Latest / Scripture Central / God Meant it for Good | Genesis 42-50 | Come Follow Me 2026 | John Hilton III | Mar 16-22

Transcript

God Meant it for Good | Genesis 42-50 | Come Follow Me 2026 | John Hilton III | Mar 16-22 · Scripture Central

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How often do we feel this way in our own lives?
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Everything is against me. If you're in the middle of
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something hard, don't give up hope.
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We live in a fallen world. We have mortal bodies.
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We interact with fallen people who sometimes use their agency
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in terrible ways. But when we look to Jesus
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Christ, we remember that what others meant for harm, God can
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turn to good. The same God who redeemed
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Joseph's story is still writing ours.
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Like lots of families, my family has a group chat where we share
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the latest updates with each other.
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And sometimes the group chat gets really exciting, like when
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my daughter got a boyfriend just blew up, or recently my son
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shared some videos of his pet snake eating a mouse.
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I'll spare you all the videos, but as I was scrolling through
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our family chat the other day, I wondered about Jacob and all of
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his children. What would things have been like
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if they had their own family group chat?
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As you look at this group chat here, if there's anything that
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doesn't make sense to you yet, just wait till the end of class.
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But my point is that Jacob's family probably had to have some
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tough conversations over the decades, and today we're going
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to explore 5 parts of their story.
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We'll see Judah's transformation, God's
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Providence, Reuben's tragedy, Jacob's heartache, and Joseph's
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prophecy. Now, we don't talk about Judah
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as much as Joseph, but his story is really important as well.
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The first time we get a close look at Judah is in Genesis
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chapter 37. His brothers see Joseph
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approaching from a distance and they plot to kill him.
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Reuben says let's spare his life.
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But when some traders come by, Judah sees an opportunity.
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Judah's the one who said, what will we gain if we kill our
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brother and cover up his blood? Let's sell him to the
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Ishmaelites. So here we see that Judah is 1
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who's willing to hurt others for his own benefit.
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And in Genesis chapter 38, he hasn't really changed.
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We talked about this in our last class.
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Judah fails his daughter-in-law tomorrow, and she eventually
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exposes his hypocrisy. In that moment, Judah says she
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is more righteous than I. It's not much, but at least he's
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starting to admit his mistakes. Well, time passes and there's a
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famine in the land of Canaan. Jacob keeps Benjamin at home and
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sends his other ten sons to Egypt, where they've heard
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there's lots of food there. The brothers unknowingly bow
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before Joseph, fulfilling the dreams that Joseph had had so
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many years earlier. Joseph recognizes them, and he
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tests them by accusing them of being spies.
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He demands that they bring their youngest brother back with them
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on their next trip, and Joseph keeps Simeon as a prisoner.
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Well, Joseph allows his brothers to purchase grain from him and
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then he secretly returns all of their money into the sacks.
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The grain lasts for a while, but eventually it runs out and they
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need to go back to Egypt. At first Jacob refuses to let
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Benjamin go. Benjamin is all that Jacob has
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left of Rachel. But Judah steps up and he says
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send Benjamin along with me and we will go at once.
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I myself will guarantee a safety.
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You can hold me personally responsible for him.
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If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you,
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I will bear the blame before you all my life.
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This is a new Judah. So the brothers took Benjamin
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and went back to Egypt. When they arrived, the brother
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said to Joseph, We beg your pardon, our Lord.
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We came down here the first time to buy food, but at the place
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where we stopped for the night, we opened our sacks and each of
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us found his silver, the exact weight in the mouth of the sack.
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So we have brought it back with us.
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We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food.
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We don't know who put the silver in our sacks.
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You can sense their fear. They're trying to be so careful.
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You can almost see Joseph smiling to himself.
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It's all right, he said. Don't be afraid.
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Your God, the God of your Father, has given you treasure
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in your sacks. I received your silver.
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So Joseph brought Simeon out of prison and for the first time in
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years, all 12 brothers are together.
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They had a beautiful meal together and the brothers are
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all astonished how Joseph sits them in the exact right order
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and Benjamin gets lots of extra food.
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But Joseph was not through testing them.
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Joseph secretly ordered his steward to hide Joseph's special
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silver cup in Benjamin's sack. So when the brothers set off,
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the steward pursues them and accuses them of theft.
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He searches their bags and finds the stolen cup with Benjamin
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sack. The brothers return in distress.
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They all offer themselves as slaves.
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Joseph says good news. You don't all have to be my
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slaves. I'll set you free.
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Only Benjamin will remain. That's when Judah stepped
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forward and he explained how much Jacob loved Benjamin.
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He told Joseph it will kill my father if Benjamin doesn't
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return. Judah says, how can I go back to
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my father if the boy is not with me?
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What a powerful verse for every young man or young women's
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leader, for every mother or father.
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Think about this in a spiritual sense.
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How can I go back to my capital F father if the child is not
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with me? This is an important reminder to
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all who work with children and youth.
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It is not the will of our father that even one of these precious
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ones should perish. So I love Judah's first
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response. How can I go back to my father
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if the boy is not with me? Judah also says something else
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that touches my heart. He says please let your servant
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remain here as my Lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the
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boy return with his brothers. Judah, who once said let's sell
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him now says let me take his place.
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Just let that rest in your heart for a moment.
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What a transformation. Judah's offer to take Benjamin's
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place points us to Judah's descendant Jesus Christ, who
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didn't just volunteer to trade places with us.
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He took our place on the cross, as Paul writes, For God made
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Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin so that
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we could be made right with God through Christ.
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Now, some of us might be Judah at the beginning of the story,
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or we might be in the middle of a story, or there might be
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someone that we love who's back in Genesis 37 or 38 and we're
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worried about their progress. But I love how God didn't give
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up on Judah back in chapters 37 or 38.
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It's a reminder that he's not giving up on you or me, and He's
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not giving up on those that we love.
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Transformation really is possible.
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And when we jump forward to Genesis chapter 49, this is
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where Jacob is giving blessings to all of his sons.
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Judah gets the most messianic blessing.
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Jacob tells him you are a lion's cub.
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Judah, this scepter will not depart from you.
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Now pause and think about that phrase.
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The scepter will not depart from you.
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One of Judah's descendants will be King David, and from that
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time on, all of the kings of Judah will come from Judah's
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line. And consider the phrase The
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scepter will not depart from you until he to whom it belongs
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shall come. That's clearly a reference to
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Jesus Christ. Notice how Judah is called a
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lion's cub. Then in the Book of Revelation,
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Jesus Christ, a descendant of Judah, is referred to as the
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lion of the tribe of Judah. I love how we can look
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holistically at Judah's story and see a powerful
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transformation. Now, Judah's story is just one
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part of an overarching message in these chapters, and that's a
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message about God's Providence. So let's return to the scene
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with Joseph and his brothers. All the brothers are begging
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Joseph to spare Benjamin's life. And when Joseph can't take it
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any longer, he has all of the servants to part.
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He starts to weep, pause, and picture the moment.
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Sometimes we just know the story, so it's hard for us to
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experience the humanity of it. But what do you feel in that
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very moment if you're Joseph? What did the brothers feel when
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they hear Joseph say, I am Joseph?
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Do you think they were amazed, astonished, happy, afraid?
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And then Joseph said, do not be distressed or angry with
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yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives
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that God sent me ahead of you. It was not you who sent me here,
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but God. Joseph recognizes God's divine
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Providence. He doesn't deny the pain of what
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happens, but he sees a greater truth.
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God sent me. He doesn't excuse his brothers,
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but he knows that God's power was greater than their evil.
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Joseph later said. You intended to harm me, but God
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intended it for good to accomplish what is now being
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done, the saving of many lives. Now I want to be clear about
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something. Not every bad thing that happens
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to you is part of God's plan, is what God intended to happen.
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For example, recently I was snowboarding.
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I did this amazing jump and then I fell and I hurt my shoulder.
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And I'm currently on my second round of physical therapy and
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the way things are looking, I'll probably be having surgery soon.
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Who knows, maybe that is part of God's divine Providence for me,
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but I doubt it. It's probably just I'm not as
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good of a snowboarder as I think I am, right?
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We live in a fallen world. We have mortal bodies.
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We interact with fallen people who sometimes use their agency
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in terrible ways. So I want to make it clear that
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when something bad happens, it's not necessarily God intended for
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that to happen. God doesn't always prevent the
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pit, but he can always redeem the pain.
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I don't know if it was God's plan for the Provo Tabernacle to
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burn down, but he certainly was able to use that event to give
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us the Provost City Center Temple.
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Even if there's something that God didn't intend or want, He
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can still take ashes and turn them into beauty.
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Remember what we read in the Doctrine and Covenants.
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The works and the designs and the purposes of God cannot be
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frustrated. Neither can they come to not.
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God really had showed Joseph a vision of what would happen and
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no matter what life dealt Joseph, nothing could stop the
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plans that God had for him. Reminds me of what we read in
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Jeremiah. The Lord says I know the plans I
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have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans
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to give you hope and a future. If we have these verses firmly
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in our hearts, it can really help us to be less anxious.
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I know that in my life I love to be in control, but the reality
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is I'm never in control. Things will work out for those
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who have faith in God, whom we can trust in his Providence,
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when we know that He is in control.
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This was true with Joseph in Egypt.
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It was true with Joseph Smith. You probably remember the story
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from the beginning of the book Saints.
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In 1816, a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia caused
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global climate disruption, leading to crops failing across
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the New England area. The Smith family, facing harsh
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in Vermont, was forced to move and eventually settled in
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Palmyra in New York. Providentially, this put Joseph
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Smith in a place where he could find the golden plates.
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God's works just cannot be frustrated.
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Can I share with you a personal example from my own life of
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God's Providence? This definitely is not on the
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level of Joseph in Egypt, but when I was 22 years old, God
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really put it on my heart that I should write a book for Latter
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Day St. teenagers answering common questions that they had.
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I even came up with a great title for the book it was called
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Is Kissing OK and Other Questions LDS Teens Want
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Answered. You know that the teenage
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version of yourself would have loved to have read a book like
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this. So I spent a year waking up
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early every morning. All of my spare time was poured
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into this manuscript. I sent it to Deseret Book
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expecting to receive a reply praising me for my wonderful
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writing. Instead, I got a letter that
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said, John, I appreciate the work you have put into your
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manuscript. Regrettably, the team that makes
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our publishing decisions was not confident that such a book by a
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relatively unknown author would be something we can market
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effectively. Not only that, they went on to
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say, please don't write us again.
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We will never accept this book. Well then I sent it to a second
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LDS publisher. There's not that many LDS
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publishers. Deseret Book was the biggest.
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The next biggest was Covenant. So after lots of prayer,
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fasting, refinement sent the book to Covenant.
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They wrote me back and said John thank you for this proposal of a
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question answer book for teens. In the last year I have received
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4 manuscripts of this type from CES teachers.
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So my original idea, not so original.
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He went on to say many of your questions are not adequately
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answered. Some of them have inaccuracies.
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A large percentage need to be more carefully thought through.
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I was devastated. So I kept fasting, praying,
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writing, rewriting. I sent my manuscript to 1/3
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publisher. This one wrote back and said
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that they would be happy to publish my book if I paid them
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$3000. Sounded like a scam to me.
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So now I've only got one more option.
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As a very small LDS publisher, I sent the book to them with lots
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of fasting and prayer. They wrote back and said we love
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your book. There's just one problem.
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They had just accepted a question answer book that was
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very similar to mine and so they weren't able to publish it.
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I was devastated. Now there's actually lots of
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details in the story and I'll probably come back to some of
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the details in a future class. But to make a Long story short,
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through Divine Design, there was an opportunity for me to record
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a talk on CD with Desiree book. One thing led to another and I
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was blessed to meet Anthony Sweat.
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He and I started talking and eventually we co-authored the
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books. Why and how?
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These were books that answer questions from LDS teenagers in
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a lot of the prose that I had written in my original book made
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it into these books. And because we published with
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Desra book, they had the ability to make the layout of the book
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amazing and they were able to really effectively market the
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book. I was so happy.
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Now, the part of the story that I really want to share today is
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shortly before the book how was published, I happened to meet
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one of the authors of the other Q&A book, the one that had been
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published by the small publishing company, the one that
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beat me to it because when the book had come out, I had noticed
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and I'd always remembered the name of this author.
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Well, I was on a retreat for EFY session directors along with him
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and I said, hey, I'm so jealous of you.
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For years I really wanted to have published this book and you
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beat me to it. He said, well, you shouldn't
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have been jealous of me. You're actually lucky, he said.
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But for reasons outside of his control, the book hadn't been as
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successful as he had hoped. The publishing company that he
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had worked with was so small, they hadn't been able to market
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the book effectively, he said. Actually, all the copies of the
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book, they're just in a warehouse in Orem.
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So I went and I actually got a copy of it.
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I still have it. You can come see it at my house
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today. It's a wonderful book.
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It was really well written and designed.
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It was just unfortunate that the company couldn't market it more
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effectively. And then all of a sudden I
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realized that if my prayers had been answered and my book had
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been published, it wouldn't have been successful.
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But because God delayed, he had some divine design in store.
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Things turned out way better than I could have possibly
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hoped. Now you might be thinking
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yourself, Brotherhood, and that's a beautiful story for
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you, but what about for the other author?
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And I started to wonder that same thing myself.
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So I actually reached out to him again and I said I want I want
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to hear more of your story. He said it's interesting that
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you should write because, and this is part of the e-mail he
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sent to me for years I had wanted to speak and publish.
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He said I did both, but learned that I don't love traveling to
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speak and I don't find the satisfaction in publishing that
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I thought I would. He had a degree in counseling
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and he went on to tell me that for the past eight years he'd
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worked as an adjunct professor at a local Community College,
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teaching community, family and addiction sciences in addition
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to his full time job. He said I love working with
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addicts in recovery. My experiences teaching on
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campus have changed my life in wonderful ways.
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I don't know that I would have accepted this position to teach
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if I had been successful at publishing and speaking.
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So each of our experiences had led to initial disappointments
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that were really painful and actually lasted a long time.
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But those challenges ultimately resulted for both of us in
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beautiful experiences, and I love being able to see how God
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is working in each of our lives. Sometimes a painful delay is
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simply God's power being manifest, but we just can't see
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it yet. Remember Joseph's words to his
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brothers. It was not you who sent me here,
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but God. What do you think?
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How have you seen God's Providence working in your own
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life? In my 20s, I I went to school
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BYU, but ended up going on a mission and all along I felt
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like, you know, there I was supposed to find somebody to get
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married, but those opportunities didn't seem like they were
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coming. In my later 30s, I ended up
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meeting my husband once again. You know, God's timing is his
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timing and you can try to do anything and everything you can
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to make certain things happen. But in trusting the Lord, I, you
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know, realized that maybe other people that I had dated who I
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thought would be, you know, the, the person that I would marry
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probably wouldn't have been the best choice.
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And I'm just really grateful for the Lord.
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He had a plan. I needed to trust it.
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That's helped me in my later years in life, that the Lord
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does know all things and I need to really put my trust in His
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plan, not what I think the plan is.
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Thank you. It is a real struggle when we're
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in the messy middle. Now you can tell this beautiful
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story and everything has worked out, but I bet someone who's
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listening to the story is like, well great, I'm in my late 60s
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and I still haven't been married and where's my happy ending?
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I love that even though others meant it for harm, God could
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take that and turn it for good. Even hard things in our lives
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God can mold and shape in a way that will bring beauty, Elder
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Rasband taught. Through the experiences of my
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own life's journey, I know that the Lord will move us on that
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seeming chess board to do His work.
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What may appear to be a random chance is in fact overseen by a
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loving Father in heaven. The Lord is in the small details
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of our lives, and those incidents and opportunities are
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to prepare us to lift our families and others as we build
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the Kingdom of God on earth. Allow Him to make more of you
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than you can make of yourself on your own.
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Treasure His involvement. The Lord's hand is guiding you
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by divine design. He is in the small details of
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your life as well as the major milestones.
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Sometimes it takes years, and sometimes there's going to be
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tears. But the same God who redeemed
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Joseph's story is still writing ours.
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Now That does not mean there won't be serious challenges that
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takes us in fact to Reubens tragedy when Jacob remember
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that's Israel when he was about to die, he gathered his sons
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together to receive blessings from him and he gave each son a
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blessing starting with his first born Reuben.
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Now before we look at Reubens blessing, let's just take a
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quick side quest and talk about the 12 tribes of Israel because
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sometimes it can be a little bit confusing.
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So Jacob has twelve sons and we often think of them as the 12
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tribes of Israel. But as you know, Joseph.
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Has two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and when the land
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allocations come forth, Joseph often isn't mentioned, but his
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two sons Ephraim and Manasseh are.
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So if you compare the list in Genesis and Numbers, you'll
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notice that Joseph is replaced by Ephraim and Manasseh, and
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Levi isn't mentioned. The book of Joshua explains it
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this way. Joseph's descendants have become
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two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim.
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The Levites received no share of the land, but only towns to live
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in with pasture lands for their flocks and herds.
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But there are actually several different lists of the tribes
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throughout the Bible, and sometimes the list seem a little
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random. For example, in the Book of
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Revelation, Dan is not included and Joseph is included instead
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of Ephraim. So different Bible authors are
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going to list the 12 tribes differently.
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This is a small detail. I wouldn't stress out about it,
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but I just mentioned it because it's a question that comes up
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sometimes. But let's go back to Reuben's
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blessing. It begins on a positive note.
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Jacob says, Reuben, thou art my first born, my might and the
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beginning of my strength, the Excellency of dignity and the
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Excellency of power sounds like a great blessing, but then it
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continues, unstable as water. Thou shalt not excel.
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What happened? As you probably know, Reuben did
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some really good things, like rescuing his brother Joseph from
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death, but he also did some bad things.
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The Bible passes over a big event in only one verse.
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Rachel had just died. Remember, she was Jacob's
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beloved wife. Right after we learn of Rachel's
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death, the narrator records Ruben went in and slept with his
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father's concubine, Bill Hawk, and Israel heard of it.
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Bill, how was Rachel's servant who Rachel had given to Jacob?
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She's the mother of Dan in Naftali.
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Why would Ruben do this? He's unstable as water.
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And if you think about it, water is a good analogy for
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instability. Water takes the form of whatever
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container it's in. If you put it in a tall, skinny
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container, the water is tall and skinny.
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Put it in a shorter, wider container, the water changes
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shape. It's kind of like how people
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might act differently depending on who they're around.
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If I'm with my good friends, I actually good.
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If I'm with my bad friends, maybe I do bad things.
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Contrast Ruben with Joseph. When Joseph was faced with
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temptation, he refused day after day.
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In contrast, Ruben is unstable as water and notice the long
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standing consequences. In the book of Chronicles we
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read when Reuben defiled Jacob's marriage bed, his rights as
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first born were given to the sons of Joseph, son of Israel.
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Though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came
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from him, the rights of the first born belonged to Joseph.
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So Reuben was the first born of Leah, but Joseph was the first
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born of Rachel, so the birthright passes to him because
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of Reuben's actions. Now, in context, Reuben's
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instability is related to sexual sin.
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I really wish that Reuben could have been with me at his own
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conference when Elder Richard G Scott came and spoke to us, his
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words really changed my life, Elder Scott said firmly.
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Establish personal standards. Choose a time of deep spiritual
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reflection where there's no pressure on you and you can
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confirm your decisions by sacred impressions.
23:43
Decide then what you will do and what you will not do to express
23:46
feelings. The spirit will guide you then.
23:50
Do not vary from those decisions, no matter how right
23:53
it may seem. When the temptation comes, the
23:56
realization of your dreams depends upon your determination
24:01
to never betray your standards. As a young missionary, as I
24:05
heard Elder Scott speak, I was just filled with hope.
24:08
It was like he was saying, you're here as a missionary, you
24:10
have a new life, a fresh start. Don't worry about the things
24:13
that you've done in your past. Make a decision from this point
24:16
on about what you will do and will not do to express feelings.
24:20
So actually, as a young missionary, I set a moral
24:22
standard for myself that I said, OK, I'm never going to deviate
24:26
from this. It was really easy to live that
24:28
standard while I was on my mission.
24:30
But then I got home from my mission and a few days later I
24:32
was on my first post mission date.
24:35
I was out with a young lady. We'd been on some dates before
24:37
my mission. I'm showing her pictures of my
24:40
mission. She's showing me pictures of
24:41
college. Our conversation died down and
24:44
we're just kind of looking into each other's eyes.
24:47
And I realized I've got an opportunity here to be unstable
24:50
as water. I could break my standard.
24:52
So I just looked her in the eye and I said, did I ever mention
24:56
to you the standard that I set for myself on my mission?
25:00
OK. Now, in retrospect, there was a
25:02
lot better ways I could have handled this situation, but I
25:05
don't know. For a couple days I was kind of
25:06
nervous. So she looks at me and she's
25:08
like, no, what's the standard you set for yourself?
25:10
I told her what it was and she said that's the dumbest thing
25:13
I've ever heard. And that was our last date.
25:15
So it's a reminder that just because you stick to your
25:18
standards, not everything's going to work out.
25:20
By the way, years later, we had a conversation about this and we
25:22
just laughed. Like we were both very young at
25:25
the time. And to be honest, I am 100%
25:28
certain that I was not in danger of any sexual impropriety that
25:31
night. But I'm really grateful that I
25:33
stuck to my standard because over the next several years
25:36
there was going to be lots of opportunities to get into sticky
25:39
situations that I avoided. Because if you always stick to
25:43
your standard, you don't have to worry.
25:45
That's why Elder Scott's words do not vary from those
25:49
decisions. No matter how right it may seem
25:52
when the temptation comes are so powerful.
25:55
And by the way, this principle, it applies to all aspects of the
25:59
gospel. We can prayerfully set standards
26:01
about the media that we consume, or how we'll honor the Sabbath
26:04
day, or how we'll stay in places that keep us spiritually strong
26:08
and stay close to Jesus Christ. The real question is, how are we
26:11
going to prayerfully set standards we'll never deviate
26:14
from? Instead of being unstable as
26:17
water, consider your life. Where in your life are you
26:20
personally most tempted to be unstable as water now?
26:24
What ways could you follow Elder Scott's counsel?
26:27
Something in my life that I have made a commitment to is that the
26:32
media that I consume, the movies I watch, the music I listen to,
26:36
the books I read, I want them to be of such a nature that they
26:40
are inspiring and that they do not detract from my ability to
26:45
feel the spirit. And recently there was a book
26:48
that has been very popular and being recommended as such a
26:53
great book. And so I thought, oh, great.
26:55
And so I began reading this book and it was very well written in
26:59
the beginning. And then there came to a chapter
27:01
where there was material that was questionable.
27:04
And as I read through part of that and I put it down, it left
27:08
me with such an uneasy feeling. And I thought about what it was
27:14
that I wanted in my life and I thought about my commitment.
27:18
Does this fall into or out of that commitment with what I
27:23
want? And, and it was very clear.
27:27
Who do you follow? Thank you that's that's a great
27:31
example of staying strong rather than being unstable.
27:35
My health and the things I eat, I am a very addicted to sugar
27:41
and and I can tell myself that I'm going to exercise and take
27:47
care of my body, which I'm pretty good at exercising.
27:51
But when it comes to food, it's something that I will say I am
27:54
not going to eat this. I'm not going to eat past a
27:56
certain hour of the night and all I have to do is smell
28:00
something and my whole, you know, mine just melts and I
28:04
forget everything that I've committed to.
28:07
And I am seriously unstable. So, I mean, that is just a very
28:12
simple thing. But just, you know, it's not,
28:16
you know, word of wisdom with alcohol or drugs or anything
28:20
bad, but it's just that simple temptation of something that I
28:23
know is not good for me, but it comes calling all the time.
28:27
That thanks for helping make it a real situation for us.
28:30
Thank you. For me, it's where where in my
28:33
life I feel most tempted is when I don't have anything to do.
28:37
When I stay busy and doing good things is when I most stable.
28:42
Yeah, that's an important key. Thank you.
28:44
You know, there's times in our lives when we're going to be
28:46
tempted to be unstable as water and keep him busy.
28:49
That's something that's going to help us avoid it.
28:51
Now, in the chapters that we're studying today, Jacob's going to
28:54
pass away. And I think it's worth us
28:57
stepping back and taking a bigger look at his life because
29:00
we've seen his life across several different of our
29:03
classes. But there's a lesson that we
29:05
might miss in any one of these, and that's the story of Jacob's
29:09
heartache. I mean, sit with Jacob and
29:11
really think about his life for a few minutes.
29:15
We see it was really hard. You remember Jacob tricks his
29:19
father. And so then his mother tells
29:21
him, stay with my brother for a while until your brother's fury
29:24
subsides. So Jacob has to leave his
29:27
family. He's never going to see his
29:30
mother again. He works for seven years to be
29:33
able to be married to Rachel. But after his marriage in the
29:36
morning, it was Leah. So he works for 14 years to win
29:41
his two wives. Then he keeps working for six
29:43
additional years. And during this time, Laban, his
29:46
father-in-law, will change his wages 10 times.
29:50
Jacob finally has to break free of his manipulative
29:52
father-in-law. But that leads to its own series
29:55
of conflicts. Then once they arrive in Canaan,
29:58
he has a massive family problem. We talked about Dinah's silence
30:02
in our last class. And today we've seen what
30:05
happened with Ruben. Jacob then finds out that his
30:08
beloved son has died, or at least so he thinks.
30:12
Do you remember his words? It is my son's robe.
30:15
Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his
30:18
son for many days. All of the sons and daughters
30:21
came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.
30:24
No, he said, I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the
30:29
grave. Time passes.
30:31
There's a famine in the land, more hardship.
30:34
He sends his sons to Egypt to get grain.
30:36
They return saying Simeon is now in prison and we don't get any
30:41
more grain unless we bring Benjamin back.
30:43
Jacob cried out. You have deprived me of my
30:46
children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is
30:48
no more, and now you want to take Benjamin?
30:51
Everything is against me. How often do we feel this way in
30:55
our own lives? Everything is against me.
30:58
Do you remember back in Genesis 28, Jacob had a spiritual
31:02
experience. We called it Jacob's Ladder.
31:04
In this vision, the Lord said to him, I am with you and will
31:08
watch over you. Where wherever you go, keep in
31:12
mind it's been about 50 years since Jacob received this
31:15
blessing. And most of what we've read
31:16
about his life in these 50 years has been really hard.
31:21
We might think, oh, he's the founder of the 12 tribes of
31:23
Israel. He's so amazing.
31:24
This is Jacob. But Jacob probably didn't feel
31:27
that way. His life was tough.
31:29
God says, I'll watch over you. And then everything keeps going
31:32
wrong for him. He says everything is against
31:36
me. But divine design was working in
31:39
Jacob's life as well. How did Jacob feel when Joseph's
31:42
brothers told Jacob Joseph is still alive, In fact, he is
31:46
ruler of all Egypt. We actually don't have to
31:49
imagine. Scripture tells us Jacob was
31:50
stunned. He did not believe them.
31:53
I mean, think of how shocking this was and how awkward it is
31:57
for the brothers when Jacob's like, well, wait, what about the
32:00
coat with all the blood on it? And they're like, oh, yeah,
32:03
Well, about that. Eventually, Jacob believes his
32:07
sons. We read when Jacob saw the carts
32:09
from Joseph, Jacob said, I'm convinced my son Joseph is still
32:13
alive. I will go and see him before I
32:16
die. Can you imagine what that
32:18
reunion was like? We know how the story goes, but
32:22
try to imagine it. What does Joseph feel?
32:24
What does Jacob feel? We read as soon as Joseph
32:27
appeared before Israel. Joseph threw his arms around his
32:30
father and wept for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, Now I am
32:36
ready to die since I have seen for myself that you are still
32:41
alive. Jacob's heartache is perhaps a
32:45
reminder to each of us to consider this question in your
32:49
life, have you ever gone from everything is against me to my
32:54
son is still alive? If you haven't, if you're in the
32:58
middle of something hard, don't give up hope.
33:01
One of my all time favorite quotes is from President Holland
33:04
when he said some blessings come soon, some come late, and some
33:08
don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the
33:11
gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.
33:14
Jacob's life shows us that even in the heartache well.
33:19
Let's conclude by turning to Joseph's prophecy.
33:22
In the blessing that Jacob gives to Joseph, he says Joseph is a
33:26
fruitful bow, even a fruitful bow by a well whose branches run
33:31
over the wall. The Archers have sorely grieved
33:34
him and shot at him and hated him, but his bow abode and
33:39
strength. So in one sense, we can read
33:41
this as a statement about Joseph's life.
33:43
He's the fruitful vine or tree that's bringing forth great
33:46
fruit. Even though his brothers
33:48
attacked him and hated him, Joseph was strong and he
33:50
receives great blessings. Through modern revelation, we
33:54
know there's a deeper meaning to this blessing.
33:56
As we read about the branches running over the wall, we can
34:01
see like just like Joseph was separated from his brothers,
34:03
some of the descendants of Joseph are separated from the
34:07
rest of the tribes of Israel when Lehi and his family leave
34:11
Jerusalem. And so this takes us to a
34:13
powerful passage that many people miss, the Joseph Smith
34:17
translation of Genesis chapter 50 in the standard Bible.
34:21
Genesis 50 ends with Joseph of Egypt telling his brothers that
34:24
God will eventually leave them out of Egypt, and then Joseph
34:27
dies. But the Joseph Smith translation
34:30
adds significant prophecies where Joseph describes a vision
34:35
of the future, including the coming of Moses, the scattering
34:38
of Israel, and even our day. Joseph says the Lord God will
34:41
raise up a righteous branch, a prophet, not the Messiah, and
34:46
this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt.
34:50
So Joseph sees Moses in that part of God's plan.
34:52
Joseph goes on to say, the Israelites shall be scattered
34:56
again and a branch shall be broken off and shall be carried
34:59
into a far country, but they shall be remembered in the
35:03
covenants of the Lord. It's clear that Joseph is seeing
35:07
a group of Israelites who are going to leave Jerusalem, sail
35:10
to America and preserve God's word.
35:12
He's seen the Nephites and the Lamanites.
35:14
Then the Lord says to Joseph, your descendants, meaning the
35:18
Nephites shall write, and the descendants of Judah shall
35:22
write. So the descendants of Joseph
35:25
write the Book of Mormon, the descendants of Judah write the
35:28
Bible. These writings shall grow
35:30
together unto the confounding of false doctrines and the laying
35:34
down of contentions and establishing peace.
35:38
The Bible and the Book of Mormon, they're not in
35:40
competition with each other. They work together.
35:42
It's a reminder of what Nephi saw in his vision.
35:45
The Angel told Nephi these last records, meaning the Book of
35:48
Mormon, which thou has seen among the Gentiles shall
35:52
establish the truth of the first meaning the Bible.
35:56
And then speaking about the latter days Joseph of Egypt
35:59
prophecies, the Lord will raise up one mighty among them, a
36:04
seer, a choice seer, whose name shall be called Joseph, and it
36:09
shall be called after the name of his father.
36:12
This is clearly a reference to Joseph Smith junior, who's named
36:16
for a father. There are so many lessons that
36:18
we can learn from this prophecy of Joseph.
36:21
We learned that God is always way ahead of us.
36:24
Joseph in Egypt, he saw the restoration of the gospel
36:27
thousands of years in advance. We also see how the Bible and
36:31
the Book of Mormon work together to establish doctrine.
36:35
From Joseph. We also learned that we're the
36:37
ones with both Testaments, uniquely prepared to gather
36:40
Israel and share Christ with the world.
36:44
Now, ultimately, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Joseph in
36:48
Egypt all point us to Jesus Christ.
36:52
In our last class, we talked about some similarities between
36:54
Joseph in Egypt and the Savior. Just like Joseph, Jesus was
36:59
betrayed, sold for silver, and stripped of his clothing.
37:03
Today we've seen additional similarities.
37:06
Joseph gave his brothers bread to relieve them from the famine.
37:10
Jesus gives us the true bread of everlasting life.
37:14
Joseph forgave his brothers, reminding us of Christ who said
37:18
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
37:22
It's easy for us to feel good about Joseph's story because we
37:25
know that everything is going to work out.
37:28
But what if you're Joseph in day 748 of being in prison or Jacob
37:32
on year 48 of a really hard life?
37:35
Did they ever lose hope? You and I might be in the middle
37:38
right now of a really difficult story.
37:40
It could be easy for us to lose hope.
37:42
But when we look to Jesus Christ, we remember that what
37:45
others meant for harm, God can turn to good.
37:50
I testify. God really can make beauty from
37:54
ashes.