This lesson begins in Genesis chapter 50 verse 1
Genesis 50:1 “And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept
upon him, and kissed him.”
Jacob had just died at the end of chapter 49. Joseph truly loves
his father. His emotions were stirred as his father died, and he wept,
and kissed him.
Genesis 50:2 “And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to
embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.”
Genesis 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.”
Hebrews did not , and do not, embalm the dead. This was an
Egyptian custom. Joseph was just a lad when he came to Egypt and
picked up some of their customs. The dead body would begin to smell the
fourth day, if it wass not embalmed. It is the law in the U.S., If a
person is not embalmed, they must be in the ground in 24 hours. Even
today, some Hebrews do not embalm. Since the body does not smell, they
mourned for him for 40 days.
Genesis 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,”
Genesis 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.”
Genesis 50:6 “And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father,
according as he made thee swear.”
Here we see that, even though Joseph had been second in command
in the land, he was still subject to Pharaoh. He told Pharaoh of
swearing to his father that he would bury him in Canaan with his
ancestors. Pharaoh trusted Joseph and agreed.
Genesis 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,”
Genesis 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.”
Genesis 50:9 “And there went up with him both chariots and
horsemen: and it was a very great company.”
This funeral was fit for a king. Heads of state are sometimes
awarded this fanfare at their departure. Ordinary people do not get
this kind of funeral. Of course, the Egyptians did this for Joseph,
whom they loved and respected. The others went for love and respect of
Israel. To prove they would return, They left their children with
their earthy possession.
Genesis 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.”
We know that “seven” means spiritually complete. This mourning
was over. This thershing floor had one large room big enough to hold
the mourners.
Genesis 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 Abel-mizraim, which [is] beyond Jordan.”
“Abelmizriam” means meadow, or mourning.
These local people saw so many Egyptians, they assumed the dead
person was an Egyptian.
Genesis 50:12 “And his sons did unto him according as he
commanded them:”
Genesis 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.”
All of this showed great respect and obedience to the father from
Joseph and his brethren.
Genesis 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.”
Genesis 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.”
Genesis 50:16 “And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy
father did command before he died, saying,”
Genesis 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.”
A guilty conscience can eat you up alive. That was what these
brothers were feeling now. They were thinking what they would do, if
they were in Joseph’s place. They realized that Joseph’s heart was tender
right now from the loss of his father. They used their father to get
forgiveness from Joseph. Joseph’s tears, here , were partly because they
do not understand the kind of man he was. He had already forgiven them.
They were so afraid, that they sent a substitute, but as we see in the
next verse, they decided to go themselves.
Genesis 50:18 “And his brethren also went and fell down before
his face; and they said, Behold, we [be] thy servants.”
Genesis 50:19 “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for [am] I in
the place of God?”
Genesis 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.”
Here, we see Joseph as a type of Christ. Joseph forgave them,
even though they did not deserve it, and reassured them that this was
God’s plan to save many people. Joseph was a savior of these, and many
more people’s bodies through the famine. Jesus is the Savior of our
soul.
Genesis 50:21 “Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and
your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.”
This Scripture reminds me of the one in St. John where the Lord
tells us “Let not your heart be troubled…..” Here, again, we see
Joseph as a type of Jesus.
Genesis 50:22 “And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s
house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.”
Genesis 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.”
This was a statement of peace, happiness, and joy that came to
Joseph in his last days. He lived long enough, 110 years to enjoy his
great grandchildren. This is somewhat like the fate of the Christians,
when we will live with Jesus in heaven.
Genesis 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.”
God does not lie. He would bring them out and take them to the
promised land, but it would be 400 years later, after many hardships in
Goshen.
Genesis 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 final resting
place to be with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He made his brothers take
an oath to take his bones back when they left Egypt.
Genesis 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.”
He was embalmed, because it was an Egyptian custom. His coffin
would surely be carried to the promised land by the Hebrew’s in the
Exodus.