Gen. 47:1-12 "Jacob blessed Pharaoh" [With thanks to Doug Green, professor of Old Testament at Westminster Seminary] Let me set the stage for our passage: Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, has two wives and twelve children. He loves the children of the second wife more than those of the first. Joseph, his favorite son, was sold into slavery by his brothers, who then tell Jacob that a wild animal had killed him. Joseph wound up in prison in Egypt but then interprets Pharaoh's dreams correctly, and warns Pharaoh of a coming famine. Pharaoh was so impressed that he set Joseph over all his kingdom, and Joseph oversaw the collection and distribution of food. But then, during the famine, Joseph's brothers--the ones who had sold him into slavery-- come to Egypt looking for food. Joseph discovers that they have repented of their wicked deeds, and so encourages the whole family to come down to Egypt. Our text picks up just about here: Joseph brings his brothers before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh treats them kindly. Then Joseph brings his father before Pharaoh. But before Pharaoh has a chance to speak, Jacob blesses him. --Jacob, a wandering nomad, blesses the most powerful king in the world! And then Pharaoch asks him a question "How old are you?" What kind of question is that? Jacob answers him with humility, calling attention to his father and grandfather. Then he blesses Pharaoh again, and leaves. You have to wonder, is that all that happened? Was their encounter that short? Perhaps Pharaoh and Jacob exchanged more conversation, but the shortness of the dialogue calls our attention to this remarkable fact: Jacob....blessed....Pharaoh. There is so much involved in this one sentance, that three words are my three points. I will, however, follow the Hebrew word order--where the verb comes first, blessed.....Jacob.....Pharaoh So, first, Jacob blessed Pharaoh second, Jacob blessed Pharaoh and third, Jacob blessed Pharaoh ----- What does it mean to bless? In the Old Testament, blessing is closely associated with life. When God blessed mankind in Genesis 1:28, he said to Adam and Eve, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it..." God's blessing gave abundant life --as is illustrated by the fact that he placed them in the garden of Eden --a garden of delight and abundance. Notice also that the opposite of blessing--cursing, brings death and difficulty in Genesis 3. The ultimate blessing--in the book of Genesis-- is found when you are living in the good land with lots of kids The Promised Land, the land of blessing, and of life, is always connected to having children, the Promised Seed. Land and Seed go together. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden--the land, and were commanded to be fruitful and multiply--the seed. When they are cast out of the land of life (Eden) and are cast into the land of dust and death, they are told that their hope is in the seed of the woman. When God called Abraham in Genesis 12, he called him to go to the Promised Land (verse 1), which he promised to give to his seed--his offspring (verse 7). Then God blessed him, and listen to this blessing: "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." God's blessing is connected with living in the Promised Land, and also with having the Promised Seed. In other words, if you are blessed by God, then you are living in the good land, with lots of kids! In Jacob's own lifestory we see the meaning of blessing. Listen to the blessing of his father, Isaac: "May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness, an abundance of grain and new wine. (That's LAND) May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. (That's SEED) May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed." (That's BLESSING) The blessing is more than a prayer for God's favor. This blessing is a declaration that the blessing of Abraham has been given to Jacob. Esau was the firstborn. He should have received that blessing. But after Jacob tricked his father into giving him Esau's blessing, there was nothing that Isaac could do about it. He had given THE BLESSING of God to Jacob. Not just any old blessing, but the GREAT blessing --the covenant blessing, you might say. A blessing is generally given by the superior to his inferiors. An inferior may ask God to bless a superior, but only one in a position of authority may actually declare blessing. That is why at the end of our worship I will use the word "us" in the blessing rather than "you". Since I am not ordained, I have no authority to bless you. I can only ask God to bless you. But those whom God has called to be pastors over his flock, to whom he has given the keys of the kingdom-- they may declare God's blessing to you, and you may know that because it comes from God's messenger, it is given by God's authority. So at the end of his life, when Jacob blesses Pharaoh, this 130 year old Patriarch is asserting a spiritual authority over Pharaoh-- the greatest king of his day-- and declaring God's blessing upon him. As we will see, this is a very strange event. ------ Because it is Jacob who blesses Pharaoh. Let's review our history here. Jacob is the one who seeks blessings, not the one who gives them away. Jacob is the one who steals blessings, not the one who blesses others. From his mother's womb he was a deceiver and a trickster. When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, says Genesis 25:25, Esau was born first But then, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob." Now Jacob means one who grasps the heel, which in Hebrew is a way of saying a deceiver. Soon he conned his brother out of both his birthright and his blessing. But then, when he fled to Haran, to escape from Esau, he encountered another trickster --and Jacob got what he deserved! Jacob fell in love with Rachel, the daughter of Laban, and worked seven years for her. But Laban was a crafty fellow, and when the wedding came, he gave Jacob Leah instead. Over a period of twenty years, Jacob and Laban engaged in a war of wits, each trying to take advantage of the other. Finally, Jacob returns home to face his brother, and on the way home, he encountered a man in chapter 32, who wrestled with him until daybreak. This man or angel, touched Jacob on his hip, and wounded him, but Jacob refused to let him go until he received a blessing. The man's words are instructive: "Your name will no longer be Jacob--"deceiver"--but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." This was the turning point of Jacob's life: The deceiver now becomes the overcomer --he has wrestled with God, and overcome. This Jacob, who had always been seeking blessings, has now received God's blessing, and realizes that he needs no other. Now, many years later, he blesses Pharaoh. Remember that Isaac's blessing included the words: "those who bless you will be blessed." Jacob blesses Pharaoh because Pharaoh has blessed Jacob. ----- But who is this Pharaoh whom Jacob blesses? Pharaoh is the ruler of Egypt. He didn't need the blessing of this wandering nomad! He was king--he bestowed blessing or cursing upon others. Yet he received the blessing of this aged patriarch. Why? Because this Gentile king knew first hand that the God of Joseph and Jacob was real. And he welcomed the blessing of Jacob, humbling himself that he might receive life. Remember the promise to Abraham--"those who bless you shall be blessed" Pharaoh had blessed Jacob and his family, and now the blessing of God was coming even to the Gentiles. Now if you were reading this book, oh say three thousand years ago, when it was first written, you would be utterly shocked. Jacob--a good guy--blesses Pharaoh? Wait a second! Pharaoh is a bad guy. The Egyptians are always bad. From start to finish, the Old Testament views Egypt as the greatest of all enemies. Remember that Genesis itself was written after the Exodus. This story would have been read by the Israelites after their deliverance from Egypt, after spending four hundred years in slavery to the Egyptians. And you are telling me that Pharaoh is good? What happened when Abraham went down to Egypt? Pharaoh nearly wound up sleeping with his wife! Later God forbade Isaac to go to Egypt, because bad things always happen to Israelites when they go to Egypt. Joseph got sold into slavery, and was sent to Egypt. The whole Pentateuch presents Egypt as the land of death. Remember, you have to go down to Egypt. just like you go down into death, just like you go down into the grave. It would be fair to say, that Egypt is HELL. to go to Egypt is to go to Hell. The Prophets love to bash Egypt. For most of Israel's history, Egypt was a pretty trivial factor, politically, and actually was pretty friendly at times. The Israelites had more to worry about Moab, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, but the Prophets still take every opportunity they can to pour out God's curses on Egypt. Israelite kings sometimes tried to form alliances with Egypt, and the prophets respond by saying, how could you do such a stupid thing! God is going to judge Egypt, so get out of the way! Of the fifteen prophetic books, ten specifically pronounce judgment or cursings on Egypt. Ezekiel spends four chapters on the judgment of Egypt, comparing Pharaoh to the great monster of the underworld, and declaring the judgment which God will bring to Pharaoh: This reflects the other side of the blessing of Abraham: "those who bless you shall be blessed, and those who curse you shall be cursed." Egypt was the greatest source of cursing to God's people, therefore God cursed them and poured out his wrath upon them. But something unique happened when Joseph was in Egypt. Pharaoh had terrible dreams, and he listened to Joseph and believed what Joseph said. Joseph told him that a terrible famine was only seven years away, and if he didn't prepare for it wisely, all of Egypt would perish. Pharaoh believed Joseph, and not only that, he made Joseph the second most powerful man in Egypt. and as if that were not enough, when Joseph brought his family down from Canaan, Pharaoh told them to take the very best part of the land. and further, put them in charge of his own flocks. Pharaoh blessed the seed of Abraham. and because of that, Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Now notice what has happened: everything is upside down. Perhaps we miss this in a culture where land isn't important, but this is the wrong place for blessing to happen! this is the wrong land! God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham. This is Egypt. If you read Genesis geographically, good things happen when you are moving toward the center of the land. God's blessing comes most when you are living in the center of the land. Bad things happen when you leave the land. Notice that Abraham nearly loses his wife, Sarah, twice, both times when he leaves the promised land. Isaac nearly loses his wife, Rebekah, once, when he left the promised land. Joseph got sold into slavery, and even though he tried to obey God, he wound up in prison, when he left the promised land! Notice, that in all these cases, land and seed are connected. If Abraham loses his wife--how is he supposed to have kids? What will happen to the Seed? How will he inherit the land without children? That's why in Genesis 46:2, God has to come to Jacob and say, "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt... I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again." But although the land is very important, there is something else that is even more important: the seed of Abraham. Land and Seed go together. Those who bless Abraham's children will be blessed, and those who curse Abraham's children will be cursed. Up north in Canaan, the Promised Land, wicked men are in charge, men who don't care about Abraham or his seed, and the famine turns the Promised Land, the land of life, into a land of death. Down south in Egypt, the forbidden land, the land where bad things happen, Joseph, the seed of Abraham, is in charge, and God's blessing turns the land of death, into a land of life. When Abraham's seed rules the land, God's blessing comes. When Abraham's seed are ignored and rejected, God's cursing comes. What has happened in Egypt, is that Pharaoh has blessed the seed of Abraham--the descendent of Isaac. So even Egypt, the land of death, the land where bad things happen, becomes a land of life, a land where blessing comes to the children of Israel. Why? Because Pharaoh has recognized that God is with Joseph, and Pharaoh has seen that those who bless Joseph are blessed. Pharaoh knew Joseph. And in Pharaoh we see the first glimpse of the promise that in Abraham, all nations will be blessed--even Egypt. But in Exodus, it tells us that there arose a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. This doesn't mean that he had never heard of Joseph, this means that he didn't care about Joseph, and did not acknowledge Joseph's God. Therefore he cursed the seed of Abraham, and enslaved the children of Israel. And once again, God's promise to Abraham was set into motion: those who curse Abraham's seed will be cursed. The plagues turn Egypt into a land of foul, stinking, rotten, filth. Death and dying is everywhere. Egypt may have turned into a land of life while the seed of Abraham was blessed, but when Pharaoh turns against the children of Israel, God goes to war for his people. ----- Do you see where this is going? Those who bless the seed of Abraham will be blessed, and those who curse the seed of Abraham will be cursed. Ultimately, who is the seed of Abraham? Paul says in Galatians 3:16 that the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed, and that that seed is Christ. Those who bless the name of Christ will be blessed, and those who curse the name of Christ will be cursed. Pharaoh was one of the first Gentiles to realize this, and so he gave authority over all his realm to the seed of Abraham. And because of that, he lived, and his people lived. When another Pharaoh arose who did not realize this, who did not acknowledge the seed of Abraham, his firstborn son was killed, and thousands of his people died. I am here to tell you: That just like in Pharaoh's day, there is a famine coming. A terrible famine. The seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ, has come to warn you that it is coming, and to offer you life. Notice that Pharaoh did not say, "Thank you Joseph for warning me, Here's a nice comfortable villa on the outskirts of town, I'll take care of this famine." No, Pharaoh said, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. YOU shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders." Pharaoh recognized that the seed of Abraham was filled with the wisdom of God, and realized that if he was going to survive this famine, he needed the seed of Abraham to rule everything. Do you? Do you recognize that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God? that if you are going to survive this famine --the coming judgment-- you need Jesus Christ to rule your whole life?! You can't just say, "thanks for the warning!" and then go about your daily life like nothing has changed! You must submit to the rule and authority of Jesus Christ. There is no other way to avoid destruction. You see, We live in Egypt. This is the land of death. Our entire planet has become a land of death and destruction, and the only way out is to follow the seed of Abraham. Land and Seed go together. You cannot live in the land of life, unless you bless the Seed of Abraham--Jesus Christ. Jacob stood in the presence of Pharaoh, the most powerful king in whole world, and claimed the spiritual authority in that encounter-- declaring the hidden power which God had entrusted to him-- and pronounced his blessing--twice! And that Gentile king humbled himself--twice! and received God's blessing through this old, rustic patriarch. You too, must humble yourself and receive the blessing of God from the true seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ. ------ The book of Revelation makes another application: In Revelation 12:17, the dragon--the devil-- after failing to destroy Jesus--who is the seed of the woman-- turns against the rest of the seed of the woman, "those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus." This persecution is graphically depicted throughout the book, but the same principle is seen: those who curse-- those who hate-- those who wage war against the seed of the woman, are destroyed. But here, YOU are seen as the seed of the woman. If you are in Christ, then those who bless you will be blessed, and those who curse you will be cursed. So don't be afraid of those who mock you-- don't fear trials and tribulations-- if you have repented of your sins, and believed in Jesus Christ, then you are the seed of Abraham--by faith. What you see in this world is only half true. There is another reality at work. The Kingdom of God has been established in Jesus Christ, and it is waging war with the kingdom of this age. If you have been united to Jesus Christ, then you no longer belong to the kingdom of this age, but you belong to the age to come. You are no longer what you once were. Just as Jacob was transformed by his encounter with God, from being Jacob--the deceiver to Israel--the wrestler, and overcomer, So also you have been transformed by your encounter with Jesus Christ, from being deceitful Jacobs to being grafted in to the true Israel. You now hold in your hands the power to bless the nations. Remember who you are! When you face a lost and dying world, remember that you are heirs of the promise. When you are tempted to be afraid of the world, remember that the world will be cursed if it curses you, but blessed if it blesses you. In Christ, you have become the Seed of Abraham. By faith you have received the promise of a Land which will not perish. a hope which will not disappoint you. Remember that the next time you have an opportunity to proclaim the gospel because that is simply an opportunity to bring the blessings of God to the Gentiles. Amen.