Joseph certainly deserves a place in the Bible's Hall of Faith. But what's written about him there might leave you scratching your head. Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah clears up the confusion and explains why Joseph's epitaph is most fitting. alongside the other heroes of faith profiled in Hebrews 11.
With the conclusion of his message, Faith that death cannot destroy. Here's David. And you know, Joseph is a man of great history. He changed the world in which he lived and was God's person at the right time in his. incredible influence Just filled the land of Egypt, but when it was time for him to die, he made.
His family promised that they would not leave his bones in Egypt because while Joseph had a ministry in Egypt, he was a Hebrew, a man of Israel. And the testimony of that is really intriguing as you read it and try to understand it. We'll get to it in a few moments as we continue our discussion here on Hebrews chapter 11: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Faith. By the way, there is a study guide for this series and a C D set you can get from Turning Point. You get this by going to davidjeremiah.org.
There you will find everything you need to. Make your decision and Get your material. And I want to tell you, this is a great study for a small group. I was thinking about that yesterday: how much fun it would be to be in a small group where every week you're talking about a different person from the Bible and what they learned in their day and how it touches us. You can do that.
Here's the way that works. Normally, you get together for your study, you get a study guide from Turning Point for each of your members. And then you get the CD set so you can listen to the teaching before you go and you facilitate it. And it's a wonderful way to study the Bible. And many, many people are doing this across the country using this printed and recorded material to help them study the scripture.
You can do that. I hope you'll give it a shot. I hope you'll do that.
Well, here we go. This is part two of Faith That Death Cannot Destroy from Hebrews chapter 11, verses 20 and 22. The blessing and the birthright Was not just some ceremonial. Formality. The blessing was very real.
It was not just Isaac's blessing, it was God's blessing as well. And confused by Jacob's costume and nearly blind because of his old age, Isaac blessed his younger son with these words: Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine, and let the people serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, let your mother's sons bow down to you, cursed be everyone who curses you. And blessed be those who bless you. And no wonder Esau wept when this happened.
Have you ever heard anything as pitiful as what you read in Genesis 27, 38? Have you only one blessing, my Father? Bless me, me also, O my Father. And Esau lifted up his voice and he wept. Our text from Hebrews reminds us that Isaac blessed Esau as well.
Hebrews 11, 20 says, And Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. And although it fell way short of what he supposedly would have had. Esau also received a blessing from his father. Here's what the book of Genesis tells us. Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth.
and of the dew of heaven from above By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother, and it shall come to pass when you become restless. that you shall break his yoke from your neck. From all of this, Jacob was made rich with blessing and birthright. But if you read his story, Oh. You know that he paid dearly for his deceit.
And he was deceived by his own sons in the same way that he had deceived his brother. Isn't it interesting how these things pass generationally from one generation to the next? He also endured deception at the hands of Laban, his father-in-law.
Sometime go back and read that. It's almost like God was point by point making Jacob experience everything he had caused to happen in his family. God's blessing did not automatically give Jacob an easy life. If you read the story of Jacob, most of his life was a big struggle. The faith of Isaac.
You know, when I read these things, you know, we often think of the people in the Bible. Oh, they had this faith and they just lived these perfect, pristine lives, and there were no complications and no issues. Every one of the stories is convoluted. How did they get in the hall of faith? How do any of us get in the Hall of Fame?
Aren't you glad that God blesses us in spite of ourselves. I had a friend years ago who fell into sin. He was a wonderful friend, and when I heard the story, When the phone call came to my office, I was so brokenhearted. I had looked at this man as a great example in He was a pastor and he'd gotten in trouble. I prayed, how do I help him?
Okay. Several weeks later, I was reading in the Old Testament. I came across this verse, and I didn't bring it with me to the pulpit tonight, but you can find it. It's about David. And this is what it says.
That, with the exception of the thing involving Bathsheba. David pleased his God. with the exception of that one thing. David pleased his God. And you know what?
We have a tendency as God's people to judge folks on the exception and not on the rest of their lives. God judged David not on the exception, but on the rest of his life. Did it make the exception honorable? No. But as you know, David accomplished a great deal after that sin because of the forgiveness that he sought from the Lord.
And I've often remembered that story and remembered how, in our own lives as we interact with each other, sometimes we see somebody do something, it's not really who they are, it's the exception to who they are. But we judge them on the exception and we never let them off the hook. And maybe we should take a clue from the Old Testament and say, With that one exception. They walked with God.
Well, that's what we need to say about Isaac, a really strange story about his blessing. But notice the faith of Jacob in verse 21. Here's the second dude in this three. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. Here's another story as strange as the first.
In the same way, Jacob, when he was almost at the point of death, blessed his two grandsons. The sons of Joseph were Ephraim and Manasseh. And Jacob acknowledged the presence of God by his attitude of worship. After much wandering in life, Jacob showed his conviction. Of the reality of the future when he blessed and worshipped, and he who was blessed by Isaac now becomes the one who bestows the blessing on his grandchildren.
And there's an interesting parallel to what happened in the story we've just read. Have you ever read this story? Listen to this. This is in Genesis 48. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim, with his right hand, toward Israel's left hand.
And Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and he brought them near him. Then Israel, or Jacob, stretched out his hand and laid it on Ephraim's head. who was younger And his left hand he put on Manasseh's head. You know, the right hand was the hand of blessing. Guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Now, when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the hand of Ephraim, it displeased him.
So he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head. But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know, he shall also become a people, and he shall also be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations. And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Can you imagine if this old age fighting over who's going to get their hand put on their head? Once again, the younger brother was blessed in priority to the older brother. As I began to look at the Old Testament and especially the book of Genesis, I wrote these words down. Listen carefully. They were born Manasseh and Ephraim.
They were blessed. Ephraim and Manasseh. They were born Cain and Abel. They were blessed. Abel and Cain.
They were born Ishmael and Isaac. They were blessed, Isaac and Ishmael. They were born Esau and Jacob, and they were blessed. Jacob and Esau. Is that not the most intriguing thing you ever read?
Isn't that pattern incredible? And when we come to the New Testament, we read these words in 1 Corinthians 15:45 and 46, and so it is written: the first man, Adam, became a living thing, but the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and after that, the spiritual. That's an interesting concept. John 3, 6 and 7 says, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Just as in the Old Testament, In our lives today, there's the first birth and the second birth.
Until you meet Jesus, the only thing you know about is the first birth. But how many of you know that you can get by not knowing very much about the first birth, but you can't get by not knowing a lot about the second birth? The Bible says that Jacob worshipped God and blessed his grandsons. What a way to die. Worship in his heart, blessing on his lips, power in his hands.
History is replete. With the result of his blessing. If you ever have a chance, you go through and chase what happened to those who were blessed by God. as opposed to the ones that were wanting to be blessed by man. The faith of Isaac, and then the faith of Jacob, and here's the last one in our three verses: the faith of Joseph.
Notice, by faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instruction concerning his bones. What in the world could that mean? Of all the Old Testament characters we have learned about in Hebrews 11, there's one guy who stands out among the most decorated of them all, and that's Joseph. Joseph is certainly deserving of being in chapter 11. Did you know that Joseph?
Is one about whom there is no evil report. You can read through the scriptures, it doesn't record any sin. It records only godly behavior. One of the reasons that's true for Joseph is that Joseph is an Old Testament type of Jesus. There's some wonderful books written on that subject itself.
Once again, it's interesting to observe that this man Joseph is mentioned in connection with the end of his life. In spite of all that surrounded him in Egypt, he was concerned about the promises of God concerning the return of his people to the land of Canaan. You remember, Joseph was 17 years old when he went to Egypt. And he was 30 years old when he was promoted to the second place of responsibility in the land of Egypt.
So he spent 13 years under the influence of pagan Egyptian culture, and he lived in Egypt until his death at the age of 110. But he never forgot who he was. and where he belonged. Despite the fact that his palaces and his great riches were all in Egypt, and even though his great achievements were in Egypt, The earthly monuments to his wisdom and skill in saving the nation from famine, Joseph knew that his future lay with the promises of God. And if Joseph could not live there in life, He wanted to go there in death.
And he told them, Don't you leave my bones in Egypt. You go get my bones and you carry them up out of here and you take them to the promised land with you when you leave. John Calvin said: the fact that wealth, luxuries, and honors did not lead the holy man to forget the promise nor hold him back in Egypt is a strong argument for his faith. Genesis 50 records, And Joseph said to his brothers, I am dying. But God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and when you leave, you shall carry up my bones from here. And Joseph died being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Joseph didn't want to be left in Egypt even after he died. He knew that he didn't belong there. He was a Jew.
He belonged with his people in their own special land, in the land of promise.
So Joseph died and he was buried in the fashion of the Egyptians. He was probably placed in a prominent tomb and was a continual reminder to the Jews in Egyptian bondage that one day they would be set free from slavery. And now let me read to you from Exodus chapter 13.
So God led the people around by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. For he had placed the children of Israel under a solemn oath, saying, God will surely visit you, and you carry up my bones from here when you go. And when the children of Israel were finally settled in their land, that God had promised to them. The Bible says in Joshua 24, 32, that the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt they buried at Shechem in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.
And we read in Hebrews 11, 1. and 13 through 16 these words.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. These all died in faith, not having received the promises. But having seen them afar off, they were assured of them, and they embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland, and truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
But now they desire a better place, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. for he has prepared A city. for them. Wow.
Joseph was a man of faith. Can you believe this? Long before he died, he said, Look, I know we're going to go to the promised land. I know you're going to be there. I don't want to be left behind.
I'm not going to make the journey. I'm not going to live long enough. I'm going to die. And when I die, I want you to promise me: don't you leave my bones in Egypt. I don't want this to be the place that I'm buried.
I want to be in the promised land with God's people. and they honored that. And Joseph's bones were buried in the house. in Israel. I have to tell you that as you mature a little bit in life, these kinds of stories become very precious to you.
You look out over the horizon that is in front of you. and you realize that there's a lot of things you need to do. if God gives you time. A lot of things you need to care for. Leaving a legacy to your children is a very important thing.
A legacy of faith, godliness, goodness. Legacy of hope. I learned from these stories how vital that is. I'm not in any way thinking about Being old or aged or anything like that. I don't know how old I should feel right now.
I love what one man said, how old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? I feel young, but I also know. that like all the rest of us in this room, One of these days we're going to see the Lord. I don't know if I told you this or not, but Billy Graham wrote a book. About growing older.
It's called Nearing Home. It's a best-selling book, very good read. And if you get a chance to read it, get it on the iPad or get it in the store. It will take you a couple hours to read it. It's just his homespun logic.
He said in the book that when he was young, everybody was telling him how to die. And he said, I already knew how to die, but nobody told me how to grow old. And there's a whole lot of difference between dying and growing old.
So he wrote this book, and it's called Nearing Home. Having said all that, you'll read it. No matter how old you are, just read it. It's incredibly good. But here are some words from Billy Graham from that book I got.
When Coca-Cola changed its 100-year-old formula in 1985, There was a public backlash and demands for the originals, so within two short months the company was forced to return the beverage to grocery shelves under the name of Coca-Cola Classic. Spiking sales for the soft drink company. The conclusion of the marketers was that the formula had stood the test of time. The trade secret had trumped the new recipe as proven by the millions of fans who did not want the real thing. tampered with.
What does this have to do with growing old? said Billy Graham. Yeah. Growing old. is authentic.
Old is genuine, old is valuable, some say old is even beautiful. The older generation may have a hard time keeping up with the younger, but let's remember that as long as we're still breathing, we're leading the way. The generations that follow are learning about growing old from us. Are we a good example? He wrote.
While we have all made mistakes and would like to turn back the clock and correct some things, we know this is not possible. But the lessons we have learned from our successes and failures can help those following behind. The impact we can potentially have on them can mean the difference between leaving good memories in our place or simply being out of sight and out of mind. We love the things that we get to do as a family that make memories for us. I hope you get to do those things too.
You need to work hard at that. In Isaac and Jacob and Joseph, we are reminded that God expects us to live by faith right up to the bitter end. And the last breath, when we have nothing left to give in terms of our own human energy, we find a way to bless the generation that is to come and let our blessing be a blessing of faith that will carry them on into the days of their uncertainties. and be ultimately solidified and established in the years that are before us, should the Lord tarry. I don't know about you, but that's the way I want to live.
I want to live by faith now. I want to continue to live by faith in the future. I want to live by faith right up to the edge. I want to Live by faith, die by faith, look forward to what God has for my own life and for my children and my grandchildren. The promised land for us is yet ahead.
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph tell us how to get there. how we should act along the way. We never talk about any of this stuff. We never even. discuss it at home.
And I'm not trying to be morbid or sad. I think for those of us who are Christians, we know that. You know, it's a win-win, isn't it? And some of us have laid to rest our loved ones, the generation before us. Our parents are all gone.
And yet God has given us so much to live for today. And in living for what we live for by faith, we prepare not only our own lives for the future. but we're in the process of preparing our children and our grandchildren as well. You say, well, I don't believe that I have to be a role model for my children. I don't care whether you believe it or not, you are.
You're either a good one or a bad one. And God gives you some wonderful information in his book. And he tells these stories in living color. I mean, can you imagine God putting this what we studied in the Bible? He puts it in there for a purpose.
to give us wisdom. You say, well, what do I do about this?
Well, maybe you have some kind of got a garbled-up relationship with your kids and your grandchildren. And some of it may be something you don't have anything to do with, but you know what I've noticed? As we get older, some people get real stubborn. They get real stubborn and cantankerous. Let me ask you this: Is whatever it is that's got in between you and your kids, and your, is whatever it is, is it worth.
Are you leaving that kind of a legacy in their hearts when you're not here anymore? Is it worth it? I mean, let's stop and ask yourself that question. Isn't there a way that God might want to work in your heart and say, you know, let's take another look at this. I know they screwed up, and I know they've embarrassed me.
Wait a minute, they're your kids. They're your grandkids. And they're going to remember a whole lot more about what you helped them do right than they're going to remember if you stay mad at them until you die and leave that in their heads. All of us have challenges along that way. I had godly parents.
My mom and dad were godly. But my father Bless his heart. You could never say he was a stroker. He never said You did well. If he came to my basketball games when I was playing, he'd see the shots I missed.
He'd not see the shots I made. And when we got home at night, we'd talk about it. how I missed a layup when I was all out there by myself. It took me a long time to get over that. When my father died, I was on a cruise ship, believe it or not.
In Alaska, and my son came in and told me that my father had been in a surgery that we thought was routine, and something happened, and he didn't make it through the surgery. And the first thought that came to my mind was. I don't think I ever got it right. I don't think I ever got it right. And I made a decision that day that I don't want my kids to think that about me.
when I'm gone. Isn't that what the blessing is about? The Bible says that when he was old, Jacob blessed all of his children. Go back and read Genesis 49. The whole chapter is about the blessing of one man on his children.
I want to be that kind of a man. I sense you do too. But sometimes we let little. picky stuff get in the way. And then we don't do it.
So let me tell you, stop it. Quit it. Don't do that anymore. Do what you need to do and get it right with your kids and your grandkids. Bless them.
You know what our kids want more than anything else from us is they want our blessing. There was a famous book that came out some years ago called The Blessing, and it's all about the power that we pass on to the next generation. when we pass on a blessing to them. Hallelujah. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that Old Testament chapter in Genesis where Jacob blessed all of his children is uniquely wonderful and a great example to all of us who are fathers, that we have a great gift we can give to our children, that we can bless them, even as God blessed his own son when he said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. What that means to our kids when we say that in our own terminology is beyond anything I can describe. We're having a wonderful time studying the Word of God, and we will continue tomorrow as we move to the man Moses and the persuasion of faith. Hebrews 11, 28 and 29. This is Turning Point.
This is ordinary people, extraordinary faith. The study of the Hall of Faith, Hebrews chapter 11 in the New Testament. During the month we have a special resource for all of you who are listening. If you will send a gift to help us with the cost of this ministry, we'll send you this book, Where to Go in the Bible, a wonderful index of 89 topics to help you find answers to your questions. When you send your gifts, simply say, please send me Where to Go in the Bible, and it will be on its way.
The message you just heard originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and Dr. David Jeremiah, the senior pastor. If you're growing because of this ministry, we'd love to hear from you at Turning Point PO Box 3838 San Diego, California 92163 by visiting our website at davidjeremiah.org slash radio or calling 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's newly updated scripture reference guide. Where to go in the Bible when.
It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also download the free Turning Point mobile app to instantly access our content. Or search in your app store for the keywords Turning Point Ministries. Visit davidjeremiah.org slash radio for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah.
Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Ordinary People: Extraordinary Faith on Turning Point.
