Joseph

Transcript

I wanted to talk this morning um if you were on my Wednesday night class back in February we talked a little bit about Joseph and going to do a quick recap of that class you didn't have to see that class to uh follow along this morning but I wanted to talk about Joseph again and continue on with the story there uh of perseverance under trial and I really like this verse in Genesis here where it says you intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives so then don't be afraid I will provide for you and your children and he reassured them and spoke kindly to them and we might remember that this is at the end of the drama when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and his brothers of course are in shock and also concerned that Joseph might take retribution against them for the long and winding road that he had with them um along the way so we'll do a quick review of that class and then we'll we'll pick up where Joseph

is elevated to the Prime Minister the second in command in Egypt now a few verses that we can call to mind about this principle about uh God's intentions for us his goodness towards us in Romans chapter 8 it says for God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose and it's a very popular verse but it is Rich with meaning and sometimes when we go through the ups and downs of life we can forget that that God's ultimate goal and his good pleasure is to give us the kingdom and I would imagine Joseph would have thought about these things the promises to Abraham Isaac and even to his father Jacob to be renamed Israel that he would have considered what God had said that this land would be theirs that there were wonderful good things in store Jeremiah chapter 29 makes this point as well for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope for I know the plans I have for you says the Lord they are plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope and I think it's so important to keep this positive mindset in our day-to-day lives where we can get that phone call about a difficult situation I have a family situation or an ecclesial situation that comes up but to always remember that God's ultimate plan for us is one of Salvation and a future that has

hope Ephesians tells us in Chapter 2 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them this idea that God has carefully crafted each one of us in our lives he knows us intricately we know that not a hair of our head goes unnumbered and that not Sparrow Falls without God being aware of it and so this idea that God is walking with us that he is interested in our lives that he

is helping us and that he is impressing upon us to have good works which we have all these opportunities where it says prepared beforehand it reminds me of something being all set up for us the the opportunity for us to do good things to support one another to help one another and so it's under this backdrop that we can consider that uh Joseph would have been hardworking he would have been uh obedient he would have been selfless he would have been a good example in the family unit a leader and this would have endeared his father Israel to him Joseph grew up in a large family and we might say he suffered maximum bullying uh from his from his brothers uh his brothers despised the fact that his father showed him favoritism and gave him a coat of many colors symbolizing that he had been chosen as the firstborn and it would have been a source of daily aggravation to his brothers constantly pestering him calling him the dreamer and it would have been a growing

animosity his brothers hated him and could not speak peaceably to him and his brothers intended to kill Joseph But ultimately sold him as a slave and these sorts of things didn't happen

overnight it was a character development it was a way of life it became a way of thinking for the brothers and it also became a way of thinking for Joseph that of thinking in the way of light and thinking in a way of darkness and so there was a long-standing clash between the brothers that developed through Pride wrong thinking and putting self first they were even willing to lie to Jacob and watch his despair as they told him Joseph was dead we can only imagine the reaction in the brothers all the while knowing that Joseph was

alive and it's hard to imagine how they would sleep at night knowing that Joseph was somewhere else working as a

slave but it's remarkable that Joseph did not let this bad behavior in the poor manners of those around him spoil his character he continued in well-doing and Proverbs tells us in chapter 13: 20 walk with the wise and become wise for a companion of fools suffers harm and there's a saying that kind of piggybacks on this one is that if you look around at your circle of friends and you're not impressed then you don't have the right Circle and it reminded me of of the circle that we have in this Ecclesia you know when I look to my brothers I I see Steve smiling I I love that smile and it gives me confidence you know to have conversations with Butch and Chris and Paul and Ben and Gordon to hear Gordon's prayers it's a circle of friendship that we have that builds us up and often times we we could take it for granted but it's so important to our our daily life to our walk in the truth to know that we have a support system and I see the same support system among the sisters and of course intermingling but I see it with sister Jen and and her communication with the other sisters in the meeting and it's it builds us up it really does not just being here on Sunday but it creates those lasting relationships for success success and I walk in the

truth we know the brothers wanted to kill Joseph and eventually sold him as a slave and they soaked his coat and animal blood and they showed it to his poor father I can only imagine I've gone through some experiences with my kids but nothing uh like this fortunately um and it just you know you hear a lot of these days about family trauma you talk about family trauma Joseph could have been curled up in a ball after what he dealt with with his brothers being thrown in a pit uh his his brothers wanting to treat him you the way they treated him wanting to kill him but we know that God was always with Joseph delivering him from prison helping him to interpret dreams about an upcoming famine and elevating him to second in command Over All all of

Egypt we recall to mind how Joseph escaped from part of his wife this this temptation that was there and how he went to prison and Joseph could have easily been broken he could have been a man full of Despair but he never gave up

hope no matter the situation and that's a powerful lesson for us as we opened our class with to remember that God has plans for good for us that he has a final hope and destination for for us in his kingdom Isaiah tells us but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength they will soar on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint and of course a shadow of of the kingdom of immortality all of these failings of the flesh done away with but a wonderful image for us in our mortal days that we do have a loving heavenly father that helps us through each and every day Romans 5:1 tells us therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and we'll remember Jesus shortly in our exitation and our partaking of the emblems together we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and we boast in the hope of the glory of God not only so but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance perseverance character and character hope and Joseph would have gone through an incredible amount of suffering but he also demonstrated perseverance

and he had that character change as will his brothers have an incredible character change wanting to kill Joseph to feeling remorseful and to recognizing their behavior was

wrong and so we'll pick up the story here um in Genesis chter 41 where it says so Pharaoh said to Joseph I hereby Joseph is now taken out of prison he's elev ated he has interpreted the dreams that there's going to be seven years of plenty seven years of of famine and it says Pharaoh said to Joseph I hereby put you in charge of the whole of Egypt then Pharaoh took his signant ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger he dressed him in Robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck he had him ride in a chariot as his second in command and people shouted before him make way thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt Joseph stored huge quantities of grain like the sand of the sea it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond

measure and I put up this Parable because we see that Joseph used his time of preparation

wisely we're told there was famine in all other lands but the whole of Egypt had had food and when all Egypt began to feel the famine the people cried to Pharaoh for food but they were prepared Joseph had made preparation and there's a cameo here of the kingdom when Christ returns he's going to provide food for the whole world the food of the fruit of the spirit and the whole world will be educated and fed not only physically but spiritually on wonderful principles of moral character

and of caring for our fellow man but this Parable here this is a someone who took a different uh ta the different approach to having plenty it says the ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant Harvest he thought to himself what shall I do I have no place to store my crops then he said I will do this is what I'll do I will tear down my bonds and build bigger ones and there I will store my Surplus grain and I'll say to myself you have plenty of grain laid up for many years take life easy eat drink and be merry but God said to him you fool this very night your life will be demanded from you then who will get what you are prepared for yourself this is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but not rich towards God Joseph was now top in command in Egypt he was riding in chariots people were bowing down before him he was a big shot and he could have said well I've got seven years here I can I'll start preparing in year three or four or five and it can it can be easy to procrastinate sometimes we feel like we have all the time in the world but there's a powerful lesson here from Joseph that as soon as he got put into this position of power he immediately started doing the job of preparing for the famine and as this Parable closes out this is how it will be for whoever stores up things for themselves and is not rich toward God that's why we're here this morning that's why we work so closely together that's why we have our study day coming up which should be a wonderful day and we're all going to be built up in that we have brothers we weekend coming up we have lots of wonderful faith-building

activities that we can be rich towards each other and Rich towards

God in Pharaoh here when they had no food Pharaoh said go see Joseph he'll he's going to handle these things and all the world came to Egypt to buy Grain from Joseph because the famine was sere

everywhere in in following this theme we we read in Matthew this this idea of being prepared and it's so much easier to persevere when we're prepared if we've if we have the resources because we've made good decisions around the truth we're much more equipped to help those around us we're much more equipped to help ourselves it's like a good night's sleep if if we have a bad day if we have a a a big presentation coming up the next day or something that's Weighing on us if we go to bed and and get a good night's sleep we wake up refreshed and I feel for myself I'm ready to take on that challenge we have a a little bit of a joke in our house and the kids used to make fun of Jen over this but I would say I'm I'm going to head up to bed now and Jen would say you can't just go up you've got to like I need some time like you can't just go up I I'm not ready for you to go to sleep yet so we came out I have to give her a 15 minute warning

before I go to bed now so I didn't have to do that while she was in

Florida but the kids would always joke dad has to tell Mom when he's going to go to

bed but I tell her I'm when I'm getting ready to head up I do I do uh I do that and Matthew 7 tells us therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on on a rock right to be prepared the rain came down the streams Rose and the wind blew and beat against that house yet it did not fail it did not fall because it had its foundation on The Rock The Rock of our Lord Jesus Christ but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on Sand the rain came down the streams Rose and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash and this is what Joseph did he prepared for the famine not only for himself but for the entire world and this is what we're doing in our lives now we're preparing ourselves in our time of probation for the return of Christ so that we're ready so when that call comes that Christ is in the earth we meet him with fear but excitement that our Lord is back that that kingdom is going to be established and that we're not meeting him with a fearful oh I buried my talent oh I I took my ease because I didn't think Christ was was going to return and I I didn't have contact with the word the way that I should I didn't preach to that person at work the way that I should have or uh I didn't show up when I could have to be there for other people and that's the wonderful thing is that we have opportunity now before the the return of Christ to do all these things to build each other

up and so Ephesians 5 tells us so then be careful how you live do not be unwise but wise making the best use of your time because the times are evil and we know we live in difficult days we know we live in days that are evil um and we we see it in the in the news we have they call people that are Preppers and they um you know they have these kind of pantries all set up with food I remember at Co a guy I worked with he he still has mac and cheese that he bought four years ago that's like he's going to throw it out I think because he's he doesn't even want to eat it at this point but you know people stock up and even a lot of the people very wealthy people are building bunkers because they're concerned about the state of of the world and I look at some of that and I think you know maybe some of that is smart like we don't know what's going to happen but our faith and hope is in the truth it's in something solid that can't be moved it's not in a bunker it's not in an excess of you know pasta on the shelf or whatever it is we you know a full tank of gas and you know maybe some of these things are smart we need to be prepared we need to be ready for tomorrow you know we're not supposed to take anxious thought for tomorrow but we are to be prepared we we do need to be prepared but we can see that the world a a lot of people they're putting their trust in material things that somehow these things will save them if things get bad you know there's supposed to be and there is going to be an eclipse tomorrow and there's all this chit chatter about you know what's the significance of this there was an earthquake in New York that was a 4.8 and the eclipse is on 4 48 and that's creating this path across the country that's going through certain towns and you know we don't know we know that there are going to be signs and the sun and the moon and the stars

politically and also in the heavens above but it's interesting for us to watch these things but not to get caught up and drawn away because we have the rock right here we're going to remember that rock in the emblems before us and that's what our faith and hope and trust is in

we're told as well lay not up for yourselves Treasures upon Earth where moth and rust do corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt in where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also and these are conversations we have we Megan is going to be 18 we're talking about about colleges and Futures and you know different types of jobs that she could have but the overriding principle that we talk about is make sure your life is centered around the truth if it is God's going to be there and work everything out for you if you're going to move somewhere make sure it's near an Ecclesia these are the decisions that we make that determine our Eternal Destinies and they're so important where our treasure is there will your heart be also Mark 4 tells us but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life the lore of wealth and the desire for other things so no fruit is produced all of these things were swirling around Joseph as he was a big shot in Egypt in a land that was full of of richness but he chose to keep his mind focused on the job before him Romans 12 12 tells us do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect so this idea of

constantly refreshing our minds with the word constantly talking among our ourselves Micah Micah tells us or Malachi tells us that those who fear the lord spake often one unto another and it's it's critical for us to do that in these last days we know well the parable of the 10 virgins those that were prepared had oil in their lamp they had the word rich in their lives and those who didn't and when Christ came it says they were drowsy and they were

asleep we're told as well in Matthew blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing verily I say unto you that he shall make him ruler o over all his goods and we're warned not

to um Smite our fellow servants or just take no kind of care for them not to eat and drink with the drunken for it says the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he lookth not for him in an hour that he is not aware of in there shall be weeping and nashing of teeth certainly as we'll see with with the brothers when they had no food uh they weren't kind of keyed in to what was going to happen just like we we have a knowledge that a lot of people don't possess as it relates to the return of Christ so we can prepare ourselves just as um Joseph did I love this uh saying because I think in one way or another we've all heard it from our parents uh when Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt he said to his sons why do you keep just looking at each other like I think kids are great at that like just kind of staring off and I'm sure my my dad was just like looking at me like what are you doing like what's what's your whole point here and we all go through that that process of kind of finding our way and what do we what do we want to do what is going to be our why so to speak what's going to drive us in life and they have no food it's probably depressing and Jacob's like why do you just keep looking at each other I've heard this grain in Egypt go down there and buy some for us so we may live and not die this idea of leadership um the brothers were they were just not not really motivated to do anything and it took their dad it took a leader to kind of say hey this is what we should do let's do this this will be healthy for

us and Jacob's words here I think describe the Despair and helplessness of men who felt they could do nothing to relieve a situation and it's it it is a feeling that is very uncomfortable when there's a problem and we can't solve it uh we WR we might remember Abraham so this idea of going down into Egypt uh it we might remember when Abraham went down Genesis 12 tells us now there was a famine in the land and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe this is when he said that his wife was his sister um and Genesis 26 tells us now there was a famine in the land besides the previous famine in Abraham's time and Isaac went to ailec King of the Philistines in girra the Lord appeared to Isaac and saido not go down to Egypt live in the land where I tell you to live stay in the land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham I will make you descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give them all these lands and through your Offspring All Nations on Earth will be blessed so Jacob would have had this example of going down into Egypt because there was a famine but also praying to God and God saying don't go down into Egypt I'm going to find a way to take he or you here and this is the idea that we need to have in our lives trusting in God that he will work things out for our

good we know that God cares for us God has power to control things and God loves each of us just like he loved this family as seemingly dysfunctional as it was Proverbs tells us in chapter 3 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight there's nothing like doing a daily reading to pull ourselves out of a funk or to get our ourselves thinking in a correct way about a problem or to set our minds on that goal like the plowman keeping our eye on the goal of the kingdom and that's what contact with the word does it reneus our hope now I think here another reason why the brothers might have been sitting around looking at each other is they would have been intimidated you're going to go down to Egypt it's a fancy place it it's like that first time you sit down at a dinner and there's all this silverware like which spoon what am I doing here like you don't want to be embarrassed like and you just start you know you're using one and someone's like no that's for the salad what are you doing and it's just like this so I think the brothers probably were like intimidated as well they were big fish in a little pond in the family you know sticking it to Joseph and you're a dreamer and we're going to sell you and they they kind of were were all full of themselves there but now you're going down into Egypt and well we're not we're not so tough in that environment so it would have caused them to be afraid and and we might remember Moses was afraid of rejection going down into uh Egypt he wasn't an eloquent speaker he thought you know he was inadequate and God was impressing upon him I'm going to be with you I'm going to help you I'm going to get you through this uh down in Egypt so whatever you think your weaknesses might be whatever we we think we may not be good at you know they say grow doesn't happen in our comfort zone and I think that's so true try new things uh Embrace new things in the truth I remember when we first found the community you know Jim Boo was always like oh hey come give your class on Israel I was like I don't think so you know I don't think I can do that and he was asking Jen to uh give uh a to teach the young kids at bible school at Eastern and it was like terrifying but she did it did an amazing job and it was like you realize yeah I can I can do this so I would encourage people go outside your your comfort zone try new things in the truth because your capabilities our capabilities are far beyond what we think they are and yes it's it feels good to just do the things that we're used to and that may that we know we can do but we all have wonderful talents that we can try something new knew what's the worst that can happen I I I saw this video it was like the world before you messed up and it's like a satellite vision of the world the world after you messed up you know it's it's it's not going to it's not going to matter and you'll learn something and you'll grow and you will help somebody um along the

way so 2 Corinthians tells us in this regard chapter 12 my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness and so God is able to make up for any weaknesses that we have he can give the increase I'm reminded one of the first times I met Ron Hicks and he was establishing an Ecclesia in a country that was very hostile to Christians and they had their ecclesial Hall they had I think 35 members and it was a very like tenuous situation they they had be very careful about worshiping and preaching the truth and that sort of thing and making contacts because um Christianity was not the prominent religion and their ecclesial Hall had got shut

down and I was asking him you know well what are you going to do and so it sounded like a crazy plan to me but he said well I'm going to fly over there and I'm going to just walk around the area where our EES usual Hall is shut down and I'm going to pray and I'm going to see what God does I'm going to see what you know what happens and I'm just going to leave it in God's hands like I don't I don't have a solution to this problem and so he did this for a few days and sure enough he was walking down some side street and saw a sign that was some building that was available that they ended up renting and moving the Ecclesia Hall in there and and uh got things going again so it just made an impression on me

that the there's sometimes we just don't have the answer we don't know we can't say yeah we need I need to do a b c and d and then everything's going to be great no we have to turn it over to God and he will provide us with a solution he will uh ultimately bring us forward and provide a solution that's going to be best for the situation yes

Sandy um is it on

hello oh hi

um oh have to take action you know I think of Joseph's brothers you know they were sitting around like you like his dad's what are you doing you know and if we don't take action we're sitting around you know like Ron Hicks I'm going to go walk and pray and see yeah you know instead of staying home and wondering what's happening I think you know taking action in our lives whether it's you know seeking and asking and knocking and I always think about that those are things that we move forward to do right great Point yeah yeah I mean we have to start where we're at and maybe we don't like where we're at maybe we do but taking action is the only only thing that's going to move us forward and help move us towards a

solution anyone

else all

right so and and I think to go along with this the the brothers being a little bit nervous and to go down into Egypt it it was would have been an intimidating place the word Pharaoh means a great house and so Egypt would have had this

reputation

and the Egyptian pharaoh served as the primary overseer and ruler over all Egypt a pharaoh was viewed as a religious leader of the people um and Egyptians believed Pharaoh's to be divine in an intermediary between the Egyptian gods and themselves and archaeologists have discovered that among other tasks pharaohs participated in religious ceremonies created and imposed law declared Wars levied taxes and generally had control over everything throughout Egypt and so this is the sort of environment that Joseph stepped into and he was made prime minister so Pharaoh created this powerful role within the government um you know like we would have today like the speaker of the house and Joseph goes into this role and all of these things were put under his watch uh as Prime minister so these would have included the Department of Treasury agriculture War Labor uh they kept strict accounts of the Kingdom's income and expenses which remained standard practice for over a hundred years and this is likely the role that Joseph held so the brothers would have been stepping uh into this into a completely foreign environment very uncomfortable um but they were in a dire situation um

Jeremiah 30 tells us um as it

relates

to being in difficult situations and how these brothers would have felt uh with this weight on them it says why then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor every face turned deathly pel and this idea that

when we get into difficult situations we can be broken by those the weight of it can seem uh too much for us but like Sandy said take action do something and that can move us forward uh in in a process to get to a to a

solution so there's a few interesting things here about the um you know why why 10 Brothers why did all the brothers have to go down uh to Egypt why not just send a few but more than likely the more people they sent it was higher on the census and they could get rationed according to the number that they provided so we're told 10 of the brothers went down to buy Grain from Egypt but Jacob did not send Benjamin now Joseph was governor of the land the person who sold grain to all its people so when Joseph's brothers ared they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground as as soon as Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them where do you come from he asked so Jacob having lost

Joseph um now put all of that love into Benjamin he poured it all out on him his only remaining child from Rachel and I would imagine that Jacob would have also kept Benjamin back because he would have in a way way attributed the supposed death of Joseph to the carelessness of his sons and you know what were you guys doing that you allowed this to happen so you know Jacob would have been thinking this like you know my son died because you guys really weren't looking out for him um and Joseph's brothers when they came down they would they would have just been part of a larger crowd of people coming to Egypt that were vying for resources the whole Known World at the time was in a famine and every body had to come before Joseph he would have carefully overlooked the selling of corn to those who came from distant lands he knew it must not be wasted and that Egypt must be guarded against spies who might seek out how they could attack the country and so all volunteer all um foreigners were brought before him personally so that he could make a determination on them and I think that's why Joseph says no you spies because this is what Egypt was looking out for people would have loved to take over the country

and have all that food for themselves so the brothers did not know Joseph and I think this is an interesting tie in here the Jews will also not recognize Christ at his second coming Zechariah tells us if someone asks what are these wounds on your body they will answer the wounds I was given in the House of my friends and we know Christ will show his hands to the Jews and it's very similar with Joseph here as a as a symbol of Christ uh feeding the world and rescuing his his brothers the Israelites Zechariah 12 says they will look on me the one they have pierced and they will mourn for him as One Mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one Grieves for a for firstborn son on that day the we keeping in Jerusalem will be great and we know when the brothers finally realize it's Joseph and Joseph reveals himself there's a there's a great morning but a great celebration in that all of this turmoil all of this character development is over and now we're together and don't be afraid what you meant for bad God meant for good and it's just interesting that Joseph the dreamer the thing that his Brothers got so annoyed with about Joseph they were actually doing it um they were bowing down to him in a foreign land as we read in Genesis 37 his brother said to him do you intend to re over us will you actually rule over us and they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he said but ultimately we know Joseph also dreamed that his mother would bow down to him another came of the coming Kingdom when all knees will bow before

Christ this is an interesting painting of when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers it's done um your Joseph in the middle there he was mourning apart from his brothers while his brothers were in prison but they kind of combin the two um to just show the drama of the moment and we we know Joseph could hear his brothers uh they said one to another truly we are guilty concerning our brother because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us yet we would not listen therefore this distress has come upon us and so this unresolved issue that they just let

Fester year after year after year it just was like a boil in their lives and I think there's a good lesson there for us to deal with problems in our lives learn from them but move on from them not to be eaten up by them so that it inhibits the wonderful opportunities we have in the truth and Ruben there you know bound that it says saying did I not tell you do not sin against the boy and you would not listen now comes the Reckoning for his blood and so this idea of you know the blame game like it was you I didn't want you wanted to kill him I and just this no real taking of responsibility they're working towards that uh and it says they did not know however that Joseph understood for there was an interpreter between them he turned away from them and wept and just broke Joseph's heart to see this um

happening with his

brothers and so we know that ultimately Benjamin does go down and it must have been heart-wrenching for uh for Jacob to do this but they had no other choice they were out of food and so Jacob's character was probably changed through this process as was the brothers so what a change really in um in the character of of everyone uh involved in this in this drama and you know we can close with uh these two paintings um you know Joseph there elevating his arms you know seemingly as the leader his brothers uh before him and just this

exuberant Reunion where All Is Forgiven and that God meant all of this for good uh even though you meant it for evil and Joseph being overcome with uh emotion the brothers being uh overcome with emotion

and let's see here what verse should we uh close

here

um Joseph and says to to his brothers and now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you and that's the ultimate purpose of God to save lives that all people would come to repentance and that's the wonderful thing about the kingdom when Christ comes the multitudes and multitudes of people that will accept the gospel teaching and through God's grace and mercy we will each play an important role in that new age to come even so come Lord Jesus