The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying God's providence or divine providence in the lives of David and Joseph and how we can apply His providence in their lives to our lives today.
The providence of God is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe. He is in control of the physical world. He is in control of the affairs of nations. He is in control of human destiny. He is in control of human successes and failures. He protects His people.
In our study last week Joseph told his brothers that what they did to him in selling him as a slave and telling their father that he was dead, although they considered it bad that it was all part of God's plan which was to save them. The lesson for us today is that when you see God's hand in every situation it will allow you to not get frustrated or depressed no matter what you are going through. God has a plan; you just don’t see all of it right now. With a vertical focus you will not stay stuck even in a bad situation you can say like Joseph “you meant it for bad, but God meant it for good.
Today we see the reunion of Joseph with his father after more than 20 years. This brings to mind the reunion that the family of God will have on Jesus' second advent and just as there is a big dinner or picnic at a family reunion, when we have that final ultimate reunion of the family of God, we will all sit down together at the wedding supper of the Lamb.
For our study we are using Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, and Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles R. Swindoll. To study along with us you can purchase the books by clicking the Links here or the images after the notes.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole, He is in control of the physical world, He is in control of the affairs of nations, He’s in control of human destiny, He’s in control of human successes and failures, He protects His people. Through divine providence God accomplishes His will.
Last week we saw that Judah finally truly repeated and confessed that they had all conspired against Joseph resulting in his being sold as a slave. They were all guilty and what was happening to them, which they couldn't recognize as grace, because of their feelings of guilt, was punishment from God. Judah was also willing to take the consequences on himself to save his brothers and his father. When Joseph saw this true repentance he revealed himself to his brothers.
They were shocked and terrified, but Joseph told them that what they planned for evil was actually part of God's plan which was to save them. Joseph was God’s man. He had always acknowledged God which meant he had s vertical perspective. How else could he have forgiven his brothers and said it didn’t matter what they did it was really God and he did it so I could save you.
Genesis 45:7-13 NIV But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, Lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’ “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”
Joseph was both forgiving and he was humble. He was a man of great integrity and forgiveness. It was possible because his focus was alway vertical and not horizontal.
Today we talk about a family reunion
The reunion of Joseph with his father and his meeting all of his family.
Talk about the Burrell family reunion.
Remember when Joseph recognized his brothers they told him that their father who was also his father, was
still alive.
Genesis 42:13 NIV But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
When they came back with Benjamin for more grain Joseph again asked about their father.
Genesis 43:26-27 NIV When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?”
After Joseph revealed himself to them and shared that the famine was not over and that it was God who sent him ahead in order to save them. He told them to go back to Cannan and get their father and their families.
The desire of Joseph's heart was to see his father and to get all his family to move to Egypt and to live near him so he could provide for them without reservation and without limitation.
Because the Lord was always with Joseph, we know that Pharaoh trusted and relied on him as an adviser. When he heard the news that Joseph had reconciled with him family and wanted to take care of them, he added his approval as the leader of Egypt. He even made the move easier by commanding that Joseph send wagons and provisions for the journey.
Genesis 45:16-21 NIV When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’ “You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.’ ” So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey.
Although they had confessed and repented Joseph still kniew his brothers and what they were capable of so he wanted to just make sure that they would get along on the way back home. Especially since Benjamin was given more stuff for trip back home.
Genesis 45:22 NIV To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes.
Everybody got stuff but Benjamin got more. Think back to the genesis of their hatred of Joseph.
Genesis 37:3-4 NIV Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Let’s be honest Joseph does show favoritism to Benjamin we can’t discount that. So Joseph knowing his brother’s history, even though he extended grace to them, he admonished them to not quarrel.
Genesis 45:22-24 NIV To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey. Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!”
Let’s talk about us now. We are all brothers and sisters in the same family. The family of God. Our father gives us all gifts. Some get more gifts than others. Some get gifts that some of us think are more important than others. We think, because we all want to chart our own way, because we think we know better than God. What Joseph said to his brothers when he said don’t argue in spite of the difference in the gifts Paul said to the church the family of God.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31 NIV There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
What is that most excellent way?
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
So, they get back to Cannan with all this stuff and they tell Jacob that this is from the son that he thought was dead. When he heard this, it seemed too good to be true.
Genesis 45:25-26 NIV So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them.
As far as he knew Joseph had been dead for the last 25 years.
Genesis 37:31-35 NIV Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.” He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
So, it took him a minute to get it together.
Genesis 45:27-28 NIV But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
Before we go to Egypt let’s go back to the promise that God made to Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather.
Genesis 15:12-16 NIV As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
So, although Jacob and his family were going to Egypt God reminded Jacob that they would come back to the Promised Land and, in fact, he would come back himself.
Genesis 46:1-4 NIV So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
When God makes a promise He keeps it, no matter how long it takes.
So, we have this rag tag, motley crew of Israelites from Cannan coming to Egypt which at this time was one of the dominate nations in the world at that time.
Scholars have estimated that Jacob moved to Egypt about 1876 B.C., which falls within the era known as the Middle Kingdom and the Twelfth Dynasty.
According to historians, this was a period of great power and stability in Egypt. Military campaigns and mining expeditions to outlying provinces and neighboring countries made Egypt a dominant, international, almost imperial, power. The development of its economy, as well as achievements in education, sculpture, architecture, and literature made this a classic period.
Now the long-anticipated reunion.
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.”
Joseph couldn't wait, once he knew that his father had arrived, he went to meet him. It doesn’t say that Jacob cried but my guess is that they both did and probably a lot of others.
What a wonderful time.
Our author Chuck Swindall said that this reunion reminded him of some other reunions and the reaction of weeping because of joy. The first was a national reunion, of sorts. It was the nation of Israel being released from exile in Babylon to go back to their homeland, to Judah after 70 years.
Ezra 1:1-4 NIV In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “ ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’ ”
Jerusalem had been destroyed. Hardly a stone was left standing.
So, the people began to rebuild the wall as well as the place of worship, and they gathered in the city square to hear the Word of God read for the first time in decades.
They had been in captivity for seventy years. What nationalistic zeal and pride must have surged through those Jewish veins as they stood once more in their homeland and heard Ezra begin to read aloud the Word of their God.
Nehemiah 8:9-12 NIV Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.” Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
When they heard the Word of God in their own ears for the first time after all those years—some of them for the first time ever—they lifted up their hands in praise and they wept aloud.
Another reunion was the one Jesus described in His parable of the Prodigal Son. This one was a personal reunion.
Luke 15:20-24 NIV So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
This was also a reunion that occurred when someone was returning home.
Then there will be the reunion of the family of God. The final, ultimate family reunion. All of our loved ones who have accepted Jesus as their Savior will be at that reunion.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Most reunions have a big meal. It may be a banquet or a picnic or both. There will be a lot of food and fellowship.
Revelation 19:6-9 NIV Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
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