Genesis 50:22-26 | Sermon Resources | 22 August 2021
Sermon Summary
Many of us don’t recognize we are wealthy, but if you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, then you are richer than 75 per cent of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, then you are among the top eight per cent of the world’s wealthy.[1] And most of us have a lot more than that. This week we will look at Joseph – someone who had land, money, and lived in one of the great superpower countries of his day. Genesis 41:49 records that, “Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.” We need to understand this backdrop in order to appreciate Joseph’s unusual request at the end of his life. He actually makes his brothers swear to carry up his bones when God visits them. What does he mean by this? When and why is God going to visit them, and where is he asking them to take his bones? The answer has very practical implications for our lives as the brothers of a greater Joseph.
[1] Cited from https://www.redcross.ca/crc/documents/What-We-Do/Emergencies-and-Disasters-WRLD/education-resources/lucky_ones_povdisease.pdf
Discussion Questions
- What things do you have in common with Joseph?
- Read Proverbs 30:8-9. Why is this prayer significant for us today?
- Why did Joseph request for his bones to be carried up from Egypt? What is the importance of the request? Why is it an act of faith, according to Hebrews 11:22?
- In the midst of all the financial planning for Egypt and the surrounding region, Joseph never forgot his identity as an heir of the covenant of Abraham. What evidence does your checkbook ledger and calendar planner tell you about where you are investing your treasure, time, and talents?
- If you are not already using your time and talents to serve the church, what ministry will you sign up to serve in?
- Because Joseph believed in a promised land, he was better equipped to serve the nation where he was temporarily planted. In what ways can you be a blessing to that nation in which you are temporarily planted?
- Jesus knew where he was from and where he was going, yet his mission was to benefit the place of his pilgrimage. What was Jesus’ mission on earth? See Mark 10:45.
- What are the parallels between Joseph saving his family and Jesus saving his family?
- John Newton wrote about the promised land, “Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show; solid joys and lasting treasure none but Zion’s children know.” Are you longing for a pyramid, for earthly fame, or will you humble yourself and by faith receive a room in the promised land that has been paid in full and is being fully furnished by that greater Joseph?
