COME INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN
Genesis 45:25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, 26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. 27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
The house of Israel had gone down to Egypt for their salvation in attaining bread. But now they must return to Canaan for service, to convince an unbeliever of Joseph’s existence and glory. Just as the believing sinner must go up out of Egypt in order to come into the land of Canaan.
For one must turn from their sin and turn to the consciousness of the Lord God! Acts 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
But far unlike the angels that sin and are immediately delivered into chains of darkness, those believers being redeemed are not immediately caught up into the presence of the Lord to receive their final glory. There is yet the process of sanctification that they attain in their remaining years of service to the lord while on earth. We find an account of this in the matter of the man in the tombs, whom the Lord Jesus tamed, cleansed and clothed.
Mark 5:18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. 20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. 21 ¶ And … Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, …
Here we learn of a demon possessed preacher who wanted to, immediately upon his cleansing, get in the boat and go with the Lord Jesus. But he was refused, and instead commanded to presently begin an evangelistic work that the apostles were not launched into until after his resurrection! (See Matthew 28:18-20).
Even so these sons of Israel were not allowed to bask in the glories of Joseph in Egypt. For here was their instruction: Genesis 45:13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. Not only were they instructed as to where they must go, but what they shall say when they arrived at their place of service. Massive crowds in our land are being deceived by ‘preachers’ on football field sized auditoriums, who are nothing more than ‘motivational speakers!’ But the Apostle Paul stated, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! (1 Corinthians 9:16).
But beware, dear Reader! This deception is the strong delusion sent by the Lord God Himself! And he sends it due to America’s rejection of the pure gospel once preached across her lands! 2 Thessalonians 2:10 … because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
And we take notice that those sent back into the land of Canaan had sinned against the sovereign, and were under the sentence of death. And such was the condition of all sinners, now redeemed and sent back for service! Genesis 42:21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
Psalm 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Luke 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
And as far as their death sentence was concerned, we read; Genesis 42:18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: 20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. And so the sinner has a death sentence upon him! Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
But their sins were confessed and forgiven! Genesis 42:21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
And so it is with those redeemed to do service for the Lord Jesus! 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
And from that moment on, the condemnation of sin’s death is removed! Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
And now they come to know the sovereign on the throne differently than ever before. Genesis 45:4 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. 15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
And so does the redeemed believer come to know the spiritual revelation of the Lord Jesus! He is no longer that ‘picture and stature’ Jesus, presented to him by the Harlot Church! For the Holy Spirit reveals the Lord with true impressions upon the heart! 2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; We no longer know the Lord Jesus after the imaginations of the unregenerate heart! He is neither ‘babe in the manger,’ nor ‘dead man on a Roman cross’ Jesus! For this is one of the most often committed, and one of the most accepted sins across our land! We even have ‘pictures of Jesus’ in our bibles and hanging in our church buildings!
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And in this we corrupt ourselves! For if these images are accurate pictures of God, and we are made in his image, we shall therefore also obtain a wrongful impression of ourselves! Deuteronomy 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
Jesus Christ can no longer, since his resurrection, be seen as before. 2 Corinthians 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And they all left Egypt to return to Canaan with a new garment! Genesis 45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.
And so did the man in the tombs, who was sent back to witness to his people of the wondrous works of Christ! Mark 5:15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
All believers are now clothed in the new garment of Christ’s righteousness! Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
“Dressed in his righteousness alone;
Faultless to stand before his throne.”
For it is the world’s awareness of this new righteousness upon the one they previously knew as a sinner, that causes them to know something supernatural has occurred. For all generations had not the bible. But all generations had the witness of practical righteousness shinning forth into their realm of darkness! Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
1 Peter 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation (‘manner of life’), of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation (‘manner of life’), coupled with fear.
Now we must take note that in our text, listed at the beginning of this article, the unbeliever they eventually brought back with them to the sovereign’s presence, begins to be called by a spiritual name once he believes. For when he believes not he is constantly called, “Jacob.” And his unbelief is caused by a heart problem. And so it is with every unbeliever. Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
But once he believes he is immediately called, Israel. Jacob is his earthly name. Israel is his spiritual name given to him by God. And so every believer is identified by God in his new identity. Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
And what are the two things listed in verse twenty seven that changed his heart? First it is said that it was when they told him the words of Joseph. And so it is with the sinner who is enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Luke 10:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
And secondly it was when he saw the wagons! And how do we benefit spiritually from these wagons? What was their purpose? They were the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him into the sovereign’s presence. And to do so Joseph had to believe that Joseph was alive. THAT is the character of God-granted faith!
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
“E’re since by faith I saw the stream,
Thy flowing wounds supply;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.”
And lastly we note that Israel took all his family and all his possessions. But wouldn’t that ‘lose them their place in line?’ Were they not to have Canaan as their promise land? Yes! And Pharaoh had told them to regard not your stuff (Gen. 45:20). But true, God-granted faith has the Lord as both it’s source and it’s object! It is derived from the Lord and it fastens itself upon the Lord. For the Lord is our portion! Psalm 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. Genesis 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Pastor Gene Breed
October 19, 2016
