WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:03.440 I'm going to invite you to Genesis chapter 48 together. 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:05.360 Genesis chapter 48. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.000 And we're going to call this chapter the chapter for the Stubborn People. 00:00:09.080 --> 00:00:09.560 Okay. 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:13.090 And I want I thought about opening up, saying, how many of you are stubborn? 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:17.660 But then I thought that would be useless because if I know anything about stubborn people, they're not going to raise their hand. 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:18.820 They're too stubborn to do that. 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:19.060 Right. 00:00:19.060 --> 00:00:26.260 So that's Genesis 48 is a chapter really for all of us, but especially, we'll say, for stubborn people, 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:33.340 because this is the chapter where Jacob is at the end of his life and he's reflecting on his life in order to encourage us 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:39.220 in the faith, as if to say, don't learn your lessons the hard way like I had to do, right? 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:41.300 There's a couple ways you can learn life lessons. 00:00:41.400 --> 00:00:43.760 You can learn it through others, which is the best way. 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:48.640 Or you can learn it the stubborn way, which is you don't listen to anybody and you got to take the lumps yourself. 00:00:48.900 --> 00:00:56.140 And the hope this morning is we look at Genesis chapter 48 is we learn the lessons from Jacob's life the easy 00:00:56.140 --> 00:01:03.200 way that as he gets to these final moments of his life and he reflects back on the importance of what life is about that 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:10.240 we take we're going to look at these four important life lessons on how to live a godly life through the 00:01:10.240 --> 00:01:12.280 story of Jacob. 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:15.500 And so Genesis 48 is all all of that for us. 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:22.800 But if you've followed the life of we're really looking at Joseph towards the end of Genesis, but he takes this moment at the end of Jacob's life to talk 00:01:22.800 --> 00:01:23.970 a little bit about him. 00:01:24.220 --> 00:01:29.710 And if you follow the life of Jacob, you've noticed that Jacob's life has not been a perfect life. 00:01:29.960 --> 00:01:33.900 There have been moments where he's been faithful to the Lord, and there have been moments where he's struggled. 00:01:33.940 --> 00:01:38.670 In fact, his name is very reflective of his early nature in life, which was a deceiver. 00:01:39.460 --> 00:01:45.940 And part of the reason he found complications in his life is because, well, he tried to deceive his brother out of his birthright and blessing. 00:01:46.080 --> 00:01:48.580 Brother got angry, chased after him. 00:01:48.580 --> 00:01:49.790 He had to run for his life. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.840 And that decision led to him to another place where someone took advantage of him. 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:57.580 It was his father in law and he had to run from that scenario. 00:01:58.380 --> 00:02:01.340 And so he had some challenges that certainly followed him. 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:04.510 Moments where he walked by faith, moments where he struggled. 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:12.340 But what's interesting as you think about the summation of Jacob's life, as I want to toss out this obscure verse to us in Hebrews 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:18.250 chapter 11, and you don't necessarily have to turn there because we're going to look at all of chapter 48 in just a minute. 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:25.720 But in Hebrews chapter 11, there's a verse where the author of Hebrews summarizes a life of Jacob as 00:02:25.720 --> 00:02:27.820 being a life of faith. 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:32.590 And he takes this one particular part of Jacob's life in order to tell that story. 00:02:33.220 --> 00:02:40.400 And if I were to say to you, if you've known anything about the life of Jacob, and you were just to highlight one aspect of his story that demonstrated a person 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:44.440 of faith, I mean, I would ask, what would that be? 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:51.520 And it could be something like, the moment where he was on the run from his brother who wanted to kill him, and he called out to God for help or 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:57.000 the next time he was on the run from his father in law, Laban. 00:02:57.220 --> 00:03:04.110 And again he wrestles with God or maybe that pinnacle moment where he thought his son was dead, only to find his son was alive. 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:11.500 Like there are these bigger steps of faith that these faith stories in the life of Jacob, that we see that surely when you're going to talk 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:14.790 about Jacob, that you would share a story like that. 00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:19.670 But when you get to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11 is known as the faith chapter. 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:27.400 And you see the story of Abel by faith, trusting in God, you see the story of Noah by faith, building a boat in the 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:30.620 middle of dry land, like he was a crazy person for 100 years. 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:37.640 I mean, you see the story of Abraham who packs up and moves away from his country, the place he's familiar to at 70 years old, 00:03:37.720 --> 00:03:39.080 to go on this journey with God. 00:03:39.100 --> 00:03:40.640 And he didn't even know where he was going. 00:03:40.640 --> 00:03:48.040 It tells you in Hebrews or Sarah who's trusting in God to give her a kid at 90 years old, I mean these spectacular faith stories. 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:54.440 And then after it tells these faith stories in Hebrews chapter 12, it then tells you to now you run your race, right? 00:03:54.440 --> 00:03:57.060 God's called you to live for his glory in this world. 00:03:57.320 --> 00:04:03.420 But before you get to that, it shares this little story of Jacob's life in verse 21. 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:08.430 And it's an interesting thing out of all the things they could share about Jacob, this is what the Hebrew writer says. 00:04:08.540 --> 00:04:15.800 It says, by faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing and worship 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:17.560 over the head of his staff. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:20.839 That is such a weird verse, isn't it? 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:27.880 Like you look at that and think, out of all the things you could share over Jacob's life, why is it this one, when he's to the point of life 00:04:27.880 --> 00:04:29.900 where he really can't do much of anything? 00:04:30.640 --> 00:04:37.780 The thing that the writer wants you to know is that while he's dying, he blesses his sons or his grandsons, and 00:04:37.780 --> 00:04:38.780 then that's it. 00:04:38.820 --> 00:04:43.800 Like, out of all the things, why is why is this the verse they want us to know? 00:04:43.880 --> 00:04:51.060 Well, as we look at Genesis chapter 48, I think we're going to we're going to discover the answer to why the author chooses this verse, 00:04:51.080 --> 00:04:54.970 or at least we're going to discover why I think the author chooses this verse. 00:04:55.320 --> 00:05:02.600 But most importantly, in this chapter, we're going to look through this verse and all that follows for lessons for living 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:04.560 a godly life. 00:05:04.780 --> 00:05:09.640 And in Genesis chapter 48, verse one, you see here we are at the end of Jacob's life. 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:15.130 And after this it says, Joseph was told, behold, your father is ill. 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:20.440 So he took him and his sons to Manasseh, his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:25.540 And it was told to Jacob, your son Joseph has come to you. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.640 Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in his bed. 00:05:29.520 --> 00:05:33.480 And here you are at the end of Jacob's life. 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:41.500 And you know, the beauty of this story is it tells us what Jacob is thinking about as he comes to his 00:05:41.500 --> 00:05:43.750 son and his grandsons. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:51.880 And I love how this story begins for us here at the end of Jacob's life, because I think here in America, we're often we're often sanitized 00:05:51.880 --> 00:05:53.720 to the reality of death. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:06:00.960 Not that we have an experience in life, but it's not uncommon for me as a pastor to talk to people 30, 40, maybe even 50 years old, 00:06:00.960 --> 00:06:02.490 and they've never even been to a funeral. 00:06:03.320 --> 00:06:08.400 You know, there are places in life where life expectancy is still in the early 40s. 00:06:08.820 --> 00:06:12.600 The countries where medical care is not that great. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:14.700 And so life expectancy isn't that long. 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:18.830 And they're from more familiar with death than, than we are necessarily. 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:22.640 But there's something about the end of life. 00:06:23.080 --> 00:06:29.280 And walking through that with someone that helps us recognize the importance of the life that we have. 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:37.600 And I love hearing these final moments that Joseph is taking his sons to, these final moments to spend with their grandfather, 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.380 knowing that death is imminent. 00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:42.500 Death has this way of. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:46.250 While it's wonderful to know that Jesus is ultimately defeated. 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:47.180 Death. 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:50.640 Death has this way of reminding us of the importance of life. 00:06:51.320 --> 00:06:58.740 And I've even I had a friend from Europe was talking to recently and he said, it's interesting with Americans that you 00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:05.940 will spend in the final months of your life, you will spend as much on health care just to have one extra 00:07:05.940 --> 00:07:10.860 day as you will culminate and culminate, culminating the rest of your life. 00:07:10.960 --> 00:07:16.800 Like you'll spend the final months more on health care than maybe the rest of your life combined just to cling to life. 00:07:16.880 --> 00:07:22.480 And he said, it's interesting in my country, in particular European countries, we don't necessarily do that. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:23.840 We embrace death more. 00:07:23.840 --> 00:07:26.100 And I thought, well, I asked him, why do you think that is? 00:07:26.180 --> 00:07:33.220 And his only answer was, I think it's mostly because Americans, you're kind of across the pond and you've been away from a lot of the suffering of human 00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:33.580 history. 00:07:33.620 --> 00:07:34.540 Not to say American hasn't. 00:07:34.740 --> 00:07:37.580 America hasn't had suffering, but we've been kind of isolated. 00:07:37.620 --> 00:07:43.420 That and other countries in this world, they kind of have gone through the struggle of wars and famine and disease. 00:07:43.820 --> 00:07:50.840 And, here in America, even with Covid, at the very beginning of that, when people thought it was going to lead to death for all of us, it was 00:07:50.840 --> 00:07:52.520 it was on the other side of the pond, right? 00:07:52.580 --> 00:07:55.140 You're like, let's just keep it over there, slow the curve. 00:07:55.140 --> 00:07:55.880 That was the theme. 00:07:55.900 --> 00:07:56.360 Right. 00:07:56.440 --> 00:07:59.220 And so for us, we kind of had this sanitized way. 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:06.260 Even the point when someone comes to the end of their life, you kind of sometimes you might send them off to the hospital, and that might be the last time that you see them until there's 00:08:06.260 --> 00:08:06.740 a funeral. 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:10.670 And so those final stages, we're not always familiar with. 00:08:11.280 --> 00:08:16.270 But here in the story you have, you have Joseph coming to his father at the end of days. 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:23.460 And it's reflecting on the end of life that he uses this moment to teach his son, his grandsons, and even 00:08:23.460 --> 00:08:28.750 us the important lessons of learning what a what a faith journey should be about. 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:36.440 And point number one in your notes is this I am blessed because of God's grace. 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:40.240 I am blessed because of God's grace. 00:08:40.299 --> 00:08:43.919 That should be the most obvious answer to any Christian in this room. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:45.720 I am blessed because of God's grace. 00:08:45.760 --> 00:08:53.040 But let me let me help clarify that, because I think oftentimes the way that we hear it, we confuse the purity of that statement. 00:08:54.040 --> 00:08:57.880 And what I mean is, sometimes when we hear the word, I am blessed because of God's grace. 00:08:58.420 --> 00:08:59.900 We build on that. 00:08:59.900 --> 00:09:04.860 And we think that the blessing is not not that we get God, but what we get from God. 00:09:05.660 --> 00:09:06.430 Does that make sense? 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:14.520 Meaning, it's not necessarily that you've received God himself, but rather you might be here simply because, well, you want to make God 00:09:14.520 --> 00:09:18.220 happy in order that you can get things and to make life comfortable for you. 00:09:19.180 --> 00:09:19.300 Right. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:25.040 And there's certain rewards, monetary or physical rewards in this earth that we might get. 00:09:25.040 --> 00:09:30.910 And so when we often talk about blessing as Christians, if we're not careful, that's usually all that we could mean. 00:09:31.560 --> 00:09:36.520 Or the fact that we might mean that alone could rob us of what is the greater blessing. 00:09:36.900 --> 00:09:40.180 And the greater blessing isn't the things that you get from God. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.470 The greater blessing is that you get God Himself. 00:09:43.640 --> 00:09:46.880 And the reason for that is everything in this world is going to pass away. 00:09:47.580 --> 00:09:49.120 Heaven and earth will pass away. 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:57.560 But the thing that will always remain constant in life is the consistency of God's grace and presence over you, 00:09:57.900 --> 00:09:58.880 if you know him. 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:04.010 The prize of life is not the things, it's God Himself. 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:08.800 And I hope for all of us this morning that is our understanding of who God is. 00:10:08.800 --> 00:10:15.840 Sometimes we have this religious way of thinking about God that, he's this Zeus in heaven, this absolute killjoy that's only 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:18.190 there to zap me with lightning bolts when I mess up. 00:10:18.740 --> 00:10:21.920 And I better not screw up because, well, I don't want God angry with me. 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:25.300 But when you understand the story of the gospel, it's this. 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.640 This God that has pursued you even in your sin. 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:34.280 He didn't give up on you, and he loves you, and there's nothing you're going to do to make him love you more. 00:10:34.300 --> 00:10:36.360 There's nothing that you've done to make him love you less. 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:40.900 He has given everything that you might know him, and that is the prize of life. 00:10:41.880 --> 00:10:47.060 The fact that I am blessed because of God's grace. 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:51.710 And sometimes it takes us, looking at the end of our life to recognize that. 00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:55.800 And the reason I say that is because this is exactly what Jacob is doing. 00:10:55.960 --> 00:11:02.620 We understand what he's thinking about in the final moments of life, because he tells us that in verse three, look at this, he says. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:08.820 And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me. 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:16.990 You know, when you think about what this moment, this moment of Luz was for Jacob in order to say that he was blessed. 00:11:17.160 --> 00:11:24.460 There is an incredible moment because this happened in Genesis chapter 28 And in this chapter, Jacob 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:29.920 is on the run from his brother, having stolen his birthright and blessing from him. 00:11:29.940 --> 00:11:34.790 And at the end of chapter 27, his mother looks at him and says, your brother said, he's going to kill you. 00:11:34.920 --> 00:11:36.140 You better run right? 00:11:36.140 --> 00:11:41.980 And so Jacob runs and in chapter 28, verse ten, you find him in this place called Luz, and he's lost. 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:48.120 He's in this lost land, and he's absolutely destitute to the point that he just goes to bed that night on a rock. 00:11:48.520 --> 00:11:50.260 He is literally hit rock bottom. 00:11:50.260 --> 00:11:51.490 He has he has nothing. 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.420 And in this moment he cries out to God. 00:11:54.420 --> 00:11:56.280 And in crying out to God, what does he discover? 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.580 Not that God hates him, not. 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:03.080 Not that God wants to destroy him, but rather God wants to bless him. 00:12:03.660 --> 00:12:10.920 And you see this picture that takes place that in these moments the heavens open up and there is this ramp to heaven and the angels of God ascending 00:12:10.920 --> 00:12:15.540 and descending on Jacob in order to bless him. 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:21.390 The presence of God made known in his life when he didn't deserve it. 00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:29.540 And yet God made himself revealed to Jacob in order that Jacob could walk with God. 00:12:30.520 --> 00:12:37.620 Now here he is at the end of his life, and out of all the things that he tried to war for, in his own effort he's come to realize that the greatest blessing 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:44.720 in all of it wasn't the things he tried to achieve in his own strength, but is that he had God himself with 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:45.760 him wherever he went. 00:12:47.800 --> 00:12:51.800 The blessing of life is the grace of God. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:59.040 And here's the beauty of this story is that this isn't this isn't a story that's just exclusive to Jacob. 00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:06.560 In fact, when you turn to the Gospels in John chapter one, verse 50, this is where this is where Jesus encounters Nathaniel, and 00:13:06.560 --> 00:13:13.560 he talks to Nathaniel and says, says to him things about his life that should have been a mystery, because Nathaniel was by himself, 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.040 and Nathaniel was impressed by this. 00:13:15.040 --> 00:13:18.620 He says to Jesus, how could you even know these things about me? 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:26.040 And this is where Jesus says in John chapter one, verse 51, if that's impressed you, greater things than this, you're going to see the 00:13:26.040 --> 00:13:26.860 Son of Man. 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:33.960 He says, you'll see the heaven opened and a ramp to heaven, and the angels ascending and descending 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:41.080 on the Son of Man, as if Jesus is saying to Nathaniel, not just to Nathaniel, all of us, that God didn't 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:48.640 just come for Jacob, but he came for you and for me, that we could know him and have relationship 00:13:48.640 --> 00:13:50.110 with him. 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:57.660 And sometimes thinking about blessing being something that you receive monetarily or physically, we often equate heaven 00:13:57.660 --> 00:13:58.720 that way. 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:01.040 We think in terms of heaven as being this destination. 00:14:01.220 --> 00:14:04.900 I can't wait to be in heaven one day, but can I tell you what makes heaven? 00:14:05.040 --> 00:14:07.510 Heaven isn't necessarily a location. 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:08.880 What makes heaven? 00:14:08.900 --> 00:14:13.170 Heaven is the presence of Jesus and his grace forever. 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:18.220 Wherever Jesus is, that's where your promise to be, and that's where heaven is. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.070 It's not about getting to a destination, it's about getting to a person. 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:29.840 And the beauty of that is, in the midst of this broken world, you have the presence of God now, and you also have the hope of knowing God forever. 00:14:30.180 --> 00:14:31.220 That is the blessing. 00:14:31.940 --> 00:14:34.480 And the Bible tells it like this to us faith, hope, and love. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:35.870 And the greatest of these is love. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.100 And you think about what that means in relationship with the Lord. 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:46.260 The idea of being able to put faith in God is saying, Jesus has taken care of your past, and you look at what the beauty 00:14:46.260 --> 00:14:47.690 of what Jesus did on the cross. 00:14:47.860 --> 00:14:50.540 He said, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 00:14:50.560 --> 00:14:52.870 And then he cries out, it is finished, paid in full. 00:14:54.680 --> 00:15:00.490 You're not here to impress God with who you are, but to embrace him for who he is. 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:06.680 The grace of God made known that you could have a relationship with him, your past forgiven. 00:15:06.700 --> 00:15:13.880 Not only that, you have a hope, a future, and as you look forward to that future, that hope, knowing this world can not rob 00:15:13.880 --> 00:15:17.080 you of what you have in him because he is always faithful. 00:15:17.860 --> 00:15:21.940 You also have faith, hope, and love in these moments. 00:15:22.340 --> 00:15:25.510 To be able to walk with him, to know him. 00:15:25.900 --> 00:15:32.000 And here's Jacob at the end of his life and saying, and of all the things that I battle for out of all the things that I thought were important. 00:15:32.040 --> 00:15:36.580 Do you know, as I look at the end of my life, do you know what I recognize is really the most important? 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.460 It came to me at Luz. 00:15:43.420 --> 00:15:45.140 When God's grace washed over me. 00:15:45.160 --> 00:15:46.920 When I was a deceiver and a broken man. 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:54.520 I had hit rock bottom and God was there and he blessed me. 00:15:54.520 --> 00:15:58.210 And not only has he blessed me, God's desire is to bless you. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:05.700 Point number two in your notes, then, is this I'm able to bless because I have been blessed. 00:16:07.180 --> 00:16:09.430 I'm able to bless because I have been blessed. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:16.540 And this is to say to all of us, look, God wants to use you where you are. 00:16:16.540 --> 00:16:18.140 And it's not because you're great. 00:16:18.140 --> 00:16:19.260 It's because he's great. 00:16:19.260 --> 00:16:22.450 You don't have to wait for your life to be perfect in order to be a blessing. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:28.470 In fact, in the midst of our mess, it's where God often uses us to bless others. 00:16:29.540 --> 00:16:36.020 And even when you think about Jacob in these moments, I mean, he's a man capable of very little. 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:42.540 And it tells you in verse two, he basically uses all of his remaining strength in order to set up to talk to his family for the last time. 00:16:43.380 --> 00:16:50.480 And what is he capable of doing except imparting from him what the Lord has done in 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:50.720 him? 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:54.260 He's sharing the goodness of who God is. 00:16:54.260 --> 00:17:00.720 It's not about impressing people with who he is, but helping them discover the greatness of who God is. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:05.020 And therefore he's always able to bless because he has been blessed. 00:17:05.060 --> 00:17:12.220 And you see this in verse four, it says, And God said to Jacob, behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply 00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:19.300 you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting 00:17:19.300 --> 00:17:20.400 possession. 00:17:20.560 --> 00:17:26.520 And now your two sons, whom were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine. 00:17:26.560 --> 00:17:30.040 Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 00:17:30.060 --> 00:17:34.000 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. 00:17:34.060 --> 00:17:38.960 They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 00:17:40.060 --> 00:17:45.200 So he's taking this moment, and he's blessing his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh. 00:17:45.260 --> 00:17:49.320 In fact, the word blessed is used in verse nine. 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:54.380 That he is, he is imparting to them what God has given to him. 00:17:55.100 --> 00:18:02.300 And this idea of blessing is very much a word that is reflective in really what Scripture is all about, that 00:18:02.300 --> 00:18:08.500 when you understand the goodness of who God is, that God wants to use you as his representative in this world to bless others too. 00:18:09.560 --> 00:18:16.720 In fact, I said to you in recent weeks, the word blessing is used over 70 times in the Book of Genesis to recognize that only 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:21.620 is a God, that a God that desires to bless you, but also to deliver his blessing through you. 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:28.130 That's how the Bible begins in Genesis chapter one, verse 26 to 28, when he creates us in his image, male and female. 00:18:28.340 --> 00:18:35.460 He tells us then that you are blessed in verse 28, and to go into this world and multiply that blessing that God wants 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:40.130 to work through your life, that you would impart to others what he has imparted to you. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.840 And so in these moments, Jacob is demonstrating how this is possible. 00:18:45.840 --> 00:18:53.140 And he's talking about the faithfulness of God from one generation to the next, that not only has God been faithful to me and Luz, he's saying, 00:18:53.140 --> 00:19:00.240 but we've seen how God's faithful hand has been given to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, and that 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:07.280 promise is to continue through the children of Israel that the ultimate blessing would come, which is Jesus, that all of us could be blessed because of 00:19:07.280 --> 00:19:07.930 it. 00:19:08.840 --> 00:19:15.940 And look, as Jacob is saying this, he's acknowledging in verse seven that life hasn't always been perfect, that the curse 00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:18.170 of sin has impacted his life. 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:22.760 And so for us as Christians, we don't follow God because it makes life easy. 00:19:24.020 --> 00:19:25.540 We follow him because it's true. 00:19:25.560 --> 00:19:28.440 There's certainly blessing that can happen in that. 00:19:28.560 --> 00:19:31.280 But to not lose sight of the greatest blessing which is in the Lord. 00:19:31.280 --> 00:19:38.440 Because as we go through life, the sin, the impact of sin can affect us, whether it be our own sin or someone's sin against us, it 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:39.040 affects us. 00:19:39.040 --> 00:19:46.180 And look at verse seven, as for me, when I came from paddan to my sorrow, Rachel died in the land of Canaan, on the way, when 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:52.210 there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. 00:19:53.360 --> 00:20:00.360 So he was saying, even in this moment where he was in transition of his, of his life, his life's going through this transitional period, his wife 00:20:00.360 --> 00:20:03.750 passed away, but it wasn't even passed away at a time that it was convenient for the family. 00:20:03.800 --> 00:20:05.360 It's never convenient for someone to die, but. 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:06.990 But especially in the middle of a move. 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:09.870 She just passed away on the journey. 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:14.460 But when you look at Jacob's life, Jacob's life certainly was not an easy life. 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:18.020 I mean, even from the beginning, it tells you his father didn't love him. 00:20:18.020 --> 00:20:19.580 His father loved his brother Esau. 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:24.920 He was sought after from by his own brother to kill him. 00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:29.040 And when he got to a new land, his father in law cheated him over and over again. 00:20:29.060 --> 00:20:32.670 And if not for the grace of God, he would have been destitute without anything. 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:40.220 He was forced to marry a lady he didn't love or tricked to marry a lady he didn't love. 00:20:40.260 --> 00:20:48.380 And when he finally married the woman that he did love, she just lived a few short years and she passed away. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:56.920 It wasn't an easy life, but the one constant that he discovers at the end of his life is 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:01.320 that God was always faithful to him, even when he wasn't faithful to the Lord. 00:21:02.800 --> 00:21:04.820 I am blessed because of God's grace. 00:21:05.260 --> 00:21:08.110 I'm able to bless because I have been blessed. 00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:15.810 And he goes on from there and he shares just how he's seen God's grace work in his life in different ways. 00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:16.680 In verse 11. 00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:17.990 And Israel, who is Jacob? 00:21:18.040 --> 00:21:20.750 Said to Joseph, I've never expected to see your face. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:23.380 And behold, God has let me see your offspring also. 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:29.420 Then Joseph removed from removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:36.520 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim and his in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh and his left hand towards Israel's 00:21:36.520 --> 00:21:38.740 right hand, and brought them near him. 00:21:38.800 --> 00:21:39.950 We're going to talk about this in a minute. 00:21:40.060 --> 00:21:45.220 This time of blessing, the oldest is supposed to be in the right hand of favor, which that's what Jacob's doing. 00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:52.360 But in verse 14, and Israel stretch out his right hand and laid it on his, the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, 00:21:52.540 --> 00:21:55.630 and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:57.210 For Manasseh was the firstborn. 00:21:58.500 --> 00:22:02.000 But here in this story Jacob is saying, look, I've seen God's faithful hand. 00:22:02.040 --> 00:22:08.080 And one of the things that I've seen just graciously God's given is my son, I thought was dead, was alive. 00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:11.250 And God let me not only see him, but also his grandsons. 00:22:12.280 --> 00:22:14.580 And so Jacob is appreciating this. 00:22:14.820 --> 00:22:18.960 And he goes on and he remarks in verse 15 just how he seen God's grace in his life. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:25.960 He says, and he blessed Joseph and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:33.060 shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys and in them. 00:22:33.140 --> 00:22:40.200 Let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:40.820 earth. 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:48.460 And so he's saying the promises of God, it's going to be fulfilled in future generations, not because of us, but because of the consistency of who God is. 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:49.920 He is always faithful. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.180 He is always faithful. 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:59.480 And that's the beauty of Romans eight for those in Christ, it tells you there's verse one, no condemnation in Christ, that you've been adopted 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:01.080 in chapter eight into his family. 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:05.390 And then it says in verse 37, you are more than conquerors in Christ. 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:12.900 And verse 39 of Romans eight, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ Jesus because of the consistency of who he is, 00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:14.680 not the consistency of who you are. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:21.760 You always have the opportunity of coming to the Lord and being renewed in the goodness of who he is. 00:23:21.760 --> 00:23:28.860 I mean, even this morning, if you've just fallen on your face, if you just fail, the reason that you can have hope is not because of who 00:23:28.860 --> 00:23:32.920 you are, but because of who he is. 00:23:36.740 --> 00:23:41.820 God's grace blessing me and then giving me the opportunity to bless. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:44.100 And I love the way that he describes God here. 00:23:44.120 --> 00:23:46.120 He says it like this my shepherd. 00:23:47.780 --> 00:23:51.240 The idea of my meaning personal and the picture of Shepherd. 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:55.110 As Christians, we should hold that word endearing in our minds. 00:23:55.800 --> 00:23:59.620 I think of all the things God could be described as rather than angry. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:00.430 Zeus in heaven. 00:24:00.700 --> 00:24:08.000 The picture of what a shepherd is, caring for the sheep, watching over them, protecting them, leading them, guiding, guiding them. 00:24:08.080 --> 00:24:10.900 That's a very endearing word to Christians. 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:14.880 I mean, some of the best passages of the Bible describe God as shepherd, right? 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:17.200 In Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:18.320 I shall not want we. 00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:25.470 We love that passage as Christians or in John chapter ten, the story of the good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. 00:24:25.620 --> 00:24:29.810 I mean, those are incredible descriptions of God, but can I be honest? 00:24:30.980 --> 00:24:32.880 Not when you put it in context with Jacob's life. 00:24:34.260 --> 00:24:41.460 Because if you think about this in the book of Genesis, this is the first time in all of Scripture God has been described as a shepherd. 00:24:42.040 --> 00:24:49.100 And just previous to this, we've had shared with us the view of what a shepherd and sheep were at the 00:24:49.100 --> 00:24:52.460 end of Genesis chapter 46, the last verse of chapter 46. 00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:57.140 It tells us that shepherds were considered an abomination to the Egyptians. 00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:04.720 But in these moments, Jacob didn't care, because he knew the kind of provision that God gave to him. 00:25:06.040 --> 00:25:07.380 And for him. 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:13.490 This picture of Shepherd not only described helps, helps capture for us the idea of who God is. 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:21.440 It also is a little bit maligning towards who we are because if you know anything about sheep, they're probably 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.760 the most unimpressive, underwhelming animal that God has ever created. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:27.720 Maybe next to the cat, right? 00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:28.720 I'm just kidding. 00:25:28.780 --> 00:25:29.420 I'm just kidding. 00:25:29.700 --> 00:25:30.820 But there's a reason. 00:25:30.820 --> 00:25:32.380 When you drive down the road and you're in the. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:33.380 You're looking in the wild. 00:25:33.380 --> 00:25:34.280 You're like, oh, look at that. 00:25:34.280 --> 00:25:35.280 There's some wild sheep. 00:25:35.300 --> 00:25:37.720 They can't they cannot support themselves, right? 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:39.100 Sheep cannot make it on their own. 00:25:39.140 --> 00:25:40.590 They are helpless creatures. 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:45.620 They are requires someone to look after them constantly because, well, sheep are dumb, right. 00:25:45.620 --> 00:25:52.700 And so for in order for Jacob in this moment to call God his shepherd, he's also painting a picture of something 00:25:52.700 --> 00:25:56.720 about us as people and what we need in our lives, right? 00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:59.020 And how much we need the consistency of the Lord. 00:25:59.040 --> 00:26:05.600 Even when you think about, having a pet in your home, if you've got a dog and the dog gets out, the dog will come home. 00:26:05.620 --> 00:26:09.480 I hope if you've got a cat, cats, they tend to come home, right? 00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:12.940 You let a sheep go and the sheep's like, I don't even know where I live. 00:26:13.280 --> 00:26:14.720 They just they just disappear. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:15.890 In fact, there was this. 00:26:16.520 --> 00:26:23.660 This famous sheep that was discovered in 2004 that made headline news across the world, because this sheep 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:26.720 managed to survive in the wild for a number of years. 00:26:26.760 --> 00:26:33.840 It's like, it's got to be pretty unique for a sheep to survive in the wild at all in order for the 00:26:33.840 --> 00:26:35.320 story to be told around the world. 00:26:35.340 --> 00:26:42.420 But there was this particular sheep referred to as Shrek in New Zealand in 1998, at four years old, Shrek decided, I'm going to 00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:45.620 just go out on my own here and see what that's like, right? 00:26:45.620 --> 00:26:47.230 It's six years later. 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:54.880 Shrek was discovered in a cave in New Zealand, and you can see the state of his life at this particular moment, right? 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:58.320 Like it's miraculous he was able to survive. 00:26:58.320 --> 00:27:02.300 But you can see by his current state that he is lucky to survive. 00:27:02.300 --> 00:27:03.380 He happened to find a cave. 00:27:03.380 --> 00:27:08.430 And I guess if any wild animal ventured in there, they couldn't figure out how to bite through £60 of wool. 00:27:09.100 --> 00:27:09.220 But. 00:27:09.700 --> 00:27:12.240 But he managed to survive, but just barely. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:13.380 I mean, what kind of life is that? 00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:14.660 He can't even see. 00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:16.520 I don't even know how the sheep bent down to drink. 00:27:16.540 --> 00:27:17.500 Somehow he made it. 00:27:17.520 --> 00:27:19.140 And so the story is told. 00:27:19.300 --> 00:27:26.570 But, for us, it's a similar idea that when we abandon God, where does that put our life? 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:30.600 And how foolish it is for us to run from him. 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:36.780 To understand the intention of the importance of what God has done for us. 00:27:36.800 --> 00:27:43.800 He has pursued us in our sin, that he didn't give up on us, that he sustains us and gives us a future and a 00:27:43.800 --> 00:27:44.600 hope. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:52.300 I'm able to bless not because of me, but because I have been blessed by him. 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:58.090 Point number three I may not always understand God's ways. 00:27:58.860 --> 00:28:02.000 But I can trust him. 00:28:03.060 --> 00:28:05.680 I may not always understand God's ways, but I can trust him. 00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:14.240 And if failure to see how important it is that he is a shepherd over us, that can lead us sometimes to rather try 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:20.420 to trust in ourselves and failure to rest in God's grace. 00:28:20.780 --> 00:28:27.110 Honestly, as people, it leads us to anxiety and ultimately lost in our own efforts. 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:35.700 And Jacob in the story he he's reminding us of the importance of this. 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:39.220 It goes on and says in these verses it says, oh, excuse me, I'll read that in just a minute. 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:40.540 It talks about Joseph and the story. 00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:47.820 But Jacob, for years he has he has tried to fabricate his own success in trusting in 00:28:47.820 --> 00:28:48.380 himself. 00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:50.050 That's why he carried the label of deceiver. 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:51.740 Right? 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:55.760 It's all about his self-made efforts and what that could produce for him. 00:28:55.760 --> 00:29:02.920 And ultimately, all it led to was an angry brother who wanted to kill him, which led him on the run into the life of another 00:29:02.920 --> 00:29:06.810 individual, Laban, who just took advantage of him, his father in law. 00:29:07.280 --> 00:29:10.710 And finally, when he gets away from his father in law, he has his own family. 00:29:10.920 --> 00:29:18.080 And he reproduces what his father taught him, which was to love one son above the others, which he loved, 00:29:18.080 --> 00:29:25.680 Joseph above the other others, his other sons, which created this hatred, and those sons hearts that they ultimately led 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.070 his their brother Joseph into slavery because of it. 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:37.700 Over and over again, Jacob just living for himself and what he wanted it led to this place of despair, this 00:29:37.700 --> 00:29:41.730 place of anxiety, this place of hopelessness. 00:29:43.320 --> 00:29:45.200 But Jacob's now getting to this place to understand. 00:29:46.420 --> 00:29:51.080 While he may not always know God's ways, he can trust him. 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:59.240 Even in the story with Joseph, you're seeing him bring his sons before his father for a blessing. 00:30:00.040 --> 00:30:07.920 And what's interesting about about Joseph's life in these moments is, as we've read about Joseph, Joseph has seemed to be like this stalwart in faith 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:08.810 in the Lord. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:14.470 No matter what happened to him, he seemed to always remain faithful to God, consistent in his walk with the Lord. 00:30:14.640 --> 00:30:15.930 When he was sold into slavery. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:20.780 He was faithful to the Lord when he was accused of something that he didn't do and put in prison. 00:30:20.780 --> 00:30:27.800 He was faithful to the Lord when he was brought before Pharaoh, and he interpreted the dream and given second, the second most powerful position in all of 00:30:27.800 --> 00:30:28.300 Egypt. 00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:30.480 He didn't leverage that power for his own glory. 00:30:30.660 --> 00:30:33.260 He continued to be faithful to the Lord. 00:30:33.860 --> 00:30:38.970 But now, in this moment, there seems to be a little bit of rockiness in Joseph's faith. 00:30:39.580 --> 00:30:39.600 But. 00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:46.680 But here's what's interesting that Rockiness in his faith didn't come because of because of his personal relationship with God, but rather it 00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:50.340 came in a moment where he's learning to trust his children to the Lord. 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:59.020 And I think, as a father, I might say things like, do whatever you want to me, but leave my 00:30:59.020 --> 00:30:59.510 kids alone. 00:31:01.340 --> 00:31:02.900 I can take it. 00:31:04.080 --> 00:31:07.340 But to see it happen to my children, that's something completely different. 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:14.510 And Joseph, in these moments, he's bringing his children before his father to be blessed. 00:31:14.600 --> 00:31:20.070 But Joseph reacts to this moment because he's doubtful. 00:31:22.180 --> 00:31:26.720 And how God's blessing is going to be made known in the way Jacob is doing it. 00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:31.690 And because now it involves his children, you see this kind of rockiness in Joseph. 00:31:33.740 --> 00:31:35.860 I think the same is true for you and for me. 00:31:35.860 --> 00:31:36.100 Right? 00:31:36.700 --> 00:31:41.650 It's one thing to trust God with your life, but then to entrust your children to him. 00:31:41.880 --> 00:31:48.880 And in verse 17, when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand 00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:52.000 to move it from Ephraim's head to Manassas head. 00:31:52.700 --> 00:32:00.000 And Joseph said to his fathers, not, not, not this way, my father, since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:00.800 on his head. 00:32:02.140 --> 00:32:06.020 So we have the tendency of doing that in our own struggle with the Lord. 00:32:06.700 --> 00:32:14.020 Of learning what it means to trust him in every season of life, because there is this expectation we have, in a sense of worldliness, of what blessings 00:32:14.020 --> 00:32:14.800 should look like. 00:32:14.800 --> 00:32:15.500 You do the right thing. 00:32:15.780 --> 00:32:16.520 You get the right blessing. 00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:22.160 Obviously, Manassas should be blessed over Ephraim because, well, he's older, he's taller. 00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:25.430 He's wiser because he's further in years. 00:32:25.580 --> 00:32:29.180 You need to bless the one that obviously by the world should be blessed, right? 00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:30.620 Not Ephraim, but Manassas. 00:32:30.620 --> 00:32:31.820 Dad, you're messing it up. 00:32:32.380 --> 00:32:34.460 Or in a religious sense, right? 00:32:34.460 --> 00:32:35.840 We might look from a religious standpoint. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:41.190 In Jesus's day, religious leaders looked at this, that God blesses those that can help themselves. 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:44.140 And if you haven't, you haven't done too much messiness in your own life. 00:32:44.180 --> 00:32:45.400 Of course, God can bless you. 00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:48.720 And well, if you've messed up, God can still bless you, but just not as much. 00:32:48.800 --> 00:32:50.750 This kind of in a religious sense, how it happens. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:53.720 But that's not a biblical gospel sense at all. 00:32:54.520 --> 00:32:59.660 The way God blesses us is not based on what we do, who we are, but rather who he is. 00:33:00.020 --> 00:33:04.160 That's why we say in Christ there is neither male nor female. 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:06.180 There is neither slave nor free. 00:33:06.180 --> 00:33:08.020 There is neither young nor old, rich or poor. 00:33:08.100 --> 00:33:13.020 God doesn't care about that, because we're all equal in him. 00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:17.390 And so the blessing of God looks different than the things of this world. 00:33:17.700 --> 00:33:24.920 And this is what Joseph is learning in this story, that while he might be anxious in his own soul, I may not always understand God's ways, 00:33:25.080 --> 00:33:28.960 but I have learned I can trust him, which is point number four in your notes. 00:33:29.860 --> 00:33:34.680 Resting in God's grace brings peace and hope. 00:33:37.620 --> 00:33:45.100 Resting in God's grace brings peace and hope. 00:33:45.660 --> 00:33:50.480 Jacob's learned through the inconsistencies of his life that God has always been faithful. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:54.300 I'm not here to impress God with me. 00:33:56.520 --> 00:33:59.840 I am here that my life would be filled with the goodness of who he is. 00:34:02.560 --> 00:34:09.760 When Jesus said it was finished on the cross, he meant it for my life, past, present, and future all wrapped 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:10.719 up in him. 00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:18.380 And so as it's not this trying to achieve or attain any status before the Lord, but rather receiving what I have in him, and therefore, 00:34:19.100 --> 00:34:25.949 because of that, I can rest in the goodness of who he is with peace and hope. 00:34:26.760 --> 00:34:32.400 And in this story you see this as Joseph is a little shaky in this moment. 00:34:33.060 --> 00:34:38.190 It says to you in the next verses it says, but his father refused and said, look at this. 00:34:39.600 --> 00:34:41.420 I know my son. 00:34:42.060 --> 00:34:42.580 I know. 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:51.080 It's in these moments as if Joseph represents who we are. 00:34:52.179 --> 00:34:54.940 But Jacob really, in a way, is representing who God is. 00:34:56.360 --> 00:34:57.440 I know my son. 00:34:59.100 --> 00:35:02.840 I know, yeah. 00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:06.800 When I think about walking through adversity in this life. 00:35:09.340 --> 00:35:12.170 I do want to know my past is taken care of in Christ. 00:35:12.180 --> 00:35:14.980 It has, I do. 00:35:15.020 --> 00:35:15.980 I need a hope. 00:35:15.980 --> 00:35:18.400 I need to know there is a future and in Christ there is. 00:35:20.520 --> 00:35:22.670 And I need to know right now that someone cares. 00:35:23.040 --> 00:35:24.680 And the reality is Christ does. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:30.010 That's what Isaiah 53 says a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. 00:35:30.520 --> 00:35:34.680 Jesus knows the path you walk because Jesus is already walked it before you. 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:38.100 I know my son. 00:35:38.160 --> 00:35:42.560 I know he knows right where you are. 00:35:44.040 --> 00:35:51.380 He knows exactly what you need, and he promises to reconcile all brokenness 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:53.820 in this world, in him, for you. 00:35:55.620 --> 00:35:56.780 I know, my son. 00:35:58.200 --> 00:36:02.030 I know he is the shepherd. 00:36:04.300 --> 00:36:10.020 He goes on and says in these verses, he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. 00:36:10.020 --> 00:36:13.500 Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and he is. 00:36:13.740 --> 00:36:15.960 His offspring shall become a multitude of nations. 00:36:16.160 --> 00:36:23.460 So he blessed them that day, saying, by you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as 00:36:23.460 --> 00:36:24.320 Manasseh. 00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:33.420 What Jacob is helping us understand is that at the end of his life, I think he's finally grasps the magnitude of 00:36:33.420 --> 00:36:35.480 God's grace over him. 00:36:35.580 --> 00:36:43.120 I think this is exactly why the writer of Hebrews chose this obscure chapter to declare what he declared in verse 21, because 00:36:43.120 --> 00:36:50.200 when you think about the lessons we've learned about God, as we've told these stories throughout Genesis, that God chose the 00:36:50.200 --> 00:36:53.030 weaker things of this world to confound the wise. 00:36:54.060 --> 00:36:59.420 He didn't choose to work through Hagar, who could have children, but rather barren Sarah. 00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:00.280 He didn't. 00:37:00.380 --> 00:37:03.560 He didn't work through Esau, but rather the younger brother Jacob. 00:37:04.640 --> 00:37:09.420 He didn't work through Rachel, who Joseph loved, but rather brought the Messiah through the unloved Leah. 00:37:11.340 --> 00:37:18.420 He's working through a people who are dying in a famine to bring a greater hope in Jesus, and apart from 00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:22.020 the Lord providing for them in this chapter, they would not have survived. 00:37:23.720 --> 00:37:27.180 It's about the goodness of who God is over us. 00:37:27.240 --> 00:37:34.380 In fact, in Deuteronomy chapter seven, talking about why did God choose the nation of Israel, it says, verse six, for you are a people holy 00:37:34.380 --> 00:37:35.660 to the Lord your God. 00:37:35.760 --> 00:37:40.100 The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own treasured possession. 00:37:40.220 --> 00:37:44.540 And we could ask, man, why did God pick them out of all the people that God could have picked? 00:37:44.560 --> 00:37:45.980 I mean, what made them so special? 00:37:46.020 --> 00:37:53.040 Well, it goes on and says, out of all the peoples who were on the face of the earth, it was not because you were more in number than any other people, that the Lord 00:37:53.040 --> 00:37:56.810 set his love on you and chose you, for you are the fewest of all peoples. 00:37:57.180 --> 00:38:04.240 But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and 00:38:04.240 --> 00:38:05.960 redeemed you from the house of slavery. 00:38:06.580 --> 00:38:08.620 What he's saying is, it's not because you were great. 00:38:08.620 --> 00:38:11.580 In fact, you were pretty underwhelming in comparison to other people. 00:38:11.720 --> 00:38:14.980 But it's because the greatness of who God is made known in your life. 00:38:17.160 --> 00:38:19.380 That's what makes us special. 00:38:21.560 --> 00:38:27.190 It's not us, but rather it's because of him. 00:38:28.280 --> 00:38:32.400 And in the story, this is exactly what the writer of Hebrews is saying. 00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:36.120 It's finally at the end of Jacob's life where he gets it. 00:38:37.100 --> 00:38:44.300 And the reason we know he gets it is because he's choosing to put the blessing on the weaker, the younger rather than the strong, because this is exactly 00:38:44.300 --> 00:38:45.590 the way God works. 00:38:46.780 --> 00:38:49.680 We could read throughout Scripture and see all the promises of God. 00:38:49.780 --> 00:38:53.020 And oftentimes as people, we think that we're the exception to the story. 00:38:54.000 --> 00:39:01.160 But what we discover is we are exactly the one that Jesus came to pursue, that we could find our freedom in him, that we're able to live 00:39:01.160 --> 00:39:07.850 the life that God has called us to live, not because of the strength found within us, but because of the strength found within him. 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:13.290 One of my favorite figures in all of church history I love reading about church history. 00:39:13.420 --> 00:39:16.580 Is this young lady named Mary Bunyan. 00:39:18.020 --> 00:39:18.340 Mary Bunyan. 00:39:18.380 --> 00:39:25.440 She might be my favorite figure in all of church history, but the reason she is my favorite is not because of anything that she did. 00:39:25.540 --> 00:39:26.040 Impressive. 00:39:26.260 --> 00:39:27.590 Impressive in her own strength. 00:39:28.740 --> 00:39:31.020 It's how she chose to serve the Lord in her weakness. 00:39:32.420 --> 00:39:39.050 Mary Bunyan is just was just a child when the Lord used her to make a significant impact in Christian history. 00:39:39.660 --> 00:39:42.800 Because Mary Bunyan is the daughter of John Bunyan. 00:39:43.920 --> 00:39:50.780 And if you know anything about John Bunyan, John Bunyan was a preacher in the 1500s who was sent to prison for preaching the gospel for over a decade. 00:39:51.540 --> 00:39:56.460 His wife stayed at home and raised four four children on her own. 00:39:57.100 --> 00:40:04.740 Mary Bunyan, who was the oldest, was also blind, and she would walk miles almost daily in 00:40:04.740 --> 00:40:11.760 order to go to the prison where her father was held to bring him his lunch, and she would carry his lunch in that jar in the center of the screen. 00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:19.860 She would carry that jar to her father almost daily, walking miles blind in order that her father could live. 00:40:20.540 --> 00:40:27.800 But the thing that makes John Bunyan such an impactful character is John Bunyan went to write one of the greatest works of literature ever recorded. 00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:35.200 Some say it's the most influential book outside of the Bible ever written in English, and may have may be the most purchased 00:40:35.200 --> 00:40:37.750 book in all of history outside of the Bible. 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:45.540 Pilgrim's Progress The story of Pilgrim's Progress is the journey of a one man's relationship 00:40:45.540 --> 00:40:49.960 with God, and the Lord has used that book to lead many people to Christ. 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:58.520 But that book would have never happened if this little girl who was blind, did not step out in faith, out 00:40:58.520 --> 00:41:02.870 of love for her father, to take that trip to the prison, that he could sustain life. 00:41:05.360 --> 00:41:07.500 It's not about impressing people with who you are. 00:41:09.640 --> 00:41:14.840 It's about allowing your life to be overwhelmed with the gracious presence of God. 00:41:15.220 --> 00:41:22.240 When we think about life lessons that are important for us, I hope this morning that we don't wait till the end of our lives to think about the importance of 00:41:22.240 --> 00:41:24.000 what God wants to do in us right now. 00:41:25.520 --> 00:41:30.000 But the only way that happens is given our lives over to the cross of Christ. 00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:33.200 I am blessed because of God's grace. 00:41:33.200 --> 00:41:36.750 He pursued me even when I've turned my back on him. 00:41:37.780 --> 00:41:41.480 That through that we're able to bless because we have been blessed. 00:41:41.660 --> 00:41:44.930 That I may not always understand God's ways, but I can trust him. 00:41:45.080 --> 00:41:49.350 And resting in God's grace brings peace and hope.