HUNTERS GLEN COME, LORD JESUS! (GEN. 50) NOVEMBER 30, 2014 MAIN POINT When Jesus returns, all of the evil in our world will be reclaimed for good. INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to introduce the topic of discussion. How do you think the world around us views the Christian belief that Jesus will come back? Why do you think others often view it that way? What is the strangest example of an end times prediction you ve heard? How do you generally react to end times predictions? The topic of end times elicits an assortment of reactions. Some people write fiction books while others actually attempt to predict the day and time that Jesus will return. This isn t a new phenomenon; for centuries, people have been speculating about Christ s return. But God doesn t want prediction; He wants preparation. Because we confidently expect the return of Christ, we can be ready for His return by following God s plan for us. UNDERSTANDING Unpack the biblical text to discover what the Scripture says or means about a particular topic. Briefly review what has happened the past few weeks in our study of Joseph s life. Then summarize the events of Genesis 50:1-14, using the commentary included with your study. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ GENESIS 50:15-21. After everything they had been through, what were Joseph s brothers fears? Why would their father s death have brought on these concerns? 1 ADVENT HUNTERS GLEN
What does their fear reveal about their relationship with Joseph? What does it reveal about their relationship with God? Joseph s brothers were experiencing the guilt feelings of those who refused to accept forgiveness. They had not accepted Joseph s forgiveness. They also were expressing a lack of trust in God, who can take the major messes that we make and somehow work them for the good in accomplishing His will. What was Joseph s answer to his brothers fears? How did God use Joseph to bring healing in Jacob s family? What impact might Joseph s testimony of God s grace have had on his brothers lives? Joseph told his brothers they had nothing to fear, because he was not in God s place. The question, Am I in God s place? assumes a negative answer. Since Joseph was not in God s place, the brothers had nothing to fear. Joseph refused to show revenge towards his brothers. Joseph recognized that God alone can judge people s evil actions. Both God and Joseph had forgiven these brothers. What profound truth about God does Joseph affirm in Genesis 50:20? Joseph repeated to his brothers his strong conviction of God s providence, which he had shared with them previously (45:7-8). God takes evil attitudes and actions and somehow works even in those things to accomplish His purposes. The contrast between you meant evil against me and God meant it for good is obvious. We generally respond to evil with evil acts fueled by hate and revenge. God responds to evil with good. There is no greater example of this truth than the cross of Jesus Christ. Read Acts 2:23 and Acts 4:27-28. What do these texts tell us about God s plans for Jesus? Why did God choose to use the evil of humanity to bring about the goodness of salvation? Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life while He was on earth. The very people He came to save, crucified Him on a cross. They chose the worst possible punishment for someone who had done nothing wrong. Even so, Scripture tells us, time and again that it was the will of God for Jesus to die in this way. That God would allow, even ordain, for this to happen to Jesus shows us that throughout everything, God is at work for the goodness of His people, drawing us back to Himself, and making a way for us to be reunited with Him. As we enterinto the season of Advent, when we celebrate Jesus birth focusing on what it means to prepare for His return. We know, the cross wasn t the end of Jesus story, which means that God is not finished demonstrating His goodness. 2 ADVENT HUNTERS GLEN
> HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ 2 PETER 3:8-13. Why do we need to be reminded of the promise that Jesus will return? What does this promise mean to you? How are we to live in light of Jesus promised return? Peter wrote about Jesus return because he cared about the believers he was writing to and wanted them to be prepared. Some may consider God to be slow in sending Christ back, but Peter understood that God sees time differently than we do. A thousand years is like a day to God. Peter wanted everyone to be certain of Christ s return without worrying about the exact time. Peter taught that Christ would come like a thief at an unpredictable time. Why has God delayed Christ s return even to this day? How do you see His goodness reflected in this? The interval between Christ s resurrection and return did not indicate that God was dragging His feet, instead, He was demonstrating patience. The second coming s seeming delay actually demonstrated God s compassion. He was allowing people the opportunity to experience His salvation. This gives us all the more reason to diligently share the message of Christ. > HAVE A FINAL VOLUNTEER READ REVELATION 21:1-4. What is the goal of all redemption, as described in verses 1-4? What do you think it will be like living without fear, pain, or death, and instead, living with the continual and direct presence of God? How should the hope of that promise change the way you handle those hardships now? In Revelation, John was given a vision of the end times, the book closes with a description of what our world will be like after Jesus return. John saw the new heaven and new earth, along with the new Jerusalem, where God s people will dwell with Him forever. Short on words, John described this new holy city as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. A great scriptural promise God made repeatedly, especially in connection with the New Covenant, was that they will be His people, and God Himself with be with them and be their God (see Jer. 31:33; 32:38; 2 Cor. 6:16). Now His promise finds perfect fulfillment. In Revelation 21:4, the heavenly voice noted five more evil things of the old order that exist no longer every tear, death, grief, crying, and pain. These are things we experience now because of sin s impact on our world. But when the old has passed away, their evils will be gone as well. No matter what evils you face in this world, God is working them out for your eternal good through Jesus. 3 ADVENT HUNTERS GLEN
APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. In what way does the promise of Jesus return give us present hope in times of trial? What are some practical ways we can focus on eternity in order to persevere today? Think about the not good things you are facing at this time in your life. How does the truth of God s goodness reframe one of those situations? Where is your greatest hope invested? In a job? In a relationship? Ask the Spirit to show you where you are placing your hope and to lead you to hope in Christ above all things. PRAY Close your time in prayer, thanking God that He is not slow to fulfill His promises, but is working all things in His timing for your good. Pray specifically about the final application question regarding where we place our hope. Pray that we would have peace and patience as we live in the knowledge that Jesus will one day return. Pray that our hope would be found in Him alone. FOLLOW UP Midway through this week, send a follow-up email to your group with some or all of the following: Questions to consider as they continue to reflect on what they learned this week: How have you been reminded of God s goodness this week? Is there someone in your life who is struggling to believe that God is good because of something he or she is going through? Reach out to them in encouragement and love this week. A note of encouragement, following up on any specific prayer requests mentioned during your group gathering. The challenge to memorize Revelation 21:4. 4 ADVENT HUNTERS GLEN
COMMENTARY GENESIS 50 50:1-3. Joseph, who was physically closest to his father at the moment of his death, fell upon (leaning over) his father s face, wept, and kissed him. The usual Hebrew custom was to practice same-day burial without embalming; however, embalming was necessary to prepare Jacob s body for the journey to Canaan. Egyptian embalming, which took 40 days to complete, was normally a religious practice performed by priests to prepare the person for the afterlife; the fact that Joseph used physicians rather than priests to perform the task may suggest that he had rejected Egyptian afterlife beliefs and wished to avoid giving a different impression. The 70 days of mourning probably reflected Egyptian customs associated with the deaths of particularly important individuals; normal Hebrew mourning periods were either seven days (1 Sam. 31:13) or 30 days (one lunar cycle; Deut. 34:8). 50:4-9. When the 70 days of mourning were over, Joseph went to Pharaoh s household, asking permission to bury his father in the land of Canaan. Joseph probably had reduced access to Pharaoh by now, which was about 12 years after the famine ended and the crisis Joseph had handled so well was long past. Even so, Pharaoh granted him permission to go and bury his father, thus fulfilling the oath Joseph had made to his dying father (47:29-31). As a sign of Pharaoh s continuing gratitude for Joseph s work, he permitted all his servants, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt a considerable number of high-ranking Egyptian politicians to accompany all the adult members of the clan of Jacob on the journey to Canaan. Horses and chariots, prestigious transportation used only by members of the Egyptian aristocracy, were part of a very impressive procession to Canaan. 50:10-14. When the group crossed the Jordan River into Canaan, they camped at the open, level threshing floor of Atad and went through a Hebrew mourning ritual. The presence of a large number of Egyptians publicly displaying solemn mourning so impressed the local Canaanite inhabitants that they renamed the place Abel-mizraim ( The Meadow of Egypt ), a wordplay on a Semitic word for weeping ( ebel). Proceeding westward to the cave at Machpelah two miles north of Hebron, Joseph buried his father, thus fulfilling what his father had commanded Joseph and his brothers to do. 50:15-21. With Jacob now dead, Joseph s older brothers feared for their lives and hoped the words spoken by Jacob before he died would protect them from Joseph s wrath. They were so afraid of Joseph that they did not dare at first come to him personally; instead they only sent a message entreating him to forgive his brothers rebellion (transgression) and sin, especially since they were slaves (servants) of the God of your father that is, they worshiped the same God that Joseph did. Perhaps the reason the brothers came to Joseph was that they heard he had wept when he received their message. To maximize their chances of survival, they bowed down before him (cp. 37:7,9) offering themselves as his personal slaves. Joseph refused their offer. They were slaves of God, not of him. He would not put himself in the place of God to make them his slaves. He admitted that his older brothers planned evil against him, but with great spiritual insight, he also confessed that God planned it for good to bring about... the survival of many people. God had transformed the soot of human sin into a diamond of divine blessing (Rom. 8:28; 1 Pet. 2:24). Far from being embittered, Joseph was emboldened to take care of the very ones who had tried to kill him, along with their little ones. He spoke kindly to them (literally, spoke upon their heart ; cp. Isa 40:2) and comforted them. 50:22-23. God s blessing on Joseph s life is apparent as he lived 110 years, 93 of them in Egypt and 80 of them as a ruler in Egypt. He lived to see the third generation of descendants through Ephraim, a phrase that 5 ADVENT HUNTERS GLEN
could refer either to great-grandsons or great-great-grandsons. A further sign of God s blessing was the fact that Gilead (Num. 26:29) and other great-grandsons by Machir son of Manasseh were born on the knees of Joseph, that is, they were ritually adopted by him (Gen. 30:3; Ruth 4:16). 50:24-26. As Joseph was about to die, some 54 years after his father Jacob s death, he called his brothers to him one last time and gave them two prophetic promises. First, that God would certainly come to the aid of their descendants. Second, that God would indeed bring their descendants up from Egypt to the land He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (12:7; 13:15,17; 15:7,18; 24:7; 26:3; 28:13). After Joseph died, he was embalmed one of only two persons in the Bible said to have been embalmed (also Jacob; see v. 2). His preserved body was then placed... in a coffin, awaiting a future day when it was to be carried by Moses and the Israelites to the promised land (Ex. 13:19; Jos. 24:32). 6 ADVENT HUNTERS GLEN