THE STORY OF JOSEPH. EPISODE 15. GENESIS CHAPTER 50: MEANT FOR GOD

 

Chapter 50: MEANT FOR GOOD

1.     Joseph's Mourning and Burial of His Father (Verses 1–14):

o    Joseph mourns deeply for his father, Jacob (also called Israel), and has him embalmed. The embalming process takes 40 days, and the Egyptians mourn for 70 days.

o    Joseph seeks Pharaoh's permission to bury Jacob in Canaan, as per Jacob's request. Pharaoh grants permission.

o    A large entourage, including Joseph’s family, Pharaoh's servants, and Egyptian dignitaries, accompanies Joseph to Canaan. They leave behind their young children and livestock in Goshen.

o    At the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, a solemn mourning ceremony is held, which impresses the local Canaanites. The place is named Abel Mizraim due to the Egyptian mourning.

o    Jacob is buried in the cave of the field of Machpelah, purchased by Abraham. After the burial, Joseph and the others return to Egypt.

2.     Joseph Reassures His Brothers (Verses 15–21):

o    After Jacob's death, Joseph's brothers fear he will seek revenge for their past wrongs against him.

o    They send a message to Joseph, claiming Jacob had asked for forgiveness on their behalf.

o    Joseph weeps upon hearing this and reassures them, saying he is not in God’s place to judge. He explains that their actions, though intended for harm, were used by God to save many lives. He promises to provide for them and their families, speaking kindly to them.

3.     Joseph’s Later Years and Death (Verses 22–26):

o    Joseph lives to the age of 110 in Egypt and sees several generations of his family.

o    Before his death, he reminds his family of God's promise to bring them out of Egypt to the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

o    Joseph asks the Israelites to take his bones with them when they leave Egypt.

o    He is embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

This is the last chapter in our study story and in the first book of the Bible. It constitutes the end of the beginning of the story of the Jewish/Hebrew people and indeed the story of our salvation. A whole lot of themes have been covered in the story of Joseph within these 13 chapters. But one theme that has stood out in our discussions is just how much the main character in the story, that is Joseph, typifies or reflects the person of Christ. In fact, it has been rightly said that no other character in the entire Old Testament text better typifies the Lord Jesus Christ more than Joseph, not even close. This last chapter will highlight more of the typology(picturing) of Jesus in the life, character and person of Joseph.

The chapter starts with a moment of mourning for the death of the last of the three main patriarchs of the Jewish people (Jacob) and ends with the death of the most significant patriarch among the twelve brothers (Joseph). To a large extent, there is quite a bit of a somber mood throughout the chapter but still there is some bit of high moments.

Joseph honored and loved his father very much and he could not hide it when his father departed. He mourned and wept over it. Death is a painful experience for the bereaved even when a person departs in good old age as Jacob here. Death breaks a family or friendship bond, seemingly, for good. And that is why the conquest over death through the resurrection of Jesus is the single most important event in the history of mankind. By Jesus resurrecting from the dead, he reversed the trajectory of life meaning that physical death is not the end of the story for everyone who believes in Him.

In Christ Jesus, believers will meet again with their loved ones who also died in Christ and together live forever more as one big family of God. The Apostle Paul meticulously describes the meaning and significance of the resurrection of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15, a chapter that every believer should read every now and then. Someone has commented as follows concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

‘Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and in that statement claimed to be the source of both. There is no resurrection apart from Christ, no eternal life. Jesus does more than give life; He is life, and that’s why death has no power over Him. Jesus confers His life on those who trust in Him, so that we can share His triumph over death (1 John 5:11–12). We who believe in Jesus Christ will personally experience resurrection because, having the life Jesus gives, we have overcome death. It is impossible for death to win (1 Corinthians 15:53–57).

Jesus is “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). In other words, Jesus led the way in life after death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is important as a testimony to the resurrection of human beings, which is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Unlike other religions, Christianity has a Founder who transcends death and promises that His followers will do the same. Every other religion was founded by men or prophets whose end was the grave. As Christians, we know that God became man, died for our sins, and was resurrected the third day. The grave could not hold Him. He lives, and He sits today at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Hebrews 10:12).’ (https://www.gotquestions.org/resurrection-Christ-important.html)

In the light of all this, we can then join the Apostle Paul in singing this song of triumph: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54b-55, ESV). Brothers and sisters, we need to pray without ceasing, that those of our loved ones will also come into a relationship with Jesus Christ that they may not end up in eternal death but rather be raised up on the last  day to enjoy life eternal with us in the presence of our Lord and our God. We must also preach this message of the Gospel without ceasing; in our services and in our outreach, that as many as possible may turn to Christ, the Hope of Glory. Additionally, we must remind ourselves of this glorious hope of resurrection every time we gather as believers, everything else is secondary.

Now, the family of Jacob goes through all the processes involved in final rites of a loved one. But Jacob is not just a loved one, he has the stature of hero and he is given burial rites deserving of a man of his stature. Part of the reason why he could be afforded all these extravagant burial rites, especially in terms of the time and resources availed for it, is of course, due to Joseph’s position of power in Egypt. Joseph sought leave from pharaoh through pharaoh’s advisors, to be allowed to go bury his father as he had been made to swear, and pharaoh agreed.

It is interesting here that for once we see Joseph having to go through intermediaries to reach pharaoh ever since he became the prince of Egypt. There could be several reasons to it including may be that at the whole time of mourning, Joseph was staying with his father’s household at Goshen and so far from the palace and therefore needed to send messengers to pharaoh. It could as well be that he couldn’t approach pharaoh directly having possibly been in contact with the dead body of his father. Nevertheless, pharaoh agreed to his request and we can argue that Joseph’s influence over Egypt has not waned/diminished a bit so far because once the permission is granted Joseph is accompanied by the entire senior membership of pharaoh’s household including senior servants.

The entourage to the burial place in Canaan and the rituals that came along with it was so huge that the Canaanites could not help but notice. They actually thought it was an Egyptian that had died. The ceremony was so huge that the venue was actually renamed out of it and called ‘Abel-mizraim means mourning (or meadow) of Egypt’ That is how huge the huge the influence of godly men is, even after they are dead. The Prophet Elisha’s bones raised a dead body when it came into contact with them. (2 Kings 13:21).

Again, at and around the death of Jesus there were numerous, even more  dramatic and miraculous events that happened including earthquakes, an eclipse and even the dead saints awaking from their graves and walking back the streets. Matthew 27:51-53 records some of it: Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵² and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (NKJV)

The death of Jesus was only the beginning of something huger and more revolutionary. When the events highlighted above in the Gospel happened, this was the reaction of those who witnessed it as recorded in verse 54: So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Verses 12 and 13 of this chapter in genesis make it clear that Joseph and his brothers therefore performed and fulfilled the wishes of their father by burying him in the appointed place. We have, over and over again, discussed how this was important to Jacob and no wonder the writer of the book finds some good space to make mention of this burial. For those who may have missed the lessons, the significance of this, in a nutshell, is the focus that Jacob had on the place of his final rest; the promised land. This reminds us that we too should never lose focus of the final resting place of our souls, the eternal life in Christ Jesus, in the new Jerusalem; we must be pre-occupied with that thought throughout our pilgrimage in this ‘Egypt’, just as Jacob was.

 After the burial rites are ended, verse 14 says that Joseph and all his brethren as well as the rest of the Egyptian entourage returned to Egypt. It is important to note that by this time, the seven years of famine had ended and about 12 years have since passed after the end of the famine period, in my own estimation. May be, it would have been a good time for the sons of Israel to begin their return back to their rightful land; the promised land. The drought had ended and possibly much of the trace of it, and the sons of Jacob had visited Canaan during the burial. I can’t help but wonder why this visit to Canaan does not trigger their will to return to Canaan. The Israelites instead returned to Egypt after the burial.

It seems Egypt was so nice, good and comfortable for them, that they lost their interest in the promised land. I find some caution here, for us as believers, the we should not make ourselves too comfortable down here in this ‘Egypt’ lest forget where our true home is. The children of Israel, as we know from the first chapter of the next book: Exodus, stayed on in Egypt until their boat was rocked with turbulence and then they had to move out.

Look at what the bible says in Exodus 1:8,11,14: Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. ¹¹ So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands. (NLT) The observation I am making here is that the Israelites overstayed their welcome in Egypt by becoming too comfortable there. What was intended to be a temporary pilgrimage, the Israelites wanted to make it a permanent abode. But that was not God’s plan. And so, I tend to think, God allowed or even caused some troubling times to come to them for them to awaken from their deep slumber.

 Look at what the bible says about their awakening that was birthed from troubling times. Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act. (Exodus 2:23-25, NLT) You see, brothers and sisters, it is not like God had forgotten about the family of Jacob down in Egypt, no, not at all. But they needed to be triggered, to come back to their senses and call on the LORD their God to bring them back on track to ‘The Promise’.

Do you see why and how the trials and trouble that would later befall the children in Israel was meant for good? Without those trials the Israelites, in their comfort zone down in Egypt, would have abandoned God’s plan and promise to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And that is comparable to us as believers too, when we become too comfortable here in this Egypt, God might send or allow turbulence to remind us that this is not our home. We must remain sober and vigilant not to be carried away with the pleasures and pleasantries of this world. I argue here that the reason why prosperity gospel and things like dominion theology have taken root  in the church of Jesus today is the drive and desire for believers to be more and more comfortable here in this Egypt.

In fact, we know that the children of Israel, when God triumphantly brought them out of slavery in Egypt, later rebelled against Him and mocked Him, claiming that life had been better in Egypt, simply because the journey to the Promised Land became uncomfortable. Even after God proved Himself over and over again, they could not stand any discomfort along the way. One instance of their murmuring is recorded in Exodus 16:2-3 There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. ³ “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” (NLT)

In that verse, the NLT, uses the emphasis word “too” to show that this instance was not the first one. And we know that it is not the last one. In fact, we know that because of their constant murmuring over such non-issues, instead of focusing on the great and miraculous deliverance from Egypt and the promise of land flowing with milk and honey, only two among the thousands of people aged 20 and above who left Egypt, actually entered the promised land; that is Caleb and Joshua. (Numbers 14) And we see this kind of conduct with some fellows in church today; when they come into salvation and they encounter a few challenges, they want to go back to ‘Egypt’ and die there rather than live through the challenges of the Christian walk/journey.

As believers we should be encouraged on our journey when we face tribulation and trials with these words of Jesus from John 6:33; I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (NIV)

The point I am making here is that it took a lot of trouble and trials, including genocide of innocent Hebrew boys, for the children of Israel to come to terms with the fact that Egypt was never meant to be their home. If they had kept that in mind, they probably could have left Egypt when they still had favor with pharaoh, under Joseph’s rulership and especially upon the death of Jacob. But they lingered on and paid a heavy price for it. As believers let us live our lives in constant awareness that this is not our home, lest the Lord sends us some reminders.

From verses 21 to 25, Joseph and his brothers undertake to have the all-important conversation; the evil they did to him many years back, more than 90 years past. Initially when they reunited and were re-introduced to Joseph, they couldn’t say a word as they were terrified (chapter 45 verse 2). In that moment, only Joseph spoke. But now, the brothers have to confess openly to their evil act. But they have to somehow invoke the name of their now late father to appease Joseph. I think they lied that their father had commanded that Joseph should forgive them. This family is used to white lies and they have to keep on lying, and that is such a horrible pale to be in.

But Joseph is not seeking revenge or retribution. He had already assured the brothers of forgiveness back in chapter 45 when he said; 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…But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (verses 5& 7, NIV). And now here in chapter 50 he tells 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. (Verses 19-20, NIV)

Brothers and sisters, as we have just mentioned, we need to understand that at times the trials and troubles we go through in life could be God working out His divine plan for our lives. At some point, even Joseph almost despaired and asked for favor from pharaoh’s butler as we saw in chapter 40, where he sought to be released from prison and possibly returned back to his native land. But as we mentioned, that was completely different from God’s plan. At times it is the right thing to do, that instead of praying a problem away, to rather pray that God may have His way. That God may help us to realize that it is probably meant for good. This is a good place to remind ourselves of the verse that sums up the events of Joseph’s story: that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV)

Joseph’s brothers thought they were in control when they bundled him, tossed him into the pit and later pulled him out to sell him into slavery but they indeed knew not what they were doing. Just like with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when the Jews put him into the hands of the Romans to be crucified. Jesus prayed for them saying: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34, ESV).

Joseph not only forgave his brothers but also pledged to use his immense power in Egypt to take care of them. Again, the concepts of justice, mercy and grace illustrated. Had the brothers been punished according to their wrongdoing, it would have been justice done, it is what they deserved. Had they just been pardoned; it would have been an act of mercy. But they were not only pardoned but also shown kindness and provided for by the very person they had offended; they never deserved that level of favor and that is GRACE illustrated. And indeed, we too, by grace alone are we are saved.

Joseph also lets the brothers know that God had sent him down to Egypt ahead for the saving of many lives and to save by a great deliverance. Just like God sent His Son to this Egypt for the saving of many, as many as would believe in Him as John 3:16-17 say. Verse 17 says For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (NKJV) Joseph lets the brothers know that he is not out to condemn them but rather to save and help them.

Verses 22-26 constitute the last verses in the first book of the Bible. It is all about Joseph’s death. Joseph lived such a great life, seeing generations of his children’s children. In his life, he saved his father’s family and indeed the world back then. But his death marked a new and dark beginning for the children of Israel. His absence would make the way for the oppression of the children of Israel. But we must stop here and remind ourselves of Him whose death brought life and forgiveness for humanity, the greater than Joseph-the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joseph, just like the Jacob, the last of the three foundational patriarchs, has his eyes on the promised land and makes his brethren to swear an oath to carry his body to Canaan. We have already discussed the significance of this and you can see clearly that this is a central theme in this story and I am not forcing it into scripture.  It is clear that the book of beginnings, emphasizes in great detail, the matter of our ending or final resting place.

Matthew henry comments; In Egypt they buried their great men very honourably and with abundance of pomp; but Joseph prefers a significant burial in Canaan, and that deferred too almost 200 years, before a magnificent one in Egypt. Thus Joseph, by faith in the doctrine of the resurrection and the promise of Canaan, gave commandment concerning his bones, Hebrews 11:22. He dies in Egypt; but lays his bones at stake that God will surely visit Israel, and bring them to Canaan.

Just before he departs from earth, Joseph makes a prophetic proclamation. That God would visit his people. That must have been very encouraging for the children of Israel to hear, being in a foreign land, their patriarch dead and now the prince of Egypt their brother on his death bed too. There must have been a sense of uncertainty and confusion and worry or even despair. Matthew Henry comments, 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. But the promise must have rejuvenated their hearts and hopes.

This reminds us of Jesus’ possible last words before He ascended to the Father, He told his disciples: And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. (Luke 24:49a, ESV) And we know from other verses in the Gospels that this Promise is the Holy Spirit, the Helper and Comforter. While Joseph promised the children of Israel a visitation by God, the Greater-than-Joseph promised the disciples and in-dwelling. In-dwelling by God the Holy Spirit, to comfort, help, teach and to remind the Apostles about the teachings of the Christ. And we too, brethren, must never walk alone but must embrace the help, the comfort, the teachings of the Holy Spirit.

Amen Amen.