Jacob's Burial
Gen 50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
How great was Josephs love for his father, and great was Jacobs love for Joseph. Joseph died at 148 years of age. Abraham lived to be 175 years of age.
Israel's soul had left his body, and as the custom of the Egyptians he was to be embalmed to preserve the body for a time of mourning. When we die, or sleep? It is a time of rejoicing, for we will be with Jesus. We are with Christ Jesus even now in our Spirit. All that is left is to be free of this body, but there is work to do. Thank you Jesus, your death gave eternal life to Jacob and to each of us who trust in Messiah Jesus.
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Embalming was the preservation of the body after death by artificial chemical means. It was highly developed in dynastic Egypt, where immersion in a soda solution and filling of body cavities with resins and spices were common. The remains of Kings were found many centuries later fully intact.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
Forty days of embalming; so long the body lay in the pickle, in ointment of cedar, myrrh and cinnamon, and other things, that it might soak and penetrate thoroughly into it. The length of time for mourning a king in Egypt was 72 days. Jacob was highly honored to be mourned for 70 days. Jacob would rise again when his salvation; Messiah Jesus would come.
Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Gen 50:4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
Joseph spoke to the great men in the Kings house, to speak to Pharaoh. Apparently the time of famine had past and Joseph was not so high in authority now to personally speak to the king.
Gen 50:5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
It was the promise to Jacob that he be buried in Canaan. Joseph promises to return again.
Gen 50:6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.
Gen 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
All the important men of authority of Egypt with their servants, joined with those of the house of Jacob to form a burial procession. What a sight to see the great men of Egypt with chariots and the house of Jacob parading into Canaan.
Gen 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
This must have been a large clearing; Atad meant thorns, it may have been surrounded by thorn bushes. This may be symbolic for the crown of thorns upon Jesus head. This place was a place of mourning for Jacob for seven days. Seven the number of Christ, the fulness. Was this a symbolic mourning for the King of Kings crowned with thorns who suffering for us?
Gen 50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
The local people changed the name of the place, to Abelmizraim, "the meadow of Egypt" which signifies the mourning of Egypt or of the Egyptians. The threshingfloor place of thorns became a mourning place for the Gentiles.
Jesus died for Jew and Gentiles.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
At the time of king Soloman, another threshingfloor would be chosen for the temple of God in Jerusalem.
2 Chr 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Gen 50:12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
Gen 50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
Gen 50:14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
What an honour all of Jacobs grown family attended the funeral and also with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.
Guilty Brothers
Gen 50:15 And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
Joseph was a powerful leader, his father was gone, now the brothers who sold him into slavery are frightened. Will he take vengeance on them? We in the natural seek to make our own justice. Has someone treated you badly? Should they fear you?
Gen 50:16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
Gen 50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
The brothers make up a false letter to protect themselves from their brother. Yet they had sinned against Joseph, the favorite of the father. They had shown no mercy, so now they are fearful even though they had reconciled. Jacob wept at their concern. If we are forgiven, forgiven by Jesus, we need not fear he will take vengeance upon us. This may be in our minds, guilt or anger of the past, but put it away. In Christ we are forgiven, reconciled and loved.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
They were repenting out of fear . We should fear God.
Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Joseph wisely gives them to God. Oh how much we allow satan to torment us when we do not give our tormenters to God. God is the avenger.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently [unto Jesus] lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
Joseph was full of grace and forgiveness for those who treated him badly.We are to forgive those who sin against us and who repent.
Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Luke 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
If someone is controlled of Satan, pray for them and give them to God. God is the avenger. It is important to not carry hatred and anger in our hearts, this can bring darkness in to us. Trust Jesus and be free. Joseph did not let circumstances remove him from trust in God. God is the provider and the avenger. God made good from evil. He will do this for all who trust him and are not consumed with anger.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Joseph Dies
Gen 50:22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
Gen 50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
Gen 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Gen 50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
Joseph, like his father before him, wanted his bones buried in Canaan, with his fathers.
Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
Gen 50:26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Joseph was never buried. His coffin laid aboveground for the 400 or so years until it was taken back to Canaan. It was a silent witness for all those years that Israel was going back to the Promised Land, just as God had said.(Guzik)
Genesis 49
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