Don’t Forget Where You Are Going

1:36Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel who came into Egypt: Jacob and his sons, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and the sons of Reuben, Hannock, Palu, Hezron, and Carmi, the sons of Simeon, Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman, the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Meri. The sons of Judah, Air, Onan, Shellah, Perez, and Zira. But Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamal.

2:20The sons of Isakar, Tola, Puva, Yob, and Shimron. The sons of Zebulun, Sarad, Elon, and Jeliel. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, together with his daughter Dinah. Altogether his sons and his daughters numbered 33. The sons of Gad, Ziphion, Haggai, Shuni, Isbon, Eri, Eradai, and Ereli. The sons of Asher, Imna, Ishva, Ishvi, Beriah, with Sarah their sister, and the sons of Beriah. Heber and Melchiel. These are the sons of Zilpa, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob sixteen persons.

3:11The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, Joseph and Benjamin, and to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asanath, the daughter of Potiphara, the priest of On, bore to him. And the sons of Benjamin, Bila, Beker, Ashbel, Gira, Naman, Ehi, Rosh, Mupim, Hupim, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen persons in all. The son of Dan, Hushim, the sons of Naptali, Jaziel, Guni, Jizur, and Shilem. These are the sons of Bilha, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, seven persons in all. All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all, and the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

4:23This is God's word. You may be seated. Ask Saya to read the passages that I'm frightened to read. An outstanding job. Richard Baxter was born in 1615 and wrote extensively on the Christian life, including one of my favorite books, The Reformed Pastor. He was the vicar of Kitterminster from 1647 to 1691, which is just so much fun to say, and pastored there for almost 50 years. He was often sick in his life, as many people were back in those days, but he was sick on and off the majority of his adult life. And actually, the year before he took over as pastor at this particular church in Kitterminster, he almost died. It was the winter of 1646, and the doctors basically assured him you only have a very short time to live. And so he believed that the end was near, and because he thought that the end was near, he spent a significant time in 1646 meditating on heaven and meditating on his great inheritance that he was to receive as a believer in Jesus Christ. And those reflections were later compiled into a book that is now called The Saints' Everlasting Rest. It's one of his greatest contributions to Christianity. And in this book, he writes this, Be convinced that heaven is the only treasure and happiness, and labor to know what a treasure and happiness it is. If thou do not believe it to be the chief. Good, thou wilt never set thy heart upon it, and this conviction must sink into thy affections, for if it be only a notion, it will have little efficacy.

6:12If Eve once supposes that she sees more worth in the forbidden fruit than in the love and enjoyment of God, no wonder if it have more of her heart than God. If your judgment once preferred the delights of the flesh before the delights of the presence of God, it is impossible your heart should be in heaven. As it is ignorance of the emptiness of things below that makes men so overvalue them, so it is ignorance of the high delights above, which is the cause that men so little mind them.

6:49I think for most of us, myself included, we can't honestly say, I believe that heaven is the chief good, and as a result, I meditate on it day and night. That's just not true for me. Most days, most seasons of my life, I'm guessing it's probably not true for many of us. We may know that heaven is the chief good in our minds, but as Richard Baxter says, if it's only a notion, if it's only something that we ascribe to intellectually, it will have very little transformative power in our daily lives.

7:27Well, friends, last week Joseph revealed himself. To his brothers. He forgave their sin and invited them to come and live with him in Egypt. Remember, the famine that was going to last seven years was only a couple years in. There were still five more years of famine yet to come. And so he invites them to come and live with them. So the brothers go back home to Canaan. They tell their father Jacob the good news, and he agreed to move to Egypt.

7:52But as you're going to see in the text today, Jacob's heart remained in Canaan. Although he was going to move to Egypt, his heart remained in Canaan because that was his true country. And his true king, God the Father, ruled over his heart and his affections. You may have heard the expression at some point in your life, he's so heavenly-minded, he's no earthly good. I've lived 35 years, and I've never met that person. So I think that's common Christian lingo: that somewhere out there there are people that exist that think about heaven so much that they're kind of useless in this present life, but I've never met that person.

8:35I think for most of us, we have the opposite problem. It's not that we think too much about heaven and we long too much for it, but really that we don't think about it enough and we don't long for it enough. The reality is we've forgotten where we're going. And so today, as we look at Genesis 46 and 47, we're going to learn that citizens of heaven long for their true king and country. Let's look. Now, at verse 1 of chapter 46, together.

9:04You see here at the outset of the chapter that Jacob begins the journey to Egypt on the wagons that Pharaoh sent for him, and he brings with him not only his family, but all of the wealth that he accumulated while he was in Canaan and before he got back to Canaan as well. And you see, the caravan here includes 70 people, all listed according to their mothers or grandmothers. So you have Leah and her children, and then her servant Zilpah and her children, and then Rachel and her children, and her servant Bilhah and her children.

9:35And the purpose of this genealogy, as well as all of the genealogies that we find in the book of Genesis and elsewhere in Scripture, is to remind us again and again that these are not fairy tales. These are not myths. They're not made-up stories. These are real people who really existed in time and space. And so every time we come to a genealogy, it's a reminder to us that this is a historical account, that these people really lived, and that this is an accurate recording of the events of their lives. Now, back in Genesis 28, we saw that God made a promise to Jacob. And the promise that God made to Jacob back in Genesis 28 was the very same promise that he made first to his forefather Abraham. And God had kept that promise. He had taken one man, an old man who was childless, and had made him into. A great company, a great multitude. Look on the screen at Genesis 28. This is God now talking to Jacob, Abraham's grandson. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.

11:05And so God reiterates these same promises that he made to Abraham and then to Isaac. He says, I'm going to be with you. I'm going to give you offspring. I'm going to bless all the families of the earth through you. And then additionally, God promised, as he had to Abraham, to give to Jacob and his descendants the land of Canaan. Now, this is very important because it seemed like the wisest move for Jacob and his family would be to move to Egypt. It seemed like that was the prudential thing, that that would be the wise thing to do. Joseph had invited him to come. The famine was terrible in Canaan. There was actually grain in Egypt. Why should we not go there? But Jacob wants to be absolutely sure that this is God's will.

11:53I think we have to understand that an open door does not always represent. The will of the Lord in our lives. But that's typically how most of us make decisions. We look around and we look for open doors, as we would call them. We could just say opportunities. And if an opportunity presents itself to us, especially an opportunity that we think is a good one, we're tempted to conclude this must be God's will for my life.

12:22But remember, many, many years ago, Abraham had an open door. He had an opportunity to go down into Egypt, and he took that opportunity because of the famine that was going on in the land of Canaan. And because he took that opportunity, it almost cost him his marriage. His wife was taken into the harem of Pharaoh. Years later, Isaac was living through a famine again. And Isaac was about to go down into Egypt, and God had to appear to him in Genesis 26 and tell him directly, do not go down into Egypt. So understand, Jacob is coming from this tradition of a real bad relationship with the nation of Egypt.

13:03And so he wants to be totally sure that this is what God wants for him. He doesn't want to just do what's convenient. He doesn't want to do what makes sense in his own eyes. He wants to ensure that this is what God wants for him. And so he's going to seek the Lord. This is a great challenge for us, friends, because I think for most of us, we make decisions based on what is convenient or desirable or what seems best to us in our human wisdom. That's why it's great. Critical that we be people of prayer. That's why it's critical that we be people of the word, and we submit our decisions to God before we make them. But oftentimes we don't do that. You see, for Jacob, Pharaoh wasn't his true king, and Egypt was not his true country. And so he wants to be sure this is God's will. And thankfully, God tells us in his word that if we lack wisdom, we can ask, and God will give generously to us without finding fault. And so the caravan arrives at Beersheba, and if that place sounds familiar, it's because this is the location that God met with many of Jacob's ancestors. You may remember that he met with Abraham at Beersheba. Before him, he met with Hagar at Beersheba when she was fleeing from Sarah. And Abraham and Isaac and then Jacob ended up living for many years at Beersheba. And so this is a very special place in his life. So he comes back to Beersheba and he offers sacrifices, and God speaks to Jacob for the first time, at least that we know of, since Genesis 35. That was before Benjamin's birth, before Rachel's death, even. And what does God tell him? Look at the text. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again.

14:55This message is just the assurance that Jacob needed. It's just the assurance that he needed because God had made these great promises to his grandfather Abraham and to his father Isaac and to him. And Jacob did not want to miss out on those promises simply because he did what seemed best to him in somewhat of a desperate situation. This famine is going on. How is his family going to live? And so God gives him this great assurance: don't be afraid to go down there. I'm going to make you a great nation in Egypt. And you see here that God also gave Jacob another great assurance that he would not die before he was reunited with Joseph. That's all I want to pick up now in verse 28, chapter 46, verse 28. He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to show the way before him in Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. Then Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive. Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, My brothers and my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. And the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all. That they have. When Pharaoh calls you and says, What is your occupation? You shall say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers, in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen. And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were. They said to Pharaoh, We have come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. And now please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.

17:40Now you notice with Jacob well advanced in years, he's no longer leading his family in the same way. And what's interesting is that Reuben the firstborn and Simeon the secondborn and Levi the thirdborn are also not leading the family. Who's leading the family? It's Judah. Judah is leading the family. Reuben disqualified himself with his father's concubines. Simeon and Levi disqualified themselves when they took revenge because of what happened to Dinah. And so Judah, according to God's plan and according to his purpose, is now the foremost. He is now leading the family, spiritually and otherwise. And that's going to become important not just as we move through Genesis, but as we move through the rest of the Bible. Now, Judah leads the caravan to Goshen, and Jacob and Joseph are finally reunited. Keep in mind, it's been about 25 years since they last saw one another. Jacob, Joseph rather, was 17 when he was sold into slavery. He's now about 32 years old, or excuse me, 42 years old. And so it's been quite a long time since they've seen one another. He falls on his neck and he weeps. It's a mixture of sorrow and joy at this sweet reunion. And now the family is safely in Egypt, but you have to understand, Jacob's family doesn't want to fully integrate into Egyptian life and culture. Not only is that culture completely foreign to them, but they don't worship the same God. And so this is a concern for Jacob, certainly a concern for Joseph as well. So what are they going to do? Well, as usual, Joseph has a plan. And his plan is to tell them to say to Pharaoh, we're shepherds, because the Egyptians don't like shepherds. Now, it doesn't tell us why they don't like shepherds, but it may be because in its day, Egypt was a very wealthy society. And if you've ever been around animals at all on a ranch, if you've ever watched shepherds at work, it is dirty, messy, stinky work. It's not work that most of us would want to do, and so perhaps it was work for slaves in their minds, and so they didn't want to do that. But either way, Joseph instructs his family to tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds so that they could dwell in the land of Goshen. And that was very significant because not only was Goshen uniquely suited for ranching, but Goshen was on the east side of Egypt. It was very close to Canaan. And so that would make the eventual departure a lot easier than if they had to traverse the entire country. So that will come into play about 400 years later when they're making the Exodus. Now remember, Egypt is not their true country, and Pharaoh is not their true king. And so both Jacob and Joseph are determined to ensure they don't get too comfortable with Egyptian life and culture. And so this plan works. Pharaoh, as promised, gives them any of the land that they want, the best of the land, and even offers to employ Joseph's brothers. So look at what happens next in verse 7.

20:40Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of your life? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years. Years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

21:31So Joseph brings his father Jacob before Pharaoh, and you probably caught this. He doesn't bow before him. Think about all of the other instances where the brothers have come before Joseph to say nothing of Pharaoh and their response to being in front of someone of that power, that magnitude in the government. They fall on their faces every single time. But look at here. Jacob doesn't bow. What does he do? He blesses Pharaoh. That is truly significant. Look on the screen at Hebrews 7:7. It's not referring to this passage directly, but this is just a general truth in the scripture. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. Well, now, in the world, Pharaoh was superior to everyone. He was the most important political leader of his day. Not only was he the king of the most powerful nation in the world, but his own people considered him a god. They worshiped him. But in God's kingdom, Jacob was far superior to him. And you remember God's word to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. What did God say? He said, in you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And here you have Jacob standing before Pharaoh, the most important political ruler of the day, and not bowing before him, but blessing him, just as God had promised that Abraham and his descendants would do. Through God's people, blessing is coming to all the nations of the world.

23:06And so Pharaoh probably is a bit taken aback by this whole situation, and he says, how many are the days of the years of your life? Like, dude, how old are you? This is an ancient person, not just by those days terms, but by any days. And he says, well, I'm only 130. My dad lived to be 180, and my grandfather was 175. So I'm not that old, really. But you notice how he describes his life. Look at what he says. He says, the days of his life have been what? Few and evil.

23:49Well, that seems like an exaggeration, doesn't it? I mean, we can look at the years of his life and say, it doesn't seem like few, but that could be relative. Depending on your experience with your father and your grandfather, but he calls the days of his life evil. That seems a bit of an exaggeration until you think back on all that Jacob has been through. I mean, just think about Jacob's life for a minute. His father, Isaac, preferred his twin brother, Esau, over him, and that preference remained until the day that he died. His father-in-law, Laban, deceived him on his wedding day and then proceeded to change his wages ten times over the next 20 years. His two wives, Leah and Rachel, fought with one another constantly and brought tension to the marriage and to the family through their idolatry of children.

24:45Esau nearly killed him. Rachel died in childbirth, and his sons sold Joseph into slavery, which meant that he was separated from his beloved son for 25 years. And so, when you think about that, that he says his days have been evil, that's actually a pretty accurate assessment of his life. But, friends, it's also true that many of us have endured similar trials, similar tragedies. Perhaps not all of those things, but one of those things, or more than one of those things.

25:23I mean, perhaps you had a parent who is emotionally absent or who preferred one of your siblings. Maybe you went through the trauma of divorce at some point in your life. Could be that you were deceived or used by family members or by your employer. Perhaps there was strife in your own marriage or your family. For those of you who have older children, and as they grow up and you see some of the choices that they make, maybe you've been grieved by some of those things. All of us at some level have unfulfilled hopes. Maybe the desire for a husband or a wife, the desire for a particular opportunity that you just can't seem to achieve or receive.

26:10And then so many have gone through the pain of childlessness or miscarriage. And so you look and you think about our own lives and the way that they also are filled with trial and tragedy, and so many people become bitter. They become bitter toward other people who have what they think that they deserve or that they want. Or even at times, we become bitter toward God Himself, whom we view as withholding something that we've earned, something that we deserve.

26:39And so, friends, all of these trials and tragedies can leave us bitter, can leave us angry, or they can be reminders to us that this world is broken. And this world is broken because of our sin. The world is not what it should be. The present world is not our. Home. Instead, we are looking forward to a city that has foundations, as Hebrews said, to a better country that is ruled by our true king. And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ has said this present world isn't our home, and we're looking forward to a better one. Look at what he says in John 16. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

27:37Now, look at the words that Jesus speaks to us. He says, In me you may have peace. True peace in a world that is filled with trial and tragedy, as we see every single day on the news and as we experience at different levels in our own lives, true peace cannot be found outside of Jesus. We can look to it as people often do. And you hear, especially in the politically charged rhetoric of our day, that if we could just get the right government set up, then everything would be fine. You remember back to 2011 and the Arab Spring uprisings? What was the promise that you heard again and again? If we just take out these dictators and if we just establish democracy in the Middle East, we will have peace there locally in that region and across the world. Do we have peace in 2017? The situation is worse.

28:36We say, if people just were better educated, then that would solve the problems. We would have world peace. The Germans were the most educated people on planet Earth, arguably, in the 1930s and 1940s. And we saw what that produced. Time and time again, we are told by the world, you can have peace apart from Jesus. But the reality is that only in Him can we have peace. In this world, we will have tribulation. We are taught again and again in the scripture to expect trial, to expect trouble, to expect difficulty.

29:16And so our hope as Christians is not that we won't have those things, but rather in the midst of those things, we can have peace in Christ because he has overcome the world. Understand, how you deal and how I deal with trial and tragedy entirely depends on our worldview. And if we view this present world as our home, then it's only right to despair when things don't go the way that we wanted them to. When we don't receive that promotion that we thought we deserved, when we don't have the financial situation or the medical situation that we'd want or the relationship situation, it's only right to despair when those things don't go the way that we wanted to. If this present world is our home. But, friends, if we are looking forward to a better country, to a city with foundations, then we can still grieve when tragedy befalls us. But we can grieve not as the world does, but with hope, because Jesus has overcome the world through his life and death and resurrection. The key is simply to not forget where we're going, but to keep our minds set on those truths.

30:31And so, after this whole exchange, Jacob blesses Pharaoh, perhaps again, or maybe it's just restating it for emphasis. And Joseph then gets his family settled in the land of Goshen. And here it's called the land of Ramses. And maybe that's so that later readers could understand when it was no longer called Goshen, what it was called at the present day, the present time when Moses is writing. And so the family situation improves greatly, as we see here, but Egypt's situation continues to deteriorate. Look now at verse 13.

31:03Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone. And Joseph answered, Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, if your money is gone. So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys. He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lords. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's. As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them, therefore they did not sell their land. Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And at the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field, and as food for yourselves. And your households, and as food for your little ones. And they said, You have saved our lives. May it please my Lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh. So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day that Pharaoh should have the fifth. The land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's. Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years.

33:40Well, the famine now has been going on for even longer, and this starts to take a real toll on the people of Egypt. They run out of money to buy grain, and so they decide to sell their livestock instead. But after a while, they run out of livestock, and so they sell their land to Pharaoh and agree to work the land in exchange for food. Now, this is obviously a potentially dangerous setup. The Egyptians and the Egyptian government now own everything. And that's paving the way for an abusive dictatorship that we're going to read about in the book of Exodus. But for now, Egypt has a godly leader in Joseph, who would ensure that the people were treated humanely. Even though Pharaoh owned everything, the people could keep 80% of the crops. It's very generous. And verse 25 seems to suggest that the people were satisfied. With that arrangement, they were grateful to Joseph for his leadership. They say, You have saved our lives.

34:37And so you see here that Egypt is struggling, but God's people aren't. Isn't that remarkable? God's people aren't struggling, they're prospering. Look again at verse 27. And they gained possessions in it and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. Remember, God had made these promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised to bless them, to make them fruitful. And even in the midst of a famine, where everybody else is running out of money, running out of animals, running out of anything that they could possibly sell, the people of God are continuing to be fruitful and multiply. They are gaining possessions in a time that everyone else is losing them. They are growing in prosperity at a time that everyone else is growing in poverty. And you see here that God is keeping his word to his people. They weren't home yet, but he was taking care of them while they were sojourning in this foreign land of Egypt. And so 17 years passed. The famine is now long over. Remember, that was going to last for seven years. And Jacob is now approaching 150 years old. And so it's time for him to express his will to Joseph. Look at what he says to him in verse 28. Verse 29, excuse me.

35:54And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place. He answered, I will do as you have said. And he said, Swear to me. And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

36:32So before Jacob passes away, he makes Joseph swear that he's not going to bury him in Egypt. And the question for a lot of us reading this text is: why would that have been such a big deal? I mean, this kind of seemed like home now. Most of us have not lived anywhere for 17 years. They've been there for 17 years at this point. Probably felt like home. But this was a big deal because Egypt was not Jacob's home. Pharaoh wasn't his true king, and this wasn't his true country. He served another king in another country. And so being buried in Canaan was important to him because that's where his ancestors were buried. Abraham was buried there, Isaac was buried there, his wife Rachel was buried there. That's where his family was buried, and they were buried there because God promised to give them the land of Canaan. So he is saying, I am continuing. To believe the promises of God, that even though we're in Egypt, even though we haven't been given this land, I still believe that God is going to give us the land that He promised. And taking him back from Egypt to Canaan would be a reminder to all of his sons: Egypt is not your home. This is not where you're staying permanently. Home is in Canaan. Home is the land that God promised to give us. And when they carried him back there, they would be reminded of that. And so Joseph promised him, I will take you back there, I will bury you in the land of Canaan. And with that, Jacob bows his head and worship to God.

38:12And so, friends, we think about this passage and you consider some of the songs that we've already sung today in worship. It's so clear in the New Testament that this present world is not our home. Believers are referred to again and again in the Bible as sojourners and exiles. And we're called sojourners and exiles precisely because the present world is not our home. It's not home for anyone who follows Jesus. Look on the screen at Philippians chapter 3. Paul writes, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that in Enables him even to subject all things to himself.

39:07We're called by the Apostle Paul citizens of heaven. Citizens of heaven. We're waiting for our true king and our true and better country. But most of us don't live like that's true. Most of us don't live day to day like we are citizens of heaven. The question is, why not? I think there's at least a few reasons. The first is that we are distracted. Jesus said that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

39:45And the reality is that we live in the wealthiest nation, not just in the world today, but we live in the wealthiest nation of any time in world history. We have at our very fingertips options at all times to make purchases, to plan trips, to be entertained. Social media is always on. Distractions are all around us everywhere at all times. And because of those things, it makes it increasingly difficult for us to think about our citizenship that is in heaven. It makes it increasingly difficult for us to meditate on our true king and our true and better country. That's just the reality of living in the 21st century, is that most of us are distracted. Distracted. And therefore, it is hard for us to think about the reality that we're sojourners and exiles. The second reason is that we're fearful.

40:42And I think we're fearful because we have hopes and dreams for this life and this world. And our hopes and dreams for this life and this world aren't bad. It's not bad to hope for a certain career. It's not bad to hope for marriage or a family. It's not bad to hope for prosperity and to see you and your family, your friends succeed. None of those things are bad or evil in and of themselves. But I think for many of us, we spend so much time and energy and effort, so much money trying to attain our hopes and dreams for this present world because deep down we're fearful that maybe this world is all that there is.

41:25Maybe really there is nothing better. I was just reading this past week in the Smithsonian magazine. Please don't think I'm smart. My dad gives me this each year as like a stocking stuffer kind of gift. I don't understand many of the words. So I just want to be clear, okay? I'm not like throwing that in there like I'm a smart guy with cool glasses that reads Smithsonian magazine. But I was reading, the cover of this month's issue was about science and technology. And the lead article in the magazine was about a group called SEN. Out in California, and the words are too big, I can't remember what it stands for, but what they're trying to do is figure out how to eradicate all disease and all causes of aging so that we can live forever.

42:14And when you think about it, if your worldview is this life is all that there is, death is the greatest enemy of all. Even the scripture calls death the greatest enemy. But particularly, if you believe that this world is all that there is, death is a great enemy that must be conquered at all costs. And so you have lots and lots of entrepreneurs and investment companies and startups all investing in this group, particularly, that are trying to eliminate the causes of aging so that we can live forever.

42:50You do that because you're fearful that there's nothing beyond this world, that there's nothing beyond this life. And I think for many of us, we might say, you know, I don't really want to live forever. Maybe it's like 130 or 150 or so, you know, but we don't want to live forever. But I think for all of us, there's that twinge of doubt, like, what if there really isn't anything beyond this world? What if this world is all that there is? And so I think one of the other reasons that we don't meditate on our citizenship in heaven is because we're fearful. But perhaps the greatest reason that we don't meditate on our citizenship in heaven is not really so much that we are distracted. Are fearful, but it's that we're forgetful.

43:34And of course, in the scripture, you have hundreds and hundreds of times that the people of God are called to remember God's promises and God's word. And we need those hundreds and hundreds of reminders precisely because we are forgetful. Look on the screen at Revelation 22. It's a familiar text, but my guess is you don't use Revelation in your devotional reading a whole lot. So it's something that we don't encounter that often. And try to read this with fresh eyes and listen to it with fresh ears. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. Also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, These words are trustworthy and true.

45:00Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Now, when you read those first few words in the book of Revelation, chapter 22, what does that sound like? It sounds like the type of place that so many people are working to create in this present world. It's a place where there's beauty everywhere, there's renewable energy and sources of food. No one is poor, no one is sick, no one is tired or hungry. All of those things go away because of the new heavens and the new earth.

45:50And it's no accident that the Apostle John is listening and observing all of this great revelation, and the Lord says, or the angel rather says to him, these words are trustworthy and true. These words are trustworthy and true. In other words, you can put your hope in these words because these words come from the one who does not lie, indeed, who cannot lie. He is the one who is saying, this is what's going to come to pass. All that you'd ever hoped, all that you'd ever wished for, is going to come to pass in the new heavens and the new earth. But friends, we are distracted and fearful and especially forgetful. And that's why we need these reminders. That's why Jacob wanted to ensure that his family wouldn't forget where they were going. That's why he commanded them, take my body and bury it where it goes in the promised land.

46:43And so, friends, in the same way, we have to work hard to remember where we're going because we are so forgetful. That's one of the main reasons that meaningful involvement in the local church is so important. Because in a healthy local church, you are covenanting together with other men and women who you are worshiping with and praying with and being discipled by, who are also working hard to set their hearts and their minds on things above, as Paul says, who are working hard to meditate often on their citizenship in heaven.

47:20But even for those of us who are already meaningfully connected to a local church, we know what a struggle it is to spur one another on and to encourage one another. And so, I want you to look at these words from Richard Baxter in The Saints' Everlasting Rest again, because I thought this quote was so important, not just for his day, but for ours. He says, It is a pity Christians should ever meet together without some talk of their meeting in heaven or of the way to it before they part. It is a pity so much time is spent in vain conversation and useless disputes and not a serious word of heaven among them. Methinks we should meet together. On purpose to warm our spirits with discoursing of our rest. To hear a Christian set forth that blessed, glorious state with life and power from the promises of the gospel, methinks should make us say, Did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to us the scriptures? If Roman governor Felix will tremble when he hears his judgment powerfully represented, why should not the believer be revived when he hears his eternal rest described?

48:34Anyone who uses the word methinks, especially twice, must be listened to. But can't we agree with Baxter's words? So much of what we call fellowship is no more than getting together and hanging out just like everybody else does in the world. It's great to get together and play a sport. It's great to get together and play settlers of Catan. It's great to do those things. But so much of what we call fellowship is really no different than what the world would consider fellowship because there's, as Baxter says, no discourse about the things that really matter. And so, friends, I want to challenge all of us to think on and meditate on not just heaven for ourselves, but how we can point one another to those realities so that our hearts and our minds are increasingly drawn upward rather than to this present world.

49:30According to the United Nations, there are some 60 million refugees in the world today, 10 million of which are from Syria. And I think it's true that most of them, if not all of them, long to go home. And they long to go home because they're living in a place that isn't their country. They're living in a place that's not their real home. And the Bible does not describe us as refugees, but it does describe us as sojourners and exiles and citizens of heaven. And what we see today, friends, is that citizens of heaven long for their true king and their true country. Let's pray.

50:39Father, we were in need of a great challenge and a great encouragement this morning from your word. I think about how much of my life is spent thinking about and planning for and worrying about this present world. And how little of my own life, even as a pastor in a local church, how little of my own life is spent meditating on and glorying in the inheritance that is ours through faith in Christ. My prayer, God, is that we would become a more heavenly-minded people and that together we would spur one another on to think often about our true king and our true country because that's going to transform the way that we live in this present world.

51:43I pray, God, that you would help us to redirect our time and our energy and our money towards eternal things. I pray that we would not give an inordinate amount of time or energy or money to this present world. But we confess that it is a struggle because everyone around us, not just the culture, but even in the church, everyone around us is going the opposite direction. And that's understandable for unbelievers. It's not understandable for Christians.

52:30Say that our hope is in Jesus and our hope is in heaven. And so, God, my prayer this morning for myself first and foremost and for all of us here is that you would teach us to long for our true king and our true country. I know that as long as that just stays a notion in our heads, our lives won't be transformed. And so we ask, God, that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, would come and would transform the affections of our hearts so that our lives are transformed accordingly. Thank you for your word, God.

53:27In Jesus' name, amen.