Happy
Father's Day from the Panhandle. Genesis 50, we have been awhile
getting here. Thank you to those who have followed this study from
the beginning. There is a touch of sadness in this last
chapter of Genesis as it opens with the death and burial of Jacob and
closes with the death and burial of Joseph.
Genesis 50 At A Glance
Here is, I. The preparation for Jacob's
funeral v. 1-6.
II. The funeral itself v. 7-14.
III. The settling of a good
understanding between Joseph and his brethren after the death of
Jacob v. 15-21.
IV. The age and death of Joseph v.
22-26. Thus the book of Genesis, which began with the origin of light
and life, ends with nothing but death and darkness; so sad a change
has sin made.
(from
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc.)
Genesis 50:1-6
50:1
Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed
him. 2 Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm
his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, 3 taking a full
forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the
Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4
When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's court,
"If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me.
Tell him, 5`My father made me swear an oath and said, "I am
about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of
Canaan." Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will
return.'"
6
Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear
to do."
Genesis 50:1-6
With tears and kisses, and all the
tender expressions of a son's affection, Joseph wept over Jacob's
body, v. 1. Though Jacob was old and decrepit, his death though
expected hit Joseph hard. After all they had been apart for many
years and now Joseph, was finally reunited with his father.
Joseph ordered Jacob's body to be
embalmed (v. 2), not only because he died in Egypt, and that was the
custom of the Egyptians, but because he was to be carried to Canaan,
which would be a work of time, and therefore it was necessary the
body should be preserved as well as it might be from putrefaction.
He observed the ceremony of solemn
mourning for him, v. 3. Forty days were taken up in embalming the
body, which the Egyptians (they say) had an art of doing so curiously
as to preserve the very features of the face unchanged; all this
time, and thirty days more, seventy in all, they either confined
themselves and sat solitary, or, when they went out, appeared in the
habit of close mourners, according to the decent custom of the
country. Even the Egyptians, many of them, out of the great respect
they had for Joseph (whose good offices done for the king and country
were now fresh in remembrance), put themselves into mourning for his
father:
He asked and obtained leave of Pharaoh
to go to Canaan, thither to attend the funeral of his father, v. 4-6.
Genesis 50:7-14
7 So
Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh's officials
accompanied him--the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries
of Egypt-- 8 besides all the members of Joseph's household and his
brothers and those belonging to his father's household. Only their
children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. 9 Chariots
and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.
10 When
they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they
lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day
period of mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who lived
there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said,
"The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning."
That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.
12 So
Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them: 13 They carried him to the
land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah,
near Mamre, which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron
the Hittite, along with the field. 14 After burying his father,
Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the
others who had gone with him to bury his father.
Genesis 50:7-14
We have here the account of Jacob's
funeral. Of the funerals of the kings of Judah, usually, no more is
said than this, They were buried with their fathers in the city of
David: but the funeral of the patriarch Jacob is more largely and
fully described, to show how much better God was to him than he
expected (he had spoken more than once of dying for grief, and going
to the grave bereaved of his children, but, behold, he dies in honor,
and is followed to the grave by all his children), and also because
his orders concerning his burial were given and observed in faith,
and in expectation both of the earthly and of the heavenly Canaan.
It was a stately funeral. He was
attended to the grave, not only by his own family, but by the
courtiers, and all the great men of the kingdom, who, in token of
their gratitude to Joseph, showed this respect to his father for his
sake, and did him honor at his death.
(from
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc.)
Genesis 50:15-21
15 When
Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What
if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the
wrongs we did to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying,
"Your father left these instructions before he died: 17`This is
what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the
sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now
please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father."
When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His
brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are
your slaves," they said.
19 But
Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So
then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children."
And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Genesis 50:15-21
Now that their father was dead Joseph's
brothers got nervous, what if Joseph had only been nice to them
because of their father. But they had no need to fear, Joseph's love
for his family was genuine. Joseph would continue to serve in the
court, in the royal city; while his brothers would stay in Goshen,
remote in the country; raising their sheep and cattle.
They came and humbled themselves before
Joseph, confessed their fault, and begged his pardon. Joseph, with a
great deal of compassion, confirmed his reconciliation and affection
to them; his compassion appears, v. 17. He wept when they spoke to
him. These were tears of sorrow for their suspicion of him, and tears
of tenderness upon their submission.
Genesis 50:22-26
22 Joseph
stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's family. He lived a
hundred and ten years 23 and saw the third generation of Ephraim's
children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at
birth on Joseph's knees.
24 Then
Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will
surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land
he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." 25 And Joseph
made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely
come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this
place."
26 So
Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed
him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Genesis 50:22-26
Joseph finished out his life in Egypt:
he lived to be a hundred and ten years old, v. 22. Having honored his
father, his days were long in the land which, for the present, God
had given him; and it was a great mercy to his relatives that God let
him live so long, to be a support and comfort to them.
The last will and testament of Joseph
was published in the presence of his brothers, when he saw his death
approaching. Those that were his brothers at least his older ones had
more than likely died before him, as most of them were older than he
was; but to those of them who still were alive, and to the sons of
those who were gone, who stood up in their fathers' place, he gave
the instructions found in these verses.
He comforted them with the assurance of
their return to Canaan in due time: I
die, but God will surely visit you, v. 24. For a
confession of his own faith, and a confirmation of theirs, he charged
them to carry his bones to the land of Canaan, that glorious day,
would come, and they would be settled in the land of promise, v. 25.
And now we have come to the end of this
book study. Next week we will start a topical study, I'm not sure
which one yet. But we will start one next Sunday or Monday.
Review Questions:
- Why do you think the Egyptians made such a big deal over Jacob’s burial?
- What do Jacob’s sons fear when their father dies?
- What request does Joseph make before he dies?
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