Stephen Whitehouse - From Jacob to Israel - Class 6 - Two Faces Two Paths The Story Continues

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Well, good morning brothers and sisters. Good morning. Well, this has been a great Bible school. I have thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve loved being here. So first of all, then just three little remarks before we start, we start our final study. I, I would like to thank Brother Paul and, and the committee for their amazing support and making sure that I feel very comfortable and happy this week.

2. 0:32

   Mission accomplished. And it’s been absolutely wonderful. I’d like to thank all of you and for all the lovely conversations that I’ve enjoyed on the scriptures that the spiritual atmosphere of this Bible school, I can say is palpable. And it is a really lovely, lovely school, a very, very special school. And it’s so encouraging for me personally to see everyone so excited about the scriptures. And then the third thank you is for raising such a great group of young people.

3. 1:09

   It’s been wonderful sharing a week with them and they have so many questions. And I have to say, for me personally, the highlight was spending a night with them during their devotion and then singing late into the night and a lovely concluding prayer. I do feel that was the highlight of the week for me before I tuck myself up into bed.

4. 1:36

   So thank you all. I’ve loved the week and thank you for having me. So then we have explored Jacob’s journey from wrestling an Angel to an encounter with God at Bethel. We saw a personal crisis and how God commanded Jacob to put away the strange gods and get back to Bethel. And when he got back to Bethel, he renamed it ETH Bethel Ale of House of God, and he recognized that it was in that place. There was real strength.

5. 2:13

   The moment was life changing for him and God there officially called him Israel and revealed the Angel that had been working with him all his life. God Almighty El Shaddai and El Shaddai had been wrestling with him in order for him to receive the promises. But what we want to do this morning is to jump ahead and we want to imagine Jacob after years, decades in fact, of sorrow when he finds out that his beloved son isn’t lost forever, but he’s actually the Prince of Egypt. It’s a twist that no one saw coming. Have a look then in Genesis chapter 45. And brothers and sisters, this story now of Jacob and Joseph is the climax of the whole story.

6. 3:13

   The whole story of Jacob, Genesis chapter 45, verse 25. Well, first one, this moving moment. Then Jacob could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him. And he cried, ’cause every man to go out from me. You can, you can hear the emotion in those words, can’t you? And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And that that that poignant moment his whole life had been building to this moment when he finally reveals himself to his brothers.

7. 3:54

   Then verse 25 S his brothers then went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan, and to Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive. Imagine those words. And he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said unto them.

8. 4:20

   And when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, It is enough. Joseph, my son is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die. Now I want you to notice some little terms here. Notice here that they refer to Joseph in Egypt as notice the governor. See that?

9. 4:51

   If you look in the Revised Version, you’ll have ruler the governor or the ruler over all the land of Egypt. Now that’s very interesting. We need to see that because notice what Joseph says to his brothers in verse 8. He says there at the end that he is a ruler. Notice throughout all the land of Egypt.

10. 5:16

    So I want you just to notice that connection. They repeat word for word of what Joseph had said to them in Egypt. They pass on as messengers. Now that is significant because if you just flick back to chapter 37 here, when remember Joseph had this dream of the sheaves of his brothers bowing down, showing abeyance to his sheaf, remember that? And what was said of the brothers here? What did they say to Joseph?

11. 5:51

    37, verse 8 And his brethren said unto him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Now that word reign, there is the word Malak to be king now. Now Joseph didn’t dream that he was being king. They were mocking him. They were making fun of him. They altered his word. They took the word from his, from his dream and they changed it. But notice now when you come back to Genesis chapter 45, they don’t do that.

12. 6:23

    Now they recognise that He is ruling. You see the point? They’re picking up the language of Genesis chapter 37 and they’re acknowledging that the dream has come true. The dream has come true. Joseph now is this man of destiny. They are fully accepting of that dream so many years ago. Well, as we come back to chapter 45, notice that when this is revealed to Jacob here, it says and Jacob’s heart fainted for he believed them. Not that the word or the phrase there, his heart fainted literally means he turned cold, he became none. And just imagine the dreadful unidentified despot in Egypt, they’re saying turned out to be his son. And Jacob didn’t believe them.

13. 7:27

    And he had mistrusted his sons for such a long time, for 20 years. Now again, just go back to chapter 37. It’s a little phrase here, but it’s a very telling phrase and I’d like you to underline it because it says everything about Jacob and everything about his sons. So after they they tell Jacob here that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

14. 7:54

    You notice these words in verse 35. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. What’s hypocrisy, knowing what they had done? But this is the phrase I want you to notice. But he refused to be comforted. And he said, for I will go down into the grave and to my son mourning. So he refused to be comforted.

15. 8:16

    He refused. He mistrusted his sons. And now it’s 20 years later. And Jacob was going to the grave with his sorrow. And now suddenly he hears that his son is alive and ruler in Egypt. Now what is it in Chapter 45 that changes Jacob’s opinion of the news? First of all, he doesn’t believe. But we do read here that things change. Verse 27.

16. 8:47

    And they told him all the words of Joseph which he’d said unto them. And when he saw the wagons, that’s the phrase there. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. So what they said, he didn’t believe. But when he saw something and he saw the physical evidence of something, his heart was changed. What was he looking at?

17. 9:12

    He was looking at ornate and and beautiful carriages. Those carriages that have been made in Egypt. He could see right away that they came from a royal palace. This was the physical evidence. His sons could not do this. This is something that the sons could not manipulate or contrive and the cart notice was heavily laden.

18. 9:35

    It was full of gifts and there was only one man that would do this for him. There was only one man who loved his father like this man, and it was Joseph. And everything that he saw on that cart, he knew it was for him to prepare him and to get him ready for the long distance, the long trip down into Egypt. This was a gift of love and he knew that this came from the hand of Joseph.

19. 10:05

    And suddenly a man, a man now who had no comfort, He has the happiest day, I would believe, of his life and notice that word. There He was revived. I want you to notice that word at the end of verse 27. He was revived. It literally means to live for 20 years. Jacob was dead.

20. 10:29

    I want you to see this. When Joseph died, Jacob died with him. But when Joseph is alive, Jacob sprints to life. I I just want you to imagine the picture here of this old and and grey haired and and bearded man who sat in his chair and he’s wrapped up with his own thoughts and his own reflections and he hardly says a word in the intervening period. And then suddenly he’s up on his feet. He springs to life and he’s a picture of vitality. He has a resurrection.

21. 11:03

    Joseph is alive and Jacob is alive too. Can you see that, brothers and sisters? It’s so beautiful, isn’t it? So moving. But there’s something missing in all of this. Did you see the confession of the brothers?

22. 11:23

    Did they confess? Well, we need to read carefully here. Notice what we read in verse 27. And they told him all the words of Joseph. I want you to notice that. Underline that phrase. And they told him all the words of Joseph. Now look back at chapter 45 there and verses four to five and see what Joseph said. If it was all the words of Joseph. Well, what did Joseph say?

23. 11:49

    And, and Joseph said these words to his brothers. Verse four, I am your Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. That’s worth underlining, whom ye sold into Egypt. So therefore then the brothers told their father that they sold him into Egypt. They did indeed confess. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hit her for God did send me before you to preserve life. And then again in verse 8.

24. 12:17

    So it was not you that sent me hit her, but God and and you can now imagine the feelings and the emotion here as as as these words are repeated word for word from Joseph now to this old man Jacob. And look what Jacob says here in verse 28, a very telling phrase here.

25. 12:37

    He listens, he’s got the evidence. He sees the cart, it’s heavily laden, this gift from Joseph. And he listens to these words and he’s looking at his sons, a group, a band of brothers that he’s not believed for 20 years.

26. 12:52

    And the evidence now, what does he say? It is enough. It is enough. Joseph, my son is yet alive, and I will go and see him before I die. It is enough. The word literally means abundant. There was overwhelming evidence now that Joseph was alive. But it’s interesting, brothers and sisters, because that phrase there it is enough would have jogged the memory of Jacob because they are exactly the words in the Hebrew that Esau said to Joseph. Remember that it is enough.

27. 13:38

    The 580 animals, the present, the gift, the blessing, you have it. It is enough. You can put in your margin 33 verse 9. It’s the same phrase. Genesis 33 verse 9 is a very it’s it’s used purposely here. Now, why is it that that, oh, Jacob says it is enough, but he doesn’t say I have all things.

28. 14:03

    Remember what, what Jacob said. Jacob doesn’t say that again, because he still wants to see him. He still wants to see him. He doesn’t have all things quite yet. It is enough. The evidence is overwhelming, but he wants to see his son. Now, brothers and sisters, if you reflect upon this, it’s incredibly moving because what we’re seeing here, just think for a moment, just pause and just think.

29. 14:30

    Just think of what we’ve just seen. The love between the father and son, between Jacob and Joseph covered the sins of many. Think about that, how Joseph had forgiven his brothers, how Jacob now forgives his sons, and it was all driven by the love of a father and son for one another.

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    Doesn’t that remind you of something? How moving that is? It covered the sins of many. They were forgiven through this love of a father and a son. And so as Joseph forgives his brothers in the Royal Court in Egypt, and now Jacob forgives his sons in Israel, we can think like father, like son. How wonderful.

31. 15:38

    So the final meeting now between Joseph and Jacob, this wonderful climax of Jake Jacob’s life is, is building. And you can hear the emotion. You can also hear the heart of both of these men racing as they approach this final face to face. And it’s interesting if we just think very quickly of how long the intervening period was between this meeting and when they finally said goodbye all those years ago. So.

32. 16:11

    So Joseph was 17 when he sold into slavery. He became governor of 30. There were seven years of plenty and then two years of the famine. It was in the two years of the family famine there that he meets his father again. So it’s 22 years. 22 long years had passed since he saw his father and he would be feeling it. So with that, then come over a chapter now, please. And let’s have a look at chapter 2046, chapter 46. Now verse 29 so this is the final meeting, 22 long years had passed and now this emotional scene. Just just imagine it, brothers and sisters, it’s hard to, isn’t it?

33. 16:59

    Verse 29 And Joseph made ready as Chariots and went up to meet Israel, his father to Goshen, and presented himself unto him. Now notice Jacob now is referred to as Israel, and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I’ve seen thy face. I’d like you to note, because thou art yet alive. So Jacob, Israel here says, I have seen thy face. I want you just to think about that for a moment because that’s the theme of this week.

34. 17:44

    But just notice a few little things, important things that happened before that because I think they’re very important. Verse 29 tells us that Joseph presented himself to Jacob and that the idea you would, you would imagine, is that there was the overwhelming evidence. But here Jacob had to see the evidence. He had to handle the evidence.

35. 18:12

    And so you’d imagine, wouldn’t you, that here is Joseph as he presents himself to his father, that he’s alive. But that’s not the meaning of the name, although that obviously happened. Although Jacob handled his son and loved his son, and Joseph wept on his neck, That’s not the point of the word. The word presented there is an interesting word, although it means let oneself to be seen.

36. 18:42

    When you look at the Genesis account, you see that it relates to theophany, how God manifests his glory all the way through the book of Genesis. It’s the manifestation of God. And so I just want to plant this word in your mind. I want you just to start now imagining and we’re going to come back to this scene. But there was something in this meeting, although Jacob was going to handle Joseph and he’s going to love Joseph and, and, and finally he sees that his son is indeed living and breathing and ruling in Egypt.

37. 19:20

    And what a wonderful moment that was. That’s not the point of Scripture here. There was something in that meeting when he finally comes face to face with Joseph that God also was present, that God also was present. But just just think about that for a moment. I want you to to imagine the scene here. You could you could cut the atmosphere, couldn’t you? Before the reunion, Jacob probably was, was overjoyed and stunned, wasn’t he?

38. 19:48

    He was stunned, barely believing Joseph still to be alive. And for Joseph, he would be excited, but he would be nervous, wouldn’t he? He would be eager to share everything from his his harrowing journey to this. To this rise to power, just imagine all the things that Joseph wanted to share with his father of what had happened.

39. 20:13

    So with that, then look at what we read there as we saw in verse 30, that when they do meet, Jacob says there as Israel. Now let me die, since I’ve seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. So we’re going to now think about the presence of God. I have seen thy face, says Israel to Joseph. Now, of course, when Jacob met Esau, you can go back to chapter 33 and verse 10.

40. 20:53

    He says these words, isn’t he? I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. We’ve seen that, haven’t we? That was chapter 33 and verse 10 and the night before he wrestled with an Angel and in the morning he called the place Peniel. Because we read in chapter 32 and verse 30 for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. Now we need to make those connections and This is why the theme is about the face of Jacob. He says there when he sees Joseph, I have seen thy face. And we’ve already noted that this idea of presenting Joseph, presenting himself is a a glorious theophany. It is the IT is the power of God, the glory of God being revealed in that individual.

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    So having said that, we’ve also seen how we’ve got these little echoes in the past, how when Jacob finally met Esau and he was thinking about the face of Esau, when he looks in the eyes of Esau, he says, you know what, Esau, when I look at you, I see the face of God. And the night before he wrestled with an Angel, been looking into the eyes of the Angel all night and he calls the place penny up the face of God.

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    So we’ve got all these lovely connections. What’s going on, brothers and sisters? It’s something amazing when Joseph finally reveals himself, and when Joseph is seen by his father and his father comes up close and looks at him, he sees God.

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    He sees the face of God, the Joseph that he remembers all those years past. That face has been transformed. It’s been changed. God was in this man, It was plain, it was unmistakable. Think about that. God was in this man and just think now. Now we can make the connections. Why, why? Why is the connection important? When he looked before at Esau, he swore an enemy and he sees the face of God.

44. 23:21

    What did he conclude? He concluded that God was at work in his life through Esau. This difficult man and all the challenges that Esau brought to him. He saw God working in his life through Esau. Now all the travail of Joseph that have broken his heart for all these years, 22 young long years, and he looks in the face of Joseph and he recognizes God’s divine Providence.

45. 23:52

    God was at work in Joseph to bring about what salvation to him, his family, and to all Israel. Can you see both these faces are faces of divine Providence. God was in the face of Esal and God was in the face of Joseph and both these men were working in Jacob’s life to bring him to this point. How amazing is that?

46. 24:22

    Brothers and sisters, He is recognizing El Shaddai. God Almighty was orchestrating all these things to bring him and his people, his family to this point in time.

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    And seeing all this, he says there in verse 30, Now let me die. Jacob now knows when he looks into the face of Joseph and he sees the face of God, this glorious theophany, just as Moses and Elijah upon the mount saw the glory of God, I believe here Jacob sees this face as the glorious manifestation of God Himself, shining brightly.

48. 25:17

    That’s what he saw. It was over, his journey was completed, his heart was mended, he was at peace, he had his son, and he sees that his entire life God was at work. Let’s reflect upon our own lives, brothers and sisters, as we think about this. But he says something interesting here, verse 31. So seeing the face of God, he’s now at peace. His heart now has been stitched, it’s mended. And Joseph now said unto his brethren, I will go up and show Pharaoh.

49. 26:15

    But if you come back to if you go over to a chapter 2, chapter 47 now and now you look at verse 31 in all this Jacob says here swear unto me and he swear unto him and Israel bowed himself upon the beds head. So just want to just go forward a little bit of time now. So you’ve got this great moment where Jacob sees the face of God in Joseph, and Joseph now goes to Pharaoh and makes arrangements for Jacob and the family to be there in Goshen in Egypt for 17 years. 17 years?

50. 27:01

    That’s interesting, isn’t it? It’s like 2 bookends. Joseph is here with his father for 17 years in Egypt, and he was at home in the land with his father for 17 years before he left divine Providence. 2 bookends there, but as he gets old now he makes a wish, a request. He wants Joseph to make an oath. You see there verse 29 And the And the time drew nigh that Israel must die.

51. 27:38

    And he called his son Joseph, and says, here, if I found favour grace in thy sight, put I pray thee thy hand upon my my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Bury me not, I pray thee in Egypt, but I will lie with my father’s, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And then he says, Swear unto me, and he swear unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the beds head. Why don’t you just to notice that phrase there. So there he is.

52. 28:10

    He’s about to die 17 years now. We’re right now in the final days of of Jacob. And he says there to his favoured son, swear unto me. Now the last time Jacob said these words, swear unto me. You can put in your margin there. It’s Genesis 25, verse 33. They are exactly the same words. Can you remember?

53. 28:37

    It’s where it all began. Swear unto me. And that was the moment when he wanted Esau’s birthright. Remember there was that exchange, the pottage for the birthright. And Jacob says to his older brother, Esau, swear unto me. Swear unto me that you’ll give me the birthright. And he takes the birthright now, right now, at the end of his life, he picks up the very same language, swear unto me, but he’s directing now these words to his favoured son, Joseph. And it’s about a birthright.

54. 29:21

    But we have now a very different Jacob. The birthright was about an individual within a family taking that threefold responsibility. Remember that the head of the home, the priest, and the double portion. And if you think about it, that responsibility is all about people, individuals within families. But that birthright now was in Egypt. The people were in Egypt, and what Jacob wants now is to unite the birthright back with the blessing. What was the blessing?

55. 30:15

    The blessing was a seed, a name, a people, and a nation. It was in the land. You see that? And so now Jacob picks up this phrase of birthright, and he says to Joseph, I want you to swear that you take my bones now out of this place, and you take it now back to the land, to the land of my forefathers, the land that I bear as a name.

56. 30:53

    So he’s connecting now the birthright and the blessing and brothers and sisters. This is incredibly powerful because at the end of 17 years, when he looks at Joseph and all the wonderful things that Joseph has done for him and his family, Jacob is saying here, it’s like an appeal. Joseph, listen to me. I, I, I appreciate all the wonderful things that you’ve done that you’ve saved us.

57. 31:22

    But Joseph, my heart is not here. My heart belongs elsewhere. Swear to me, son, I want you to get into the emotion and feeling it. Swear to me, son, that when I die, you take my bones and you take them back to the land of my forefathers. And Joseph, he swore. He swore, brothers and sisters, so it’s all about the birthright.

58. 31:59

    Now when this little exchange took place between Jacob and Joseph, notice how the the the chapter concludes chapter 47. And at this moment here, when Joseph swore. I’ll take your bones, Father. I’ll make sure that those bones are taken. Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head. So soon as Joseph guaranteed that those bones of Joseph of Jacob would be carried into the land of Israel. Soon as that was made, Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

59. 32:49

    That phrase there bowed himself, means to bow down, to worship, to prostate oneself, to fall down flat. And isn’t it interesting, brothers and sisters, that it’s here, right at the end of Jacob’s life, when we think about a man and all those faithful moments, including wrestling with the Angel in the power of God?

60. 33:18

    It is here at the end of chapter 47 that gets Jacob into Hebrews 11. Why is that? Why is it that we read these words in Hebrews 11 verse 21 by faith? Jacob, when he was dying, worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. Why is that? Just think for a moment.

61. 33:49

    There’s been a number of things have been building to this moment. Remember the dream? I think it’s all based upon the dream. Remember the dream that Joseph had and how he shared it to his brothers. And what did Jacob say? Just listen carefully to these words. It’s Genesis 37, verse 10. Jacob said, Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come down ourselves, bow down ourselves to thee, to the earth? Jacob had said that to this Joseph. Are you saying, Joseph, that we’re all going to bow down to you?

62. 34:43

    The mothers weren’t there, and the brothers had already bowed down 17 years earlier. They’d been in Egypt for 17 years. And now the moment had come. The Jacob, this old man about to die. Can you imagine? He’s leaning on his staff.

63. 35:08

    He’s leaning on his staff and his creaking frame. He gets lower and lower and he’s looking at his son. Lower and lower until his head touches the head of the staff and he’s prostate and he worships his son and brothers and sisters. It is because of this moment he gets into Hebrews Chapter 11 and I believe it is an act of worship. I believe it is an act of worship. At the end of Jacob’s life, bearing now the name of Israel, I believe he bowed down.

64. 36:03

    He bows down to his son in the full realization and recognition that his entire family has been saved through this man. The dream was true. He was a man of destiny, this was Joseph. And think about it. By doing that he is relating in his mind, Jacob, the stone of Bethel. Remember that The stone that he anointed and raised, and then the stone that have fallen down at Bethel, and he raises again, and he anoints it with wine, the drink offering, and with oil again.

65. 36:57

    The anointed stone of Israel is a symbol of the coming Messiah. It finds its living embodiment in the life and character of Joseph. And when Jacob looked into the eyes of his son, he saw the eyes of deity, the face of God, and his heart was filled, I believe, with with awe and reverence.

66. 37:26

    And he now acknowledges what he saw. This is the stone, brothers and sisters, This is the man that the stone in his life was just a shadow of things to come. And now he recognizes that the stone pointed forward to a man just like this. Can you see? This is why he bows down. Bethel was the place where where Jacob had invoked Yahweh in the name of Yahweh.

67. 37:59

    It was all pointing forward to Messiah. But Jacob hadn’t seen the reality of what this man would be like. And this man was like Joseph, you see, And so he worships him. There’d been so many pointers in his life what this one would be like. And it’s just like Joseph, and here I believe This is why he gets in Hebrews 11, because he has a moment now of perfect clarity. Jacob sees what the Messiah, the promised Messiah, would be like. This was the one who would bring about new Israel, faithful Israel.

68. 38:41

    And how would it be done? How would it be achieved? How would Jacob truly be transformed to Israel? Through someone just like Joseph? Through one who brings about deliverance when he’s been sent before? One who goes from death to life, One who goes from humility to splendour? One who was once hidden but is now visible.

69. 39:10

    Can you see that, brothers and sisters? It’s amazing, isn’t it, when you see it. And so now there is full recognition and acknowledgement in Jacob the Joseph. The Joseph is greater than him. And this patriarch, this faithful man, he bowed down in recognition of how God has worked through Joseph in his life. And so again we see the elder shall serve the younger. The elder shall serve the younger. I want to finish our week together now in Hebrews Chapter 11.

70. 40:12

    Hebrews, Chapter 11. And we read these words in verse 22 concerning Joseph. We’ve already read concerning Jacob leaning upon the top of his staff. That’s how he gets into Hebrews 11, the acknowledgement of Joseph the deliverer at the end of his life after all the travail. But verse 22 by faith, Joseph when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones.

71. 40:53

    I believe verses 21 and 22 are related. They are interlinked. How does Jacob get into Hebrews 11? Well, he says to his his son Joseph, swear to me, swear to me, that you will take my bones back to the land. And when Joseph says he would, then Jacob gets into Hebrews 11 by bowing down to him.

72. 41:28

    And what is the reason for Joseph getting into Hebrews 11? Because we read there he made mention of the departing of the children Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. Can you see what he does? Joseph gets into Hebrews 11 because he follows the example of his father. Jacob gets into Hebrews 11 because he says swear to me concerning his bones and then bows down and he gets into Hebrews 11.

73. 42:02

    Can you see and now Joseph gets into Hebrews 11 because he remembers that little exchange between swear to me and Joseph making the oath and his father bows down to him and he remembers that. And then in his final days, he says, I remember what my father said and I’m going to do the same. You take my bones back to the land. You see that.

74. 42:26

    And so then in other, in other words, 21 and 22 is the, is the faith of Jacob and Joseph. And they’re both there in Hebrews 11. But they’re both there in a way because of Jacob. You see, Jacob’s there because of the recognition of how God had been working in his life, and he recognizes now the work of Joseph and the heartbreak of all those intervening years. And Joseph’s there in Hebrews 11 because of the example of his father.

75. 43:01

    How wonderful. And so then Joseph, who could have had his body preserved in some Egyptian pyramid, he looked ahead with the eyes of faith. This mighty man of Egypt bound his family by an oath to bury him in Canaan, a place in a land that he’d only spent 17 years of his life.

76. 43:25

    But now Joseph wants to be reconnected with the blessing, with the land and the people. So I believe, brothers and sisters, Jacob’s words to Joseph were truly life saving. Jacob reaches a zenith, a pinnacle in faith, when he arrives in Egypt, and he’s a constant reminder. He serves as a constant reminder of where the devotion of God’s people should be. When Jacob is in Egypt, he becomes the full embodiment of the hope of Israel.

77. 44:11

    There was Joseph, and he believed in his God and he believed in Yahweh, but he was forsaking the land. And it was Jacob who rekindled and reconnected Joseph with his land and his people there. Can you see that, brothers and sisters? And so then Joseph had gone to Egypt to save God’s people from death, and Jacob had gone to Egypt to save God’s people from spiritual death and to show them the way out. Brothers and sisters, Jacob had his ups and downs. We’ve seen that this week.

78. 45:08

    But as he approached the end of his life, he broke the tape and searched past the line. He was a man of faith, a wonderful example to Joseph and his sons, the embodiment of the hope of Israel. And when Jacob finds himself in Egypt, there is no stopping him. He is roaring to the Kingdom.

79. 45:40

    So what are the big lessons for us at the end of this week in the life of Jacob? Number one, we are to set our hearts on Israel. Regardless where we are, regardless of what circumstances are taking place in our life, our heart should always be on God’s land and people.

80. 46:06

    We need to all hold fast to the hope of Israel #2 we struggle to transform. The transformation of Jacob to Israel was all about hanging on to God. And brothers and sisters, whatever is happening in your life and will, whatever will happen in your life and my life between now and God’s coming Kingdom, we’ve got to learn to hold on. Hold on for dear life until our Lord grants us the blessing and lesson #3 it’s all about.

81. 46:57

    It’s all about the destination and not the journey. Of course we’re going to have ups and downs, bumps and moments of discomfort as we make our way to God’s Kingdom. But it’s not about the journey, it’s about how we end it. And there was Jacob in Egypt roaring to the Kingdom. That’s the example. It’s how we end it, brothers and sisters. And how comforting it is to know that just as Jacob now has clarity as he sees the face of God, we too will have a moment of perfect clarity in God’s Kingdom by God’s good grace, as we look back upon our lives and we see those moments when we are broken, when we have been reduced to nothing, when we feel that we can’t hold on anymore,

82. 48:01

    that’s when God’s at work with us. That’s when we’re wrestling with God. And that’s when true transformation takes place. Brothers and sisters, in all the challenges and obstacles and difficulties that you and I have in this life, as we face our problems head on, let us in faith see the face of God and know this, that the journey we take and the course that we make in life has been designed for us individually so that we, like Israel, can enter into God’s coming Kingdom.

83. 48:54

    Let us trust with all our hearts God’s perfect plan for you and for me.