Title: The Old Ages and Wills of Joseph
Contents
Bible Text: Genesis 50:22-26
Joseph's Old Age and Wills
Koreans love to eat. They say they eat anything. When the new year comes, I get older and eat rice cake soup. The doctor's words to the patient who had surgery to eat well, without choosing food, say, "Eat whatever you are, don't just age."
It's not just food. They say they eat their hearts, they swear, they eat their champions. The international call that Hong Soo-hwan won by KO and said, “I ate my champ!” is an unforgettable memory. In a soccer match, he conceded one goal and said “I ate one”. It is said that the words they say after hitting the opponent with their fists are said to have given them one bite.
Psychologically, he said he was afraid and had a hard time. Words also work in language communication. They say it doesn't work. There was a time when Joseph dreamed of being 17, and he became prime minister at 30, but now he is old. One hundred and ten years old.
“Joseph died when he was one hundred and ten years old, and they put incense on him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt” (verse 26).
Blessings of healthy old age and offspring
“I saw the third generation of the children of Ephraim, and the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up by Joseph” (verse 23).
Joseph lived a long life in good health and saw children of his children. Ephraim was the second son of Joseph. We saw the third generation of Ephraim. Manasseh is Joseph's eldest son. Even the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, grew up under Joseph.
“Behold, children are the inheritance of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward; the children of young men are like arrows in the hand of a merchant; blessed is the man whose quiver is full... (Psalm 127:3-5)
A golden jewel is a lifeless treasure, but a child is a living treasure. Land and wealth are corporations, but children are more precious blessings than houses and land. It is said that the children of a young man are like “arrows in the water.” Children are not a burden. It is a God-given company. Even if life is difficult with a small income, your children will gain the door of the enemy in the future (Genesis 22:17). When parents grow old, the children they had when they were young grow up and become powerful.
“Gray hair is a crown of glory, it is found in the path of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31).
When I asked an 80-year-old man how old he was, he said, "I think it's 15 years after my age." A sense of humor and being generous with yourself is the spiritual freedom you enjoy in Christ. The older you get, the more mature wisdom you get.
What is old age? Does it mean that you are old physically or that you are mentally mature? Getting old is a biological warfare change that comes to everyone. It is a process in which the body's autonomic nervous system begins to gradually decline. Among the elderly, there are people who think like young people. I asked a 100-year-old man, “What do you think of life so far?” The old man said, "I haven't lived my life yet, so I can't tell you what to say."
“It is not the age that makes a man old, but his youth and old age are in his heart/ The wheel of many years has been rolling, but the one who waits for the Lord/ The word of God does not change, that he will always remain young.” unknown)
There is a saying that a person ages as much as he feels. There are two types of age: physical age and mental age, and the mental age dominates the physical age.
“Therefore we do not lose heart, for our outward man is getting old, and our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
“Lord! Whether I live or die is out of my interest. It is my job to love and serve the Lord. We cannot do this without the grace of the Lord. If the life is long, it is good that I can obey the Lord for a long time. If the life is short, the reward I will receive in the future is the same. What would be so sad?” The old man in the Lord is hallelujah! is.
A family that made promises as a corporation
Joseph believes in the promise of God, which he had believed in since the time of Abraham, from generation to generation.
“Israel said to Joseph again, “I am dying, but God will be with you to bring you back to the land of your fathers” (Genesis 48:21). I mean.
“Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will visit you and bring you out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (verse 24).
As Joseph approaches his old age, God's promises become more certain. He believes in the promises of God that his father and grandfather believed. He believed in the promises of God that had been passed down and lived with hope for the land of Canaan.
“I will bring you to the land you swore” We believe that God will bring you to the land of Canaan.
There was a pastor who had twelve children. “You have as many children as Jacob,” he said. “Yes, and I have the God of Jacob who will provide them with what they need.” Are twelve-year-olds the ones who make their parents poor? no. These are the people who make the rich richer.
These days, they are concerned about the cost of their children's education, so they are reluctant to marry or have children. I need a lot of money for child support and education. Then, parents have to suffer. This thought dominates.
Named the world's chief executive officer (CEO) for the past decade, Steve Jobs is a humble birth. It was handed over to adoptive parents just a few weeks after birth. His birth mother was a student, so he was unable to raise him. I grew up in a poor farmer's house. I went to college, but I had no choice but to drop out soon after. But he had dreams and passion. With strong will and charisma, he is leading “Apple” as a global company.
“You must not be lazy, but imitators of those who in faith and perseverance inherit the promise” (Hebrews 6:12).
Joseph inherited the promises of God and established a prestigious family.
“God has sworn an oath to show fully to those who inherit the promise that his will is unchanging, so that we may be greatly comforted by the fact that God cannot lie” (Hebrews). 6:17-18)
Joseph inherited his father's faith in God's promises. Succession is the succession of one's predecessor. May you and your children become heirs of the faith. As Joseph nears his deathbed, his brothers and family are insisting that Hana-nam's promise is true. Even if there were trials and tribulations, I believed that they would eventually lead them to the promised land.
The Magnificent Testament of the Hero of Faith
Everyone has a time to be born and a time to die. Jacob, who won the battle with God, lived for seventeen years in the land of Egypt, and died at the age of one hundred and forty-seven years, and served as the head of state for 70 days under the authority of the prime minister's son (Genesis 47:28, 50:3). After his father, his son Joseph also came to an end.
Joseph made an oath to the children of Israel.
“And Joseph made an oath to the children of Israel, saying, God will surely take care of you, and you will carry my skull up from here” (verse 25).
I am going to die here, but I ask that you not bury me in the land of Egypt, but in the land of Canaan, which God promised. This is Joseph's great testament of faith.
Indeed, the skeleton of faith is visible. Don't anchovies have a skeleton? You must have a framework of faith. “By faith Joseph, on his deathbed, spoke of the departure of the children of Israel, and commanded for his bones” (Hebrews 11:22).
Joseph commanded the children of Israel to leave Egypt, and specifically ordered them to leave with their skeletons. A great will, a great command. But no matter how great the will is, it is of no use unless you listen to it. You have to listen.
There are four levels of listening, and the highest level of listening is contextual listening. It is not just listening to the words, but also listening to the intentions of saying the words in a certain context. The family of faith has contextual listening. Isaac is listening to Abraham, Jacob is listening to Isaac, and Joseph is listening to Jacob in context.
When the children of Israel left Egypt and returned to the Promised Land, they took Joseph's ashes with them. It goes from Exodus to Joshua. “Moses took the ashes of Joseph, for he made the children of Israel swear by them, saying, ‘God will surely visit you, and you shall take my ashes out of here’” (Exodus 13:19).
Joseph's will is kept. Joshua burying the remains of Joseph, which he received from Moses.
“And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought out of Egypt, were buried in Shechem, which is a field that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem.” (Joshua 24:32)
Abraham's family is the inheritance of the word of promise. The inheritance of the children of Israel is the land where Joseph's skull was buried. Prepare your will. Abraham listened to God and his descendants listened to the words of their ancestors.
David said in his will, “Be diligent and become a general manager, keep the commandments of the Lord and walk in his ways, do as the scriptures are written, and you will prosper” (1 Kings 2:2-3).
Joseph came and went. It was a turbulent life. He was a dreamer and a dream come true. Jesus said, “It is finished!” Joseph did it all. He was also generous with his brothers who sold him over. He said, “Do not be grieved or be grieved because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to save lives” (Genesis 4:55). Just as Abraham, the father of faith, followed the Word, his descendants also received the Word and lived.
Joseph's old age was healthy and he saw the third generation. I lived by taking God's promises as my inheritance. Instead of obsessing over the visible, I focused on the invisible. His will was solemn. “Tell me you’re going up with my skull!” How would you like to build your family as a family of faith? Build a prestigious family with faith and glorify God.