Remsen Bible Fellowship Sermons

About Remsen Bible Fellowship Sermons

Sermons from Remsen Bible Fellowship in Remsen, Iowa remsenbible.substack.com (https://remsenbible.substack.com/s/remsen-bible-fellowship-sermons?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Remsen Bible

Category

religion & spirituality · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Mar 2023

Latest episode

26 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

197 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Oct 2026

   Blessing by Faith

   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com (https://remsenbible.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   19 Oct 2026

   God’s Blessing Through God’s People

   God’s Blessing Through God’s People Genesis 46:28-47:28, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 07/05/2026 Introduction ‏ Many of us have heard of the importance of setting aside a daily time for the Lord. Some people call this a “quiet time” or a “devotional time” or “private worship” or “daily prayer.” Well, my whole adult life I’ve called it “that thing I know I should do and don’t.” I’ve struggled to establish a consistent pattern of Bible reading and prayer. I struggle to maintain any consistent habits, and that in particular has been difficult for me. Having said all of that, the past month and a half or so has probably been the richest time of private prayer I’ve had in many many years. And so let me briefly commend to you, if you have also struggled to start this sort of habit, or have never tried before, what I’ve been doing: I sit down in the morning with my coffee (which I set, the night before, to start brewing before I come down stairs), and I have three books—a Bible, a prayer book, and a journal. I read a portion of Scripture—it doesn’t need to be long, just enough to contemplate, then I open the prayer book and read one or two prayers aloud, and then I record in the journal what I read, the page number of the prayer I prayed, and then I hand write one verse that caught my attention in the reading. Beneath that verse I then reflect for just a few sentences on why it caught my attention, or what further thoughts spring from it, and often this becomes a form of prayer. Then, if I have time, I continue into further prayer, though that doesn’t happen every day. I say this, not because I’m some great model—obviously, it’d be nice if the pastor had figured this out before he’d been a pastor for seven years—but as someone who is also stumbling along the way to growth in Christ, I want to encourage you to keep plugging away and find method of regular bible intake and prayer that you can make a consistent part of your life. In those morning times with the Lord, I just finished reading the book of Isaiah. And tucked away in chapter 19 of Isaiah, at the end of a long section concerning judgement against the nation of Egypt, there comes what must have seemed, to Isaiah’s original audience, like a very strange promise: Isaiah 19:24-25, “In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed by Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’” Why would the Lord bless a pagan people? Why—how—would he make them his people, a blessing in the midst of the earth? That question surely perplexed the Judaian recipients of Isaiah’s prophecy. While an answer for that question lay in the future, the seeds of it could be found in the past. So let’s visit Egypt’s past, by turning to our text this morning, Genesis 46:28-47:28. Genesis 46:28ff, He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. 30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” 47:1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.” 7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents. 13 Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” 16 And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh’s. 21 As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s. 27 Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years. This text consists of four main scenes. A reunion, a blessing, an accumulation, and a summary. Reunion We see the reunion of Jacob with his son Joseph in verses 28-34 of chapter 46. Jacob sent Judah to lead the way into Goshen, and Joseph came up to meet them there. It is remarkable to me how understated this part of the narrative is. With Joseph’s revelation to his brothers of his identity in chapter 45, you can almost feel the tension coming off the page, with his loud sobs and his brothers’ silent dismay. This passage, though, is more terse: Joseph presented himself to his father, and wept on his neck for “a good while” (v29). Jacob, for his part, can now die in peace, since he knows Joseph is both alive and prosperous. Goshen, where they met, was in the far northeast part of Egypt. It was ideal pastureland, and the place where Pharaoh kept his flocks. So Joseph told his brothers that he would take news to Pharaoh of their coming, and he coached them on what they should say when they come before Pharaoh. Blessing In the next section, the beginning of chapter forty-seven, Joseph tells Pharaoh that his family has arrived. This is followed up by him bringing five of his brothers—why five? which five? we’re not sure, maybe these were just the five he trusted to make a good impression—and they followed Joseph’s coaching, recounting to Pharaoh their life-long occupation as shepherds, and telling him that the purpose of their coming was to find pasture for their flocks. Pharaoh does one better than simply allowing them to live in the land, though. He says to Joseph that if he trusts any of them (“if you know any able men among them” v6), to put those men in charge of the royal herds, as well. This will become more important later in the passage. And, of course, Joseph would know which ones were most competent. Remember, he had served his father as something of a supervisor before his brothers sold him into slavery. Pharaoh had good reason to trust Joseph’s judgement on this matter. Last of all, Joseph brings his father before Pharaoh. And this interview seems pretty…unspectacular. Pharaoh asks how old the old man is, and Jacob replies “the days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning” (v9). Jacob sounds fairly familiar to us here—the cup is definitely half empty. Life has been hard, and short, and soon I will die. There was a guy in my church growing up who would say, “life’s tough, and then you die.” That’s what Jacob sounds like. But while the patriarch isn’t exactly brimming with sunshine and butterflies, he does know he has been brought to Egypt for a purpose. Notice how his interaction with Pharaoh is framed: v7, “Jacob blessed Pharaoh”, and v10, “Jacob blessed Pharaoh.” As we will see this fall, when we look at chapters 48-49, Jacob speaking words of prophetic blessing is an action taken in his role as a patriarch, and there’s an implied dynamic of authority. So why is this old man at the head of a tiny clan pronouncing blessing upon the King of Egypt’s 13th dynasty? Obviously Jacob has no power over this man, he’s coming as, essentially, a refugee. But Jacob, for all his flaws, sins, and weaknesses, does know who he represents: his God, the God of his fathers. And the blessings that he gives are not blessings that originate in his own person, but in the power and promise of the Almighty God. Accumulation And that blessing seems to be quite evident in the verses which follow. Verses 13-26 chronicle the accumulation of all the property in the land of Egypt by Joseph for Pharaoh. First, the people spend all their money on grain. Then, they trade in all their livestock. Finally, they give up their rights to freedom and to their land. Of course, they were not evicted from the land, and then chained up. That wouldn’t have done Joseph or Pharaoh any good. Instead, the people were given the ability to stay on the land and work it, with an understanding that they would be taxed at 20% of the gross proceeds of the land. Which was probably a much worse arrangement than they had previously, but a 20% tax rate does sound more appealing than starving to death. But remember for a minute what this means—if Pharaoh now possess all the livestock in the land of Egypt (v17), and Joseph’s brothers have been put in charge of Pharaoh’s herds (v6), then what this means is that the sons of Israel now are now functionally managing all the wealth of Egypt. As verse 27 puts it, “Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.” If you’ll forgive me I want to nerd out on some history for a moment that I think helps explain the drastic change in situation for the people of Israel from a few chapters before this (nearing extinction) to what’s about to happen (great prosperity) to the circumstances at the opening of the book of Exodus (in bondage in Egypt). To be clear, the details of this are debated by historians, but I’m going to give you the account of Egyptian history that I think makes the most sense of the Biblical data. Egypt’s Middle Kingdom was coming to a close during the time of the patriarchs, in fact the Pharaoh Joseph dealt with may have been Merneferre Ay [MUR-nuh-fer-uh EY], the last king of the 13th dynasty, which was the end of the Middle Kingdom period. As this dynasty was deteriorating, travelers from the land of Cannan started to move into the land of Goshen and populate the region, Semitic peoples, not native Egyptians. And part of what may be happening during the time of the famine is that these people, who are settled in the northern region (also called lower Egypt), are coming along with the rest of Egypt and submitting themselves and their property and their land to the rule of the last king of the middle dynasty. But this king has entrusted all of his power to Joseph, whose family is also now settling in lower Egypt. After the reign of Merneferre Ay, the capital of Egypt was moved further south, to the city of Thebes. At that point, upper Egypt seems to have been ruled from Thebes while lower Egypt—where the people of Israel had settled—was ruled from the city of Avaris, not by native Egyptians, but by kings that came to be known as the Greater Hyksos. They were called the Shepherd Kings. This region became so prosperous that the native Egyptians in Upper Egypt started to get nervous that they would be conquered, and so they initiated a war during the reign of Kamose to reunite all of Egypt. Though Kamose was killed in battle, his successor Ahmose I conquered Lower Egypt, and subjected the Hyksos to forced labor. But later, mysteriously, the Hyksos largely disappeared from Egypt. If I’ve lost you, let me try to connect the dots without most of the names. Joseph bought up all the land that the foreigners had moved into, and then put his family in charge of it. Sometime during Egypt’s next change in power, Shepherd-Kings of Goshen functionally became separate from Egypt proper, and prospered until the Egyptians got so nervous that they initiated a war to make them subject ot slavery (kind of like what we read in Exodus 1:8-11). And then the slaves disappear from the history of Egypt. Like maybe they walked through the Red Sea and out of the story. Summary The sermon title in your bulletin is “in you shall all the nations be blessed”, which of course is a reference to Genesis 12:3, the promise to Abraham which was passed on to Isaac and to Jacob. I had that as my working title because I do think we’re supposed to see Jacob giving his blessing to Pharaoh as a significant point in the story. I think we also see God blessing Egypt as a whole through the wisdom of Joseph as an obviously crucial element of the story. God blessed Egypt through Jacob and his family. But the more I pondered chapter 47, and especially as I went down that history rabbit hole trying to piece together who the Pharaoh’s were, and where Joseph and Jacob’s family fit in this timeline, what struck me once again is how God preserves and blesses his people. And how his blessing to others was dependent upon how they dealt with his chosen people—which again, is tied to the promise to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you.” When there was a Pharaoh who blessed Jacob’s family, who took them in, who honored Joseph, God poured out his blessing upon them. Jacob spoke with confidence in this reality. But later, when the Pharaohs forgot about Joseph, and mistreated the people of God, God brought the hammer of his wrath down upon them. The material blessings they received were, in the grand scheme of things, pretty short-lived. Conclusion Which brings me back to my devotional ponderings on Isaiah 19:24-25. Let me read them again, “In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’” Egypt and Assyria were both nations that, at different times, oppressed the people of God. But Isaiah is seeing a time when they no longer oppress the people of God—they become the people of God. The Lord Jesus, in speaking to the people of Israel in his day, drew heavily on the language of the prophets when he described himself as the Good Shepherd. But then, in John 10:16, he ruffled feathers by telling those gathered, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold.” The only way for the nations to be blessed in a more than temporary manner is to plea for the mercy of the Lord, a mercy which he abundantly receives through his Son. This mercy is first of all received at an individual level, but it is right that we should pray for nations to repent of their sins en masse and seek the Lord. If you would be blessed by the Lord, repent of your sins, and look to Jesus, the offspring of Jacob, who was lifted up on the cross for your salvation. And if you would see your nation be blessed and prospered for another 250 years, then repent of your sins, and pray that God would stir up repentance, and a hunger for his mercy, in the hearts of your family and neighbors and countrymen as well. Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com (https://remsenbible.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   12 Oct 2026

   God Preserves His People

   God Preserves His People Genesis 45:16-47:27, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 06/28/2026 ‏Introduction God will not abandon his children. This has been one of our recurring themes as we’ve examined the life of Joseph. When Joseph prospered in his father’s house, God was with him. When he was thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery by his brothers, God was with him. When he was falsely accused and imprisoned for years on end, God was with him. When he ascended to a position next to the throne in Egypt, God was with him. God had not abandoned Joseph. Through hell and high water, in good times and in bad, the Almighty never forsook him. Joseph recognized this fact. And, in time, he even was able to see why God had taken him on such a tortuous journey. Last week, as we considered a great unveiling—Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers—you may remember that they were not at first excited to see Joseph. And for good reason. All of them except Benjamin had been involved in selling him into slavery more than two decades earlier, and now he is functionally the most powerful man alive. Not exactly the person you want holding a grudge against you. But Joseph wasn’t holding a grudge. Instead, we read these words in Genesis 45:5, “And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” Though the actions of the brothers had been wicked and sinful, God was sovereign over their actions, and was at work to ensure the salvation of his people. And that reality, a reality Joseph recognized, is the theme of our text today. God preserves his people. And in order to consider how he does this, I want to turn momentarily to the 16th century and borrow some language from the protestant reformers of that era. The reformers, including men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, and John Knox, were referred to as protestants because they were protesting what they saw—rightly—as abuses and errors in the medieval Catholic church. And while there were many issues at play, there came to be five rallying cries that crystalized the core of that reformation, often called the five solas: * Sola scriptura (Scripture alone) is the final and highest authority for all matters of faith and practice—tradition is helpful, but it does not stand on the same level as God’s word * Sola Christus (Christ alone) is the one who accomplishes and gives salvation—we do not contribute anything to our salvation, Christ is the only mediator between God and man * Sola fide (faith alone) is the means by which we receive Christ and his benefits—not through a series of works or religious rituals, but faith alone is means by which God imputes the righteousness of Christ to our account * Sola gratia (grace alone) is the ground on which God performs his saving action both for us and in us—he didn’t look for those who were worthy, but graciously chose from a world of unworthy creatures, those whom he would save anyway * Soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory) for so rich and extravagant a salvation—in salvation we do not receive wages, we receive God’s glorious mercy, and so all the praise belongs to him. Now, as we look at our text today, I believe those final three, faith alone, grace alone, and God’s glory alone, provide a helpful frame for processing this part of the story. Salvation by Grace Alone Genesis 45:16-28 16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” 21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” In our passage last week we saw that Joseph instructed his brothers to go and get his father, and bring him to Egypt. And it seems he anticipates the response of Pharaoh that we see in v15-20, as he commands Joseph to send he brothers back well provisioned. But while Joseph perhaps saw that generosity coming, consider how overwhelming this would have been for the brothers. They had re-approached this land with great trepidation, and then that feeling of dread would have been multiplied when they saw the brother whom they had wronged now seated in power—what whiplash it must have been, then, for him to richly receive them and return them to Cannan in what amounts to a royal caravan. We see in this text that God is preserving his people. But not because they deserve it. His preservation and salvation is coming as a result of his grace alone. Jacob, the last of the patriarchs, is the inheritor of the promises of God for land, seed, and blessing. In Genesis 35:10, God had spoken to him, “be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” What did Jacob and his family do to earn that promise from God? Nothing. It was God’s kindness that led him to give such promises to Jacob, and to Isaac and Abraham before him. Now, 11 chapters later, Jacob is in a pretty sorry state. The last several times we’ve heard words from Jacob they have been primarily words of self-pity and resignation. There’s not much here to commend him to God as a worthy candidate for blessing. Jacob thought, 22 years earlier, that God had taken away his favorite and most trustworthy son. He thought the Lord had abandoned his own gray head to the grave, and the state of his faith in God’s promise to preserve and prosper his progeny seems pretty uncertain. All that God had said about a nation and nations and kings, that seems far away to Jacob. But then he looks to the horizon—his sons are returning! And they don’t merely return with a grain to last a few more months. They return dressed in fine Egyptian clothing. They return with Pharaoh’s own wagons, sent to provide transportation for Jacob and his clan. They return with donkeys bearing burdens of food for the journey. And most of all, they come bearing news that Joseph is alive. In response to this, Jacob goes numb. He can’t believe it. But eventually his eyes override his doubt. Friends, if the salvation of Jacob and his family was ultimately dependent upon his leadership and wisdom, where would they be? He’d have kept Benjamin home forever, and they would have starved to death. Reaching further back, of course he would never have planned for Joseph to be sold into Egypt, and nations would have starved to death. But God was graciously at work in spite of Jacob and his sons, their sins and their follies. God put Joseph in the right position to preserve life, he gave him favor in the sight of Pharaoh, he gave him the grace to forgive his brothers and save their father’s family from destruction in Cannan. The preservation of Jacob and his sons through Joseph came through God’s grace alone. This marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, though, does need to be received—as the words of the song tell us, it is freely bestowed, not on everyone indiscriminately, but on those who believe. Which brings us to chapter forty-six. Salvation by Faith Alone Genesis 46:1-7 So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” 5 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They also took their livestock and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters. All his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. Once Jacob was convinced that heading to Egypt was the right call, he “took his journey”, according to verse one. The toggling between Jacob’s given name—“Jacob”—and his covenant name given by God—“Israel”—is an interesting feature of these chapters. I continue to puzzle over it. Some commentators suggest the varying usage highlights the actions he takes primarily as an individual (Jacob actions) as opposed to actions which are more focused on his role as covenant head of God’s people (Israel actions). Maybe. In any case, Israel heads out. But he made a point of stopping by Beersheba to offer sacrifice. This was the place where Abraham had called upon the name of the Lord in chapter 21, and Isaac had built an altar to the Lord in chapter 26. And just as, in chapter 26, the Lord spoke to Isaac and reassured him God’s continued presence to bless, the Lord speaks to Jacob here in a night vision. For God to show up and speak is incredibly significant in this moment of the story. While God’s hand has been assumed in the background all throughout narrative from chapter 37 onward, God himself has not spoken directly since the promise to Jacob back in chapter 35—well over two decades previous to this point. And when God spoke, his words may have been surprising to Jacob: go ahead and go to Egypt. Go without fear. Go, knowing that my blessing will be upon you and you will be made a great nation in Egypt. It may well have felt to Jacob like he was fleeing the land of promise. Remember, the place where he was, Canaan, was the land God had promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jacob is on his way to a foreign land, knowing he may well never return. But God says, “go. Fear not. I will make your family a great nation there. I will bring you up again. And Joseph will close your eyes.” God reassured him that to flee to Egypt was in this case not abandoning the promises of God, but faithfully following the Lord’s promise and provision into a strange land. This had to, at least at some level, be counter-intuitive for Jacob. But perhaps he remembered the story of his grandfather, Abraham—who, in chapter twelve, had gone down to Egypt and came back to Canaan more prosperous than before. Whether that was on his mind or not, we clearly see his actions: he gathered everything—family, livestock, provisions, the works—and headed to Egypt. Now, I have not been gentle with Jacob over the past year as we’ve spent time looking at his life. I don’t think anyone who has heard a sermon I’ve preached from Genesis chapter twenty-five forward would get the impression that I think of Jacob as a particularly admirable figure. I don’t think Moses, the author of Genesis, viewed Jacob that way. But I want to give Jacob his due—when the chips are down, and God makes it clear “this is what I want you to do”, Jacob listens. Jacob obeys. Jacob believes. While not always the most faithful person in terms of his lifestyle, Jacob was nonetheless a man who believed the Lord. He placed his trust in the trustworthy God. Friends, God preserves his people. But how are his people defined? They are defined as those who trust in him. Have you placed your faith—your trust—in the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Have you recognized your need for a Savior; the fact that you, like Jacob, and his train-wreck sons, have sinned against the almighty God and deserve nothing but his just wrath? Have you received the free and abundant gift of his gracious forgiveness provided through the work of his Son Jesus on the cross? Have you received the merciful gift of life given to all who trust in the Risen Christ? Friends, our God God is a gracious God. He is a God who saves his people. But, hear me now: he defines his people as those who have put their trust in him alone. Salvation is received by faith alone. If you would have security and confidence, today and for eternity, you must renounce your sins and renounce control over your life and place your trust in Lord Jesus Christ. His salvation is received through faith alone. And, if you have received God’s grace through faith, then you should have an unshakeable confidence in the glorious God of the nations. Salvation for God’s Glory Alone Genesis 46:8-27 8 Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, 9 and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. 16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons. 19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all. 23 The son of Dan: Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all. 26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. Normally, when we come to a genealogical passage or a list of names like we just read, I give you the highlights rather than meticulously reading through, name by name. However, there was a purpose to reading that whole list, and it is this: it’s not the first list of seventy names we read in Genesis. Back in chapter 10 of Genesis, right after the story of the flood, and right before we read about the towel of Babel in chapter 11, there is a list of Noah’s descendants, commonly referred to as the table of nations. How many nations are in that list? Seventy. These are the nations that spread apart after Babel. The Lord split them up after their attempt to reach the heavens apart from the heavenly Father. They wanted God’s glory without God’s law. And he wasn’t having any of it. So he split them up, and people scattered across the earth. The table of seventy nations in chapter 10 gives us the initial background to all diverse people and languages and nations that we have today. And while diversity as such is a good thing (as we see in the created order, and even in God’s Triune nature), the tensions and misunderstandings and hatreds that arise from diversity are a result of God’s judgement upon the nations. But God did not simply consign the nations to judgement. Following the Babel narrative we get another genealogy, that of Noah’s son Shem. And in chapter 12, the Lord called one descendant of Shem, Abram son of Terah, and called him to leave his father and his father’s house. God called him to follow; and God promised him the world— Genesis 12:2-3, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. And I will bless those that bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This is the promise that God re-iterated when he changed Abram’s name to Abraham. This is the promise he passed on to Abraham’s son Isaac. This is the promise God made to Isaac’s son Jacob. And now Jacob and his descendants are headed out of the land God showed to Abraham, and down into Egypt, still few in number. What we see in Jacob bringing seventy descendants down to Egypt is a two-fold reality: * First, this is a genuinely tiny group of people, all things considered. Really, why are we reading about the family drama of a group of people maybe twice the size of what we have gathered here, who were living on the other side of the globe nearly 3,800 years ago? Isn’t that crazy? This is a tiny, and insignificant group, that on their own was most certainly not glorious. * But in this tiny and insignificant group, whom God graciously preserved by grace through faith, he was going to put his glory on display to the world. He would take this tiny group, give them the fattest portion in the land of Egypt, and grow them into a mighty people who within four centuries would number in the millions. A people through whom, one day, the Savior of the world would come. In fact, one of the most remarkable things about God bringing Israel down to Egypt at this juncture is that it allowed them to continue to grow and prosper as a nation without the fear of losing their national identity. Because of the language barrier in Egypt, and the fact that Egyptians considered shepherds unclean, they were allowed to develop their own cultural identity in a way that may have in fact proved quite difficult (at best) in the land of Canaan. So what God was doing in bringing Israel down to Egypt was not merely preserving his people in terms of preventing starvation, but he was preserving them as a unique people. As his people. Friends, who can orchestrate such events but God alone? If God could orchestrate the details of Jacob and his family in such meticulous detail in order to preserve and prosper them—do you not think he is able to preserve and prosper you? Do you not think he is more than able, in his own time and way, to both prosper and preserve this congregation? Do you not think, in light of such power being bent toward the good of his people, that we ought to praise and glorify this mighty God? Psalm 111:2-4, 9; “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful…He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!” Amen. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit remsenbible.substack.com (https://remsenbible.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

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