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Genesis 50:1-14: Keeping your word.

“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^[a] 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.^[b]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.” NIV

It’s a simple point, but Joseph (and his brothers) kept their word to their father. Spirituality involves such loyalty and faithfulness. Psalm 15:4 speaks well of those who ‘’keep their promises even when it hurts’’ (New Living Translation).  In the end, it seems to me that Jacob, who wanted a simple burial back in Canaan, got the best of an Egyptian funeral thrown in too. (Doesn’t it go that way when you ‘’Seek first’’ the kingdom of God? Other things get added in also).

In fact, this simple nomad ended up having what looks close to a state funeral. God takes the things that are not and uses them to bring to nothing the things that are (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). He does surprising things with unremarkable people.

One further thought: when the funeral is over, life has to go on (5,14). There are duties to resume. You have not died; you have work still to do; you have a ministry to fulfil. You may be sure that whatever God asks of you, His grace will enable.

Genesis 50:1: Not as others.

“Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.” NIV

The Bible does not say that believers do not grieve. It does say, however, that we do not have to grieve as other people ‘’who have no hope’’ (1 Thessalonians 4:13). My years as a pastor have taught me this is so. There is a different feel between a Christian and a non-Christian funeral – a totally different atmosphere.

But we still grieve. We would have to be robots not to. Look at Joseph, as he throws himself on his dead father and weeps for him. He knows he has been ‘gathered to his people’; he has gone to a better place. But he has gone, and Joseph will not see him again in this world. There is pain in the parting.

Joseph had passed through bitter and difficult years into a season of abundance, prominence and influence. But even there, he was not beyond the reach of sorrow. This is how it is in a fallen world.

PRAYER: Almighty God, your world is so beautiful. I see this every day and everywhere I go. But it is also a world scarred by sin. This too is always obvious to me. Amidst this world’s magnificence, we witness the ugliness of pain, suffering and death. But thank you too that we also see Jesus who, by His death, has conquered death, and offers a living hope.

 (Perhaps you would also like to pray today for people you know who are entering this new year with an empty space in their hearts, because they have been recently bereaved).

Genesis 49:28-33: Living hope

“All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him. 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.” NIV

Jacob surely looked forward to something greater than just being buried with his ancestors. There is perhaps more than a hint of another anticipated reality – a loving reunion with other members of the family of faith. There is something lovely about the repeated expression: ’’…gathered to my people…gathered to his people’’ (29, 33).

Jacob wanted to be buried in the land of promise (not in Egypt), showing his faith in the Word of God. He believed it could not fail.

A friend, approaching retirement years, said this in my hearing, ‘I want to finish well.’ Jacob surely did: dying with faith and hope, witnessing to God to the very end.

PRAYER: Lord, please help us all to finish well, trusting in your Word, glorifying you, and eagerly looking forward to the world to come.

Genesis 49:28: A personal word

“All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.”NIV

The father (Jacob) spoke to each son personally;                                                                     Each son heard from their father;                                                                                              Each one received ‘’the blessing appropriate to him’’.

 ‘Father God, in this new year, I pray that I will hear you speaking to me. I need that word which is relevant to my life. Help me to gratefully receive the blessings you have for me, and not be envious of those you give to others. Sometimes I am tempted to want someone else’s life and ministry; I can be jealous of the opportunities others have. Help me to be content to be me, carrying the anointing you have for my life. Thank you that there’s a word for me and a purpose for me. Please enable me to fulfil it.’

Once again, we note the diversity of these boys. They were so different in temperament. But God blended them together to form His nation

Genesis 49:27: A new year prayer.

‘Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
    in the morning he devours the prey,
    in the evening he divides the plunder.’ NIV

Benjamin was Jacob’s youngest son. These words may refer to the militaristic prowess of this tribe. Saul, the first king of Israel, came from it, and in his best days, when he walked with God, he won great victories.

But reading me this also caused me to pray:

‘Lord, please will you create in your church a ‘’ravenous’’ hunger for God and the things of God. May there be such a spiritual desire among your people that it affects the world, and we see a great awakening of spiritual appetite there also.’

This is my new year prayer, that the church will long after God; cry after God, like never before. Hunger for God comes from God. May He graciously impart this to us.