Do Not Bury Me Here

And at the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fish shall be your own as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households and as food for your little ones.

So Joseph wisely preserves the vested interest of the Egyptian workforce in its own fruitfulness, which is ultimately good both for the workers and Pharaoh. In fact, Moses adds in verse 26 that this policy of giving the fifth to Pharaoh still stood in his day. So over 400 years later, the policy is still in place. It must have worked well. Also, a tax rate of one-fifth is quite low by both ancient and modern standards. A couple of scholars mentioned that even then, typical rates were a third or more. And today, I mean, even here in the land of the free, our total tax burden is much higher than that. If you think about it, there's federal income taxes, state taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, payroll taxes, corporate taxes, hidden taxes on all sorts of things like imports and travel and gasoline. Most estimates I could find of the American total tax burden were above 50%. So one-fifth is a pretty generous arrangement. And then besides all that, What Joseph does actually just formalizes and perpetuates the very same tax that was already collected during the seven years of plenty. Remember that Joseph had said back in chapter 41, let the Pharaoh collect one-fifth. You know, so as one scholar commented,

Joseph's economic policy simply made Egypt, in fact, what it already was in theory. The land became Pharaoh's property and its inhabitants, his tenants.

So in other words, this would not have felt drastically different to the Egyptians. I think that's probably why they feel so grateful and pleased with the arrangement. Then six, consider that the Egyptians themselves were not without personal responsibility for failing to prepare for the famine. Because remember, during the seven years of plenty, Joseph established storehouses in all the cities and gathered up one-fifth of all the grain every year. So it wasn't like it was some big secret that a famine was expected. Probably rumors of Pharaoh's dreams and Joseph's interpretation had gotten out. And also if you think about it, if one-fifth of the grain was gathered during each of these seven years of plenty, and that was enough to feed all the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan for seven years, then that means that these seven years of plenty were so plentiful that the four-fifths of the grain that the people kept should have been enough. I mean, had the people only saved and managed the grain they had, they could have prepared for this famine on their own. But instead, apparently they either sold the extra to Joseph or squandered it in other ways because they either didn't believe the famine was really coming or they assumed it wouldn't be as severe as it was. So as John Calvin says,

many of these once rich Egyptian landowners are now reaping the consequences of their own greed and negligence.

So we shouldn't cast the Egyptians as just pure, innocent victims here. Also, we should note that Joseph was quite wise to propose this centralized system of storing grain because it would have been simpler to just warn everybody, hey, store up grain for seven years. I don't think they would have listened. So Joseph's method actually secures their salvation. And then seventh and finally, we should note Joseph's motivations. They seem pure. Verse 14 says,

Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

You know, he doesn't skim some off the top. He's not enriching himself through this. He's dutifully, faithfully, with integrity, delivering the money where it belongs to Pharaoh. And then Joseph's own love for the Egyptians comes through. I think most of all, when you get to chapter 50, verse 20, where he tells his brothers,

as for you, you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people's lives.

In other words, Joseph viewed himself as sent there by God to save Egyptian lives. He cares for the people. He wants to help them and he's thankful that God has brought him there so that he could save lives. And so for all these reasons, far from criticizing Joseph's management here, I think we're supposed to see his wisdom. We're meant to agree with the Egyptians, he has saved their lives. We're meant to marvel at his wisdom that that even as he preserves the interests of the people and and saves lives at the same time, he's dutifully serving Pharaoh as well. Fulfilling the blessing that Jacob had proclaimed on the Pharaoh earlier in this chapter. You see, this Pharaoh had blessed Abraham's family, and now he is reaping blessing from God. And it sets up the contrast that we find in the beginning of the book of Exodus, where 400 years later, a new Pharaoh arises who doesn't remember Joseph, who almost criminally has forgotten all the good that Joseph had done for their nation. And so he curses Abraham's family and is destroyed by God. And so through this time of great international crisis, when verse 13 says the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished, the people and the animals of the land are fainting, wilting. I mean, this is a time where people are desperate in desperate straits, a time when you might expect there to be riots and strife and all sorts of unrest. Joseph has held the nation together. He has maintained stability, order, preserved life, maintained peace. I mean, he's rationed the food just right. He's distributed it in a way that seems fair to all. There's unanimous praise for his administration here. And through all of this, Joseph secures the greatest prosperity and blessing for his own family as well. You see, had Joseph mismanaged things during this famine, had he fallen out of favor with Pharaoh, had he displeased the people, the safety and security of his family would be in jeopardy. But it's because Joseph manages things so well, he's an Egyptian hero. The Pharaoh loves him, the people love him, probably the priests love him. And this popularity enables him to secure the very best for his family and the covenant people of God. And that is his ultimate goal. We shouldn't read this as if Joseph is there to try to reform Egypt into the most biblical system of government. He's there trying to use the position God has given him within the system he's in to prioritize the interests of God's covenant people while doing as much good for the Egyptians as he can in the process. And the point is, Joseph's administration exemplifies Proverbs 8, verse 15, which says,

by wisdom, kings reign and rulers decree what is just. By me, princes rule and nobles, all who govern justly.

It's a picture of what David says in 2 Samuel, chapter 23. He writes,

when one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light. Like the sun shining forth on a cloud this morning. Like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

What a picture of good authority. Just like the sun and the rain that brings fruitfulness and life. And Joseph is an example of that. Here in a time of drought and famine, his leadership for this nation is like the sun shining and rain coming that brings forth fruitfulness and life. Joseph saves Egypt. Now, what's the significance of this for us? I mean, how should we apply this to our lives? Well, two ways in particular. First, we should strive to be like Joseph. I mean, if the Egyptians were so greatly blessed to have Joseph leading and serving among them as one of God's people, then how I would pray that our communities, our workplaces, and our nation would be blessed to have us as Christians here among them. I mean, what a testimony it would be for our community to be able to say, good thing Jefferson Park Baptist Church was here. We are so blessed to have this church in our community. What a blessing they've been to us. I mean, certainly there's one reason it was such a joy to see, you know, so many helping out with soccer camp, as we mentioned earlier in the service. I mean, what an opportunity to bring tangible blessing to kids and families and, you know, some of whom wouldn't have had the opportunity to even enjoy a soccer camp. They get to hear the Word of God. You know, they get to be well fed. I mean, praise God for, you know, those who brought food and cooked food. I mean, what a blessing that is. I pray that there would be more opportunities like that where we could serve our community well. You know, I look forward to the day when we get to meet people who are able to say, because of your Way Truth Life ministry, I mean, I would have been aborted, but you have saved our lives. Like the Egyptians to Joseph, I would pray that we would bring the blessing of physical life through our ministry and our service in the community. I pray that this would be true of us individually as well. I mean, just like Joseph serving Pharaoh, what an advantage it should be to your employer just to have a Christian working for him or her. To have an employee who's honest, who's hardworking, who cares just as much for the welfare of others as for yourself. And then especially for those of us who serve in positions of leadership or authority, you know, as teachers, school principals, professors, business owners, managers, you know, we have students who aspire to go into politics. I mean, may you, like Joseph, have wisdom to maintain multiple competing interests and to figure out how to bring blessing to them all. May you have wisdom to know how to serve God faithfully within the system you're in, even if it's just as imperfect and broken as the government of Egypt. I pray that God would give you that kind of wisdom so that you can use your position and your authority to bring blessing to all who are in your care. So let us strive to be like Joseph. But secondly, Let us look to the greater Joseph. Notice again, verse 25. It says,

and the Egyptians said, you have saved our lives. May it please my Lord. We will be servants to Pharaoh.

Right? So they called Joseph their Lord and savior. And then they gladly offer themselves as servants or slaves to Pharaoh. Now, if the Egyptians do that because Joseph saved them from a famine, how much more should we offer ourselves as servants and slaves of God because Jesus has saved us from our sins? I mean, Jesus hasn't merely saved our lives. He saved our souls. He hasn't merely saved us from starvation, but from eternal torment in hell. He hasn't just shown us kindness in governing wisely. In love, he has laid down his very life for us, dying for our sins under the wrath of God in our place on the cross. I mean, how much more should we offer ourselves willingly, even gladly and joyfully, as slaves of God because of Christ? As 1 Corinthians 6 says,

you are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body.

You see, God is not worthy merely of just the first portion of our time, just the 10% of our money, just some of our lives. He's worthy of all of it. God owns us. We belong to him. He owns us first because he created us. He's given us everything that we have. But he doubly owns us because he bought us. with the precious blood of Christ shed on the cross for our sins. And so let us remember this morning the parable of the talents. You know, if Joseph made the Egyptians tenant farmers for Pharaoh, well, think about how God, Christ, has made us tenant farmers for God. He's given us talents. He's given us resources that we're supposed to use for our father's glory. So what are you doing with them? Are we just burying them in the ground? Are we just stockpiling things, treating it as if it's all for us? Or are we investing them for God's kingdom and glory? As I said at the beginning, don't let present prosperity steal your longing for the inheritance of God. And one of the ways we do that is by remembering that all that we have here belongs to him. It's entrusted to us to serve the mission he's given us, not to be hoarded, not to be buried, but to be used. So look to the greater Joseph, set your heart on what God has promised so that you may serve him gladly now. So Joseph saves Egypt. Well, let's look now at the second section. which is God prospers Israel. So, number two, God prospers Israel. This is verses 11 and 12 and verses 27 and 28. And notice that verses 11 and 12 and then verses 27 and 28 are kind of like bookends around verses 13 through 26. Okay, so in verses 11 and 12 it says that Joseph settled his family and gave them a possession in the best of the land, in the land of Ramesses. And by the way, that's just another name for the land of Goshen, because by Moses' day, the city of Ramesses was built there. And Joseph provides food for them, even down to the number of the little children in their households. So they don't have to purchase grain like the Egyptians. Then as we've seen, verses 13 through 26 come in the middle, and that narrates Joseph's wise management of Egypt throughout the famine. But then verse 27 comes back to tell us what happened to Israel during this time. And it says,

thus, Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

Okay, so in other words, Israelite provision and prosperity bookends the account of Joseph managing Egypt in verses 13 through 26. And there's a few things to note here. First, I believe this is the first time Israel is used in a corporate sense. Notice verse 27 says, Israel settled in Egypt and they gained possessions, right? group of Jacob's descendants that's rapidly multiplying into a great multitude is now called Israel. Second, note that this is fulfilling God's promise in chapter 46 verse 3. God had come to Jacob as he sort of feared going down to Egypt. He's waiting in Beersheba. God came to him in a night vision and said,

do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.

And now, in spite of a famine, in spite of being in a foreign land, we see God fulfilling that promise. He's multiplying them. He's being faithful. Third, note that this language echoes the creation mandate. So in Genesis 1, verse 28, it says of mankind, and Adam and Eve when God makes them,

and God blessed them, and God said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.

And now we read of Israel,

they gained possessions and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

So God blesses them, they're fruitful and they multiply. And you may remember from a couple sermons ago, I pointed out that there were the 70 of Israel that came down into Egypt and how that corresponds to the 70 from the table of nations in Genesis chapter 10. And they argued that Israel is being presented like a new humanity, as the heirs to a new creation, just like the offspring of Noah were the heirs of this creation. Well, I think this is another hint that that's what's going on. God is blessing the Israelites and making them fruitful and multiplying them, just like he blessed and commissioned Adam and Eve in the garden. It's signaling to us that through this people will come the promised seed, who's going to crush the serpent's head, who's going to reverse the curse, who's going to restore Eden, who's going to bring back, bring about this new creation that will be like Eden all over again. And the point is all of God's promises are tied together. This is a sign that God has remembered them and God is being faithful to them all. Then fourth, notice the contrast between the Israelites and the Egyptians. As we've seen, it's not that the Egyptians are cursed. They're blessed in the sense of being spared from the famine. It's as if the Israelite blessing spills over to them. But the Israelites themselves, are blessed to a far greater degree. You see, the Egyptians have to sell their lands. The Israelites receive land. The Egyptians have to sell their livestock. The Israelites gain possessions and livestock. The Egyptians become slaves who are just happy and thankful to have survived. The Israelites are fruitful and multiply greatly as they thrive. You see, they are experiencing extraordinary blessing and prosperity from God in every way. I mean, for the Israelites, this is like streams in a desert. I mean, here they are in a foreign land in the midst of a famine, and they are being fruitful and abounding in spite of it all. Also in verse 28, note the beautiful symmetry in Jacob's life. Verse 28 says,

Jacob lived 17 years in the land of Egypt,

Just as Joseph, and this is just as Joseph had lived 17 years in Canaan. For the first, for 17 years, Jacob had treasured Joseph as his precious son. Then he thought he lost him. But now God gives him 17 more years with Joseph. Seeing Joseph reign as this leader of Egypt, as a national hero. For the first 17 years of Joseph's life, Jacob had provided for him. Now for the last 17 years of Jacob's life, Joseph provides for him. There's a beautiful symmetry. It just reminds us of God's kindness to Jacob. And this whole section, I mean, what we see here is the generosity, the kindness, the goodness, and the faithfulness of God. God is richly blessing his people with extraordinary prosperity. And, you know, we often talk about how God uses trials, how he uses evil for good, and it's right that we do that. But I wonder if sometimes we can almost become allergic to talk of God's present blessings and prosperity because it's been so perverted by prosperity preachers. I think this is a reminder we can't allow those who would distort this teaching for taking it away from us. God is good and generous towards his children. He's kind. He's not stingy. Yes, there will be days of slavery in Egypt for Israel to come. But these are days of God's extraordinary, tangible blessing. And the point is, we should enjoy and be grateful for God's good gifts. That's the key application here. Be grateful for, enjoy God's good gifts. Don't allow yourself to start to think of God as a hard master, like the servant from the parable of the talents that just buried it in the ground. Don't think of him as a God who never wants you to enjoy things, who never wants you to have fun. Don't be like a child who's afraid to smile as he opens Christmas presents. Your heavenly father wants you to enjoy his good gifts. And in many ways, he does bless us with present prosperity. I mean, he gives us families, marriages and children. He's given us this church and good friends. He gives us food to eat in abundance. Many of us have healthy bodies. We get to go out and enjoy the beauty of his creation. We get to work and create and explore. There is so much good that God gives us in this life. He is generous, kind, and faithful. Listen to Psalm 65. David writes,

you make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. You visit the earth and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide their grain for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty. Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow. The hills gird themselves with joy. The meadows clothe themselves with flocks. The valleys deck themselves with grain. They shout and sing together for joy.

And what a picture of just looking out at a fruitful landscape and just standing in awe of the abundance and the goodness of God. We should recognize that and praise God for it. You see, the way that we protect ourselves from allowing present prosperity to steal our longing for our future inheritance is not by disparaging it. It's not by rejecting God's good gifts. It's not by refusing to enjoy them. It's not by trying to convince ourselves that those gifts aren't really good. It's by remembering where it all comes from. You see, the moment that Jacob and the Israelites would have begun to think that they were blessed because of Egypt is the moment they would have lost their yearning for the promised land. But their blessing wasn't because of Egypt. It was in spite of Egypt. It was because of the supernatural and amazing work and gift of God. And they had to remember, this is the God who said, I will go down to Egypt with you. I am the one who's going to bless you. All the blessings they're experiencing are coming from his hand. And if you remember that, that's why Jacob knows this is also the God who said, I will also bring you up from here. He knows in his heart, I want to be where God is. I want to be with the source of these blessings. You see, we need to cultivate this sort of gratitude to God for his gifts that reflects the firm conviction that this is where they all come from. You see, you won't cling to the things of this world when you realize it's not the world that gave them to you. It's not you who got them. They're gifts of the God who calls you up to his inheritance where he will give you so much more. You see, present prosperity is like a foretaste of what's yet to come. It's not given to fill us. It shouldn't satisfy our appetites, but increase our desire and yearning for what's yet to come. To remind us that the God who gives us the good things now is the God who is capable and will give us so much more then. So enjoy and be grateful for God's good gifts, but allow it to not steal, but increase your yearning for what God has promised you to come. So, we've seen that Joseph saves Egypt and God prospers Israel. Now thirdly and finally, Jacob prepares to die. This is verses 29 through 31, Jacob prepares to die. Verse 29 tells us

the time drew near that Israel must die.

So either he's sick or he's weakening in such a way that he knew his days were about to end. And so he calls his son Joseph and says,

if now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt. but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.

Now this is reminiscent of what Abraham did before he sent his servant to go and find a wife for Isaac. He said, put your hand under my thigh. So this is a cultural way of signifying an important promise. It shows us that where Jacob is buried is of the same category of importance to him as whom Isaac married was to Abraham. Also note that Jacob addresses Joseph, his son, with, if I have found favor in your sight. And that's a bit shocking because this is something that the lesser would say to the greater. So why is the father saying this to the son? Well, I think it reflects the fact that Joseph is the one ruling Egypt. And Jacob knows that his request is going to affect him as that leader. You know, if it was an easy thing for Joseph to just leave Egypt and go to Canaan, you know, can you imagine that he would have just sent his brothers to go get his father the first time? I mean, I think he would have gone himself. This is a long trip. It's going to be very difficult for him to leave the management of a nation behind to fulfill this. And yet Jacob says, promise to deal kindly and truly with me. So he stakes this request on the full weight of their relationship. By your own kindness and truthfulness to me, I'm asking you to do this. And then he says, don't bury me in Egypt. Bury me in the tomb of my fathers, which is in the cave in Machpelah. And just consider how huge a request this is. I mean, first, the journey to Canaan is long and hard. We're talking months of travel to go there and back, a huge expense, a huge undertaking for his whole family. Second, as I already mentioned, there's a huge request of Joseph himself. He's being taken away from managing a nation. Third, consider that this risks insulting the Egyptians. I mean, they've welcomed this family into their land, provided for them, treated them well. Why would he refuse to be buried there? What's wrong with Egypt? And yet in spite of all of this, being buried in Canaan is so important to Jacob that he makes Joseph promise to do it, leveraging their whole relationship, and then even after Joseph says,

I will do as you have said,

Jacob again says, swear to me. So Joseph swore to him. So he makes doubly sure that Joseph will feel totally obligated to carry out this request No matter what. And then Jacob bows himself on the head of his bed in worship. Worshiping God for granting this request. Now why is this so important to Jacob? Why make his family go through all this trouble? Why is he so adamant, do not bury me here? Well as I said at the beginning, it shows that all the prosperity he's enjoyed in Egypt has not even in the slightest dulled his yearning for the promised land. The promised inheritance of God means more to him than all the treasures of Egypt. And as I said, his concern isn't just for himself or his comfort, it's for his family. He wants his final act to be an act of faith, a testimony to his family of the faithfulness of God and where their inheritance lies, even for generations to come. I mean, Jacob is looking forward to that day 400 years later when his descendants will come back into the land of Canaan and they will see his bones there as a testimony to God's great faithfulness. As the author of Hebrews says of Abel, when he said,

though he died, yet he still speaks through his blood.

I think we could say of Jacob, though he dies, yet he too will still speak through his bones, testifying to the faithfulness of God. And amazingly, this act of him bowing in worship here is what the author of Hebrews chooses to include as the example of faith from Jacob's life in Hebrews chapter 11. I mean, if I were writing Hebrews 11 and thinking, how do I exemplify Jacob's faith? I mean, I'd probably pick him wrestling with God. You might think of when he saw the angels ascending and descending in the vision at Bethel, and when he faces his brother Esau, maybe even when he's in Beersheba, thinking about coming, leaving the promised land to go to Egypt. But the author of Hebrews says,

by faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph,

and that's what we'll talk about next week,

bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

And that's a reference to what he does right here. In all of his 147 year life, this is singled out as one of, if not the most significant demonstrations of his faith. And it's because Jacob is testifying to where his inheritance lies. He's worshiping God that he will lie there knowing that that's where his offspring will be in the end. And for instance, this brings us to our final point of application, which is again, the main idea of the whole message. Don't let present prosperity steal your longing for the inheritance of God. We live in such a way that you may die in faith. Think about how your funeral and your burial can be a testimony to where your inheritance truly lies. I mean, God has given us a greater inheritance than Canaan. He's promised us eternal life in his presence, in a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. You know, last week we talked about living as sojourners. Well, Jacob came to Egypt as a sojourner, and even after 17 years of prosperity, he never forgot. That's what he was. Friends, may we learn how to enjoy present prosperity to the degree that God would give it, and yet never forget that sojourners is what you and I are as well. And present prosperity is not a sign that this world is home. It's a foretaste of the greater inheritance to come. It's a reminder that the God who told Jacob, go to Egypt for there I will multiply you, is faithful and true. And he is the God who brought Jacob and brought his descendants up out of Egypt again, that he might give them a greater inheritance. And as we think about death specifically, as you think about your own death, May you, like Jacob, approach it as a final act of faith. You know, at the end of Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan portrays it like crossing a river, a river that's depth is proportional or dependent on the strength of your faith. So the strong in faith just marches through triumphant. The weak in faith flounders in struggles in the depth of the river. You know, I think death really forces us. It's really a measure of faith because more than anything else in our lives, it forces us to acknowledge we cannot contribute anything to our salvation of our own. I mean, in death, we're helpless. In death, it's too late to make future resolutions, to think, well, I'm going to get my life on track. I'm going to do something great for God. In death, we have no ability to work for or earn our salvation. In fact, death itself really is a sign that we've all fallen short. It's the reminder that the wages of sin is death. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We were all guilty before him. All we can do in death is cast ourselves on the mercies of Christ, resting finally and forever on him alone. And if you're here today resting in anything besides Christ for salvation, hoping that anything you could do could somehow earn your standing before God, as you think about that final day when judgment comes, when you stand before God being judged for your life, and you're just hoping that maybe your heart was good, maybe you did enough religious things, maybe something else could save you. Ask yourself, is that how you wanna cross the river of death in the end? Is that really what you're gonna rest in, where your confidence is gonna lie? Will you cast yourself on Christ? Will you trust in the one who not only died for our sins, but rose victorious from the dead? Believe and be saved through Christ today. And then as all of us, even those who believe in Christ, think about death, let it be a reminder that all of our present prosperity in this life has a bitter taste in the end. Because no matter how sweet our fellowship, no matter how wonderful our families, no matter how lovely all of God's gifts of health and beauty and vitality are, all of it in this life is coming to an end. The curse of sin and death still looms over all. That's why this world is not our home. So friends, keep your eyes on Christ. Look to him as you look ahead even to death. And don't let present prosperity steal your longing for the inheritance that God has promised to us. Amen, let's pray. Father, how we thank you so much for this message. Thank you for Jacob. The testimony that his dying wishes were, not only to his family, but to us. The reminder of the great and glorious inheritance that you have in store for us, for all who believe in Christ. Oh God, we pray that by your grace we would live well, We pray that by your grace we would die well, that we would die in faith, crossing over to that shore, bold and confident and rejoicing in Christ and all that he's done for us. It's in his name we pray, amen.