God Planned for Good

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it and turn to the book of Genesis. It's the book of Genesis. We are finishing our series in the book of Genesis this morning as we look at three chapters closing the story of Joseph. I'm not going to read all three chapters right now.

Instead, I want to read to you what may be the lesson of the entire book of Genesis at the very end of the book in chapter 50, verse 19. If you don't have a Bible, you can use the pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, we would love for you to just be able to keep that Bible. Consider a gift from us to you.

We would love for you to have a copy of God's Word that you could read for yourself. Again, we'll be looking at all three chapters. Let me read to you from Genesis chapter 50, verses 19 to 21. But Joseph said

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

— Genesis 50:19-21 (CSB)

Let's pray. Lord, we do pray that as we think about the ending of this book, as we think about the beginning of all of civilization, the beginning of your work here on this earth, that you would help us to trust you today. Pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Patterns of Hope Through Genesis

As we've been going through the book of Genesis, we've seen a series of cycles that repeat themselves from the moment of creation to the fall to hope, repeating itself over and over again throughout the book. Whether you're following Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or now in the life of Joseph, we have seen repeatedly God instigate life with his word, whether it's through the blessing and call of Abraham or whether it's the spawning of the earth into existence. We've seen the persistent consequences of sin with death as we see Adam and Eve fall in the garden and as we see people die over and over and over again.

And we have seen the persistence of God's hope that he gives to his people as he continues to accomplish his purposes through redemptive means, as he raises up this promised seed of the woman that would crush the seed of the serpent. And now, as we wrap up this book of Genesis, as we focus in on the life of Joseph and his family in Egypt, we see God wrap up all three of those themes of life, of death, and of hope. And yet in these last three chapters, he takes these three major themes, these three major steps that happen in every single cycle, and he shows how God intends to fulfill his purposes in our life.

Even though we're able to see the patterns of life, death, and hope happen over and over again, that God tends to work in mysterious, unexpected ways. As we see God's intended purposes in the life of Joseph, I hope this morning as we close the book of Genesis that we'll also see by extension God's continued faithfulness in our lives. So here's a main idea for us this morning to trust in God's unexpected plans. To trust in God unexpected plans Three points for us this morning First unexpected blessings Unexpected blessings Two, unexpected burial.

Unexpected Blessings and Their Meaning

The unexpected burial. And third, the unexpected hope. The unexpected hope. Let's start with point number one, unexpected blessings.

Look at chapter 48, verse 1.

Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession to your future descendants.’ Your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine. Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way, some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.” So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.” Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.

— Genesis 48:1-12 (CSB)

Jacob is dying, so he calls his favorite son, Joseph, to bring his sons. and he recalls the blessing that he received that and he resolves to do the same thing by extension for for joseph's sons that joseph would effectively receive twice the blessing as any of his other siblings by adopting ifriam and manasseh as his own that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh would be the extension of Joseph life That why we don have a tribe of Joseph You have two of his sons instead become two whole tribes in Israel. That means double land, double blessings, double inheritance. And in his old age, similar to his father Isaac, Jacob can't see.

And so he calls the kids close to himself and he blesses him, and it's here where something unexpected happens in verse 13; read with me.

Then Joseph took them both—with his right hand Ephraim toward Israel’s left, and with his left hand Manasseh toward Israel’s right—and brought them to Israel. But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and crossing his hands, put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. Then he blessed Joseph and said: The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all harm— may he bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow to be numerous within the land. When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it was a mistake and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe, and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.” So he blessed them that day, putting Ephraim before Manasseh when he said, “The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

— Genesis 48:13-22 (CSB)

So Jacob blesses his two grandsons, now adopted as his sons, but he crosses his arms. The oldest is positioned to receive the right hand and the younger the left but he switches up and he blesses the younger over the older And Joseph thinks that his dad just blew it Maybe he was having a senior moment It's not the way this is supposed to work. Except God doesn't make mistakes. And Jacob knew exactly what he was doing.

His blessing was intentional because I think Jacob, at the end of this book of Genesis, finally understands the pattern that has permeated this entire book, that the older will serve the younger. Esau served Jacob. Ishmael is rejected and Isaac receives the blessing. Cain is rejected while Abel is accepted.

Jacob’s Intentional Blessings to His Grandsons

And Jacob applies that consistent pattern, not through deception, not through coercion, but through intention, that God will work through his promises the way that he intends and he frequently does that in unexpected ways God won't work according to the way that you and I plan whatever you and I intend he frequently will take the patterns of this world and what the natural flow of our lives will lead and he will disrupt it according to his good purposes. And this blessing of Ephraim over Manasseh becomes a microcosm for what Jacob is about to do with all of his other sons. Let me just read you the entire chapter here in 49. And

Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. Come together and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel:

— Genesis 49:1-2 (CSB)

Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the first fruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power.

Turbulent as water, you will not excel, because you got into your father’s bed and you defiled it—he got into my bed. Simeon and Levi are brothers; their knives are vicious weapons. May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen. Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel. Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him. He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships, and his territory will be next to Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the saddlebags. He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer. Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward. I wait for your salvation, Lord. Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies. Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb. The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.” These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

— Genesis 49:4-28 (CSB)

And you may be reading some of these blessings and thinking to yourself, these are some crummy blessings. Would you want a blessing like, "May I never enter into your house" or calling you out for the sin that you committed against your father? Imagine getting a blessing from your dad that says, "I have no love for you. You get nothing."

You lose. I think that's because the way that we typically think of blessings is as exclusively positive—good vibes only. But the blessings that come from Genesis are less like birthday presents and more like Christmas stockings.

You get presents if you're good, and you get lumps of coal if you're bad. Esau and Ishmael receive fascinating blessings from God and their father that don't necessarily contain exclusively good themes, and you see the same kind of spread happen here.

These blessings operate less like gifts and more like prophecies. Jacob is saying that he will tell them what will happen to them, and these blessings aren't like fortune cookies. They're the real articulations of God's promises to them. And it says here at the end of this section, in verse 28, that these blessings are suitable, tailor‑made for each person.

It's fitted for them. And these blessings are pretty much what you'd expect. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi all have shameful actions in the book of Genesis that are largely condemned. Joseph is the one that Jacob adored, and you could see him receive this bountiful blessing.

I mean, Jacob keeps talking about the blessings of his fathers, the blessings of his ancestors, the blessings of the heavens, the blessings of the deep. Joseph is getting a three‑dimensional, eternally lasting blessing—all on the head of Joseph. And you would expect all of those things. What you don't expect is the blessing that's given to Judah. See, Joseph is a favorite and Judah is not really supposed to receive anything good at all. In fact, if you remember from Genesis 38, Judah may be involved in one of the most despicable acts in all of the Old Testament. He wasn't a perfect man.

After all, he sold Joseph into slavery. He neglected his daughter‑in‑law. He solicited prostitution. He was a rebellious man.

Judah’s Repentance and the Promise of the Messiah

But God doesn't make mistakes. Like we saw two weeks ago, Judah was also a different man than the countless rebels that we've seen all throughout the book of Genesis, because Judah does something that none of those men do. Judah repents.

He confessed his sin. He turned toward grace. And now he's been fully redeemed with a magisterial promise that will never end. Judah rebelled.

Judah repented, and now with this blessing God has sealed his promise that Judah will reign. It's no wonder that Judah's promise is the one that ripples all throughout the Old Testament to point to Christ, that Judah would be the line from which a true king would come who would obtain by birthright the obedience of all peoples, that Jesus himself would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, the true king of Israel. But like his ancestor before him, he would subvert expectations. He wouldn't reign like a typical king, flexing his worldly might, but he would humble himself, taking on the form of a servant. Even though he never sinned, he would step forward like his ancestor Judah did as a substitute, offering to die for sins on our behalf.

Which means that the way that Jesus would obtain his crown is by dying on a cross. And Jesus would do what no one could have fathomed would happen—rising from the dead, paying the penalty of sin in full and rising victorious over sin and death itself. Jesus becomes the greater Judah, the substitute, the Savior, the sovereign. And all of our obedience belongs to him.

I wonder if you've been here listening to the book of Genesis for the last couple of months, and you wonder whether or not this kind of king is worth submitting to Let me just exhort you you can submit to this king now There is no other king than like King Jesus in all of eternity Not because he was an imperfect man that you could relate to, but because he was a gracious man who demonstrated his weakness and his humanity and his power through his grace, that he would show his might through his mercy on the cross, that he would display his glory through grace. You can submit yourself to King Jesus and he will extend that grace towards you and forgive you from all your sins and you can place your faith in Christ.

The reason why you need to do that, the reason why you have to go to Jesus is because death comes for us all. Point two, the end is coming. The unexpected burial. Number two, unexpected burial.

Look at verse 29. Then he commanded them, I'm about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave, in

The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property. Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.” When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people. Then Joseph, leaning over his father’s face, wept and kissed him. He commanded his servants who were physicians to embalm his father. So they embalmed Israel. They took forty days to complete this, for embalming takes that long, and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. When the days of mourning were over, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s household, “If I have found favor with you, please tell Pharaoh that my father made me take an oath, saying, ‘I am about to die. You must bury me there in the tomb that I made for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now let me go and bury my father. Then I will return.” So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father in keeping with your oath.” Then Joseph went to bury his father, and all Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt went with him, along with all Joseph’s family, his brothers, and his father’s family. Only their dependents, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. Horses and chariots went up with him; it was a very impressive procession. When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wept loudly, and Joseph mourned seven days for his father. When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place is named Abel-mizraim. It is across the Jordan. So Jacob’s sons did for him what he had commanded them. They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as burial property from Ephron the Hethite. After Joseph buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him to bury his father.

— Genesis 49:30-50:14 (CSB)

Jacob comes to the end of his life. He insisted earlier that he be buried in the land of Canaan because Canaan is where he has placed his hope where he placed his future You get buried wherever you want to leave your legacy I remember when I was a young child I was like 10 years old I went with my family to Korea and visited my father's hometown, a small little farm in Korea. And we would visit the farm that he grew up in. And on that property, we would see little mounds and gravestones for all of the ancestors that came before him.

his grandparents and his parents. And I remember looking at those mounds and asking my father, do you want to get buried here? And he said, no. He didn't want to be buried there.

He wanted to be buried in the United States. And when I asked him why, he said, that's because that's where his future generations would be. And also because he wanted us to go visit him in Rose Hills. because where you're buried is where you're remembered and Jacob remembers the promised land and as good as Egypt has been to him and his family he knows that Egypt is not his final home he is bound for the promised land and so after mourning Joseph goes to bury his father And if you reading this story you expect Jacob death to be impactful to be magisterial to be important to Joseph family.

After all, he is the patriarch. What you wouldn't expect is that Pharaoh himself is the one who encourages Joseph to go and bury his father. In fact, if you were an Israelite, you would see this procession of people leaving Egypt and headed for the land of Canaan as feeling remarkably eerily familiar. In the book of Exodus, Moses leads a procession of Israelites.

But in Exodus 12, verse 38, it describes this group as a mixed crowd, a procession of Israelites leaving with non-Israelites, all leaving the land of Egypt, headed for the promised land. And Egyptians certainly followed them on their way out. Pharaoh stood in the way. They were chariots that were coming, not coming to mourn a death or to support the Israelites, but to pursue the death of Jacob's descendants.

He pursued them leading to his own destruction. And you can imagine when you've had an opponent for this long, when you've had people that are seeking your destruction, like the Egyptians, for your entire life, that you would be startled reading a passage like this to find out that the last time that Israel entered into the land of Canaan. It happened not by the opposition of Pharaoh, but by his support. That Pharaoh was so encouraging of their return to Israel that he would support their procession by sending goods with them.

And this procession is massive. If you want to signify how significant a death is, how honorable a death is, it's hard to think of better than this. You can imagine burials that exist in society, as military men are buried with honors, or you see people of significance gather a crowd of significant people as they honor the death of this person and their life and their impact. And look at just the sheer impact of the life of Jacob You have all his family all the elders all the elders of the land of Egypt and all of Pharaoh servants This procession is so significant so massive that the people in the land of Canaan see what's happening.

Not only do they see what's happening, they're recognizing that it is a solemn mourning that whoever this man is, it was so significant that it was worth them mourning seven days. You can measure the impact of Jacob's life by seeing the importance of his death. I wonder if you've anchored your, where you've anchored your hopes this morning, whether you've tethered yourself in the land of the world or in the land to come. Are others able to see how impressive the death of Christ is in your own life as you seek to honor him?

Would they be able to look in on the life of this church and be able to say that this church cares about the death of Jesus? Then the way that we carry ourselves, the way that we seek to worship the true Israel, that we would say that this man is worthy of our praise, that he has made an eternal impact on our hearts. The way that we demonstrate the worth of our Savior isn't just by the things that we choose to do but the way that we've oriented our lives around this kind of hope. Jacob reminds his children by his death of the hope that goes beyond his current life, by looking forward to the promised land to come. Except Joseph's brothers aren't looking forward to the future.

Instead, they're terrified by the present. So we'll close by looking at our last point here: Unexpected hope. Unexpected hope.

Look at verse 15.

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.” So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before he died your father gave a command: ‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when their message came to him. His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”

— Genesis 50:15-18 (CSB)

Joseph's brothers are worried. If Jacob physically died, the brothers are currently dying inside. If Joseph was just being nice to them because dad was still around, they are done for. It's over.

Even after all of the forgiveness, even after all of the restoration that you've seen between Joseph and his brothers, these brothers still fear retribution. They fear judgment. I wonder if you've ever felt this way towards God. I mean, yes, we know that the gospel means that we're forgiven of our sin.

We read passages in Scripture that He has cast out our sins as far as the east is from the west. But let's be honest, it doesn't always feel like it. Sometimes it feels like a change in circumstances means that we need to re-up our commitment to God or try to shore up that our salvation that we have didn't expire. Sometimes we even try to justify our salvation by acting good enough or putting up a strong face.

Other times we dive for the bushes and try to hide from the Lord. This is the pattern that we've seen repeatedly all throughout Scripture. from the moment that Adam and Eve fall into sin, they have tried to cover their indignity with fig leaves. Same thing is true for us.

Whether you lie in Egypt, whether you try to dignify yourself with your possessions, in Joseph's brothers' case, what they look for are lies. They claim that before dad died, before he gave his last breath, he looked at all of us, you just happened not to be there, and he said, "Hey, why don't you tell Joseph, forgive your bros?" And then he leaves for the heavens. I think that we get to see a reflection of God's heart in the heart of Joseph in the face of that kind of fearful negotiation. That he doesn't feel honored when we try to save face before him. That doesn't bring God any encouragement for us to muster up our best efforts to make up for whatever God has given us.

Joseph weeps at the message that he receives, because that kind of anxious doubt doesn't come primarily from the doubt of our own abilities or our ability to be good enough. That kind of anxiety comes from a doubt of God's good heart. When you feel anxious about your salvation, it's not a question of whether or not you're good enough, but whether God's gracious enough.

Whether God holds grudges. We know that God forgives, but we wonder whether He continually forgives. And I just want you to know that that kind of fear, manipulation, or commitment, or anxiety doesn't bring God any joy. It breaks His heart. The brothers go before Joseph. They fall down on their knees. They cry out, "We are your slaves." It's the same kind of fear that they had before Joseph revealed himself to them. And Joseph's response to them isn't revenge.

It's not even rebuke. Instead, Joseph reassures them. Look at verse 19.

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

— Genesis 50:19-21 (CSB)

Joseph summarizes the key lesson of the entirety of this story, that they are not to be afraid. And by saying this, Joseph actually subverts all of the book of Genesis, that Joseph is not like Adam and Eve in the garden, who clamored for this fruit of the knowledge of good and evil trying to become like God. Instead he stands before his brothers and he recognizes he isn't in the same place as God. He's not able to ascend to the throne. And because he's not God, they can trust in what God has brought about. Notice what Joseph is doing.

He doesn't deny their evil actions. He doesn't deny the sin or the harm that they cause, but He is able to look at what his brothers did and see what the Lord was actually doing, even though they

You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

— Genesis 50:20 (CSB)

And this verse becomes a key verse in all of Scripture in helping us understand insight into the mysterious, meticulous providence of God—the way that God has planned and orchestrated all of the universe. In the story of Joseph, you are able to see simultaneously both the legitimate evil in the decisions of man and the legitimate good of the plans of God. Look at this passage again. Who sold Joseph into slavery?

His brothers or the Lord? The answer is both. Except that his brothers sold Joseph into slavery out of envy in order to kill him, and God sold Joseph into slavery to bring about the salvation of many people by preserving them through famine.

You have the same action with two very different intentions. This is what the Bible and Christians have called compatibilism. This idea, compatibilism, that the Bible doesn't choose between either man's choices or God's choices, but that God is in charge of all things, and you and I are responsible for the decisions we make at the same time. And it's because both of those things are true that Joseph is able to simultaneously trust in God's good purposes while being able to extend true grace to his brothers. He understands what the Lord was doing to bring about ultimate good. In fact this exact same idea is used when looking at the cosmic story, not of Joseph, but of all of creation.

Acts Connection: God’s Providential Plan in Christ

Turn in your Bible to Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. Keep your finger in the book of Genesis. We'll finish it in just a second.

I just want to read to you from Acts chapter 4. This is the prayer of Peter and John after they've been imprisoned for the preaching of the gospel, and after their release they pray to God. I just want you to listen to their perspective on what the Lord did in His cosmic plans.

He prays this in verse 27.

“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

— Acts 4:27-28 (CSB)

This is Peter and John's prayer to God, and notice as they meditate on the crucifixion of their Savior who committed these actions: Who's at fault at the crucifixion of Jesus? Well, they identify four groups of people.

You have Herod, you have Pontius Pilate, you have the Gentiles or the non‑Jews, and you have the people of Israel. In other words, everyone. That's literally everybody. Everyone conspired together against Jesus, whom God anointed.

And notice what it says in verse 28.

to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

— Acts 4:28 (CSB)

So let me ask you, who crucified Jesus? God or humanity? And the answer is both. Except we

You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

— Genesis 50:20 (CSB)

peoples Can you see the meticulous providence of God The book of Genesis is trying to tell you and I, God makes no accidents. Whether it's the evil in the world or the redemption of the world, God is capable of using all things to bring himself glory and to bring you good. It's no wonder that Joseph tells his brothers, don't be afraid. Because if God is capable of using such great evil for the purposes of his glory, then God will be capable to use all of our lives in order to bring him glory.

I don't know if you're here terrified at the thought of following God. maybe you're fearful that God is capable of changing his mind. Fearful that he may realize that he made a mistake. Fearful that he may turn your back on you once he realizes all the things that you've done.

Are you able to hear comforting words of God this morning? The kind words of grace that He extends to you, that even the things that we intend for evil, God can use for good. Because hard times will come, just like it did for Joseph at the end of this book.

Let's close by finishing out this chapter.

Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years. He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation; the sons of Manasseh’s son Machir were recognized by Joseph. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.” Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.

— Genesis 50:22-26 (CSB)

Joseph's life comes to an end, and before he dies, he echoes the words of his father, "Don't bury me in Egypt. Carry my bones from here to the land of my fathers." And then Joseph dies.

The book of Genesis ends with a thud. It started with life in Eden and it ends in a coffin in Egypt because the rhythms of life and death continue, the drumbeat of death and he died and he died and he died comes back one final time in the book. I hope after all these months listening through the book of Genesis we know what Moses intends for us to hear: that if you've really been tracking these cycles of life, death and hope over and over again as we walked through this book, you know that real life will not end there. In fact, Joseph tells his brothers here, "I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid."

Can you imagine how the book of Genesis would feel for an Israelite wandering through the wilderness? In the midst of all the death they've experienced, all the slavery, all the discouragement, the aimless wandering through his desert, awaiting the promised land that is to come, they would listen to this pattern over and over again, and they would receive the assurance in their heart that God is not done with them, that they are headed for the promised land. And friends, you will experience that pattern in your own life.

You follow Jesus. You live your life long enough. All that you will see around you is the certainty of death, of disappointment, of darkness. It will feel like the consequence of sin will swallow you up and submerge you into a death that you will never be able to emerge out of. But let the example of Joseph, of Jacob, of Isaac, and Abraham remind you that God will certainly come to your aid.

He certainly came to aid Israel, brought them back to the land of Canaan, and He will certainly come to your aid too. As you wander through the wilderness of this world, as you experience the inevitability of death, God will certainly help—not because of your cunning, not because of our ability or our goodwill, but because God plans all things for our good. And in His meticulous providence, He will bring even our own dead bones safely home and bring us back to life.

Friends, let's place our hope there, in the kingdom that is to come. As we experience the cycles of this life and the time to die comes for us all, we can look towards our God.

That we can look to each other and be able to say, when God comes to our aid—and He will certainly come—don't bury me in this world. Carry my bones all the way to the new heavens and the new earth. Let's pray. Let's pray.

Lord, we do pray that you would help us to trust you in your blessings, in the curse of death, in the hope of Christ. Pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.