Joseph, Jesus, And A Troubling Presence

Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, February 08, 2004, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. 

JOSEPH, JESUS, AND A TROUBLING PRESENCE

Scripture Reading: Genesis 45:1-16

Text: Genesis 45:3

Genesis 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

Introduction: God, who knows all, planned for the redemption of mankind from the beginning. You and I were not redeemed to God by money, but as the Bible says:

1 Peter 1:19-20 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 

The events of the Old Testament are historically accurate. They tell exactly what did occur. However, God moved in the affairs of men in such a way and recorded some of those events in His word, the Bible, in such a way that you can turn to almost any page of the Bible and find SOME reference, some prophecy, some type, some shadow, or some glimpse of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself said:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 

He was not telling them to search the New Testament, for it had not yet been written. He was telling them to search the OLD Testament, and even more especially the books including our passage this morning, for He further said in that chapter:

John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 

Jesus said that Moses wrote of Him. Later, after His resurrection, He talked to two disciples …

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

I intend to do some of the same this morning. Our passage concerns a real man of history named Joseph, but it ALSO points to another real man of history, the GOD-Man, Jesus Christ, for after all, history is just HIS-story!

The Bible teaches that in the future there will be
1. THE RAPTURE – The return of Jesus in the air to catch up those who are saved. This will be followed by
2. THE TRIBULATION – A seven-year period of trouble and judgment, AFTER the saved people have left, which will be followed by
3. THE REVELATION – The coming of Christ to the earth to establish His rule of righteousness upon the earth for 1,000 years.

The Jews rejected Jesus at His first coming, and they are blinded today so that they, as a nation, reject God’s salvation for their sins through Christ.

During the Tribulation, God will reach many of them through trouble, chastisement, mercy, the Holy Spirit, and the preached word of God.

At the Revelation, when Jesus returns to the earth to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus will make Himself known to the Jews, and as a nation they will weep in fear and guilt as they realize who He is and what they have done.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. 

All of this is portrayed in the life of Joseph. He was hated and rejected by his own brethren, even as the Lord was of the Jews. He was unknown to them at their first time together, but later he made himself known to them. When he did, they were, according to our text, EXTREMELY TROUBLED. 

Genesis 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

This morning’s message is titled:

JOSEPH, JESUS, AND A TROUBLING PRESENCE

I. A RETURN AND REUNION HAD OCCURRED

Genesis 44:13-14 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

A. The Jews will return to God

B. Jesus will return to the earth to reclaim them and rule over them

II. A REVELATION WAS GIVEN

Genesis 45:3-4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

A. The sight of Jesus will be a revelation – Rev. 1:7
1. Of His power
2. Of His piercings

B. The sound of Jesus will be a revelation
1. They heard, “I AM Joseph”
2. Jesus is the “I AM”

III. A REMORSE WAS FELT 

Genesis 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

A. Because of their past wickedness

B. Because of the prospect of wrath

IV. A REBUKE FROM GOD HAD TROUBLED THE LAND

Genesis 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

A total of seven years – exactly the length of the coming Tribulation Period!

A. It was planned

B. It was productive
1. It brought his brethren back to Joseph
2. One purpose of the Tribulation will be to bring Israel back to God

V. A RESCUE WAS MADE

Genesis 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

“God SENT ME” … John 3:16-17

“a great deliverance”. A great deliverance reminds us of the “SO great salvation” of Heb. 2:1, as well as the deliverance of Israel during the Tribulation period.

A. From the disastrous conditions

B. From the damnation deserved

Joseph’s preservation of his family is an example of God’s marvelous grace bestowed on undeserving sinners.

VI. A RULER WAS GIVEN POWER

Genesis 45:8-9 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

A. It was ordained of old to happen
1. As Jesus was “born King of the Jews”

B. It was opposed

VII. A RESTORATION WAS MADE

Genesis 45:10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:

A. A restoration of prosperity

B. A restoration of protection

C. A restoration of peace
1. The millennium – a day of rest!
2. Peace at LAST for the Jews!!