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A Hopeful Ending

Date: 24 November 2024, 9.30 am

Speaker: Ps Luwin Wong Sermon Text: Genesis 49:29 – 50:26

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TRANSCRIPT

Earlier this year, on the 30th of June, England played Slovakia in the knockout stages of the European Football Championship. England is a country which prides itself on having the greatest football league in the world. Slovakia,Slovakia is a country with a population smaller than that of Singapore. A football match is played for 90th minutes. But usuallyusually, a few minutes will be added on, as a result of stoppages mid-game, due substitutes and injuries and so on.


At the 90th minute of the game, England was losing 1-0 to Slovakia. And distraught and frustrated English fans began streaming out of the stadium, in utter disgust at the dire football their team has put on show for the duration of the match. They left because as far as they were concerned, there was nothing more to see, nothing more to cheer about, nothing left to hope for.


They could not be more wrong. Because in the 95th minute, in dying seconds of added time, England scored from Jude Bellingham overhead kick.


And England went on to win the game.


These English fans who had exited of the stadium heard the massive roar of the stadium celebrating the last minutelast-minute goal. And realized England had scored, hope sprang eternal, and they wanted to get in again and watch and support the team and celebrate the eventual win, but they were not allowed back in. They did not witness England’s astonishing comeback win.


Mind you, the game was held in Germany. So these English fans would have had paid thousands of pounds in travel, hotel and match ticket costs, in the hopes of watching England win, and that dream was scuppered not because England failed, but because they lost faith in the team; they lost hope for win, just before the end.


This is the reason why these days, I sometimes prefer watching football games after the game is played. I will wake up the day after and search for the highlights on YouTube. And if I come across a thumbnail like this, with Manchester United players celebrating, I go “I’ll watch that”. Sometimes they don’t caption the scoreline, so you have you see deduce how the game panned out, from which team is celebrating on the thumbnail. It saves me time, and it shields me from emotional damage.


I can watch the highlights with the benefit of foreknowledge. Man U concedes a goal, it’s fine, no big deal. Man U concedes a corner, good, because I already know we’re going to score from this run of play. Man U losing with only 10 minutes left on the clock, no sweat, just wait and watch and see how we win in the end.


But Luwin, like this, where’s the thrill, where’s the excitement, where’s the drama of the game? I turned 40 last week, as some of you know. At this stage, the goal, really, is to minimise drama. And in the case of my relationship with Man U, to minimise trauma.


Which is also why, when I want to relax and recharge in my down time, I like to put on Bollywood action film. Forget Korean films, someone’s always crying, someone’s always dying. Waste time. For an enjoyable, stress-free time, Bollywood is the way to go.


Indian movies incorporate many elements into their production: song and dance, colour and music, drama and action, good and evil, hero and villain, comedy and romance. But the one thing you will not find in Bollywood is subtlety.


They dispense with suspense from the outset. You need not wonder which of the characters is going to carry the plot. Most of the movies are titled simply as the main character’s name. No need to wonder, no need to guess, no need to think. They tell you.


Western shows are like, “Mission Impossible 4: Rogue Nation.” That tells you nothing. Bollywood will be: “Ethan Hunt saves the world for the fourth time”.


As a side note, by the way, after 8 Mission Impossible films, I’m beginning to suspect that the missions were actually very possible to begin with.


Let me tell you this: when the title of a Bollywood movie is named after the main character, that is a relaxing show. You can watch with complete serenity and calm, come what may. Bullets flying from all directions towards him, relax. He gets ambushed by 50 men in a warehouse, no sweat. Bombs exploding all around him, stroll in the park. You know he’s going to be okay, he will defeat every foe, he will right every wrong, he will overcome everything, before the movie ends.


There’s a Hollywood movie called 300, about the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans gave their lives defending Greece against an army of over 300,000 invading Persians. Now, if Bollywood produced a re-make of 300, it would not be called 300, it will called “Leonidas”. 299 of the cast will be made redundant, and Leonidas would have won the Battle of Thermopylae single-handedly, even if it means re-writing Greek history.


How good it would be to live in a movie like that. To be assured of eventually victory. To have foreknowledge of our destiny, to possess the certain confidence that all will be well in the end.


Would it not help us put things into perspective, to maintain courage in times of crisis, to be thankful in every circumstance? Why? Because we have the hope that our story will conclude well and good at the end.


This friends, is the story of Jacob, and it is the story Joseph, and it is the story of all who have come to put their trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.


Let us pray, and we’ll see how this hopeful ending unfolds.


Heavenly Father,


As we open your holy Word, may your Holy Spirit open the eyes of our heart, that we may see your goodness, know your good news, and thereby walk with hope and gratitude.


In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.


In Gen 49:33, we see this:


GEN 49:33 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Jacob’s last words; his dying instructions to his sons. We all know that you do not waste your breath then you are breathing your last. You don’t make small talk, you speak of matters most important, matters closest to your heart. So what did Jacob tell his sons?


GEN 49:29-32 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.”

Jacob’s final words concerns his final resting place. And it is not to be in Egypt. He commands his sons to bury him with his fathers. Where Abraham and Sarah his wife are buried, where Isaac and Rebekah his wife are buried, there Jacob and Leah his wife shall rest.


That, to Jacob is where he belongs, that is where he longs to be. Why? Because it is the land that God had promised to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob and his sons for an everlasting possession.


GEN 48:3-4 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’

So Egypt will not be called home. Canaan is his forever home. It is the Promised Land.


You might say, the aged are prone to sentimentality, having lived in Canaan for many decades, perhaps he simply cannot bring himself to call Egypt home. So yes, Jacob says it is about the promise of God, but perhaps it’s just that old habits draws one back to old habitats.


But our passage today closes like this:


GEN 50:22-26 22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years... 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

It’s a refrain of what we have read before. It is Joseph this time, on his death bed, giving final instructions to the sons of Jacob. And he repeats almost exactly what Jacob had said.


In essence, “There is a Promised Land for the people of God, and there my bones shall be buried, there shall be my eternal resting place”.


Joseph arrived in Egypt when he was 17. It is in Egypt where experienced the blessings of God, it is in Egypt where he rose to prominence and power, it is in Egypt where got married, and had children. Joseph died at the age 110. He had lived in Egypt for 93 years by then. Longer than majority of our entire lifespans. All of his memories are tied to Egypt.


We can rule out nostalgia and sentimentality as the reasons for Joseph’s request to be buried in Canaan. It is simply because that is the land that God has promised to them. And the eyes of faith look to it, the people of faith hope in it. You can live in Egypt for a century, with power and in luxury, with friends and family. But it will never be home.


For Jacob and Joseph, their hope of an eternal home lies beyond the Red Sea in land called Canaan. For that is the place that God has promised to them.


But now come to Jacob’s funeral procession.


GEN 50:4-6 4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

GEN 50:7-9 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.

GEN 50:12-14 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, 13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

You know, Moses could have simply written, “…and the sons of Jacob, did as their father had commanded them.”


But no, this reads like the author had a word count to fill up. And I didn’t even read the entire account of the burial procession. It’s almost tedious to read. Which I think is the point. It was a tedious procession, that involved all of Israel, save for the children and the animals.


Why? If the point was to bury Jacob, why all of this? Why bring all Israel into Canaan, and then back again? Because burials are always grand events? We have read of many deaths in Genesis – of great men like Noah, and Abraham and Isaac, their burial is described only in a line or two, if at all.


I believe the burial procession, the long tedious track to Canaan and back, was not so much purposed for Jacob, as it was for Jacob’s descendants. It is meant to live an imprint, it serves as an object lesson for every Israelite. And the lesson is this: we walked all the way to Canaan for one reason alone, not because Egypt lacked burial grounds, but because Canaan is home. One day, God will bring us out of Egypt into Canaan, and our children will embark on this same journey we have taken. Because Canaan is our everlasting home.


Family of God, the New Testament tells us the very same thing. This world, this earth, Singapore is not our home. We are but strangers and exiles here.


HEB 11:13-16 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

The city of God, the kingdom of heaven, the New Creation is our true, eternal home. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are merely here on a temporary visa. What does that mean, practically speaking?


For Moses, it meant that he regarded very lightly the treasures of Egypt, and regarded very highly the reward of heaven.


HEB 11:26 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

As prince of Egypt, he saw all the splendours, and treasures that Egypt had to offer, all within his grasp, all at his disposal, but his faith allowed him to see them for what they were – mere pittance compared to the reward of God. Even the reproach of Christ; the suffering for his name, is better than the comforts of Egypt.


Our faith you see, sees more. It sets our hope on something greater than the world has to offer. Our faith grants us a hope that elevates our sights from the things of the earth to the glories of heaven.


So let me ask you this. Do you yearn for Heaven? Do you long for Heaven? Is your mind and heart and spirit captured and captivated by the hope of heaven, your eternal home?


When I was a teenager, I came across a book by Donald Whitney, “10 Questions to Diagnose your Spiritual Health”. Highly recommend it, by the way.


The Title caught by interest, so I flipped to the content page to see what the 10 Questions were:


  1. Do you thirst for God?

  2. Are you governed increasingly by God's Word?

  3. Are you more loving?

  4. Are you more sensitive to God's presence?

  5. Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal needs of others?

  6. Do you delight in the bride of Christ?

  7. Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you?

  8. Do you still grieve over sin?

  9. Are you a quicker forgiver?


So far, so good. Penetrating questions, all made sense.

Until I came to final question:

10. Do you yearn for heaven and to be with Jesus?


I thought, strange question to ask. A bit morbid. Did he run of ideas but the editor insisted he needed 10? I didn’t think yearning for heaven was an indicator of one’s spiritual health.


But it is. For the author of Hebrews, the primary mark of faith is longing for heaven, desiring the heavenly home.


So Donald Whitney writes in the chapter, “Growing Christians are groaning Christians”.


We groan for the redemption of the world, for the glorification of our bodies, for the consummation of the kingdom.


Do you long for heaven? Do you groan for heaven? Do you hope for heaven?


Because the alternative is setting your hope on earth. The alternative is living as citizens of earth. The alternative is making yourself at home in Egypt.


But Jacob and Joseph were clear about where they called home. As their children of the faith, we too must be clear, or run the risk of worldliness.


COLOSSIANS 3:1-2 1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

MATTHEW 6:19-21 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Are you imaginations and your energies, captivated by thoughts of heaven, or are they largely consumed by the things and the cares of this world?


Is not the first petition of our daily prayer “Thy Kingdom come?”


Let me Let me ask you: Do you think often of your journey’s end? Have you considered that your life will soon be gone? Is heaven regularly in your thoughts? Or are you simply caught up in the daily life and grind of this present world?


There is much to say on this topic, and I pray we will give it due thought.


But for now I leave you with the words of Jonathan Edwards:


“Labour to have your heart taken up so much about heaven, and heavenly enjoyments, that you may rejoice when God calls you to leave your best earthly friends and comforts for heaven, there to enjoy God and Christ.”


People of God, labour for this, for our heavenly home with Christ is worth the labour.


In Christ we have a Hope that elevates our SightsFrom the earth and towards Heaven.


And our Hope does something else. It enables our love. It empowers our forgiveness.


When Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers panicked.


GEN 50:15-18 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

The brothers believed that their comeuppance was delayed by the presence of their father, and when was gone, Joseph would exact his revenge on them for what they did to him.


They played relationship card they had in their hands “Please forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin”, “Please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father.” We are your brothers, we serve the same God, we share the same father. Please forgive us, don’t pay us back for all the evil we did to you.


Joseph replies this way:


GEN 50:19-21 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Why? Why was Joseph so ready to forgive his brothers? Some of you will not speak kindly to your siblings, and they have done far less than sell you into slavery.


How did Joseph find it within himself to forgive such a terrible offense inflicted upon him.


The clue is in his opening line: “Am I in the place of God?”


In other words, he believes that vengeance is in the hands of God. God is in charge of the affairs of the world, and he is charge of justice as well. Sure, he does delegate the enforcement of justice to civic authorities by way of the criminal justice system, but personal revenge is not the way for the one who trusts and hopes in the justice of God.


Many of us find it difficult to forgive because the act of forgiveness feels as though justice isn’t done. Where’s the punishment? Where’s the getting even? And so we harbour in our hearts the desire for revenge rather than the grace of forgiveness.


But, family of God, our faith teaches us that forgiveness and justice are not antithetical. As a matter of fact, justice is the foundation for forgiveness.


We can forgive because we trust, Joseph did, in a God who works all things according to the counsel of his will, his just and perfect will.


Larry Nassar was the official doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team. He used position as a doctor to systematically sexually abuse the women under his care.


Rachael Denhollander was one such victim. She was referred to Nassar at the age of 15 and was sexually abused by him for over 16 years. She was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse.


At the court hearing, she extended forgiveness and expressed hope that Nassar will personally experience the Gospel.


Denhollander explained that forgiveness is about releasing our bitterness and desire for vengeance, and that can be done while holding on to justice.


She say, “When Christ forgives our sins, He is not saying, ‘What you did does not matter anymore,’” “He is saying, ‘Because justice was meted out on me, I can extend mercy and forgiveness to you.’ Justice is the foundation for forgiveness.


We can graciously forgive because we can confidently believe that, in the words of Abraham, “that judge of all the earth will do what is right”.


We may not see the fulfilment of justice, we may not understand why the guilty sometimes appear to go free. But faith grants us the certain hope that on that day, that judgment day, every sinned will be accounted for, the demands of law will be satisfied, either in Christ or in the sinner.


As the saying goes,


Though the mills of God grind slowly; Yet they grind exceeding small;Though with patience He stands waiting, With exactness grinds He all.


Our hope in the sure and certain justice of God on that day, enables our love and forgiveness to those who have sinned against us this day.


Finally, our hope in God, exalts our God.


GEN 50:22-26 22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years... 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Joseph did not witness the exodus in his lifetime, but itdoes not for that reason, diminish his confidence that it will happen.


He tells the sons of Israel “God will visit and bring you up out of this land into the Promised Land”, “God will surely visit you, so bring my bones up along with you”.


His hope in the future salvation of God leads him to call the nation to trust in God, to wait upon God, to be their Deliverer, their Redeemer, their Saviour.


There are so many “gods” in Egypt, to whom Israel can turn to for hope and for help in their time of distress. Joseph’s final words calls on them to turn to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


So writes the author of Hebrews:


HEB 11:22 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

Family of God, this exodus has begun. This deliverance of God’s people from Egypt into Canaan has begun anew when Jesus died on the cross to defeat the powers of this world, and deliver his people from slavery to sin and death.


We read this at the Transfiguration of Christ.


LUKE 9:30-31 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure [Greek:exodus], which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

The death of cross has effected our exodus from the realm of death and darkness into the kingdom of the Son.


And so, like Joseph, we can be assured that what God has begun, he will complete. He will visit us to bring us up into the heavenly places.


1 PET 2:11-12 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

On the day of his visitation. It will be day of our consummate salvation. And our confidence and anticipation of God’s visitation to bring us out of this land and into the heavenly Canaan (the renewed creation), means we live as sojourners and exiles here, not beholden to the world, not obedient to our flesh, but walking in the good works that God has prepared beforehand that we may walk in them.


In this manner, our lives will glorify God, and the watching world likewise will glorify God on the day of his visitation.


Our hope and trust in the return of our king exalts him, as we live as his kingdom people here below.


Jacob and Joseph were men of faith that lived in hope of God’s promises, of his visitation, and their forever home in Canaan. That is how their story ends. This is how the book of Genesis concludes.


With hopeful, and hope-filled ending in a God who is faithful to his promises. He has promised good to us. He has promised salvation for all who trust in him.


I mentioned how nice it is, to know ending of a game, and of a movie beforehand. Because then we are able to see our lives with a whole new frame. Everything, the good and the bad, the rough and tumble, all things can interpreted with optimism. No matter how bad it may seem, there is always hope of a comeback, and victory at the end. We already know the ending. Eternal joy in heaven with Christ awaits.


If the history of universe is made into a film. Jesus would be its title character. He will defeat every foe, he will right every wrong, he will overcome everything, and he guarantees a happy ever after ending.


If you are not a Christian, friends, I want you to know that this hopeful ending can be yours today through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the one who has fulfilled, in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, all the manifold promises of God. He is the one who will return to bring us into his kingdom. He is the one in whom our hope is found.


Come to know him, come to trust him. Come and find true hope in him.

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