[00:00:00] Welcome to Gracious Words. Gracious Words is taken from the weekly women's Bible study, taught by Cheryl Brodersen at Calvary Chapel Host a Mesa, California. On today's program we'll see how the famine continues and Jacob has completely run out of
[00:00:42] the grave. He has an opportunity to seek and trust God in his desperate situation. But will he? And now here is part three of Cheryl's message titled The Vantage Point of Deliverance. Remember when Joseph related those dreams and Jacob took it to heart?
[00:01:27] Why? Because he too had had a dream and in his dream he had seen the angels on a ladder going up and down to God and God had spoken to him. It was through a dream that the promises
[00:01:46] conferred to Abraham were then conferred to Jacob. But God has failed. That which God seemed to speak to Joseph and Jacob's mind is not a possibility. Joseph who was to be the patriarch, who was to be over the family, the first born from Rachel
[00:02:17] in Jacob's mind is dead and therefore God has failed Jacob. Now Benjamin is being required of him. He must surrender Benjamin, the son of his right hand, the son that he is protected with his life, the son that he has always kept in his sight
[00:02:43] must be surrendered that the livestock and his grandchildren will live to Jacob. It all seems like a loss. There's a loss son, there's lost promises, there's lost provision and he is looking forward to further loss. At this point, Ruben offers his sons in place of
[00:03:12] Benjamin. This is not a solace to Jacob. Ruben says, just let Benjamin be interested to me and if you guys, you can have like two grand sons and put them to death. You know that death
[00:03:30] of two more grand sons is of no comfort. Death for death is no comfort. Not only that but Ruben's word does not hold any credibility with Jacob. Ruben had betrayed Jacob by his adultery with Bill Hawke. Ruben had not been with, Ruben had not protected Joseph. When Joseph
[00:04:00] had gone to find his brothers, Ruben had been no protection, Jacob says, my son shall not go down with you. For his brother is dead and he has left alone. If any calamity should be fall him along
[00:04:16] the way in what you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave. It was when Jacob let Joseph out of his sight to go find his brothers that Joseph had died. He is
[00:04:31] certainly not willing to let Benjamin go with the same men. From his vantage point again, from Jacob's vantage point, he does not realize that his distrust, his doubt, his fear, his resistance,
[00:04:52] his stubbornness is only delaying the promises of God. He does not realize that he is only keeping himself and his family from the blessings of God. It is only when Jacob is once again willing
[00:05:13] to trust God, to entrust to God, to sacrifice to God that there will be any hope for sustenance and salvation. Can I stop for a minute and just say there are some of you from your vantage point
[00:05:30] that thank God has failed you? I don't know what you prayed that God didn't answer in the way you expected or what God allowed in your life. Maybe the loss of a job, a transfer, I know a woman today
[00:05:48] who is still upset with God because of a job loss. She can't get past it. She can't get over it. No matter how many speak comfort or speak the promises of God into her life. She can't see
[00:06:03] the blessing of where she is right now or move forward in her life because of her distrust of God because she feels that God failed her in allowing this and are like, what do you feel God
[00:06:18] has failed you in? What is that place that from your perspective you think God has failed? Where is what is that thing that is holding you back from all the promises and all the blessings? What is it
[00:06:32] right now that is stunting you from going forward spiritually, from going forward physically, from going forward even maybe financially from going forward emotionally. What is that place? Let me tell you this friends it's only delaying the promises and the goodness of God.
[00:06:58] The goodness of God is waiting for you. It's waiting for you. Some of you need to forget God for not doing it your way. You need to ask forgiveness from God for insisting that it be your way.
[00:07:18] Your will above God's will. Your vantage point is only keeping you from God's goodness. Moving on to Genesis chapter 43, the famine continues to be severe. Do you realize Jacob has to get in the most desperate situation? The grain has completely run out to the last kernel
[00:07:47] until he is willing to take a chance on God again, until he is willing to trust and entrust to God. The family of Jacob is now desperate, desperate. How long has cement languishing in prison? We don't know but that just shows you Jacob's stubbornness. He has been unwelling
[00:08:18] to let Benjamin go from his sight. That's it. His unwillingness to let Benjamin go to Egypt with his brothers. Jacob summons his sons and instructs them to return to Egypt. Go back and buy
[00:08:39] us a little food. Judah begins to reason with Jacob. He seems to be the only son who can get through to his father. Perhaps Judah's word now has credibility with Jacob because Jacob has seen the change
[00:08:59] in Judah since the incident with him or her. Judah reminds Jacob of the experience that the brothers had in Egypt where the Prime Minister told them that they could not return without Benjamin.
[00:09:15] Then Judah said to his father, send the lad with me and we will arise and go that we may live and not die. Both we and you and also our little ones. I myself will be sure to for him
[00:09:32] from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. For if we had not lingered surely by now we would have
[00:09:44] returned this second time. Perhaps Judah's word had credibility because Jacob had seen Judah keep his word to Tamar. Keep his word and bring Tamar into the house and yet act respectfully for Tamar. He had seen Judah take Perets on the other son and raise them as his own.
[00:10:16] He had seen Judah's humility and sacrifice and willingness to do the right thing. Judah reminded Jacob that without Benjamin the clan of Jacob will certainly die. It Benjamin goes with the brothers, there is the chance, the slim chance of salvation.
[00:10:45] Judah promises to bring Benjamin back and present him to Jacob. He gives his word. Judah reminds his father that time is of the essence. Jacob is only for longing, the inevitable and if Jacob had acted sooner by this time the brothers would be back and Benjamin
[00:11:07] would again be in eyesight of Jacob. Jacob fearing the worst but desperate to save his family. Releases Benjamin. He then sends the best that can enhance to offer with his sons. Now remember
[00:11:27] earlier, Jacob had used a gift of his life stock to appease the wrath of Isa. Now he seeks to do the same with the prime minister of Egypt. He sends the best fruit in vessels. A little bomb,
[00:11:46] perhaps the bomb of Gilead, a special ointment only found in Canaan, a little honey, spices, mur, which is an expensive and exquisite resin used for medicine, perfume and incense, pistachio nuts. I don't need to describe those almonds. You know what that is? Here are the
[00:12:07] best things. Canaan has to offer. Then he tells the brother not only return the money, but take double the money to pay for the grain. Pay twice as much as that grain is being offered out and then he sends his beloved son, Benjamin. Jacob must trust and interest
[00:12:32] to God. He is out of options. He does not realize that this will bring the greatest blessing of God to His life. He says to his sons, and they God Almighty give you mercy before the man that he may
[00:12:48] release your brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved. It is a full commitment of what he loves most to the Lord. It is his son. It is his emotional stability. It is his physical health.
[00:13:06] Joseph's brothers returned to Egypt with Benjamin. This time when they return, Joseph sees Benjamin. It has been at least 21 years since he has seen his younger brother. He orders all the
[00:13:23] sins of Jacob to be taken to his house. Now, to the brothers of Jacob, this looks so, so bad, verse 18. It looks like Joseph is taking them to his private house away from the public eye,
[00:13:44] so he can do whatever he wants to do to them. So, he can inflict whatever punishment against them that he wants. They feel guilt over the silver in their sacs now. They say to the cells,
[00:14:02] he's seeking an occasion against us. He is going to fall on us. He's going to make a slave and worst of all, he's going to take our donkeys. They have no idea of what to expect. They certainly
[00:14:18] do not expect what is about to unfold before them. Joseph in the meantime has ordered then an annully slaughtered in a feast of feast on these. These men have been living on starvation rations and Joseph is ordering a feast to be prepared for them. Jacob's sons confess everything
[00:14:48] to the stored of Joseph's house in verses 19 through 22. They are showing their honesty. They are not hiding, they are not seeking to profit from that money or keep it for themselves. Earlier they had sought to profit from their brothers slavery. They are not seeking to profit anymore.
[00:15:12] They are willing to give this money back. They found the money in their sacs. They tell the stored, they don't know how it got there but they brought it back and twice as much to purchase
[00:15:23] more grain. Look at the honesty of these brothers. God is working all the dishonesty out of them. Joseph's stored speaks peace to them and reminding them that their God is good.
[00:15:41] Peace be with you. Do not be afraid. This is coming from an Egyptian. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacs. I had your money. In other words, this story
[00:15:57] is saying you've already paid for it. Your God is for you and has provided for you. Here is an Egyptian encouraging the sons of Israel to trust their God and then he restores sinning to their company.
[00:16:17] The brothers having them brought into Joseph's house are expecting the worst but they are given the best. They are given water. Their feet are washed. Their donkeys are given feet. Those donkeys that they thought would be confiscated are now being fed and they are told that they
[00:16:39] will feast with Zatnappanana, the prime minister of Egypt. Again in verse 28, the brothers bow low to Joseph and they present the gifts that they brought to him. Joseph sees Benjamin and his heart urns for his little brother. He finds a private place and begins to weep.
[00:17:07] Then he washes his face and returns, he restrains himself. Can you imagine? He probably just wants to run and just embrace Benjamin in his arms. He orders that bread be served and then all the
[00:17:25] brothers are seated at a separate table in their birth order. Now the brothers are all seated and only soon they begin to look around go, what a second. They were seated in our birth order. I
[00:17:42] would or how long it took them to catch on. Oh wait, Ruben, Sivian, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naftly, Dad, Asher, Is the car, Zebulan, Benjamin, the chances of this happening are somewhere around one in 40 million. Now I'm a crying true crime junkie. I love to watch true crime shows
[00:18:14] and I know that when the DNA evidence comes back and says the probability of this DNA belonging to anybody else but the man on trial, the defendant is one in 40 million. You know he's
[00:18:32] guilty. It's like, oh yeah you did it, you did it, you did it. So that fact that their set in their birth order is nothing less than divine. It couldn't just happen. This is astonishing to the brothers.
[00:18:55] Do they see it as a sign of God from God? From their vantage point, can they even receive it as a sign that God is for them? Can they receive the word of the servant that God
[00:19:11] is for them and reaching their lives? Can they receive the feast in the footwashing as a blessing from God? The brothers are all served. This amazing feast but Benjamin's portion is five times as
[00:19:33] large. Perhaps Joseph had them in this room with him even though he sat at a separate table so he could observe their reaction. Are they going to murmur among themselves saying, why did
[00:19:48] he get more mashed potatoes than I got? I don't know about you but when my children were young, I have one child that always counted how many presents everyone got at Christmas. You know sometimes
[00:20:05] you buy someone a big present and it costs as much as everybody else's presence but you know no, he had to have the same amount. So what I would do is if he asked for a good present and
[00:20:18] everybody else got 10 presents he would get the big present and 9 packs of gum. You know, I just had to make it even because he counted. These brothers are not counting. They're not comparing. They're not competing. Through this test, Joseph sees that they have changed.
[00:20:44] Now even with these amazing clues, these amazing blessings, the brothers still cannot understand what is going on. They still cannot receive the blessing of what is happening. When you are on
[00:21:01] the wrong side of God, when you are hiding or at least thinking you're hiding your sin from him, when you are refusing to acknowledge or confess your sin to God, you will always feel like a victim.
[00:21:17] No matter how great your circumstances are, you will always be waiting for that proverbial rock to fall. You will misunderstand God's work in your life and you will always be misinterpreting what God is doing. Even when God is working for your good in order to sustain you,
[00:21:42] to provide for you, to protect you, to teach you, to enrich you, to help you. You will misinterpret it. Years ago, my father was helping us with our house. We bought a house in Huntington for $96,000.
[00:21:59] Can you believe that? That used to be able to get a house in Huntington Beach for $96,000. We fixed up this house and my dad was there helping us fix up this house. We tore out the carpet.
[00:22:12] It realized they were hardwood floors underneath. We had this party at our house and we pulled out all the tax in the nails. That was our party. I fed everybody who would pull out the tax in nails.
[00:22:24] We were clearing the floor so that we could stand the floor. We got in home and we realized my dad's car was in front of this house. We were living with them and we went to the house.
[00:22:36] We went in, there was my dad with a sander that he ran it. We were coming in with a sander. He was there standing all the floors of our house. My dad was amazing. Another time, we came home.
[00:22:49] There was a pool in the backyard that had frogs and mosquitoes growing out of it that we had to fix and clean. But he wanted a fence across the back in order to protect his grandchildren from falling in the pool.
[00:23:04] We came home and we saw this trail of blood leading around to the back. I got so afraid I went running back and there was my dad still working on this fence. He had taken his t-shirt
[00:23:23] and headed around his head like a turn-a-ket. Why? Because he had been using a pickaxe to break open the ground and going like this, he'd come back and hit his head. Put a huge gallogen is
[00:23:37] head. For weeks, the scab made him look like Gorbachev. If you don't know who Gorbachev is, Google hand and you will see that for a while he and my father bore a resemblance. But there he is.
[00:23:51] He's doing all of this for us. At the same time, we had bought at the same time as my dad was working. Brian decided to mo the lawn and he was mowing the lawn in the front yard. And he heard this
[00:24:13] sound that he didn't think anything of it. And then he was mowing. He realized that as he was mowing next to my dad's car, that the lawn mowing had like this screw that stuck out and it had put
[00:24:27] this long scrape in my dad's car. Anyway, he had put this long scrape in my dad's car and he felt so bad. Jacob has placed in a position to trust God when Benjamin is required to Egypt.
[00:24:40] Jacob doesn't want to let him go but Jacob is there only hope of escape. Jacob doesn't realize that his stubbornness is keeping him and his family from the blessing of God. It is only when
[00:24:52] he is willing to trust God and entrust to God that there will be any hope for sustenance and salvation. The same is true today. God is our only hope for salvation. We hope you have been blessed by today's
[00:25:06] Bible study. For more information about the Gracious Words Radio Program and the Teaching Ministry of Cheryl Broderson, please visit our website at GraciousWords.com. Coming up next time on the Gracious Words program, we'll look at God's plan at work as we continue our series, our great creator
[00:25:23] in the book of Genesis with Cheryl Broderson. We do hope you make plans to join us. Again for more information, please visit our website at GraciousWords.com. This program is sponsored by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California.
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