was
without any standing in his own country. He was a wanderer and a sojourner,
having been forced by circumstances to leave the land in which he had any
inheritance at all. He spent his days serving God in a land which his family
would one day control. He arrived as a beggar in Egypt, seeking food. Even his
wealth could not deliver him from the terrible famine, which had come upon the
earth. Jacob thus had no earthly platform from which to influence the course of
history either for good or bad.
While Joseph’s brothers had come to
repentance and realized the forgiveness of Joseph, it is not until this time,
late in the life of Jacob, that he comes to a significant turning point of his
life. It seems that at 130 years Jacob comes to grasp the essence of knowing
and serving God.
Jacob was thinking over his life.
Throughout the experiences of life Jacob puts his life in over by speaking
about God, about worship and eternity; about what people will become if they
listen to the word of God. The priority of Joseph relates to the nation, for
Jacob it’s his family.
Our last chapter we talked about the meeting
with God at Beersheba and God's direction for his life. Now in this chapter we
read of his thoughts coming to the end of this life. In both of these
situations Jacob worships God. First, before he sets foot in Egypt, he worships
at the altar in Beersheba which his father Isaac had built. And then, second,
in a very solemn moment, Jacob has Joseph swear to him that he will not bury
him in Egypt but will return his bones to Canaan. Then, following Joseph's
promise to do as he had requested, again Jacob worships God. As we have pointed
out, worship and faith were the two things that mattered most to Jacob as he
faced critical times near the end of his days.
The time came for Joseph to present his father
to Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s graciousness to Jacob reveals his respect for this aged
man as well as his regard for Joseph. How strange it seems to read that Jacob
blessed Pharaoh. The Abrahamic Covenant contained the promise that Abraham and
his offspring would be a blessing to all those who blessed them: “And I will
bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3).
The presence of Israel in Egypt was
a blessing to this emerging nation, but it also greatly blessed the Egyptians.
On entering and leaving the presence of Pharaoh, Jacob blessed him. Hebrews
says that it is always the greater person who blesses the lesser. Because he
knew God, Jacob was well aware that Pharaoh was merely a man, and that he
needed to know about eternal things. Jacob is concerned with the eternal, not
the temporal. He does not bother with giving advice to Pharaoh about anything
that concerned the world.
When Pharaoh comments on Jacob's
great age and certain distinguishing qualities which he possessed, Jacob's
responds by saying that he has not lived very long at all compared with his
father and grandfather. Even the years that he had attained had been somewhat
difficult and unpleasant as he had created many serious problems for himself.
What Jacob said was true. His
earthly beginnings were prophetic of his life. He struggled with his brother in
the womb. He lived in a home where the parents were divided in their affection
for their children. He gained the blessing of his father by deception and then
was alienated from his family because of the hatred of Esau. He spent years in
exile, serving his deceitful uncle Laban. He sought one wife and ended up with
four (29:18ff.), and the outcome of this was continual competition and strife.
He finally fled from his uncle and eventually had to make a non-aggression pact
with him lest further conflict arise. He suffered the loss of the purity of his
daughter Dinah at Shechem and feared the reprisal of Canaanite kinsmen when his
sons killed the men of the city and took the women, children, and cattle as
booty. Rachel, his most beloved wife, died prematurely along the way to
Bethlehem. His oldest son lay with one of his concubines, and his favorite son
was tragically lost and presumed dead. Finally, there was the famine which
threatened the existence of his family, and the second in command to Pharaoh
appeared to be taking even his youngest son away. Jacob, you see, was correct
in his evaluation of his life.
There was a significant difference
between the suffering which Jacob alluded to and that which Joseph endured.
Joseph’s suffering was undeserved; Jacob’s was not. Jacob suffered virtually
every painful experience because of his willfulness and foolish choices. He
deceived his brother. He chose to live near Shechem rather than to go up to
Bethel. He unwisely showed preference for Joseph. The suffering which Jacob
experienced was due almost entirely to his sinful decisions and responses.
As Jacob stood before Pharaoh, he
recognized that all of his striving had been for naught. The land which he
wrested from the hand of Esau was left behind. So far as I can tell he never
enjoyed the fruits of his deceptive labors. The blessings which he did
experience were not the result of his activity such as peeling those poles and
the production of the sheep.
Now Jacob was old, and in the face of famine
he was helpless and hopeless. As he entered Egypt, he could not rely on his
former devices to provide for and protect him and his family. In short, Jacob
had to trust in God and not himself. This was the beginning of a whole new
life. It was only 17 years, but it was life lived in the blessings which only
grace can give. Those 17 years were the happiest, most fulfilling years of
Jacob’s life. He did not live in Canaan, but he had entered into “Canaan rest,”
that rest which is obtained only by faith, and it is forfeited by unbelief (cf.
Hebrews 3-4).
God had reiterated his promise to
Jacob at Beersheba. Although he was now sending them down to Egypt, they would
yet become a great nation there and he would rescue them again.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Jan 18 God’s Will
Gen 47: 28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the
years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near
for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have
found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you
will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I
rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”
“I will do as you say,” he said.
31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and
Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
6. Yield to the Will of God.
Another principle for living is yielding to the will of God.
The things which Jacob tried to withhold and protect (Rachel, Joseph, Benjamin)
were the very things that were taken from him. It was only by giving up
Benjamin that he gained him. And in giving up Benjamin he preserved not only
Benjamin’s life, but that of the entire nation.
Jacob had no real power or
influence over worldly matters, but he did have quite an influence in Joseph's
life. Joseph began to see, at the height of his power, that there were more
important things in life than exercising power over people. That is why he had
his body sent back to Canaanto make the statement that he too trusted God. The
Egyptians built monuments all across their land, both to the living and the
dead. But Joseph, who had adopted that country and spent his life there, wanted
to be remembered as one of the sons of Abraham, one who had the same faith as
Abraham. Jacob, his faithful father, in exerting the vow from his son to not
bury his remains in Egypt, had the effect of influencing his son to ask to be
returned to Canaan also following his death.
America as we know it not going to
last forever, despite our many freedoms and privileges. We need to align
ourselves with Jacob, to become utterly certain of the promises of God to us as
Christians. At the end of your life, if you are godly, you will not be
intensely interested in who has just been nominated to the Supreme Court, or
who will win the next Presidential campaign, important as those things are now
and will be then. As you look back on your life then, the most important thing
will be your worship and praise to God, as they were with Jacob in this Genesis
story.
7. Live by Faith.
Both Joseph and Jacob glorified God. Joseph
served by using his God-given position and authority at the head of the leading
nation of his day. He oversaw an economic revolution in Egypt, the mass
migration of people to the cities, and the salvation of his generation from the
famine. Yet none of those accomplishments influence the lives of people today.
Jacob prayed and worshiped his God in gratitude because he lived to see his son
once more.
. Lee Strobel
in his book, God’s Outrageous Claims, drives home the point with some very good
questions: Christians believe that all people matter to God. But do we really
live out that value when we're dealing with coworkers, customers, and
competitors?
Christians talk about humility and
say it's better to serve than to be served. But does that show up in how we
relate to the people who work for us or in the way we trumpet our
accomplishments in our quest for a promotion?
Christians endorse truth telling.
But does that translate into practice when we're selling a product, talking
about a rival, promising a delivery date, or cutting a deal?
Christians preach honesty. But is
that always on our mind when we're filling out expense reports or creating an
advertising campaign?
What are the priorities of life? What are the priorities
that a Mother teachers her children, or a Grandmother? A Father, or
grandfather?
More importantly than preparing a
nation is preparing individuals who make up those nations in different ways.
It’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whom Joseph worships and is yielded to
and serves by faith. Sometimes we learn those lesson while we are young,
Sometimes like Jacob we must learn them when we are old. And unfortunately some
never learn them because they have never been taught. And others never learn
them in spite of being taught.
Pastor Dale
