The kindness of Providence in the acceptance of Pharaoh.

And so the ease of Egypt does not loosen Jacob's grasp upon the promises of God. Not only in Genesis 12, but especially in Genesis 15 and 17. And he is going to remind Joseph, of that word which God gave to Abraham. He is not satisfied with the things of this world, and will only be satisfied when the promises of God are brought to bear upon his descendants in accordance with the word of God to Abraham. But we see, in both of his statements in this passage, the divine discontentment of faith. In terms of earthly attainments, Jacob could have well been satisfied with the temporal blessings of the land of Egypt and with the favor of the Pharaoh. Jacob, in many ways is coming here to the pinnacle of his career. The other theme which is emphasized is the faith of Jacob. But that is only one part of the theme emphasized in this passage. And it is not merely explicit, but it is overwhelmingly repeatedly emphasized as part of the truth of God's dealing with His people. And we pause to ask, how can anyone possibly begin to read the Bible in the book of Genesis and deny the truth of God's providence. As the theme of providence is a general theme emphasized throughout this story of Joseph, so it is specifically emphasized once again here in Genesis. God's providence is operating for the good of His people and it is emphasized over and over in this passage. Three times in this chapter, Moses through what he describes emphasizes the wisdom, the goodness of the purposes of God towards the family of Jacob, whether from Pharaoh, or from Joseph, or seem to be directly from God. The first theme is the kindness of God's providence. Moses, over and over, presses two themes throughout each of these scenes in the chapter. I want to direct your attention to five scenes in this chapter. Open our eyes that we might behold wonderful truth from Your word, This we ask, in Jesus' name. Our Lord and our God, we bow before Your word, and Your sovereignty and we ask that You would teach us lessons of providence and faith even as we consider this Your word. And we sense the beginning of the end of this part of the history of Israel, as we come to Genesis 47. And tonight we come to a passage in which the family of Jacob settles in the land of Goshen. In fact, we said as much as Joseph is the main human protagonist in this story, much more than Joseph, God Himself, in His providence, is the main character throughout the whole story of Joseph. And so he had so many providential lessons to teach this particular family.

And yet, in which they would also experience the discipline of oppression and they would learn the glory of being able to freely serve the God of their fathers, and they would learn the glory of the freedom of the Lord's day as they are brought out of oppression in the land of Egypt. He was preparing to place them in a situation where they would be isolated enough that they could remain religiously pure. And God was preparing to make a nation out of the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However great a family it was, it wasn't a nation. God was preparing to create a nation out of this family. But we saw that as a part of greater purpose of God. A family which had been separated for many years and we gloried in the way that God's providence worked to bring them back together. A family which had been plagued by favoritism on the part of Jacob toward some of his sons and over against other of his sons. The last couple of weeks, we have exalted in this providential reunion engineered by God, in this family which had been fractured by distrust and mutual loathing. We are really coming to a section which is the beginning of the end. If you have your Bibles, I would ask you to turn to Genesis 47, as we continue to work through this glorious book of Moses.

Sermon audio genesis 47