Wayfinding Bible - Flipbook - Page 81
75
Genesis 50
PG 76
OBSERVATION POINT
Jacob’s funeral illustrates the Egyptians’ reverence
for the dead. Egyptians embalmed their dead. This
preserved the body so that the soul, they believed,
had a place to reside after death. Jacob and Joseph
are the only two Israelites who underwent this
lengthy process. Pharaoh had such a high regard
for Joseph and his father that he sent Egypt’s highest
officials to accompany Joseph back to Canaan for
Jacob’s burial. Later, when the Israelites left Egypt
after their slavery, they took Joseph’s mummy with
them.
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. 9 A great number of c hariots
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 C
anaanites,
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 Ca
naan 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.
8
JOSEPH REASSURES HIS BROTHERS
After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt
with his brothers and all who had accompanied 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
14
EXPLORATION POINT
Some two hundred years earlier, God had promised Abraham that his descendants would bless
the nations. Joseph’s own life was not what he had
expected, but it had turned out to be a great adventure, a rewarding gift, and a blessing to the nations
of the world. God used Joseph not only to save his
own family during the famine but also to save the
population of Egypt and many thousands more who
came to Egypt for food. If we follow God’s leading,
we may be surprised by how he can use us to be a
blessing to others.
came and threw themselves down before Jo
seph. “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
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 c omes 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
50:11 Abel-mizraim means “mourning of the Egyptians.”
50:23 Hebrew who were born on Joseph’s knees.
