Genesis 49:29-50:26 To be continued

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1 Genesis 49:29-50:26 To be continued Introduction Think for a moment of someone or more than one person that has died, but who has been a special person (or people) in your life. What is it that you remember about them? Some people may be remembered for things they have done, maybe business or sporting achievements; others for things they have said or mannerisms that the passing of time has not diminished in our memories. As Christians we treasure fellow believers for their dedicated service for the Lord; their spirit of prayerfulness or a commitment to missions at home or overseas or a mix of various qualities. No tribute, however full or complete can capture fully the life of a person or their significance, though a number do a remarkably good job on which we would feel could not be improved on that occasion. Ecclesiastes 3:2 reminds us that there is a time to be born and a time to die. In our youth we can feel that the life ahead of us is a long time, but there comes a realisation that the years are galloping by and diminishing in number. Psalm 90:12 reminds us of this fact: Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Do we need to stop and consider these words more seriously? Each year in this congregation we give thanks to God for those whose passing is rightly noted, yet at the same time give thanks to the Lord for the new people who come in and join us in serving the Lord in this congregation as we reach out in Jesus name to this community amongst whom we are privileged to live. This final section of Genesis is most definitely an ending, but it was not the ending for the nation of Israel. Although four hundred years would pass from the events at the end of Genesis to the start of the events described in Exodus chapter one God was at work. Seventy people entered Egypt in Jacob s family and had to accept that they would finish their days outside the Promised Land. It was a closure of sorts to their hopes of experiencing in their lifetime the fulfilment of the promise of the inheritance of the land. We might describe these four centuries as a fallow period for Israel with respect to the Holy Land, but it was not an absence of activity, but the context for the preparation of His people by God for the next stage of their faith journey. Exodus 1:6-7 summarised these centuries in this way: Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. God had not stopped working, but was preparing His people so that they could be the beneficiaries of His promises in years to come. The family of Jacob had to let go and trust God to fulfil His promises in ways they could not then see; by contrast the Israelites in the wilderness in the time of Moses disobeyed God when it was time to inherit the land (Numbers 13-14). Our calling like theirs is to walk by faith we will never see more than glimpses of the future God has for us, but as we go forward step by step He will reveal the next stages of our faith journey as a congregation in the years that lie ahead. 1. The Death and Burial of Jacob (Genesis 49:29-50:14) (a)the final instructions from Jacob (Genesis 49:29-33) 29 Then he gave them these instructions: I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. 33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people. God gave us a clear conviction that this land was entrusted to us to fulfil His purposes. The vision 1

2 that was given has yet to see its fulfilment. So much of what He gave to us in former years has yet to be accomplished and at this moment in time looks further away from fulfilment than ever. Whether in a local setting or in the world of the patriarchs of nearly four thousand years ago these sentiments are very real. The timescale in which God s promises are fulfilled is often far longer than we would ever wish to be the case. Does that mean we give up on God s promises or their significance? No! Definitely not! God will do what He has revealed to His people, but not necessarily in the way we have interpreted it or in our timescales. What is abundantly clear here and important to stress is that Jacob to his last breath held firmly to this promise from God. God had said and repeatedly confirmed to His servants the promises made to Abraham. The words of Genesis 17:7-8 still stood: I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God. Therefore, it was natural and appropriate that Jacob requested that his earthly remains be buried in the family tomb, the only place in the whole of Canaan owned by Abraham and his descendants. A large family grave plot is an incredibly small part of land in a whole country, but it was a reminder that they had taken God at His word. In God s time He would bring to pass what He had said, simply because He is God and He keeps His promises. The secular Mills and Boon style writer would have had Jacob buried next to his beloved Rachel, but no, that had never been Jacob s wish. To the best of our knowledge he never even entertained such a though because he was committed to honouring the promises of God concerning the land of Canaan to his forefather Abraham and his descendants. May God help us to be as committed to keeping the promises of His Word in our generation, knowing that He will keep what He has covenanted to His people in the new covenant era. (b) A time to weep (Genesis 50:1-14)50 Joseph threw himself on 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 favour 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. 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 along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. 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. What perspective do people around us have concerning death? The Victorians who had a healthy and realistic attitude to death were secretive about sex; for much of the last half century they have been pilloried for this shortcoming but modern secular British culture has been equally reticent in recent years to speak truthfully and honestly about death. In fact death has been relegated to the big screen where the body count is vast in terms of what a viewer may see over a lifetime of cinema or television experiences. Yet in the real world it is hidden by behind all kinds of euphemisms and language that is 2

3 intended to soften the blow about what has really happened to someone who has recently left this life. The reason is simple secular agnostic commentators have no language available to use. They believe death is the end of everything and there is simply no comfort that can be offered beyond pleasant platitudes that are less than convincing. The ancient Greeks with a strong belief in the immortality of the soul had a death-accepting culture. It was the gateway to letting go of the body to something better beyond this life albeit something vague in its identity. In the Western world where increasingly a death-denying culture prevails there is an air of unreality about the words expressed at many funerals. Without a framework of our inherited Christian convictions as a society there is no real hope and assurance that can be offered to those who mourn. It is, therefore important to acknowledge as we turn to a Christian view of death that it begins with an acknowledgement of the reality of the pain of separation that is death. This person has died. As far as this life is concerned we will not see them again; will not hear their words; will not receive a loving embrace or be a beneficiary of their kind actions. They have died. Therefore, it is okay to weep and to take time to acknowledge the loss of someone special. There will always be cultural expressions of grief in any given social context, but accepting the importance of acknowledging its reality is essential for a person to be able to come to terms with the loss of someone special in their lives. What though is different about a Christian perspective on grief? Paul gives a brief explanation in his first letter to the Church at Thessalonica. (c) Our perspective on grief (I Thessalonians 4:13-18: Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (i)we accept the reality of death There is shock as we struggle to accept someone has died. There may be fear about how we might cope without a spouse or other relative; sometimes an internal anger that the other has gone first, but not vocalised in case it incurs the criticism of others, but unchecked it can lead to guilt at ever thinking such a thought in the first place. There can be numbness a sense of not wanting to eat or participate in routine activities; for some an avoidance of the empty house by spending time in places that don t lead easily to the re-emergence of painful thoughts. In time, we start to pick up the pieces and rebuild our lives and try to establish an old or maybe a new routine, acknowledging and adapting to the situation with God s help. (ii)we acknowledge a resurrection hope death is not the final word- it wasn t for Jesus and won t be for us either. Paul addresses this issue at length in I Corinthians 15. We have an Easter faith that stands in the face of the reality of death but challenges its right to define our lives and our futures. In Paul s words we declare: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:51-57). (iii) We live expecting the secondcoming of Jesus Paul s words from I Thessalonians 4 capture so beautifully this glorious 3

4 truth. In practise then what does this mean for us when the pain of death casts its shadow over our lives? Acknowledge the storm Psalm 46 contains these words: God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear [Instead] Be still and know that I am God The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress (Psalm 46:1-2a, 10a, 11). Declare God s presence with us Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Refuse selfpity death, ill-health and trials of all kinds are common to humankind; are my difficulties or issues greater than those around me in the lives of other people? The redemption of suffering Acknowledging the reality of the experience we must go through but offering it to the Lord so that somehow some good might come out of us no matter how small. Paul, in II Corinthians 1:3-4 wrote: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. The loneliness of bereavement after years of happy marriage, for example, is shockingly real and no-one can prepare for its power, but we can bring it to the Lord who endured the loneliness of Godforsakenness on the cross and understands the feelings that can overwhelm us. In time seek to find an appropriate expression of service for others Isaiah 58:10 states: and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday. It is not possible for everyone, sometimes for reasons of age or infirmity, but some people have been significantly helped by being able to help someone else through their trials. 2. The Life and Death of Joseph (Genesis 50:15-26) (a)the fear displayed by his brothers (Genesis 50:15-18) 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. No vocabulary in our language would be sufficient to capture the increasing fear of his older brothers as Joseph s father neared his final breath. Was there any reason within the family circle to suppose that this might be a possible reaction? Yes there are from a generation earlier after Jacob had conned his brother Esau out of his inheritance. In Genesis 27:41-44 it states: Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob. 42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother s fury subsides. How many years of Jacob s life were affected by this broken relationship? It is possible that the breach was never repaired. He certainly made little effort to heal it in the years that followed. The speech to Joseph concerning Jacob s supposed thoughts on the subject is interesting but whether it is truthful is another matter. Had Jacob wished to say something to Joseph he would have done it directly in the meetings he had with Joseph shortly before his death. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that they made it up, but we can never know for certain either way. At the end of the day it doesn t matter because of the reaction of Joseph. He wept at the actions of his brothers who were paralysed with fear and willing to say anything to get them out of the hole into which they had dug themselves! Their offer to be slaves reveals how seriously they feared possible execution. They did not 4

5 understand that Joseph had meant what he had said when he had offered forgiveness to them (See Genesis 45:4-5). He had been willing to close that ugly chapter and begin a fresh relationship with them. It had been a painful journey to get to that point, but he had done so and the nearly two decades that followed had been happy years for him. For the older brothers who had been unable or unwilling to process and release the past their lives were overcome with fear that undermined their happiness with the blessings granted to them in Egypt. Life is too short to live with bitterness and unforgiveness. As far as it is up to us may God help us to release the genuine hurts and heartaches into His capable hands. Paul gives us this counter-cultural advice in Romans 12:17-21: 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God s wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (b) The forgiveness demonstrated by Joseph (Genesis 50:19-21) 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. (i) The problem You intended to harm me These words are some of the most powerful and precious ones found in the whole of Scripture. They are clear and direct no waffling around the subject. They state the truth. The brothers had intended to do their very worst to Joseph. It was evil. Had he chosen justice here he had every right to have had them imprisoned for life or executed. Kidnapping then and now is an incredibly serious offence and merits a lengthy jail term. To sell your little brother into slavery was profoundly shocking in every age. These men had hidden this dark secret until it was exposed and they were forced, years later, to face up to the consequences of their actions. There is no merit in avoiding resolution of difficult issues. Sooner or later they will resurface sometimes when we least expect. The worst possible course of action is to pretend that a problem doesn t exist or act as if it had never taken place. By their folly these brothers lives were seriously diminished in quality. (ii) The resolution but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Thank God that He can overcome our weaknesses, mistakes, deliberate sins and acts of folly; that somehow, His will is still done on earth as it is in heaven, even through fallible creatures like you and me. Recognition of the sovereignty of God is vital to keeping our sanity sometimes. Without an acknowledgement of this truth it is possible that it could cause us to lapse into unending despair. The situations are endless where this biblical doctrine is applicable. For Joseph in all the setbacks he faced at the hands of his brothers; the frustration of slavery itself; the bitter pill of imprisonment after the lies of Potiphar s wife; how bad did things have to get before he could get a break! Are there situations in your life and mine also in which we struggle to make sense of things that have happened, despite our best efforts to honour the Lord? I suspect that for many of us the answer is yes. In this life we may never get an answer as to why God permits these setbacks and disappointments to cross our pathway. Somehow we have to trust the Lord that although we cannot see it that there is some meaning or purpose in His allowing of events that have taken place in the way they did. It is to Romans 8:28-39 that we find words that can articulate the hope of the Gospel to our hearts when we are struggling to cope with these setbacks. In Romans 8:28 Paul declares: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (c) The faith confessed by Joseph (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 5

6 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 Israelites 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. How did Joseph in the midst of his busy life keep his focus on what was most important? He kept his focus on the bigger picture of the God who keeps His promises to His people and whose covenant promises to Abraham and descendants had to come to pass in His time. Even though he never saw the fulfilment of the promises in his lifetime he was fully convinced they were true. He could have arranged for a state funeral for himself with his earthly remains deposited in the family tomb in Canaan. Yet he chose a different plan that possibly may have been intended to encourage his descendants to keep the faith in the God of their fathers. What was it that he did? Genesis 50:25 states: And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place. In the great chapter on faith in Hebrews 11 this incident in the life of Joseph is highlighted as especially significant. It notes: By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones (Hebrews 11:22). How are you and I seeking to encourage our children and grandchildren s generations to honour God and put Him first in their lives? The very best way is to show by our own priorities how seriously He is in our lives. Did God forget Israel after Joseph s day? No In Exodus 3:16-17 God told Moses this important message: 16 Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, The Lord, the God of your fathers the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites a land flowing with milk and honey. The timescale was daunting - four centuries later, but possibly it had taken Israel all that time to form as a people group and be ready to be the nation that would inherit the land. Were Joseph s words remembered down these centuries and followed? Undoubtedly yes is the answer. In a passage covering the early stages of the exodus from Egypt, Exodus 13:19 records these important words: Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place. After all the setbacks in the desert and then the difficult conquest of Canaan, what happened to Joseph s earthly remains? Joshua 24:32 provides the answer. And Joseph s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph s descendants. The story was not over. It was to be continued. God had kept His word and His promises were sure. In our day as well God has not changed. May we trust Him in our generation as Joseph did in his, for Jesus sake, Amen. 6