Amen. So we're in Genesis 46 now, and we're just continuing this story with Joseph, and
obviously now we've got Jacob back involved. And last week in chapter 45, if you remember,
Joseph revealed himself to his brothers with this big outpouring of emotion. His brothers
were troubled, they were scared, they didn't know what to make of it. He then told them
about the five more years of famine to come, and it was after, if you remember, he showed
individual emotion to each of them that they finally talked. And Joseph wanted them to go
and bring Jacob and all their families to Goshen. Pharaoh sent wagons to collect them all,
and Joseph sent food and clothing too, and warned them not to fall out by the way, if you
remember. And then the chapter ended with verse 25 onwards where it said, and they went up out
of Egypt, came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, 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. 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.
And Israel said, it is enough, Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die.
And then Genesis chapter 46 and verse 1 begins with, and Israel took his journey with all that he
had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. I'm going to
pray and then we'll get started. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for
this chapter of the Bible, Lord, and the many lessons we can get out of it, and the truths we
can get from it. Help me to preach those clearly and in an accurate way that everyone
will just really understand what your word's saying here, and what you want them to hear right now.
And please just fill me with your spirit, Lord, as I preach. I hope everyone will have a
tent of ears, in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Okay, so it said, and Israel took his journey with all that he had
and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifice unto the God of his father Isaac.
Beersheba being the sort of southern boundary of Canaan, so it's kind of en route to Egypt.
I mean, I think it's a little bit southeast really there, and maybe they would have wanted
to go a little bit more southwest. But turn back to chapter 26, it's where Abraham and Abimelek
had entered into an agreement back in Genesis chapter 21, and had also called on the name of
the Lord there. So Abraham at that, you know, at that time there, you know, he'd called out to God.
He had made this agreement in chapter 21. Your turn to chapter 26 though, where Isaac ended up
when striving with the herdman of Gerah to dig wells, if you remember. It said in chapter 26
verse 23, and he went up from thence to Beersheba, and the Lord appeared unto
him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham, thy father fear not, for I am with thee
and will bless thee and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. And he builded an altar
there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants
digged a well. Then Abimelek went to him from Gerah and Ahuzeth, one of his friends, and
Phichol, the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, wherefore come ye to me seeing
ye hate me and have sent me away from you? And they said we saw certainly that the Lord was with
us. And we said, let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a
covenant with thee. Now do us no hurt, as we have not touched you, and as we have done unto thee
nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace, for thou art now blessed of the Lord.
And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. And they rose up betimes, so they're in
Beersheba here, and they rose up betimes in the morning, and swear one to another.
And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. So that was the end of that.
And it came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the
well which they had digged, and said unto him, we have found water. And he called it Sheba,
therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day. So it was a place where Isaac
had built an altar, worshipped the Lord, dug a well which was a success. And I think he
potentially settled here. In Genesis 28, if you want to flick forward to Genesis 28 and verse 10,
Jacob fleeing Esau is said to have left Beersheba. So, you know, we don't know exactly where they
are. We're a couple of chapters on. We just know that we saw that he,
that somewhere he spread his tent, Isaac, and then Jacob flees in verse 10 says,
and Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So whether they settled there,
or whether it's just being a kind of like, often we see it described, you know, from Dan
to Beersheba, that whole land of Canaan, for example, being the southernmost point of that land.
But either way, it's quite a significant place. And here in chapter 46, Jacob has just received
a load of increase from Joseph and Pharaoh, okay, Genesis 45, 23, said unto his father, he
sent after this manna, ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten sheasses laden
with corn and bread and meat for his father, by the way. He's told to come up, they're in the
middle of a famine, but he came to Beersheba where the altar was to offer sacrifices.
That's where he went first. He's about to see the son that he thought was dead for the past 20
something years, and he stops to offer and worship God instead, to offer to and worship God.
And he's, you would have thought you'd have been like, wow, Joseph's alive, he sent all this
stuff, you know, let's get there straight away, we're in the middle of a famine here anyway,
he said he's going to look after us in Egypt. No, he goes to where he's where he's meant to go to
worship God. He goes to offer to God as well, to offer sacrifices. My thoughts are it's probably
his 10%, but regardless, he goes there to offer sacrifices to worship God. Jacob basically
has his priorities straight, that's what I'm trying to say there. And look at verse one,
it said, and Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered
sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. That would have taken time. I mean, sacrifices,
you know, it's not like, oh yeah, quick, you know, cut the fight and everything else. We're talking
about burning the sacrifices, putting effort in, it would have cost a lot. I mean, this is
a time of famine as well. So he's choosing at this time to go and offer sacrifices to God.
And for me, it's just a great example, isn't it? Now whether it's him getting right there, or maybe
he always, you know, he already was right with God, he chose right. At this point in time, I'm
going there first, and it's something that we need to remember as well. In all areas, don't we, to
put God first, to think of God first, when you have a big decision to make, when
you have a problem, when you have an issue. I mean, I actually just, I was saying to my wife
earlier, you know, this is where I failed today. I just, you know, it wasn't anything exciting,
but I just, I hurt my leg slightly this morning, and it took me a while to just pray to God
about it. And it was like, why didn't I just do that straight away? When I did, I said, I said,
I already failed there. I kind of, like, was trying to do this, and do that, trying to massage out this, like,
what felt like a bit of a tear. So it took me a while to just go, oh yeah, God, can you help me
with this? And that's the failing, really, you know, and that's something that we should, we should
always just look to God first, shouldn't we, with everything. So here he's about to go into Egypt,
go to God first. Go to God, get on your knees, offer sacrifices, that's what we should do in all
areas, shouldn't we? Whenever we're going through anything, whether it's minor, like, like what I'm talking
about, or it's a major thing, always go to God, look to God, seek God first. We should always, always
be coming to the Lord before we do anything else, shouldn't we? Verse one, it said, and Israel took his
journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his
father, Isaac. And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob,
and he said, here am I, and he said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt,
for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also
surely bring thee up again, and Joseph shall put his hand upon nine eyes. So I think it's referring
to Joseph taking care of him when he dies, about putting his hand on his eyes. I think it's almost
like he'll be there when you die, you know, he's going to look after you at the end of your
life there. But notice, just with that, on following up from that, how he put God first, and then God
speaks to him. He reassures him that things will work out. And that's something we need to remember
as well, right, that when you put God first, that's when you are going to be reassured.
That's when you're going to know, yeah, I'm going to be okay. When we put God first, we go to God,
we can open our Bibles and just hear God telling us things are going to be okay, things are
going to be right. And when do you not get that assurance, that reassurance, is when we're not
putting God first, we're not thinking about God, and then you're outside of God's will, aren't you?
And then you can't really say, yeah, things are going to be okay. Here, he goes to God,
he offers to God, he puts God first before everything else, and then God responds to him.
Verse five, it said, And Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried
Jacob their father and their little ones and their wives in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent
to carry him. And they took their cattle and their goods which they had gotten in the land
of Canaan and came into Egypt. Jacob and all his seed with him, his sons and his sons' sons
with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
Okay, now I want to read this through once and then I'm going to explain something to you here.
So let's just read through this genealogy through once and I'll explain something afterwards.
I will pause for a couple of bits here though, but it says in verse eight,
And these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt.
Jacob and his sons, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and the sons of Reuben, Haynock and
Phalu and Hezron and Carmi, and the sons of Simeon, Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin,
Zohar and Sheol, the son of a Canaanite-ish woman. So Simeon at some point ended up with
a Canaanite-ish woman and interestingly, he ended up imprisoned by Joseph, didn't he?
And I don't know which side of that prison sentence that was, but you remember he was
imprisoned for probably quite a while. And verse 11 then says, And the sons of Levi, Gershon,
Kohath and Merari. And then we've got the other guy that ended up with a Canaanite-ish woman, Judah,
and the sons of Judah, Ur and Onan, and Sheila and Phares and Zerah, but Ur and Onan died in the
land of Canaan, and the sons of Phares were Hezron and Hamel. So those sons were from Shua,
another Canaanite-ish woman, that didn't end well either. So both of these guys that ended up
with their Canaanite-ish women, well they didn't really have a good go of things either,
did they? You see a bit of what seems to be, well, whether or not you want to call it chastisement,
or at least things didn't go well for them. Here, I mean with Judah, his sons died. Verse 13
says, And the sons of Iskar, Tolah and Fuva and Job and Shimron, and the sons of Zebulun,
Syred and Elon and Jahlil. These be the sons of Leah, which she bear unto Jacob and
Padanaran with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and
three. Now, Leah, his first wife, being by far the most fruitful we see here, and the sons of Gad,
Ziphion and Haggai, Shuni and Esbon, Eri and Arodi and Erelai, and the sons of Asher, Jimna and
Ishua and Izuai and Beriah and Serah, their sister, and the sons of Beriah, Heba and Malkiel.
These are the sons of Zilber, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bear unto
Jacob even sixteen souls. The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, Joseph and Benjamin, and unto
Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Azanath the daughter
of Potipharah the priest of Vombeir unto him. And the sons of Benjamin were Beelah and Beekah
and Ashbel, Gerah and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Mupim and Hupim and Ard. So Benjamin had ten sons, by the way.
That's ten sons there, which considering that twins ran in the family, I'm assuming there might
be. I mean, we don't really know exactly how old he was, but he was young to have ten sons.
Maybe some of those were twins, triplets, etc. I don't know. Verse 22, these are the sons of
Rachel, which were born to Jacob, all the souls were fourteen. And sons of Dan, Hushim, and the
sons of Naphtali, Jarziel and Gunai, and Jezah and Shilam. These are the sons of Bilhah, which
Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bear these unto Jacob, all the souls were seven.
All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, beside Jacob's
sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six, that's sixty-six. And the sons of Joseph,
which were born him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, which
came into Egypt, were threescore and ten, now that's seventy. Right, now I don't know if anyone's aware
here, but this passage of scripture has led to people claiming scribal errors, translation errors,
any error will do, basically. Any error will do, rather than just try to make sense of the
passage. And the reason I say that is that if you count from verse eight to fifteen,
the numbers don't seem to add up at first. So verse eight said, these are the names of the
children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, it continues
then, verse fifteen says, these be the sons of Leah, so it's talking about the sons of Leah,
which he bear unto Jacob and Padan around with his daughter, Dinah. All the souls of his
sons and his daughters were thirty and three. However, if you've ever tried counting this up,
or ever seen these criticisms, if you count up all the names and you actually get thirty-four,
now of course Judah's son Zor and Onan died in Canaan, but that would then make it thirty-two,
not thirty-three, wouldn't it? Okay, and if you keep the two to thirty-three number,
then the final calculations don't seem to work either. Verse twenty-six, if you just jump forward
for a minute, says, all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins,
besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were threescore and six. Then the sons of Joseph,
which were born him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob,
which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten. So with the other sixteen we see,
fourteen and seven of the four wives, sixteen, fourteen and seven, making thirty-seven,
plus thirty-three is seventy. But who then were the sixty-six that came with him,
as it's only Joseph and his sons that did it? Yeah? And if you add Jacob to it,
then it's seventy-one coming into Egypt, with those seventy, if you count the numbers up.
Now, the critics will think something like, it's an error, God must not have had the math skills
of the scholars nowadays, or even, you don't even have to be a scholar, you can literally go,
that's what I did, I just went through it and counted each one. Okay, I can see where, you
know, what the problem is. But we're going to look closely at verse eight, which said this.
Verse eight said, and these are the names of the children of Israel, notice this second part,
which came into Egypt. And if anyone wants to, you know, I don't know if you really want to,
while I'm preaching this, but afterwards please add it up and you'll see what I'm talking about
here. But notice it said, these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt,
it says Jacob and his sons, then it says Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, then we see the list of names.
However, verse 15 said, of the sons that she bear unto Jacob in Padanaram with his daughter
Dina, and then all the souls of his sons and his daughters, and notice the plural of daughters
there, you notice that? It said in verse 15, these were the sons of Leah which she bear unto
Jacob in Padanaram, so we just had a list of people, and his daughter Dina, all the souls of
his sons and his daughters were thirty and three. So I read it, this is what I read it, that there
were 33 alive, okay, which she bear unto Jacob in Padanaram, okay. However, and obviously, you know,
with that we're including offspring of theirs as well, however the ones named came into Egypt
which were 32. So remember, verse 8 said, and these are names of the children of Israel which
came into Egypt, so we get the names of children of Israel which came into Egypt, which if you count up
at 32. However, then in verse 15 it says, these be the sons of Leah which she bear unto Jacob
in Padanaram, with his daughter Dina, all the souls of his sons and his daughters
were thirty and three. So all the souls were thirty and three, but the ones that came into Egypt
were actually 32 if you count up the names. So for me, and this is what I believe, and again
you can't be dogmatic with this, I think there was another daughter. In fact, the wording could
suggest that Dina also bear a child. So have a look at the wording again, it says, these be the
sons of Leah which she bear unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dina, all the souls
of his sons and his daughters, plural now, were thirty and three. Now if you remember the Shechem
drama in verse 34 where Dina was fornicating, well that happened before Joseph went to Egypt
over 20 years before this point. So perhaps, and again just a theory here, perhaps there was a child
from that fornication, it didn't then go to Egypt. Because if you take the number 32, with a
daughter left behind, or someone left behind, whatever you want to think about that, add 16 from
verse 18, add 14 from verse 22, add 7 from verse 35, you have 69. Minus Joseph and his sons born
in Egypt, and you have the 66 from verse 26. Said all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt,
which came out of his loins, so remember these ones that came with Jacob, not that already there,
besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls of three, score and six. Add those three again,
Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob himself, and you have the 70 from verse 27. And the sons of
Joseph which were born him in Egypt were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob which
came into Egypt now were three, score and 10. So no error, just that one soul didn't come into Egypt.
That's the point. One soul that was born unto them didn't come into Egypt, there's no error there.
And then when Stephen relays the story in Acts 7, you don't have to turn it, it just says in
Acts 7, 14, then sent Joseph and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred three, score and
15 souls, that's 75, that's including Jacob's sons' wives. So 67 with Joseph, plus eight
wives with Judas having died, Simeon seemingly moving on to Canaanite-ish women, and one other
wife not making it. Again, we don't know who. So no error, there's no error there, just people
that want to see an error, well there isn't. That's what happens, it's one of those things
I wonder what people say about this, there's all sorts out there. People coming out with
all sorts of weird conspiracies and other people, it's a scribal error, it's a
this and that, oh and the translation's wrong, and it's like no no, because we know that the
Word of God is true, we can trust every word of this, and when you look through it and just
break it down like that, it's actually pretty clear. It's pretty clear if you just read it for what it says.
No error. My Bible says in Psalm 12 verses 6 to 7, the words of the Lord are pure words.
As silver tried in the furnace of earth purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt
preserve them from this generation forever. So as opposed to there being an error, for me
it seems to be hinting back to Dina, probably, and what happened with Shekin, and basically just
the terrible results of fornication, because you've got Judah with that woman,
I don't know, it said he went into this certain Canaanitish woman,
I mean that ended up horrendously with two sons dying and then that whole mess afterwards with
his kind of daughter-in-law. You've got Simeon who ends up with a Canaanitish woman
and at some point is imprisoned as well. And then you've got the whole Dina situation
and what an absolute mess that was, and I think probably ended up with
maybe, I think, probably an adult daughter, hence it's saying daughters, plural,
who probably unsurprisingly didn't really want to get involved with a family who slaughtered
her father and his whole family. Maybe, again, that's just a theory.
Again, I'm not preaching that as some, you know, some gospel truth there, but it's
that makes sense to me. It said daughters, plural, and when you look at the wording, okay, yeah,
33 were born, but when you add up the names it was 32 that came down, which makes it all
make sense, and one was left behind. I think, again, that's just the results of fornication,
and I think that's what we're seeing in that genealogy as a main point being is just
the wrecking of lives that's a result of fornication. It just destroys lives, destroys all
sorts. You end up with, you know, wayward kids, people that, and by the way, this is in the middle
of a famine. They're all going to die, and one of these, one of Jacob's offspring, or offspring
of offspring, someone didn't come along, didn't come along with them, and I'll tell you what
probably happened to that person. They probably ended up dying, and how sad is that, right?
And again, I think that's probably why, but, you know, there could be some different
theories as to who that person was, but there was definitely one person that was born
that was in Canaan that didn't come to Egypt, and that's how those numbers work.
Verse 28 said, and he sent Judah before him unto Joseph to direct his face unto Goshen,
and they came into the land of Goshen. So Goshen had already been offered,
so this is to meet Joseph there, and Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel,
his father to Goshen, and presented himself unto him, and he fell on his neck and wept on his neck
a good while. Now that must have been an emotional reunion, yeah, you can imagine.
First time in however many 20-something years now, and, you know, you can imagine, of course,
they're going to be weeping, it's going to be a time of them just, you know, being
together again, that must have been amazing for both of them. And Israel said unto Joseph,
Now let me die since I've seen my face, because thou art yet alive. So he's basically just saying
I'm happy now, I'm kind of, that's, you know, I'm happy to go now, okay, I've finally seen you.
And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto his father's house, I will go up and show Pharaoh
and say unto him, My brethren, in my father's house, which are in the land of Canaan,
they come unto me. And the men are shepherds, for their trade has been to feed cattle,
they've brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have. It shall come to pass,
when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? That ye shall say,
Thy servant's trade hath been about cattle for my youth even until now. Both we and also
our fathers that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination
unto the Egyptians. Okay, so we don't know exactly what the reasoning was for this.
I think there's some theories that Egypt was previously ruled by some sort of
shepherd-type tribe or something, I don't really know. But there's definitely an intended spiritual
application here, okay, no doubt at all. Aside from Joseph wanting that separation
of his people from the Egyptians, okay, which is one application you could give there and a
pretty, pretty genuine one there as well, you know, he obviously wants to separate them,
have them somewhere away from kind of the rest of them to some degree. Of course there were
still Egyptians in Goshen, but it would have been their own area as well to some degree.
But turn to Psalm chapter 23. In the Christian life, so you'll turn to Psalm 23. In the Christian
life there's the chief shepherd, okay, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And then there are
under shepherds, okay, we use the word pastor which means the same thing, okay, if anyone's
ever wondered what's that word pastor actually mean, it means shepherd. Now it's probably less
confusing than referring to the church leader as a shepherd. So if, you know, the title of the
guy running the church was shepherd, you'd probably be a bit awkward in conversation. People
don't know who you're talking about, you know, what's your, what's your job, I'm a shepherd,
you know, and then they start, you know, oh I've got 69 sheik and you round them up, yeah 70,
you know, stuff like that. Anyway, so, you know, you might have those sort of issues. Now an elder might
confuse many as well if it's a young pastor who's maybe just old in spiritual years, okay, so
there could be that problem as well if you're referring to them as an elder, which is a legitimate
name for a pastor as well, and the word bishop has just been abused beyond belief by false
religions and especially the Anglican church and others, and it's probably, I would say as well,
less obvious as to the function. What is a bishop? What does a bishop do? If you didn't really
understand the word of God, you think, what is a bishop, right? It's less obvious than the word pastor, so,
which for me conveys the job description nicely in one word. So the nice thing about the
word pastor is it just kind of, knowing sort of, I think most people are aware that pastor's a
shepherd or at least it's something similar, it kind of explains it nicely, okay? A pastor or
shepherd is both the leader and the guide, yeah? He's there to make decisions but also to protect.
Sometimes he needs to carry the weak, the injured. Sometimes he needs to smash the wolf over
the head with a rod, yeah? There's, you know, it's a varied job, right? Who is a pastor's ultimate
example? Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the great thing is that you just got like
the perfect example to follow in the word of God, the over-shepherd, the chief shepherd, that's who
we're trying to, as a pastor, that's ultimately my goal is to shepherd like Jesus Christ
does. Psalm 23 is just a great psalm to just explain, you know, the truths of the job of a
shepherd and a shepherd of the flock being God's flock here. It's the psalm of David and it says,
the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,
he leadeth me beside the still waters. So following in the footsteps of Christ or attempting
to where we're all going to come short, we're going to do our best, our goal as pastors is for
the sheep to not want, to have what they need to get through life, to feed them with the
lush pastures of God's word, for the feeding and watering to be a safe place as well.
There's some of the goals of a pastor. Verse 3, he restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths
of righteousness for his name's sake. So to keep encouraging the sheep, to boost that depleted
spiritual energy, because it does doesn't it sometimes, you know, it can quickly lower as the
week goes by and he's boosting up, to lead them to do the right thing. He said he restored
my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. So to stay on the right path,
to keep them away from the pitfalls of life, that's part of the job of a pastor. Verse 4, yay
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with
me thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. So to protect the sheep from the enemy is part of
the job as well, to take the majority of the flak, to bring down the rod on the wicked,
to guide the flock through the attacks with that staff as well, to guide them through that,
because the attacks come from different angles. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies, thou anointest my head withal, my cup runneth over. So to provide even when the
enemies are surrounding us, to keep the blessings coming even when the wolves are circling.
Verse 6, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. So to keep the sheep in the will of God and in the
house of God and remind them of the eternity to come as well.
That's a pretty noble job, isn't it? Yeah, that's a pretty involved job. That's not an easy job.
There's one problem, or one, at least there's many problems, but this is one clear problem with it.
The world hates you, okay? The unsaved hate you, okay? They hate you as a pastor. And I say this
just because I think, like, I don't think, I think here most people sitting here tonight are
long enough in the tooth, but I think, you know, I think especially when maybe people first got
saved and they saw, like, these documentaries and this hard preaching from these great pastors,
it's like, what a job, man. You know, it's glamorous, you're going to be on YouTube,
everyone must love you. You know, barring a few of those, you know, the queers don't love you,
who cares, right? Everyone else, you know, it's great to preach those truths and
everything else. That's not the truth, though. The truth is, it's not like that. Genesis 46 34
said every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians, okay? And the Egyptians, Egypt,
just constantly in the Bible being synonymous for the world. And, and I say, and just to make
it clear, okay, it's not, this isn't like a pity party song because there's a point I want
to preach from this, okay? But just, just, I just want to make it clear to you, okay?
Because there are those, there might be those here that think, oh, maybe, you know, that would
be a great job in the future. I'm going to get all this respect. That's not, that's not the reality
of it. You're, you're basically like, you're the off scouring of the world, okay? And it's not
just the world. And I'll explain that in a minute. You should see the thinly veiled disdain
when you tell someone you're a pastor. I mean, honestly, because when I was an evangelist
or, you know, I lead a church, people were kind of not really sure what that was, you know?
When you go, oh yeah, I'm a pastor, it's just like the disgust on most people's
face. You are an abomination. You're an abomination for being a pastor of a biblical church. Now again,
that's not a problem, you know? It's kind of, it's water off a duck's back, really. But the old family
of friends, in general, want nothing to do with you anymore. And again, when you were leading a church,
when you were saved and just kind of even training up for that, that wasn't so much of a
problem. Once you're the pastor, it's just like, yeah, we ain't getting him out of this.
And then it's like, they hate you, yeah? The separation is often done for you, and it's great,
really, because it makes life a lot easier. I mean, sometimes I listen and talk to people,
accounts people, going through those issues with family, friends, stuff. I mean, that separation
was done for me, pretty much, you know? So it's not really so much of a thing, and where's the
line and where's the balance of people, because they separate from you, you know? It kind of does
make it a bit easier. Turn to the book of Jude, by the way. And of course, the worst hatred
comes from the enemies of God, okay? That's the worst hatred. So you've got the Egyptians,
and then you've got the worst type. I mean, they despise you like a real wolf despises a real
shepherd. They hate you, like the wolf just wants that shepherd gone at any cost, right?
He's preventing a good meal, isn't he? He's preventing a good devouring, and they would just
love to be rid of that shepherd, okay? That's just the reality of it. A wolf doesn't want
a shepherd there. A wolf wants that shepherd gone. A wolf wants a shepherd far away, okay?
And often, there's a truth here that you get at least a clue to that with people, especially
when you meet them for the first time, by the utter disdain in the eyes. And I've had this a few
times. Now, when I look back with people that eventually, you know, where they were kind of,
the ears popped out at some point or something else, they claim to want to serve God, but they
hate you before they even know you. They'll turn up in a, and the disrespect just coming out
the mouth and everything else, just straight away, and just like, wow, I thought you were just
claiming to be a saved person wanting to come in to serve the Lord. And then in time, you're like,
okay, okay, that makes sense now. And again, you can't obviously make decisions off that, but
it's an interesting thing to look back on. But look at Jude 1.8, because it makes it clear
that this is part of the makeup of these types of people, and if anyone's unaware,
Jude is just talking about reprobates. It says in verse 8 of Jude,
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of
dignities. And the pretty parallel chapter 2 Peter 2 and verse 10 says, But chiefly them that
walk after the flesh and lust for uncleanness, and despise government, presumptuous are they
self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. And that's one of the giveaways,
because most people who have a fair knowledge of the Bible know that you're doing a
tough job for the Lord, and again, it's not to get any credit for that,
that's what you choose to do. And really, when people are just speaking evil, and whether
it's myself or other pastors, legitimate pastors out there, I mean, that's pretty wicked really,
because it's a hard enough job. You need support, right? You need prayers, you need people to
support to help you, not to hinder you, right? But you can't just cast off every disrespectful,
every disgruntled sheep as a wolf, because I like to think there's a third category.
So the third category, where Genesis 46 34 said, For every shepherd is an abomination unto the
Egyptians. When do you think you stop becoming an Egyptian? When do you stop becoming an Egyptian?
Is it straight after salvation? Not necessarily, is it? I mean, does someone there say now they're
no longer an Egyptian? I don't think so. Is it after you're three to thrive, soul winning?
Because you can get that return camel back to Egypt at any time, really, can't you?
You can jump straight on that camel and ride straight back there, whether you're three to
thrive, soul winning, reading the Bible every day or not. We can all go back into the world,
can't we? Every single person here. And you don't need a new visa either when you do.
I mean, their world can be like a homegrown. I mean, they'll be, come on back here.
If you go back to the world, they'll bring you straight in,
straight into the fold. It's just like you were never gone. Don't worry about all that stuff.
Come on in. They want you back quickly. See, there are many Christians that are still
Egyptians, I believe. There's a lot of Egyptian Christians. Don't worry, this is like some weird
racial or nationalistic message. And some days more than ever, but they are dreaming of
fez hats and pyramids, okay? There's a lot, if anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about,
there's an old comedian that used to wear like his fez hat, but it was like an old thing
about like, you know, people used to think that's what an Egyptian must wear, yeah?
But there are people, there are Christians that are dreaming of being an Egyptian.
They dream you're going back to Egypt. They can't stop thinking about Egypt.
And point being, they can't stop thinking about the world. Now, what am I saying?
I'm saying that shepherds, that pastors, are also an abomination to the worldly Christian,
okay? That's just the reality of it, okay? As a pastor, you're not just an abomination to the world.
You're not just an abomination to the false prophet, to the infiltrator, to the false
brethren, to the sodomites. You're an abomination to the worldly Christian as well.
Why? Because you're preaching against all their dreams and everything that they want to go
back to or that they're creeping towards and that they're still doing. And I hate it.
Think of those sheep, those lambs, that don't want to be led and want to go the other way.
They probably start to resent the shepherd a bit, don't they?
He keeps turning me back round, you know? Come back here and that staff, pulling them around
and stuff, you know? Got that dog barking at me again, you know? It's going to be a
problem for him, right? Now, turn to Hebrews chapter 13. You don't have to like my bad jokes,
and I've pulled out a few today already, okay? Just to make it clear, just see who did
laugh and who didn't laugh. But you don't have to like me, you don't have to like my family,
you don't have to like my preaching. But when we become an abomination to you,
when the hatred is written all over your face, when the disrespect is purposeful to want a reaction,
now we've got a problem, okay? It makes me think you're one of two things.
You're either an Egyptian Christian or you're a twice-dead Egyptian mummy.
And that's just where you get to, isn't it? It's like you're either so in the world that
your pastor is an abomination to you or
you're too far gone because who really gets to that point? And you've got to assess yourself
with that because, like I said, you don't have to like me. You don't have to like whatever
pastor it is out there, you know? Maybe people that go to other churches in the future or people
that have been or whatever else. You don't have to like us, you don't have to like our family,
you don't have to like the way we do things. But when we become an abomination to you,
when the hatred is just written all over people and they're just sniping and comments and digs and
like that's a big problem. You're either Egyptian or you're an Egyptian mummy.
They're not a good look. Especially when as a believer it's you that loses out. So if you
are that Egyptian, Hebrews 13 17 says, to obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves
for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy
and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you. Are any pastors or their families perfect? No.
We all have strengths and weaknesses, we all make mistakes, we all have failings,
but God uses us to lead his sheep. The world already hates us. Most of the anger,
the mocking, the ridicule, the abuse is aimed at us. That's just the way it is. God forbid that it comes
from his people though. And that's like, what on earth, you know, from his people. And that's,
they're a lot of, they're an abomination to the Egyptian and there's a lot of Egyptian
Christians. Like think about so many of the people that will even get saved. If they even,
you know, probably a lot of them and this is just, you know, because some will come into,
some nan again will come into church and then they'll hear some hard preaching. They'll hear
the word of God being relayed and you don't know who's coming in. You got like, right, we're gonna have
a real like new baby Christian sermon here, you know. You just preach, right. You preach what the
word of God is, you preach it. And believe me, a lot of those will go away looking at you
as an abomination because they can't deal with it. Now some of them will just look online,
probably a lot of people that get saved will go online and just see preaching, preaching on sin,
preaching on their problems, preaching on other issues and they're just like,
they're just Egyptian Christians. Now we want to try and encourage them to stop being Egyptian
and again no offense if anyone's got any Egyptian heritage here, okay.
Take it up with God, okay. He refers to Egypt as the world really. We see that picture a
lot of times in the Bible but God forbid it comes from his people, okay. And just on that,
it goes for other pastors out there. If without any reason to think otherwise, okay, they're just
saved men of God because there are some, there are, and again, there are some, I'm not talking
about false prophets, okay. False prophets ridicule them, call them what you need to call
them, they're scum, okay. We should hate them because they hate the Lord. But saved men of God,
whether you like their personalities, their preaching, their style of pastoring,
we should be showing them respect, shouldn't we. Show them all respect and not just to their
faces either. It's something that we want to, as believers, we want to encourage that. That
should be a sort of a way that we behave, shouldn't we, you know. So, you know, and I'll say this a few
times, you know, when you're referring to pastors in the US, use the term pastor, you know. I just
find it, it's like, that's what the wrong ones do. They want to just call you by your surname
or something, you know, or whatever else. They're pastors, you know, and they do a tough job and we
should show them respect and every single one of us and, you know, you don't have to like them.
You don't have to go, I just love their preaching. You might not, but still show them respect, right.
And because it is, it's one of the toughest jobs and it is probably one of the most important jobs
that someone, and I would include their families, can do in life, okay. And you know what we all
need? We all need prayers and support. Everything, because we're already an abomination to the
to the world. We're like ultra-abomination to the reprobates. We need some, we need
help sometimes. And again, like, I'm not trying to get the violin out because the reality of it
is it's an amazing job as well. It's a job where you're so close to God throughout your week.
You're studying for sermons, you're just in the Word of God, and when you're edifying God's
people, I often say this to people, where you're just like, when you're preaching
for God's people, he reveals stuff to you that you ain't getting in, I never got in my own
private Bible time, then suddenly God's just showing me this, giving me that, getting, you're just like,
wow, this is amazing. The Word of God's amazing. So great to be that close to God.
It's great to be doing that job, to be used by God, to see him work in all these different areas.
But it is a job where much is at stake as well. Just think, like, what the responsibility,
but also just the repercussions of a job like this. So like I say, then when you see, and
again, when it's, you know, when it's new Christians, baby Christians, people that maybe don't
really know much about it, yeah, they don't know any better. They just, a lot of the time, they
hear the Word of God, they just get angry, thinking that's not what they preach down at, you know,
the community church. They tell you, it's all love, you know, what on earth, and they get upset, and
babes in Christ expect, but when people are getting like more mature in the Lord and stuff,
that's a bad look, right? That's kind of it, that, you're thinking, wow, that's like a proper
Egyptian Christian there. Okay, that's not a good look. He said in verse 31,
And the last point on that theme, is it to be a successful shepherd,
separation from the world is essential, isn't it? And that's another message you're getting there,
is really, he wants him to be in Goshen, because he shepherds need to be separate from Egypt,
and he's some form of, we might have to be in the world, we might have to live in the world,
but we don't want to be of the world, right? We want to, we want to at least have some
spiritual separation. 2nd Corinthians 6 17 says, Wherefore, come out from among them, and be
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.
Now, that's not by, you know, it's not that we have to, well, right, well, with that, that
means we have to be as weird and as awkward and as everything else as possible. That's not what it's
talking about, but what we shouldn't be is yoked up with the world. We shouldn't be,
we shouldn't be partakers with them in all sorts of this wickedness. We need to, as pastors,
and that's anyone, you know, really everyone needs to separate, don't they, to some degree,
but especially if you're going to be shepherding a flock as well. And that's the picture there,
that's what he's talking about there, really. That's why there's such a point made of that
every shepherd being an abomination unto the Egyptians, and it's the truth that we need to know,
need to understand, and for maybe people that kind of, you know, would consider that job in the
future, that's something you need to just accept. It's not what you think, you know, and I didn't
go into this because I thought, wow, YouTube and everything else, I was, you know, I'm not silly,
I knew that kind of, that's not really the case, but it still is shocking when you get into
it how much disdain there really is, how really you're kind of like, for a lot of people, you're just
like a doormat, really, you know, and you're there for them, and again, it's not because I
need some sympathy, it's just a reality, and you need to be aware of that yourself as well, if you
ever think about that sort of job. It's not, you've got to be going into it for the right
reasons, it's not glamorous, it's not at all, you know, you're an abomination, okay, but
you're not an abomination in God's eyes, and that's the important thing, isn't it, you know,
and that's where your heart's got to be right, is who are you serving,
really, but lastly, okay, continuing pictures of the tribulation on this,
and going in towards the great tribulation, we see what seems to be, I think, God's protection of his
people, despite the hatred from the world here, and we're going to see, we're going to go into
the next chapter, and then we're going to see the cashless society, but Matthew 10 22, you
don't have a turn that says, in ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth
to the end shall be saved, and I think that's what we're seeing there, we're seeing now,
you know, just a little picture there, with that point of them being hated as well, that obviously
ties in with that picture as well, because that's what's going to happen at the end, when we get to
the end, everyone's going to hate all of us, it won't just be the pastor, the whole lot of us,
you know, and the reality of it is this, it does apply to everyone to some degree anyway, doesn't
it, if you're going out soul winning, you're living for God, people start to hate you, don't they,
okay, and everyone will experience this to some degree anyway, but especially when we get to
the very end, when the whole world is geared up against those that maybe don't accept the
multiple paths to the one religion, whatever nonsense they come out with to make us
ultimately the enemy, we are going to be the enemy, and it's something that we have to kind
of deal with now, if it did come in our lifetimes, this is nothing, you know, as to what
we're going to be dealing with, and I think there is that picture there, and then we're going
to see, as we go into the next chapter, we'll see probably that, what seems to be that midpoint,
and then that will be, I think, that with the picture there, but again, just in places
the picture's continuing, but that was Genesis chapter 46, slightly shorter tonight, and we'll,
we're going to be going into chapter 47 in a fortnight, on that we're going to finish in a word of
prayer. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for, well, you know, that chapter and the
lessons we can get from that, and help us to just appreciate all those, all those pastors out
there, Lord, it's not really about myself, but all those other people, and people in the future, when
we, you know, hopefully send out and train people up in the future to, into that job, Lord, help us
to just appreciate that, help those that maybe want to go into that in the future, to appreciate
what sort of job that is, and what it entails, and to want to go into it for the right
reasons, Lord, as well, and to know that you can, you know, bless those in that time,
bless those that are reviled and persecuted, Lord, for your sake, and help us to, to also, Lord, just,
just, you know, have our faith in the word, not to have our heads turned by those that want to try
and claim errors, and scribal errors, and all these other things, we know we have a perfect, pure,
complete Word of God, help us to have faith in that, Lord, when there is what seems to be a discrepancy,
just to read it for what it says, to study out the scriptures, to be a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly divine, the way the truth, help us to, to get home safe and sound tonight,
Lord, and for return on the weekend, for Sunday service, in Jesus' name, for all this. Amen.