Please turn with me tonight to Genesis 50, the last chapter of the book of Genesis. We'll read together the entire chapter, but the focus, the text tonight being verses 15 through 21. A section that is tucked in between. Well, the chapter starts out with the brothers, the family, mourning because at the end of chapter 49 we read that Jacob had died. So Genesis chapter 50 begins, we know, with the family mourning because of the death of Jacob and then his burial back in Canaan. And then the chapter ends with the death of Joseph. And in between we find this particular portion which we will read as part of our reading tonight. Beginning at verse 1 of chapter 50 as we hear now this word of the Lord. Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's court, If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. tell him, my father made me swear an oath and said, I am about to die. Bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. Now let me go up and bury my father, then I will return. Pharaoh said, go up and bury your father as he made you swear to do. So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh's officials accompanied him, the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt. Besides all the members of Joseph's household and his brothers and those belonging to his father's household, only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company. When they reached the threshing floor of Atad near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly, and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, the Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning. That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mitzrayim. So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them. They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite along with the field. After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him? So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father left these instructions before he died. This is what you are to say to Joseph. I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly. Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves, they said. But Joseph said to them, Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph stayed in Egypt along with all his father's family. He lived 110 years and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children, also the children of Makir, son of Manasseh, were placed at birth on Joseph's knees. Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die, but God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place. So Joseph died at the age of 110, and after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt. And there ends the reading of God's holy word. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, what goes around, comes around. Now boys and girls, when we say that, that usually means, for example, if you are nice to someone, most likely they will in turn be nice to you. But if you are nasty and mean to someone, there's probably a good chance that they will be nasty and mean to you back. Not that they should, but what goes around comes around. At least that's what Joseph's brothers thought here. Now the Joseph narratives, the stories of Joseph we know began with the brothers hating Joseph and now the stories end with the brothers worried that Joseph will hate them. Yet this time, what had gone around would not come around to haunt them. Tonight we come to the end of our series on Joseph and also to the end of Genesis. Now, we didn't consider the whole book of Genesis, but we know that the book of Genesis begins with life and creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and now we see that the book of Genesis ends with death and, as someone has said, de-creation. Genesis chapter 50 again begins with Jacob's death or again mourning for Jacob's death and ends with Joseph's death. This book of Genesis ends with Jacob's family, Israel unsettled outside of the land of promise over in Egypt. In other words, the promise of land is unfulfilled. However, broadly speaking, we can say that this book ends with hope as Jacob and Joseph both die with faith. They die with hope. And they do so with good reason. Because God had been with them. Both Jacob and Joseph had confidence in God's sovereign power. They had confidence in His providential care. They could both sing, as we will do at the end of this service, His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Both of them, we know, experienced difficulties in this life, but they both saw those difficulties as a part of God's plan for the blessing of His people. Both Jacob and Joseph found rest in God's promises. And beloved, their deaths here in the last chapter of Genesis were to be a comfort for Israel. That may sound strange. But they were both to be a comfort for Israel. Jacob, buried over in the land of Canaan, was to be a reminder to God's people, to the Israelites, of God's promise of land. And Joseph, as his bones are kept in Egypt, later on to be carried to Canaan, is a reminder of God's promise to Israel that God will indeed visit them. He will indeed deliver them. But here with our text, tucked between Jacob's death and Joseph's death, we know that that time had not yet come. And therefore, with this particular text, we find Joseph's brothers unsettled in the face of Jacob's death. Some would say with good reason. Some would say they deserve it. Yet Joseph, as usual, points them to God. And he encourages them to be finding rest in God's promises. The people of God, we are only able to find rest in God's promises through heartfelt repentance and through the comfort of forgiveness. We know that sin brought enmity and war and restlessness between man and God, and that sin must be dealt with properly. If it's not, there can be no rest. And at the very same time, beloved, when we sin against each other, God commands us to be reconciled to one another. And it's only possible to find rest with each other. Also because of God's promises. Finding rest in God's promises takes place, first of all, through heartfelt repentance. The text begins again, When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him? So they sent word to Joseph saying, Your father left these instructions before he died. This is what you are to say to Joseph. I ask you, that is Jacob, I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly. Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves, they said. Heartfelt repentance begins with humility. Recognizing the truth of one's sin and being humbled because of that sin. The brothers were indeed humbled here. we know that their humility was somewhat motivated by fear. The brothers begin to realize the full implication of their situation in Egypt without the protecting presence of their old father. Now, it's not uncommon, we know, that when the head of a family or when the head of a nation, for example, dies, change is inevitable. There's often a time of uncertainty. There's even a time of chaos. And here, the brothers began to question things. As if to think, well, has Joseph been nice to us all these years only because of our father Jacob? Could it be? What if it's true? And in a sense, it seems as if they talked themselves into that scenario. Maybe Joseph is just like Uncle Esau. Remember him? Remember after Jacob had swindled him out of the birthright and the blessing, what he said? Esau said, the days of mourning for my father are near. Then I will kill my brother Jacob. Maybe, just maybe, Joseph is like Uncle Esau. But whether they realized it before or not, now they come to the realization, the hard realization that they were at the mercy of Joseph. They were at the mercy of the one whom they had deeply wronged. Who knows, maybe they were so guilty because they realized that if the tables were turned, that they themselves would have a hard time not going out and getting revenge. That they would have a hard time not even desiring revenge. But they realized they are at the mercy of Joseph and their humility led them to admit the truth of their sin, to confess their sin. There's no rest apart from confession of our sin. David teaches that in Psalm 32. As he reflects back on the time between his sin with Bathsheba and when Nathan the prophet came and confronted him, he writes this, When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. There is no rest apart from confession when living in that unconfessed sin. Now notice, I find it interesting that this is the first time, at least as far as I see, it's the first time that we have it recorded that the brothers confess their guilt to Joseph. That they confess their sin against him, to him, and ask for forgiveness. We know that before when they found themselves in trouble and they didn't know who he was and they didn't know that he could understand them, that they said, all this trouble has come upon us because of the way we treated our brother. And they made somewhat of a confession then. But this is the first time we have it recorded that they actually confess their guilt to Joseph for their sin against him and ask him for forgiveness. And because they're scared, they did like their father Jacob before he was reunited with Esau. He was afraid of Esau. And he sent a delegation and a gift before him to soften Esau up. The brothers send someone else to represent them with their word. Some say it might have been Benjamin. After all, he wasn't there. He wasn't part of their sin against him. We don't know. But they send someone into their place. And then they come and bow down before Him. No doubt, a vivid reminder to Him of His dreams of their bowing down before Him when He was a teenager. And they offer to be slaves of the one they sold as a slave. And in their confession, beloved, they acknowledge the seriousness of their sin against Joseph. We have sinned against you, in effect, they say. The NIV somewhat softens their sin. It says sin, but it also says wrongs, as if possibly to lead us to think that there were some sort of mistakes. But the truth is, it was transgressions. It was rebellion. It was revolt against Joseph. They literally committed crimes against Joseph. Crimes that today would be punished severely. They would be prosecuted for kidnapping and for hate crimes and maybe other things. But in their humility, they confess the seriousness of their sin against Joseph and they plead with Him. They ask for His forgiveness as if to say, please don't treat us as our sins deserve. And notice, they appeal to Him. They plead with Him, not based on themselves, not because of their own worthiness, not because they deserved it, but they plead with Him on the basis of another. Your Father. Your father Jacob asked that you forgive your brothers. Now there's no evidence that Jacob actually said this. Some believe that since the brothers say it, while he must have actually said it, more seem to think that because the brothers were scared, and I tend to go along with this, that they kind of made it up. But be that as it may, they plead with him on the basis of their father Jacob. It's possible that because Jacob no doubt had forgiven them, they plead with Joseph to follow the example of the Father who loved him so and whom he loved. They plead with him on the basis of his heart strings. But they also appeal on the basis of someone greater than their father Jacob. They plead with him as servants of the God of your father. And what we have here, beloved, is Joseph's brothers confessing their faith in the God that Joseph served. We are fellow believers with you have mercy on us those who believe who are servants of the god you serve now brothers and sisters we have here an example of how we on the one hand of how we are called to live as christian brothers and sisters in this life before the eyes of a watching world and before the face of god we are not to sin against each other but when we do and we do we are to truly repent of that sin confess it and seek forgiveness for that sin but even more than that between brother and brother or sister and sister we have an example of how we stand before God because of our sin our sin is hideous our sin is terribly offensive to Him our sin violates His holiness and we must understand that we cannot plead for forgiveness because of anything that we have done, because of anything that we are able to do. We can only plead for God's mercy because of Jesus Christ, His Son, who has already paid for my sin. And God gives to you and me such blessed assurance that when we plead for Jesus' sake and for Jesus' sake alone, God promises to forgive. He will forgive. He must forgive because Jesus Christ has already satisfied God's wrath against the sin of those who believe in Him. Jesus has already offered perfect righteousness in your place and my place, and God will not hold against us the sin that Christ has already paid for. Finding rest in God's promises is a reality for those with heartfelt repentance. Also then, in the second place, through the comfort of forgiveness. Now notice, Joseph acknowledges the brother's repentance. The text says, Joseph wept. Now boys and girls, why did Joseph weep? Was it because they uncovered his plan? Shoot, they figured it out. Now I can't hold a grudge. He was disappointed. Was it because he was so touched by their heartfelt confession? Was it because he was still in mourning for his father Jacob and the very sound of the name Jacob made him cry? We don't know, but I don't believe that any of those was the reason. I agree with those who suggest that as Joseph learned that their minds were tormented and that they troubled themselves in vain for nothing as he knew. He wept. He had such compassion for them in their hopelessness They knew the hideousness of their sin against Joseph. And unfortunately, all of the kindness that he had shown to them throughout the years they had already been in Egypt had not convinced them. But remember, Joseph had told them when they first came. He told them that he was sent ahead to save them, but they needed reassurance, which he gives in verses 19-21. But Joseph said to them, Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. But notice something here. Joseph acknowledges the brother's sin. You intended to harm me, he says. And again, the NIV softens it a little bit. Other versions translate it. For example, you intended evil against me. But Joseph acknowledges their sin. He doesn't sweep it under the carpet. He doesn't act as if it never happened. Now, he's not saying here that they tried, but that they failed completely. The fact is they did hurt him. We can be sure they did hurt him when they jumped on him, when they threw him into the pit. They did make his life miserable for a time, but they intended a way different outcome. They meant, they purposed, they planned, they desired. It was their goal that evil fall on him, that his life become completely miserable. Joseph reminds them of their evil intention, but not out of hateful revenge. Not as we sometimes do. Not because he wanted to make them feel bad. Not because he wanted to keep a heavy hand above them. But Joseph reminded them of their evil intention then to make a powerful contrast as he once again points them to God. You see, Joseph also acknowledges God's sovereignty. He points to God and says, it's God's forgiveness that is necessary first of all. Am I in the place of God, he says, and the answer that he expects is absolutely not. Boys and girls, Joseph knew that he had no right to retaliate. He had no right to get back at them. He had no right to hit them back. Although he was powerful in Egypt, although he was the law in Egypt as it were, he was not God. He knew that he had no right to get back at them. He knew that the brothers needed God's forgiveness for their sin. Joseph's they already had. And in the broad scheme of things, beloved, we know that the sin that we might commit against each other is ultimately against God. Sometimes I think we forget that. The sin that we commit against one another is ultimately against God. And it is His forgiveness, first of all, that counts. He is the divine judge. But you know, that's to be comforting to you and me also because when others won't forgive us, even if we've asked, then we have the comfort that we can and we are forgiven by God. Our salvation does not depend on the forgiveness of man. Indeed, we are called to forgive each other, but our salvation does not depend on the forgiveness of man. It depends on the forgiveness of God. David knew that. In Psalm 25, verse 18, he says, Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. I've shared with you before that that verse became extremely precious to me shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer. I found that in Spurgeon. He pointed out that David asks God to take notice of his suffering. Be aware of my suffering, O God. But he doesn't ask God to take away the suffering. He asks God to take away his sins. because he knew that that was of most importance. Take away all my sins. Joseph acknowledges God's sovereignty and points them to the necessity of God's forgiveness, but also points them once again to God's providential control. Verse 20, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. In a sense, that verse, The doctrine of God's providence is the heartbeat of the Joseph stories. That God is in charge of all things. That all things are in God's hand. And even the difficulties of life that His people face, He turns for their good. What a comforting message of God's overriding power. What a reminder again of God's appointments for us that Pastor Donovan clearly and beautifully taught us of last Sunday evening. The appointments of life that God sets for us. even the tiny details of life, all appointed by God. And we will meet those appointments. We can't cancel them. We can't postpone them. We will meet the appointments that God has set for us, whether they're good or bad, whether we believe they're happy or sad, whether we find them to be pleasant or difficult. We will meet them. And we are called to meet them with faith and not fear. Because as we live in God's hand, it's always for the good of His people. And He always has the best possible outcome in mind for His people. As John Calvin says so pointedly and beautifully, whatever poison Satan produces, God turns it into medicine for His elect. Let me read that again. Whatever poison Satan produces, God turns it into medicine for His elect. Isn't that wonderful? You see, God even used the brothers' sin against Joseph for their own benefit. For the brothers' benefit. They and their families were alive because of what they did and because of how God used it. But we need to understand here, though, that Joseph in no way minimizes their evil intention as if to say, well, sinning is okay as long as it results in something good. He doesn't say that at all. He does not minimize their evil intention. Paul says we are not to go on sinning that grace might increase, but instead Joseph contrasts their evil intention again with the power and the mercy of God. To him, they must look for mercy. And once again, as he tells the brothers, God intended this for good to save many people. A beautiful reminder to the brothers of God's covenant promises of which they were a part. All of this was for their benefit. Joseph acknowledges their repentance. He acknowledges their sin. He also acknowledges God's sovereignty and then he demonstrates an act of kindness. Verse 21, So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph was God's representative. He had compassion on his brothers. He assures them of their preservation and he repays them good for evil. Imagine how hard that must have been. Well, obviously it wasn't for him. It would be hard for you and me. But Paul says in Romans 12, verse 21, Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. You see, brothers and sisters, whose true reconciliation is not simply enough to say, I forgive you. But that word of forgiveness must be followed up with an act of kindness. It must be followed up with seeking the good of the offending brother. Joseph points them to God. He calls the brothers to find rest in God's promises that all of this was a part of God's plan to fulfill His covenant promise to Abraham and it was for the preservation and the salvation of Jacob's family. And again, we are to see an example here for us of how we then are to forgive those who sin against us. Boys and girls, we are not to hit them back. We are not to do something nasty back to them. We are called to be forgiving and show that with an act of forgiveness. But how often don't we try to play God? How often don't we try to play the judge and say, you don't deserve my forgiveness. You don't deserve my kindness. sometimes we simply won't forgive or not forget but I think if you won't forget you really haven't forgiven sometimes we are bound and determined to get even or to hold a grudge or sometimes even beloved we say that we forgive but we never show kindness more often we never ever want anything to do with the offending brother again and we make sure we don't We stay out of their path. We don't invite them to our birthday parties. We don't invite them to our homes. We make sure that we have nothing to do with them ever again. But that's not true forgiveness. The fact is, as our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray, the forgiven forgive. And we are called to forgive as God forgives us. We know that that's not possible. We cannot live up to the standard of God Himself, but that's the standard for which we are to strive. And we are to remember God's forgiving grace of us in Christ Jesus. Again, David says it beautifully in Psalm 103, The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Indeed, Joseph exercised God-like forgiveness. Our God does not treat us as our sins deserve. He does not repay us according to our iniquities. We deserve, we deserve that God should hate us For the sinful crimes that we have committed against Him. But instead, He has loved us with an everlasting love in Christ Jesus. And therefore, beloved God, will not ever hold our sin against us. He will never say, remember when? As far as the east is from the west. Now for you and me though, that doesn't mean that we should forget our sin. It doesn't mean that we should forget our unworthiness before God and become complacent in our sin. But it also doesn't mean that we are to hopelessly wallow in our sin if we believe in Jesus. We shouldn't act as if there is no hope for us. There's nothing pious about that. But you see, we are to remember our sin and our unworthiness in order to be reminded of and to rejoice in the mercy and the grace of God. Which is for all those, only those, but all those who forsake themselves and throw themselves on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Joseph said to his brothers, Am I in the place of God? Of course, the answer was absolutely not. But Jesus says to you and me who believe, I have stood in your place. As Paul says, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Beloved God has visited us in His Son Christ Jesus. He has given us a living hope by dying for a sin, by dying for that which we fully intended for evil. He has given us a living hope, that eternal inheritance that will not spoil or fade as Peter says, it is kept in heaven for you and me. That's God's promise. And God in all things works for the good of those who love Him. And He promises, He promises that nothing shall separate you from His love in Christ Jesus. Is that your comfort? Have you found rest in the promises of God? What is the result of the cross? Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. What an awesome promise. Beloved, while the world is restless and unsettled in sin and enmity with God, believers can live in the midst of an unsettled and restless world at rest and at peace with God. We don't have to live and work in fear about what will happen tomorrow, but instead we live and work with joy to the glory of God who gives us rest in Himself, in Christ Jesus, and who promises eternal rest and the glory of heaven for Jesus' sake. Let's pray together. Father, what ought we to do but to sing grace, grace, God's grace, which is greater than all of our fears. We praise Your most holy name for Your precious promises to us in Christ Jesus. We thank You for that precious gift of salvation which we may have the confidence of today. Even in the midst of restlessness in an unsettled world, yet to have the confidence that it is ours and no one can ever take that blessed possession from us, O Lord, because nothing and no one shall ever separate us from your love for your people, which is ours in Christ Jesus, the Lord. Father, may we walk with that joy in our hearts each and every day. And indeed, may that be transformed into praise and honor and glory for your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.