Exalted and Set Apart
Engage with the Lord: Joseph’s Story • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Reunited
Reunited
Genesis 46:28–30 (NIV)
Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.
Israel said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”
Immediate reaction is the reverse of the story of the prodigal son. While physically, Joseph is the one who has been made to wander and is now reunited with his father, spiritually, it is Joseph who has remained steadfast and Jacob is the prodigal father who has been once again brought near to the promise of God through being reunited with his son.
Almost every recorded word since Genesis 37:35 spoken by Jacob have been centered or focused on death, but after hearing that Joseph is alive, the bitterness has been replaced with a sense of fulfillment and hope.
The whole of Scripture conveys the story of God’s relentless pursuit of his wayward creation. Our lives today are a continuation of this story.
Exalted and Set Apart
Exalted and Set Apart
Genesis 46:31–47:12 (NIV)
Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”
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.” He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.
Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”
“Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, 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.”
Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”
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.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
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. Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.
Goshen is the Hebrew word for pasture. The Israelites were led by the Lord to a portion of land that was set with pastures instead of fields. It was an undeveloped area that was not desired by the Egyptians.
Their occupation was abhorred by the Egyptians so the intermingling that would occur was minimal. It provided a sense of isolation in the midst of the protective arm of Egypt.
God has a plan for each one of our lives. No detail escapes his foresight.
Romans 5:3–5 (NIV)
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
If the suffering of Christ was used to reconcile us to the Father, why then would our suffering be wasted? No, God uses our hardships, suffering, difficult times to expound His glory and to show His sufficiency. Let us embrace the difficulty and surrender its outcome to the Lord and proclaim with great expectation of His goodness in the midst of our struggles.