The One Year Chronological Study Bible - Flipbook - Page 70
JANUARY 18
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page 66
physicians who served him to embalm his father’s
body; so Jacob* was embalmed. 3 The embalming
process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said,
“Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh
on my behalf. 5 Tell him that my father made me
swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about
to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan,
and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’
So please allow me to go and bury my father.
After his burial, I will return without delay.”
6 Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and
bury your father, as he made you promise,” he
said. 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. He
was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials,
all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household,
and all the senior officers of Egypt. 8 Joseph also
took his entire household and his brothers and
their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.
9A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of
Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great
and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day
period of mourning for Joseph’s father. 11 The
local residents, the Canaanites, watched them
mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then
they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim,* for they said, “This is a place
of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded
them. 13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of
Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that
Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site
from Ephron the Hittite.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers •
GENESIS 50:14-21
After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt
with his brothers and all who had accompanied
14
him to his father’s burial. 15 But now that their
father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us
back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.
16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before
your father died, he instructed us 17 to say to
you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great
wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating
you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of
your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When
Joseph received the message, he broke down
and wept. 18 Then his brothers came and threw
themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are
your slaves!” they said.
19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me.
Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended
to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He
brought me to this position so I could save the
lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. I will
continue to take care of you and your children.”
So he reassured them by speaking kindly to
them.
The Death of Joseph • GENESIS 50:22-26 /
1805 or 1639 BC
So Joseph and his brothers and their families
continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the
age of 110. 23 He lived to see three generations of
descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to
see the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son
Makir, whom he claimed as his own.*
24 “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers,
“but God will surely come to help you and lead
you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you
back to the land he solemnly promised to give to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear
an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help
you and lead you back, you must take my bones
with you.” 26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. The
Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was
placed in a coffin in Egypt.
22
50:2 Hebrew Israel. See note on 35:21. 50:11 Abel-mizraim means
“mourning of the Egyptians.” 50:23 Hebrew who were born on Joseph’s
knees.
D A I LY D I S C O V E R Y
DIVIDED
KINGDOM
KINGDOM
• How does Joseph’s request to be
buried in Canaan teach faith to
his family?
JUDGES
CONQUEST
• What do Joseph’s brothers
fear after their father’s
death, and how does Joseph
express forgiveness and
his understanding of God’s
plan?
EXODUS
PATRIARCH
PATRIARCH
CREATION
• Why does Jacob’s blessing of
Joseph’s sons anger Joseph, and
what pattern does this practice
reflect? Why do you think it
would matter for later Israelites
that the connection is made
very early between the tribe of
Judah and kingship?
