Introduction Recently in celebration of SG50, there was a short five-episode series entitled, Reunion. This series was made to bring together various groups of people to recall their shared experiences and relive the highlights of those precious moments that they had fond memories of. The first reunion episode featured the famous iconic SIA girl poster with the well-known tagline, A great way to fly of Singapore Airlines. That was the humble beginning of how SIA became so well-known today. The second episode featured the 1994 Singapore football team that won the Malaysia Cup final a South Korean and an Australian were recalled back to Singapore for this episode. Third, was the All-Time favourite TV drama series: The Awakening ( 霧鎖南洋 ). This TV drama series was considered Singapore s first Blockbuster back in 1984, with well-known actors like the late Wang Wen Yong, Chen Su Cheng, Wang Yi Ching, and lead actress, Xiang Yun. The final two Reunion episodes featured a pop-band named Tokyo Square, who sang their famous number, I love you ; and finally it featured a few members of the Chinese High School band that played under the heavy rain-soaked 1968 National Day parade. The theme that ran through these five episodes was all about re-uniting friendships and working relationships of people who had not met for at least more than two decades now they were brought back together by MediaCorp to re-live those moments of working together. Each Reunion episode featured eyes welling with tears of joy and hearts of laughter as they greeted, hugged, and reconnected with one another after all these while. They laughed at themselves about how each had aged, especially when MediaCorp replayed for them to see how they have changed from their once young faces. Yes, Reunions hold meaning for people who come together after they had not met for a long time recalling the past, laughing, and shedding tears of happiness and yet for some, sadness, because someone among them had already passed away. This morning as we come to Genesis 47, we re going to see a joyous and yet tearful reunion of a father and a son who had not met each other for over twenty years now. We are going to see a father who until this point of the story, had not gotten over his deep grief for over twenty years over his favourite son whom he thought was dead long ago. We are also going to see the son who had been enslaved, suffered, but now raised up to a very senior command next to the Pharaoh in the Egyptian court, weeping with tears of joy when they both are reunited again by the Sovereignty of God. Two weekends ago, in Genesis 45:1-15, we reached the closure or reconciliation of the life of Joseph s relationship with his ten estranged brothers who twenty years ago sold him into slavery, but who is now the Second in Command in Egypt, whose dreams about his family members bowing before him was not a statement of arrogance, but a prophecy that God would bring it to fruition, whose Purpose is to save not only the lives of the Egyptians, but also the lives of the people who will form Israel one day in the future. Today, from Genesis 45:16-47:27, we will see GOD fulfilling His Covenant Promise to Abraham-Isaac and Jacob (Israel) as He assures him of His Presence to be with him and their families to preserve their lives as they leave Canaan to Egypt to begin their new life in a foreign land for the next four hundred years (cf. Gen. 15:13). In this long narrative before us, I want to show you the Sovereignty of God in His Promise to Abraham to bring to pass the preservation of Israel. In His Sovereignty to preserve Israel, I want to show you the same God who was faithful to Israel is the same God who remains faithful to us even till today as His covenanted people of faith even as we look back at our lives and recall the difficulties that had beset us as we journey with God. Context: After his sons return to Canaan and receiving their report that Joseph was alive and his generous invite to live in Egypt in view of the severe famine, Jacob (or Israel) decided to do so with the hope of reunion with his long-thought dead son (Gen. 45:16-28). 16 When the news reached Pharaoh s palace that Joseph s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, Tell your brothers, Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18 and bring your father and your families 1
back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land. 19 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. 20 Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours. 21 So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. 22 To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels[b] of silver and five sets of clothes. 23 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. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, Don t quarrel on the way! 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt. Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. 27 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. 28 And Israel said, I m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die. En-route to Egypt, Israel (Jacob) stopped by in Beersheba to worship God, and He spoke and assured Israel of His Presence, Provision, Protection, and Preservation of the nation of Israel in Egypt for four hundred years, and subsequently would be led back to live in Canaan as Promised to Abraham (Gen. 46:1-7). (cf. 15:13) 46 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, Jacob! Jacob! Here I am, he replied. 3 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. 4 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. 5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel s sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. 6 So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. 7 Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters all his offspring. From the various texts in the book of Genesis you see God s Presence, Provision, Protection, and Preservation of the nation of Israel in Abraham s life, in Isaac s life, in Jacob s life, and in Joseph s life as He chose him to rule over the people of Egypt and Canaan through wise leadership. When we trace the steps of Jacob till this point, we will see God s unseen Hand guiding and preserving him and his ancestors, and future descendants as well. You will see the faithfulness of God in His Sovereignty to preserve the nation of Israel, and what He foretold to Abraham in Genesis 15: 13 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. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. The same God who appeared to Abraham was the same God who appeared to Isaac the son in Genesis 26: Gen 26:24 (Isaac and God s promise) 23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham. 25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. If you recall Jacob as he ran away from Esau his brother who had been deceived of his birthright, and on his way to Mesopotamia to seek out his uncle Laban (Rebekah s brother), GOD met Jacob in a dream: 28:13-15 (Jacob and God) 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[c] stood the Lord, and he said: I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[d] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it. 17 He was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven. In Genesis 32, as he fled from his uncle Laban to return back to the Promised Land, he had to face his brother Esau whom he had cheated his birthright, he prayed to God in Genesis 32:9 9 Then Jacob prayed, O God of my 2
father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper, All the descendants of Israel, numbering seventy, left Canaan to relocate to Egypt (Gen. 46:8-27). 8 These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob.9 The sons of Reuben: Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, 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 had died in the land of Canaan).The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah,[c] Jashub[d] and Shimron.14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Jahleel.15 These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram,[e] besides his daughter Dinah. These sons and daughters of his were thirty-three in all.16 The sons of Gad: Zephon,[f] Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel.18 These were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah sixteen in all.19 The sons of Jacob s wife Rachel:Joseph and Benjamin. 20 In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.[g]21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob fourteen in all.23 The son of Dan: Hushim.24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem. 25 These were the sons born to Jacob by Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel seven in all.26 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons wives numbered sixty-six persons. 27 With the two sons[h] who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy[i] in all. The tearful reunion of father and son Jacob and Joseph, after twenty three years of grieving separation (Gen. 46:28-30). 28 Now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. When they arrived in the region of Goshen, 29 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[j] and wept for a long time. 30 Israel said to Joseph, Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive. Pharaoh provided for Jacob and his family in the midst of a famine as Joseph planned for their preservation as a nation (Gen. 46:31-47:12). 31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father s household, I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him, My brothers and my father s household, who were living in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own. 33 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, What is your occupation? 34 you should answer, Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did. Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. 47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen. 2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, What is your occupation? Your servants are shepherds, they replied to Pharaoh, just as our fathers were. 4 They also said to him, We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen. 5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock. 7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed[k] Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, How old are you? 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers. 10 Then Jacob blessed[l] Pharaoh and went out from his presence. 11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father s household with food, according to the number of their children. Under Joseph s wise rule, he saved the lives of the Egyptians by providing food for them in exchange for their money, livestock, land, and lives, thus making Pharaoh the land owner of every tract of land in Egypt (Gen. 47:13-27). 13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh s palace. 15 When the money of 3
the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone. 16 Then bring your livestock, said Joseph. I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone. 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate. 20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,[m] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. 23 Joseph said to the people, Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children. 25 You have saved our lives, they said. May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh. 26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt still in force today that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh s.27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS: GEN. 45:16-47:27: The Sovereignty of God to keep His Promise of a great nation to be born first to Abraham, then passing down to Isaac, and now to Jacob, even though the nation of Israel will be making their home in the land of Egypt for the next four hundred years. As we read Gen. 47, we see the famine escalated and continued and the fate of the Egyptians was determined by Joseph s shrewd administration and leadership. We see the protection and provision of God for the Israelites as they settled in Goshen as compared to the Egyptians. It is interesting to read in Gen. 47:27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number as compared to the Egyptians loss of land and freedom to the Pharaoh. The Egyptians would shift from being land owners to becoming slaves to the Pharaoh in progression as the famine became too much for them to bear: The Egyptians exchanged what they had with Joseph as the administrator on behalf of the Pharaoh: Their money (47:14-15) for grain (47:14); their livestock (47:16-17) for food (47:17); their land (47:20) for seed (47:23); and finally their own bodies and freedom (47:21). Finally when the Egyptians had nothing more to offer in exchange for survival in the harshness of the famine, Joseph gave the Egyptians seed at twenty percent interest (47:22-24), and the people willingly sold their freedom to the Pharaoh (25). The sufferings of Jacob and his family in Canaan had been deep and tough. We can only imagine the extent of the famine in Canaan as in other parts of the known world at that time as severe and hard. Jacob s sufferings the past twenty-plus years of grieving for the perceived loss of his favourite son, Joseph, and yet in this chapter, he and Joseph experienced the joy of reunion. When he was asked by Pharaoh about his age (47:8), instead of a straight answer, one hundred and thirty he responded: 7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed [a] Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, How old are you? 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers. 10 Then Jacob blessed [b] Pharaoh and went out from his presence. The Sovereignty of God s presence, protection, provision, and preservation of Jacob s life is a testimony of God s faithfulness to his life to fulfil the Abrahamic Covenant, despite the sufferings and hardships that Jacob had to experience for more than half his life time.: Jacob speaks of his pilgrimage as few and difficult and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers. Abraham, his grandfather lived till 175 (Gen. 25:3), his father, Isaac, lived till 180 (Gen. 35:28), and Jacob would live till 147 (Gen. 47:27). Indeed, life for him was shortest 4
compared to his two ancestors, but probably the hardest when compared to Abraham and Isaac in the Genesis stories of these three patriarchs. My years have been few and difficult, since he was born as a twin brother to Esau, he had lived a life as a deceiver: he had cheated his brother Esau of his birth right through deceit with his mother Rebekah against his father Isaac (Gen. 25-26), and as a result, he had to flee from the Promised Land to Mesopotamia to his uncle Laban (Gen. 28). For more than fourteen years he suffered at the hands of his deceitful uncle who was supposed to look after him, but instead taught him a lesson or two about deceit and dishonesty he was given Leah on his first wedding night, instead of Rachel, whom he loved, and had to earn his keep for another seven years (Gen.29-30). Sneaking from out of Laban s hands, he was pursued (Gen. 31). Returning back to the promised land, he was afraid of reprisal from his brother, Esau, but received kindness instead, because God had worked His grace and mercy in Esau s heart; his name was changed from Jacob to Israel (Gen. 31-33). However, Jacob was grieved when his daughter Dinah, was raped, and his sons sought revenge on the culprit and the Shechemites, and Jacob and his family had to flee from them (Gen. 34). His oldest son, Reuben abused his father s concubine (Gen. 35). In Gen. 37, we learnt that he was overwhelmed with grief when he had been misled to believe that his favourite son, Joseph, had been mauled by wild animals in the fields. For twenty plus years (Gen. 37-47), he has been grieving for his lost son, until when we come to Gen. 47 when he was reunited with him. Implication for the contemporary Christian: GOD s Sovereign faithfulness even in our darkest moments. When we read this story of how God preserved the nation of Israel through His servant, Joseph, like in this instance, seven years of famine; and Jacob and his posterity we come to appreciate even in the midst of deep sufferings and pain, God is still Sovereign He works out His plan for His people, even when we may not visibly see His hand of Grace and mercies. IF, for a moment, you and I can recount our Christian walk with the Lord these past many years, how would you describe your walk with Him? Perhaps, for many of us here regardless of the number of years that we have been Christians since, will we say as Jacob did, My years have been few and difficult? Perhaps, when we recall the troughs of our life-journey with Him through the years of struggles as a youth, as a young adult, as a husband or wife, as a parent, and even for some here as a grandparent today: Looking for identity, but found a mixed bag of identities; looking for a companion, but found conflicts. When you recall the days when you d lost your job, the day when you had failed your exams, the day when you were left stranded out there in the big wide friendless world, the day you d lost every single cent on a business venture, shares in the stock market crash, the day when someone walked out of your life. No matter how one might describe my years are few and difficult have you wondered during those moments of loss and pain that if God had abandoned you and not cared for you? How do we see God through the prism of sufferings and losses in our walk with Him? How do you think God views the world around us, and especially His children, when they undergo difficulties of life and crying out for relief and answer? In God s Sovereignty, despite all that Jacob had to endure life s bitter-sweet-sour-spicy moments from the time he left his mother s side (Gen. 26-27), God had to teach him to TRUST HIM, as God changed his name to Israel (Gen. 32-33), that His Sovereign Plan will come to pass (Gen. 25:23), and that God will fulfil His Covenant Promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3) through him even despite his deceitful bent (Gen. 25-27). Just as the Sovereignty of God sustained Jacob throughout his life, as he painfully learned to trust in God through the many hard and harsh lessons of life; so it must be for us too. When we look back at our lives this morning, no matter how you may describe your past five, ten, twenty, or even thirty years of walking with God, may we come to the point of surrendering our doubts, our pains, our difficulties, our tears to a God who loves us and would not let us go of His loving hand. 5
We may not fully understand fully His Purposes and His Plan for us, but we can trust in His faithfulness as a Sovereign God who controls and directs the paths of those His own and the world around us. Paul describes for us this truth to the Romans in chapter 8: 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that [h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who [i] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. [j]37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, [k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. GOD fulfills His Covenant Promise to Abraham-Isaac and Jacob (Israel) as He assures him of His Presence with him and their families to preserve their lives as they leave Canaan to Egypt to begin their new life in a foreign land that they will be for the next four hundred years (cf. Gen. 15:13). When we view life from the Perspective of God s Sovereignty, it gives us HOPE that GOD is with us (Emmanuel), even in the midst of sufferings and pain that many times confound us to search for the perfect answers to life s incongruities. We rest on the Promise that because God loves us, we are not left alone to deal with our pains and the un-explainables of life: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever (Hebrews 13:8). 6