Matt Hagee - A Father's Dream Come True

Welcome to this week’s Sunday conversation. We are rapidly covering a tremendous amount of content in the Book of Genesis, and as a matter of fact, this week we’re going to discuss the last five chapters of Genesis and introduce the first chapters of Exodus. We begin at the end of Genesis chapter 45 with verse 26, and they told him-him being Jacob-and the people who are telling him are his sons, Gad, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah, the ones that told him Joseph was dead. So the ones that reported the bad news are now coming back with new news.

In Genesis 46, Joseph is still alive; he’s the governor over all the land of Egypt. Genesis 46: 26 says, «And Jacob’s heart stood still because he did not believe them.» This is something that he would have hoped to have heard for decades during the years that Joseph has been gone, and Jacob believed that he was dead. The one thing that he wanted somebody to tell him is that it’s not true: Joseph is alive. And now they’re telling him Joseph is alive, and he doesn’t want to believe it. You know the funny thing about truth is that people often find it hard to believe. If you tell them a lie, they’re much quicker to buy in almost every time. Tell them the truth, and they will often consider it the last possible option.

Consider some of the lies that people put their faith in, for example: Scientology, or the idea that pain and suffering aren’t real, or that death isn’t real; they’re just mental errors. How many people have put their faith in that? Consider some of the other religious groups that have been started by individuals who said they had a vision or that they read something that was imparted to them. How many people immediately flocked to it and followed it, even at times to their own detriment? This points to the willingness to die for a lie. Here, Jacob has been told the truth, and it says, «But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts, all of the goods and services that Joseph had sent,» it says, «the spirit of Jacob their father was revived.»

Interestingly, in verse 28, it says, «Then Israel said, 'I will go and see him before I die.'» Now, we know that Jacob is the individual who wrestled with God, and at the end of that struggle, God told Jacob, «Your name is no longer Jacob, your name is no longer the surplanter and the deceiver, but your name is now Israel, a prince with God.» Throughout the rest of Jacob’s life, the scripture is very intentional at times to say it’s Jacob, and at other times to call him Israel. Why? Because he was still an individual both of flesh and spirit. His flesh couldn’t believe that Joseph was alive, but his spiritual self said, «I will go and see him before I die.» Oftentimes, we need to allow ourselves to listen to what the spirit of God in us is saying instead of what our eyes are seeing.

Let’s go from the end of chapter 45 to the beginning of chapter 46. In the last verse of chapter 45:28, then Israel said, and in the first verse of 46, «So Israel took his journey with all that he had and he came to Beer-sheba.» Now, remember last week, Isaac, Jacob’s father, when he went to Beer-sheba, God appeared. Jacob, in this verse called Israel, is going to Egypt and he goes to Beer-sheba, and what happens? The Lord speaks in a vision of the night and says to him, «Jacob, Jacob.» And Jacob says, «Here am I.» Verse 3: The Lord says, «I am God, the God of your father. Do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt; I will surely bring you up again, and Joseph will put his hands on your eyes.»

Now, the last time that God spoke to Isaac, He said, «Don’t go to Egypt.» This time God speaks to Jacob; He says, «Go to Egypt.» Again, we recognize the point: it’s not about our understanding; it’s about our willingness to obey. Jacob took about 70 descendants into Egypt. When they left, they were a mighty nation of more than two million. Only God can do that. In this encounter, Jacob hears that Joseph is alive and he doesn’t want to believe it. What changed his mind? The good things that Joseph had sent to Jacob. When somebody’s words don’t work, action always will. It’s not what you say; it’s what you do. Had Joseph simply told his brothers, «Go tell Dad I’m alive,» Jacob would have never believed it.

But the Bible says that when they told him these words and he saw the carts that Joseph sent, he said, «Only a royal person could have sent so much stuff,» and since they’re telling me that Joseph is alive and Joseph’s royalty, and I know these boys couldn’t have gotten this anywhere else, there must be some measure of truth in this. And then his spirit was revived. When you put your faith in truth, your spirit is revived. John 20:29, Jesus said to his disciples, «Because you have seen me, you have believed.» He said, «But blessed are those who have not seen and believed.» When you put your faith in the word of truth, your spirit is revived.

What Jesus is saying in the Gospel of John is that when you believe that He’s the Son of God, that’s truth-your spirit comes to life. Why? Because your spirit is fed by truth. «You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.» Now there’s a very important lesson here in terms of family reconciliation. Jacob, Joseph, his brothers -it’s a drama that would make a daytime soap opera look tame, and yet acts of kindness restore the relationship. Joseph telling his brothers, «What you intended for evil, God meant for good.» Joseph sending goods to his father instead of a letter saying, «Look, you just took them at their word; you never came and looked for me.» Kindness will heal far faster than words ever will. In verse 28, Israel, the spiritual man, steps into the circumstance, and he decides that he’s going to go and see his son Joseph.

You have a spiritual man and you have a flesh man. If you allow the spirit to be fed by truth, then the individual in you that is born of faith will overcome the flesh. Jacob didn’t want to believe it; Jacob had to see it. But Israel, once that spirit was revived, started to take action. Whenever you begin to take action in faith, you will see God accomplish great things in your life. Now, God gives Jacob clear instruction. He goes to Beer-sheba, appears to him and says, «I want you to go to Egypt.» He tells him very clearly all of the things that you were worried about in your past. Remember, Abraham left Canaan for Egypt because it seemed like the logical thing to do; it was a famine. But when Abraham left Canaan for Egypt, it wasn’t God’s will. Isaac wanted to go down to Egypt, and God said, «Do not.»

So Jacob, not wanting to repeat the mistake of Dad and Granddad, goes to Beer-sheba and says, «I want to make sure I’m not making a mistake.» And God tells him, «I want you to go; I’m going to bless you.» Here’s the point: just because everyone says that something looks like, feels like, and sounds like the right thing to do, doesn’t necessarily mean you should do it. Always ask God, and then go. Remember Proverbs 3: «Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.» There are two very important words there-"direct» and «path.» Sometimes you can be on the right path, but if you’re going the wrong direction, you’re going to have a collision.

But whenever you ask God for direction and you put your trust in the direction He gives you, you find divine acceleration that gets you where He wants you to be. Jacob asks the Lord; the Lord gives direction. He goes back to Egypt and finds divine favor there. Not only is he reconciled with Joseph, but Joseph works out an arrangement with Pharaoh where the descendants of Jacob are given the opportunity to be shepherds in the land of Goshen. Now here we have a little cultural clash- Egyptians thought that anyone who watched sheep was cursed. Abraham had been a shepherd from the beginning.

So Joseph goes to Pharaoh and says to him, «Hey, my family’s in town; they’re shepherds. If you allow them to watch your flocks, can they dwell in the land where the sheep live?» It was a perfect outcome for both parties. It was work that the Egyptians didn’t find favorable, and it was something that the descendants of Jacob wanted to do. This works beautifully for many, many years. In Genesis 47, Genesis 48, and Genesis 49, we see all of this prosperity coming to the descendants of Jacob and the tribes because of Joseph. This is a type and shadow and a picture of Jesus Christ.

We have a mediator who has gone into the place of power and given us the opportunity to thrive and succeed. You’ve heard Pastor Hagee share many times the comparisons between Joseph and Jesus and how much of the revelation of Jesus Christ is seen in the life of Joseph. Well, here in the last five chapters, we see Joseph making a way for his family to live in a land that does not belong to them, but live with blessings. Jesus Christ has promised us that His goodness, His favor, His mercy, and His grace would be upon us while we yet live and breathe. But this land is not our home.

What did Joseph command his brothers to do whenever it came time for him to die? We read about it in Genesis chapter 50 and we read about it in Hebrews. Joseph’s command to his family was, «Do not leave my bones in Egypt.» He believed what the Lord said-that at some point, God was going to take the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob out of Egypt and back to Canaan. He wanted to go home to the land that God had promised. Here’s what we read in Genesis chapter 50: «And when the days of mourning were passed, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, 'If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 'My father made me swear, behold, I am dying in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan; there you shall bury me. Now therefore, please go up and bury my father, and I will come back'. Go up and bury my father as he made me swear.»

So Joseph takes Jacob home to Canaan and buries him with Abraham and Isaac. Then it says that Joseph, in his old age, in the end of the chapter, made his brothers swear: «Do not leave me in Egypt.» We read this again in the book of Hebrews because he knew that this was not where God wanted him to be. Again, we see a type and a shadow and a picture of the fact that the world that we’re living in right now is not our home. This is not where God wants us to be; He has prepared a place for us, as Jesus said. And when He comes back, he’s coming so that He can take us to where He has prepared. That’s what He told the disciples: «I go to prepare a place for you. If it were not true, I would have told you so, and when I come again, I will bring you to myself.»

Just like Joseph brought his family to him, Jesus is going to bring us to Him. But this world is not that location. Now we get to the end of Genesis and the first words that we read in the book of Exodus-Exodus 1:1. It speaks of, «Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt, each man in his household.» It goes through all of the sons of Jacob and tells us how many there were, that they were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied, grew exceedingly, and the land was filled with them. That’s verse 7. And now verse 8 in Exodus chapter 1: «Now there arose a king over Egypt who did not know Joseph.»

The thing that you have to understand is that it was impossible for Joseph to be forgotten. Joseph was not only a royal figure, but Joseph was the masterful strategist who saved Egypt from a famine. Remember the interpretation of the dream? You’re going to have seven years of abundance and seven years of famine, and if you build storehouses in the years of abundance, you’ll have enough to get through the famine. During those seven years of famine, Egypt became the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth. Why? Because the nations of the world gave Egypt their wealth in exchange for grain. Who was the individual who put all that together? Joseph.

Joseph had his name on pyramids; Joseph was treated like royalty. Joseph was second in command only to Pharaoh. When you read in Exodus 1:8 that there arose a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph, what it’s telling you is he knew who he was; he just ignored what he did. That would be like saying, «I’m an American; I don’t know who George Washington is.» No, you should have a pretty good idea of who he is; you just may not accept his contribution to the nation. So this Pharaoh forgot where the blessings came from. This Pharaoh forgot how good Joseph had been to Egypt, and in his forgetfulness, he sets things in motion that cause not only the downfall of Egypt but the birth of Israel — the nation going home to the promised land.

This we will cover in more detail in the book of Exodus, but I want to connect it back to a very important and pivotal verse that the whole world still reads but seldom understands-Genesis 12:1-3. «I will bless those who bless you.» One Pharaoh blessed Joseph. «Give your family the land. Give your family the grain. Give your family the goods.» That Pharaoh became one of the most prosperous kings in all of the world. The next Pharaoh ignored Joseph. The Bible says he did not know him; he forgot about him. What does Genesis 12:3 say? «I’ll curse those who curse you.» That Pharaoh brought about Egypt’s destruction. Why? Because God’s promises are real; His word is true from generation to generation.

Your life and your path may go through many twists and turns and circumstances that are outside of your understanding and beyond your control, but the one thing that you can always put your faith, hope, and trust in is that God’s word will not fail. If He said it, He’ll do it; if He promised it, He’ll perform it in your life when you give Him the opportunity through your obedience to prove that He is faithful from one generation to the next. God bless you, and I look forward to seeing you again very soon.