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Genesis 50:15-18: What if’s.

^“15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?’ ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, ‘Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ “This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.” Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.’ When their message came to him, Joseph wept.¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. ‘We are your slaves,’ they said.” NIV

“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened”. ― Winston S. Churchill.

‘’What if…’’ (15).

These two words have caused me a lot of unnecessary pain. I dare say it may be the same for you? You imagine things are happening (or might happen) that aren’t happening, and never will. (But even if they do, you are in God’s Hands, as Joseph was, and He will bring good out of bad). These vain imaginings, though, can take on the appearance of reality, and cast a huge, dark, depressive shadow over your life.

Instead of living life by ‘what if’s’ we should live by what is:

• By what the Bible says is true;
• By what is obviously true, and in front of our eyes;
• By what faith tells us is truth, and not by the dictates of fear.

It’s no wonder ‘’Joseph wept’’ (17). They didn’t have to make up a story about their father (I assume that’s what they were doing). Joseph had already forgiven them. They didn’t have to grovel before him. They were thinking things about him which just weren’t true.

When you live by what if instead of what is you become a slave to the lies you are telling yourself

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to have a mind kept in perfect peace because it is stayed on you.

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.

Genesis 49:22-26: Fruitful

“‘Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine near a spring,
    whose branches climb over a wall.
²³ With bitterness archers attacked him;
    they shot at him with hostility.
²⁴ But his bow remained steady,
    his strong arms stayed supple,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
²⁵ because of your father’s God, who helps you,
    because of the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
    blessings of the deep springs below,
    blessings of the breast and womb.
²⁶ Your father’s blessings are greater
    than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
    than  the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among  his brothers.” NIV

A life of depth and breadth, such as we see in Joseph, often has its periods of suffering. (God made Joseph ‘’fruitful’’ in the land of his suffering in more ways than one – see 41:52). Jacob uses the image of archers shooting arrows at him. His life came under intensive fire. He suffered unjustly at the hands of his brothers; he suffered unfairly in the house of Potiphar, and in the land of Egypt, before things began to turn for the better. What keeps a person going through such times of adversity? It is God alone who provides the strength. This was Jacob’s experience (48:15,16), and it was also Joseph’s. Note the repeated: ‘’…because of…’’ (24, 25).

The idea of ‘’blessings’’ recurs throughout this section. Jacob counted himself such a blessed man and he longed that’s his boy might be blessed also. This is the desire of every godly parent for his/her child.

Genesis 49:22: Fruitful.

‘Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine near a spring,
    whose branches climb over a wall.” NIV

Joseph models for us the intensive and extensive life – one of depth and breadth. He was deeply, and securely, rooted in a refreshing relationship with God (see Genesis 1), and he bore fruit prolifically, even over the ‘’wall’’ – in the foreign country of Egypt. Someone noted that he was the founder of a tribe, ‘Ephraim’ (‘fruitful’) which grew and grew and could not be hemmed in.  With roots in God, no ‘walls’ can stand in the way of your godly influence.

This is a complete change of image, but, if you have a mobile phone, you will take it as a given that it requires constant re-charging. If it isn’t regularly replenished, it won’t be able to ‘give out’. So it is in the spiritual life: we must draw up nourishment in order to bless others.

PRAYER: Lord, please may my roots go deep in you, and may my life grow out in widespread, fruitful influence. May no ‘walls’ prevent the work you want to do through me.

Genesis 49:21: Freedom

‘Naphtali is a doe set free
    that bears beautiful fawns.‘ NIV

There is something beautiful about these two lines. It’s interesting to me that the lovely land of Galilee lay in this territory.  The people of Naphtali would be a free-spirited and poetic people. Warren Wiersbe explains:

‘The image of “a hind [doe] let loose” suggests a free-spirited people, not bound to tradition. The tribe was located in the hill country. So this image was chosen wisely. Moses said they were “satisfied with favor, and full of the blessing of the Lord” (Deut. 33:23 nkjv). The last clause–“he gives beautiful words” (Gen. 49:21nkjv)–suggests that they were a poetic people who could express themselves well. Possessing the abilities to run like does and speak beautiful words, the people of Naphtali would make ideal messengers.’

Matthew Henry makes this excellent point:

‘Among God’s Israel there is to be found a great variety of dispositions, contrary to each other, yet all contributing to the beauty and strength of the body, Judah like a lion, Issachar like an ass, Dan like a serpent, Naphtali like a hind. Let not those of different tempers and gifts censure one another, nor envy one another, any more than those of different statures and complexions.’