God's Authentic Works in His People Genesis 50

God’s Word Changes Lives in Genesis

So here we are. We have reached the end of our journey through Genesis. Our first sermon in Genesis was on September 10th, 2017. And think about how much our church has changed in that time. In September 2017, Roger was not quite with us yet.

Our daughter Alethea just started to walk and Jacob and Annabelle were just a little ahead of her in that stage of life. The beginning of our son Isaiah's life was still far off. The Mattson building was known as the annex and it was a building showing its age.

We also had the old steeple that badly needed repair. However, in September of 2017, we didn't have an elder board and we didn't have Mark and Rob. They came and now I have two more guys to poke fun at along with Sean, Maya, and John.

Bye Mark.

But more importantly, I have two men to help me shepherd this church with. And many of you were not here at that time also, but by God's grace and his providence, he has brought you here. We also brought on three new missionaries.

The Myrons in Ireland, the Stouts in Macedonia, and the Lepushes in Albania. Your generosity has not only helped us support foreign missions, but you have put our church in a place where we are figuring out how to use our funds rather than being forced to be tight with the small amount we had.

So it's exciting to look back and reflect over the last two years. Now when I preached that first sermon in September 2017, I had someone outside our church say to me, do you really want to go verse by verse through Genesis?

And what he was asking was, wouldn't that make it harder for Eureka to build toward the future, looking at not only the well-known passages of Genesis, but also the ones most people don't know about, and even the uncomfortable passages of Genesis.

We have seen people in this church changed through the word of God, verse by verse going through the Bible. As the word is put out there, the Holy Spirit does something in the hearts of people. Isaiah 55, 10, and 11 says, For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.

It shall not return to be empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. The Lord has done wonderful things among us. This milestone is a good time to reflect on this.

And all the glory goes to Him. The word of God has power to change lives to make the people who listen to it reflect Him. And that is why we go through the Bible verse by verse. Only the word of God can change a person from the inside out.

True Believers Show a Transformed Life

So, we are going to close out this wonderful book, Genesis, in chapter 50 this morning. And the Lord is going to show us, once again, His glorious truth. So, at this time, I encourage you to turn there with me to Genesis 50.

If you're using a red Bible in the pews, it's on pages 51 and 52. This sermon is titled, God's Works in His People. And our big idea, our proposition is this. True believers have certain marks that characterize them.

True believers have certain marks that characterize them. And we're going to see three marks in this text. And the first mark is this. They live a transformed life. And we'll see this in verses 1 through 14.

But before we jump into our text this morning, let me give you a little recap of last week's sermon. We looked at Jacob bless his 12 sons. And by doing this, he was telling the future of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Most of the descriptions concerning each tribe were very brief. Some received a good blessing, and while others received a bad blessing or an anti-blessing. Because of the sins that the sons took part in.

And remember, the blessings they received reflected the head of their tribe. What their head was like, so the future of their tribe would be. The greatest blessing of all was reserved for Judah. As I mentioned, the descendants reflected each other.

So Judah had the leadership role of the brothers. Because remember, when he was going to retrieve Benjamin, he told his father, if anything happens to him, I'm going to take all of the blame. And what he showed here, by stepping out, he was showing leadership qualities.

And what we saw in the key verse, in chapter 49 verse 10, is that the scepter would not depart from Judah. And one would come from this line who would rule the world as the nations would bow to him and follow him.

And what we saw is that this passage is very applicable to us. We are the nations. Eureka Baptist Church, we are the nations. When the Holy Spirit wrote this through Moses, he was predicting a time when the world would joyfully follow the Messiah from the tribe of Judah.

And if you are here today and you are sincerely following Christ, this is your present and this is your future. One day the salvation of the nations will be complete and you will reign with the Messiah, Jesus Christ, forever.

That was indeed a glorious passage we looked at together last Sunday. We closed the sermon by looking at the end of Jacob's life. We read that Jacob was gathered to his people. And what this means is that he went to be with the Lord.

And he went to be with those who were already with the Lord. We have been with Jacob since chapter 25 and now we are done looking at his life. So as we close out Genesis this morning, we conclude with Joseph and his brothers.

With Jacob's death, this presents the opportunity for Joseph and his brothers to have a heart-to-heart conversation. But before we get to that, we are going to see Joseph and the Egyptians weep for Jacob following his death.

So let's look at that in verses 1 -3. Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. So as Joseph sees the corpse of his father, he weeps over him. Then Joseph, the second most powerful man in Egypt, commands the physicians in Egypt to embalm his father.

And they did so.

Now embalming is preserving the body. And this was something that the Egyptians started. Instead of burying the body immediately, they used a process called mummification, which you are familiar with, to preserve it by wrapping the body in gauze.

They also dried up the body and took the vital organs out. And even today, we follow the Egyptians to a certain extent in this. We don't do mummification, but modern morticians preserve the body so that it can be viewed days later at the funeral.

Historically, the Jews did not do this but would bury the body immediately. For example, Jesus was buried the same day he died. However, Joseph, as an Egyptian citizen, is following the Egyptian way here by going through this process of embalming.

Now embalming usually involved pagan priests, but you'll notice here that there's no mention of priests present. And that's because, of course, Joseph followed the Lord and his brothers and his family, the nation of Israel, followed the Lord.

So he just used physicians here. This process of preserving the dead body was needed since Jacob's body would be transferred to Canaan, which would have been a several hundred mile journey. Verse 3 says that this elaborate process took 40 days and the Egyptians wept for him 70.

Now let's look at the travel to Canaan here. They're going to be going on this journey. And as we look at this travel to Canaan, I'm going to be reading verses 4 through 14. And then I'm going to highlight the important things we need to see here.

So let's do this extended reading here, verses 4 through 14. And when the days of weeping for him were passed, 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, My father made me swear, saying, I'm 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. 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, 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, which was in Egypt.

And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation.

And he made a mourning for his father seven days. When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.

Therefore, the place was named Abel Mizraim. It is beyond the Jordan. Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, 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.

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. So the 70 days of weeping passed and Joseph knew it was time to head to the land of promise to bury his father.

But before he could go, he needed to receive permission from Pharaoh. Pharaoh was the only man in Egypt who had more authority than him. And what he told Pharaoh is my father made me swear that I would bury him in this specific location.

And he planned to do so. And what we know about Pharaoh and Joseph's relationship, as we have seen, is that it's a very good one. And so this is a formality. Of course, Pharaoh is going to say yes to this.

And he does. And what we see here is that this was not your ordinary funeral. This funeral was a big deal because Joseph was a prominent figure in Egypt. He was the number two man in Egypt. This funeral was a spectacle to see.

And what we read in verse 7 is that Pharaoh's servants and the high officials of the land, the elders of Pharaoh's household, accompanied the body to Canaan. Now in our country, in the United States, when a president dies, a state funeral is performed for him.

Recently, we saw George Herbert Walker Bush buried in this honorable way. These funerals attract the highest officials of the land, past and present. And we see here that Jacob's honorable funeral was quite a spectacle to see, much like these funerals that we see on TV.

And you will notice that as they traveled, there was much grieving. And it's interesting that in these days, the grieving was almost, now some of it would have been genuine, but it was almost like you need to grieve so it looks sad.

So even if you didn't feel sad, you're supposed to look sad. And what verse 10 says is that they lamented there with a very great and grieving lamentation. And Joseph made a time of mourning for seven days.

And the Canaanites who observed this procession, all these people, all these high officials and these chariots coming through Canaan, as they observed this, what they said is there was a great mourning among these people.

And they named it Abol Mizraim, which means mourning of Egypt. But what is important to see here is that Joseph and his sons did what their father told them to do. A few weeks back, I explained that Joseph showed integrity by telling his father that he would bury him in this location and then doing it.

The other 11 sons of Jacob are following him by keeping their word also. In chapter 49, verse 29, Jacob told all of his sons, I am to be gathered to my people and you are to bury me in this specific location, this field that he bought, that his ancestor Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite.

And what we read in verse 12 is his sons did for him as he had commanded them. We need to stop and see what is so significant about this. We have seen how sinful these brothers were. They wanted their brother Joseph dead and they didn't care that putting Joseph to death would send their father into a deep sorrow for the rest of his life.

Even though they didn't kill Joseph but sold him into slavery, they still lied to their father telling him that Joseph was dead. They showed him the shredded coat and made him believe this was so. So for all the horrible things they did to Joseph, they also did very, very bad to their father Jacob.

But we see a transformation here. Several weeks back, we looked at the transformation of Judah. The same one who sold Joseph into slavery for a profit is the same one who put himself on the line if Benjamin did not return to Jacob.

But now we also see the other brothers moving in a godly direction. They know about the God of their fathers. The Lord is intimately connected to their family history. But He is only their God if they follow Him.

If they live out their profession that the Lord is God and walk in the ways of their fathers. You can't say you're a follower of Christ if you don't do certain things in your life. Do you read your Bible?

Do you pray? Are you a part of a local fellowship of believers? There's a lot of people out there that can't say those things. How can you say you're following Christ if you're not doing what He told you to do?

And we see right here that these people are demonstrating true faith. These 11 sons show integrity along with Joseph by doing good to their father, by keeping their word, burying him after he is gone, along with their brother Joseph.

And these 11 sons here go from doing evil to doing good. We see transformation taking place. And we've seen this throughout the end of the narrative of Genesis. And we know that someone knows the Lord when they live out their profession of faith.

James 2, verses 14 -17 says, What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. So what James is saying is that true faith is always accompanied by works. Now we're not saved by works, don't misunderstand me. We're saved by grace, through faith alone in Christ alone.

But if you're truly saved, you're going to see a change to life because the Holy Spirit is present in your life. So Joseph's brothers are demonstrating true faith here in the noble way. They treat their father after he is gone.

And the question I ask you is do your works match your profession of faith? It's been well stated that not everyone who professes faith in Christ possesses faith in Him. In our nation, about 70 of the people identify themselves as Christians.

Rob, Mark, and I were reading a book a while back and this guy went to a baseball game and they sang God Bless America and he says, you would think that everybody in that stadium was a Christian. And of course we know that's not the case.

Can you imagine how much different our country would be if that were truly so? If that many people were sincerely following Christ? 70 of the people are not experiencing the transforming power of the gospel in their lives.

But those who are truly changed is a percentage much smaller than that. Even that song we sang today, am I a soldier of the cross? Shouldn't I expect to have trials and tribulations and have to fight for my faith if so many before us have done the same and Jesus said it would be so?

And you may ask, Pastor Seth, how do I know if my works are true God-honoring works and not dead superficial morality?

To that I say,.

Are your works rooted in your love for the Lord? Do you love Jesus? Does He mean everything to you? Those who love the Lord and have a desire to reflect and have the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5 .22 -23 lists the fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness. That's a list here that you should see those things coming out in your life. And are these works rooted in your love for the Lord? The Holy Spirit gives you these desires that you don't have naturally.

We're not naturally patient people. We're not naturally loving people. We're not naturally gentle people. He produces that in you miraculously. We see here that Joseph's brothers are demonstrating a changed life in the new way they treat their father.

By nature, they didn't care about their father. They were willing to have him feel sorrowful for the rest of his life. But by transformation, they now suddenly care about him. And he's not even able to see it because he's dead, but they're burying his body in the place he told them to.

They have true works of faith. And if you have a sincere relationship with the Lord, then you will see these works show up in your life. You will have integrity. You will be the same person in private as you are in public.

Now, we're not saying perfection here, but we're just saying you should see this in your life. It's not the perfection of your life, but it's the direction of your life. Are you going in the right direction?

True believers have certain marks that characterize them. The first mark in this text is that they have a transformed life. The second mark that characterizes true believers is they have a heart filled with sorrow for their sin.

True Believers Show Sorrow for Sin

And we'll see this in verses 15 -17. And this is what I alluded to in the call to worship. True believers not only see good works present in their life, but at the root of that, we are going to see in these verses that true sorrow is present.

Let's see this in verses 15 -17. 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. So they sent a message to Joseph saying, Your father gave this command before he died.

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.

So after the whole family and these Egyptians went to Canaan, they returned to Egypt. Joseph's brothers have a fear that comes over them after they returned. Verse 15 tells us what their concern was. They're thinking, oh no.

Has Joseph put up with us just because our father was still alive? I'm paraphrasing here. We did evil to him. Will he now do evil to us? This was a weak moment. They should have known Joseph better, his character.

As we have seen throughout Joseph's life, he has lived largely a very godly and righteous life. In chapter 45, when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he told them, Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here.

That's not what an unbeliever would do. But Joseph, demonstrating his godly character,.

That's what he says.

His brothers are so afraid to face him that they send a note to him. They just send it ahead of them. And they send the note on behalf of their late father as if he's speaking from the grave. They know how much Joseph loved Jacob and bringing Jacob into this will only help their cause.

Apparently, Jacob said this before he died and Joseph may have even heard Jacob's request that he forgive his brothers. What we need to see here is that Joseph's brothers are the ones writing this note even though Jacob said this.

Joseph's brothers agree with this statement. And what we see here is true sorrow for their sin. In verse 15, they admit that what they did was evil. And what they ask Joseph in verse 17 through their father is, Please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.

To this point, Joseph's brothers did not officially admit their wrong to Joseph out of fear of what might happen to them. But now was the time. And that may very well have been why Jacob set up this reconciliation before he died.

Jacob would have already seen the change in his sons and now it was officially time to face Joseph and ask for forgiveness. And what we see here is true sorrow for their great sin against their younger brother Joseph.

The Lord has been gracious to them by giving them time to realize their sin. I think about that in my own life. The Lord has been so gracious to me. I'm so glad I didn't die when I was 19 because my story would be pathetic, frankly.

But the Lord was gracious to me to show me my sin and be patient with me. And I know that's many of your story. It's the story of Joseph's brothers. The Lord was patient with them, leading them to repentance.

And that's the character though. That's what 2 Peter says.

He's patient to us.

Not wanting people to perish, but that they would reach repentance. And you might say, why didn't the brothers see this beforehand? That they did tremendous evil to their brother. Didn't they see what they did was wrong?

And to that I say, sin blinds people. We offer justification for the wrong things we do. You can see how Joseph's brothers may have justified theirs. They might have said, Joseph was the favorite. He got what he deserved.

His life was so much better than ours. People try to justify all kinds of sins. Even heinous sins. Mark Brooks, he had to leave here a little bit ago, but he used to work in the prison system. I always say he worked in the prison system.

He was on the right side of the law. And when he was there, he said most of the people there didn't think they did anything wrong. And we look at it and say, you deserve to be here. People did horrible things, but they didn't think they did anything wrong.

Sin blinds people. And we know in our own lives what it is like to justify our sins. We do it, and the more immature you are in the faith, the more you will do it. Others are to blame, and somehow we are always in the right.

Somehow. Our pride leads us to keep on sinning as we continue to justify the unrighteousness in thought, word, and deed. This is the fight against sin that we are in. The first step in fighting sin is realizing you have a problem.

Maya and I were talking about this the other day. You need to face your sin before you can deal with your sin. Once you realize you have a problem, Alcoholics Anonymous, they have this right. You need to recognize that you're an alcoholic before you can turn from that.

And that's what Scripture teaches. You need to recognize your sin, face it, and then deal with it by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to be intentional about killing the sin in our life. And if we're not intentional, it won't leave.

It won't be deadened. It won't be diminished. God wants us to face the music. We need to repent before Him. And if we have wronged others, we need to ask for forgiveness. And this takes humility. I heard it once said that humility is the queen of virtues.

I heard this story, and maybe you've heard this story. Someone comes up and says, Yeah, I'm a very humble person.

Right?

If you say I'm a humble person, you're not a humble person.

Right?

It's a defeating statement. Humility is something that we all need to be after. I know one pastor has said, we should aim to be proud people pursuing humility. Everybody's proud, but we should be proud people pursuing humility.

And I think that's right on the money. And the Holy Spirit shows true believers their sin, and by His grace, believers face their sin, and over time, growth comes. And it's a process. It's the fourth seed in the parable of the sower in Luke.

It's a process. It comes with patience. With patience, you bear fruit. So do you feel sorrow for your sin? Do you repent before God? If you have wronged another, do you ask for forgiveness? All of these are marks of true believers, and if these are lacking, you need to ask yourself, Is the Holy Spirit truly present in my life?

Because He is going to show you these things. And you might be here today, and you might not be a follower of Christ. And I want to invite you to believe in the Lord Jesus today. Recognize that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.

Jesus went to the cross. He paid for your sins. He was raised from the dead. And if you believe in Him, you will be saved, as the Bible promises. And that is there. That offer is there for you. Now what we see at the end of verse 17 is that Joseph weeps as they speak to him.

Joseph was so happy to hear his brothers' true sorrow for their sin against him. And what these emotions display from Joseph is that he was glad to forgive them. And this is so wonderful to see. We should be so glad to forgive people if they come before us and ask for forgiveness.

And we should also be those who are eager to acknowledge our sin and ask for forgiveness as well. So true believers have certain marks that characterize them. And the second mark is that they are filled with sorrow for their sin.

God Works All Things for the Good of His People

The third and final mark that characterizes true believers is that they understand that God works all things for their good. And we'll see this in verses 18 -21. After Joseph had received this message from his brothers, they were emboldened to speak to him in person.

Remember, they sent the note ahead of them, and now they're encouraged to go forward and speak to him in person. And so let's see this conversation they have in verses 18 -21. So in verse 18, we read that Joseph's brothers tell him that we are your servants.

Remember the two dreams that Joseph had way back in chapter 37? He dreamed that his brothers were going to bow to him. We've already seen that fulfilled, and we see that fulfilled once again here as they fall down before them.

And what he tells them is do not fear. They should not fear him like they would fear God. Revenge does not belong to Joseph. They were concerned that he might seek revenge. Joseph knew that justice belongs to the Lord.

Because the Lord justly rights every wrong. Romans 12 -19 says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Now we know that Joseph does not want revenge.

Even if Joseph wanted revenge, he would not pursue it since he knew that was God's domain. Joseph also knows that God willed the details of his life. Verse 20 is one of the most well-known verses in Genesis and the most well-known verse in the Joseph narrative.

Joseph tells them, You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. Specifically, he tells them the good that came from him being sold into slavery, being sent to Egypt, climbing the ladder, and saving the people through the famine with his wise planning.

And the Lord planned all of that. The Lord planned for Joseph to be a savior in Egypt. And it all happened through his brother's sin against him. Then in verse 21, he shows once again that he had truly forgiven them.

Do you see what he does here? He provides for their families, comforts them, and speaks kindly to them. There's no question that he's forgiven them. If you forgive someone, it doesn't mean, Okay, I forgive you.

Now I want nothing to do with you. That's not forgiveness. Forgiveness is I forgive you and I'm going to treat you well going forward. That's true forgiveness. And we should emulate Joseph in this. What we need to zero in on here is the most important verse of this section and that is verse 20 here, as I mentioned.

Joseph understands that God wills everything for his glory and the good of mankind. And even more specifically, the good of his people. What Joseph explains here is that God used evil means to show his common grace to the Egyptians.

The Egyptians were spared through the famine because the Lord sent Joseph to save them. Joseph is repeating to them what he already told them in 45, 7, and 8. Joseph knew that it was his brother's sin that sent him on this path, but he knew who was above this, who was behind this.

He knew that God wrote his story and what God wrote is that Joseph would suffer much so that greater good would come from it. Not only for the nation of Egypt and the surrounding region, but for Joseph himself.

We must understand that this whole brutal experience that Joseph went through was intended to lead him to have deeper intimacy with God. Your trials are meant to give you deeper intimacy with the Lord.

Romans 8 .28 says that God works all things for the good of those who love Him. James 1 .2 -4 says, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. I'm grateful that the Lord made me a runner because there's so many illustrations in Scripture comparing running to the life of faith.

Running's hard. You want to stop. You get out there and you don't feel like I can go another step,.

But you do.

You just keep going. You push through the pain. And that doesn't happen overnight. It happens through years of training. And the Christian life is like that. Early on, you can't handle very many trials.

But as you go through the journey of life of faith and the Holy Spirit continues to work in your life, God's going to bring certain trials your way and you're going to be able to handle those trials better because He strengthened your faith in the past.

The trials you used to face and the trials of the past help you prepare for the trials of the present and the trials of the future. You have endurance. You're able to endure. And through this process, the Lord produces character in you as well.

It's remarkable to see the Lord's wisdom in trials. How He shapes us. And every trial for the believer is temporary. And we must understand that each of these trials are used to sanctify us and bring us into His glorious presence, holy and blameless.

Romans 8 .18 says, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. In the future, in the presence of God, you're not going to think, Oh man, I wish I didn't have to go through that.

You're going to say, I'm glad I went through it because the Lord was preparing me for glory. Remember that as you go through your trials. Joseph understood this and we need to also. What we also need to see here is that this verse points to the big picture of Scripture as a whole, as to how God's providence works.

The will of the Lord is mysterious, but we must understand that God wills everything that happens. Ephesians 1 .11 says that all things work according to the counsel of His will. God even uses human sin for His good purposes.

He uses human sin for His glory and the good of His people. We looked at this several weeks back in chapter 45, but we'll highlight it again here. And we have a hard time understanding this. And as we have a hard time understanding this, we need to look to the New Testament to help us understand how God makes good through human sin.

And we looked at this several weeks back, but Acts 4 .27 -28 tells us God's will through human sin. This passage reads, For truly in this city they were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.

So what we see in this passage is that the Lord planned for human salvation to come through the sins of the Jewish leaders, the Roman authorities, and soldiers. Isn't that remarkable? The wisdom of God and the goodness of God shown through that.

This is the testimony of Scripture. And we have such a narrow view here on earth that we can be tempted to question God's goodness and His wisdom as we look at the mess happening in this world. But the Lord is good and all-wise, and so we need to trust what He does.

And I've seen it pictured as a work of art. As you stand further back, it becomes a work of art, where before it was just a jumbled mess. And that's truly remarkable as we look at the Lord's wisdom and His goodness.

Now to summarize what we just saw in the first 21 verses of this chapter, true believers have certain marks that characterize them. We've seen three marks. The first mark is that they have a transformed life.

The second mark is that they have a heart filled with sorrow for their sin. And the third mark is that they understand that God works all things for their good. Now we are going to close Genesis by reading the last five verses here.