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JOSEPH FORGIVES HIS BROTHERS

Chapter 50

Joseph could not contain his emotions when his father Jacob died at the old age of 147 years. It was obvious that he loved him very much, and would miss him a lot in the world, even knowing that one day he would also join him and his ancestors.

The technique of embalming in Egypt was highly developed: it is a process by which bones, meat and skin are preserved for millennia by the removal of internal organs, dehydration and chemical treatment.Joseph ordered his doctors to use their talents to embalm the body of Israel, as they did with the bodies of pharaohs and the most senior figures in the country, requiring a period of forty days.

There were seventy days of mourning.

To leave Egypt and go to the land of Canaan to bury his father, Joseph needed permission from Pharaoh: he would be absent for many days abroad, far from his office. But Pharaoh again proved his great confidence in him, by giving his consent.

The funeral procession of Jacob was immense, worthy of the noblest characters of the time: all the officers of Pharaoh took part in it, the most important people in his house, all the most important men of Egypt, the whole family, officers and servants of Joseph, his brothers and the family, officers and servants of his father, both chariots and horsemen. So Joseph honoured his father at his funeral, as he did in life.

The threshing-floor of Atad (a thorn- Judges 9:14,15, Psalm 58:9) was north of the Dead Sea, probably near Hebron. There a mourning period of one week was observed, led by Joseph. Because Egyptians participated in the lament, the place was named Abel Mizraim (the meadow of Egypt, in the language of the Canaanites).

As he had sworn to his father (chapter 47:29-31), Joseph with his brothers buried Jacob's body in the cave of the field of Machpelah, so adding it to  the remains of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah ( Chapter 49:31).

After returning to Egypt, Joseph's brothers feared that now that their father was not there, Joseph would begin to take revenge on them because of the harm they had done to him. Their conscience was still heavy and they feared the punishment that they might suffer from the hands of the powerful Joseph.

They therefore sent Joseph a message informing him that before he died, Jacob had told them to give him a message saying: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you." They therefore asked “Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father”.  It is possible that Jacob had not done such a thing, but Joseph understood the fear and humiliation of his brothers, and generous as he was, wept when the messengers spoke to him.

His brothers then went and fell down before his face and said “Behold, we are your servants.”  He surprised them by saying that he was not in the place of God (it was for God to avenge him – see Romans 12:19). Joseph kindly explained that although they meant it for evil, God had meant it for good, to save many people alive  (escaping the famine that had later prevailed in their land).

Joseph also promised to provide for them, and their children. His forgiveness was complete, illustrating how God's forgiveness to the repentant sinner is also absolute. It is also an example of how we should forgive those who hurt us.

When Jacob died, Joseph would have been about fifty-seven years old. He lived a further fifty-three, getting to see his grandchildren and great grandchildren, and died at one hundred and ten years old, in 1850 BC according to calculations.

Joseph died confident that God would fulfil his promises, and take their offspring back to the promised land. It was a faith grounded in a life of obedience and humility before the sovereign will of God (Hebrews 11:22).

He was apparently the first to die from among the sons of Jacob, and before he died he declared his conviction to his brothers, and made them swear that when they returned to Canaan they would take his bones there. He wasn´t aware that four centuries would pass before their descendants were to return to the promised land.

His body was embalmed like his father’s, but it was kept in a coffin in Egypt. When the Israelites left, led by Moses, they took it with them, and after a sojourn in the wilderness of forty years, they had the opportunity to bury him on the ground that his father Jacob had given him at Shechem (chapter 33:19, Joshua 24:32). With the death of Joseph, the patriarchal age in the history of Israel ended - so did the book of Genesis.

There is a tinge of sadness in this last chapter of the book; it speaks of the death of two important figures of biblical history.In fact, the entire book of Genesis, which deals with beginnings, emphasizes death, as God spoke to Adam: “... for in the day that you  eat of it you shall surely die" (chapter 2:17). The apostle Paul later wrote ".. thus death spread toall men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).

The book of Genesis is a perfect example of the reality of sin and of its consequence, death, opening with the creation, the Garden of Eden and Adam walking with God, and ending with a coffin in Egypt. In it we have the story of the entrance of sin into the human family but also the faithfulness of God, to provide a way of life for mankind.

Finally, we see some striking parallels between Joseph and Christ:

PARALLELS BETWEEN CHRIST AND JOSEPH

1. Much loved by their parents: Genesis 37:3, Matthew 3:17

2. Herded the flock of their father, Gen. 37:2, John 10: 11.27

3. Sent by their father to their brothers, Genesis 37:13,14,
   Hebrews 2:11

4. Hated by their brothers, Genesis 37:4, John 7:5

5. Their brothers rejected their authority: Genesis 37:8,
   Matthew 21:37-39

6. There was a conspiracy to kill them: Genesis 37:18-20,
   John 11:53

7. Killed by them (Joseph in intent): Genesis 37:24,
   Matthew 27:35-37

8. Tempted: Genesis 39:7, Matthew 4:1

9. Taken to Egypt: Genesis 37:25, Matthew 2:14,15

10. Their clothes were taken from them: Genesis 37:23, John 19:23

11. Sold for the price of a slave: Genesis 37:28, Matthew 26: 15

12. Bound with chains: Genesis 39:20, Matthew 27:2

13. Falsely Accused: Genesis 39:16-18, Matthew 26:59,60

14. Placed with two other prisoners, one of whom was saved, the other  lost: Genesis 40:2-3, Luke 23:32

15. They were 30 years old when they went public: Genesis 41:46, Luke 3:23

16. Exalted after suffering: Genesis 41:41, Philippians 2:9-11

17. Forgave those who wronged them: Genesis 45:1-15,
    Luke 23:34

18. Saved their nation: Genesis 45:7, Matthew 1:21

19. What men did to hurt them, God turned to good: Genesis 50:20, 1 Corinthians 2:7,8

20. Became a blessing to the Gentiles and received a Gentile bride: Genesis 41:33-57, Acts 15: 14, Ephesians 5:25-32

21. Was or will be reconciled later with their brothers, Genesis 45:1-15, Romans 11:1,15,25,26

 

R David Jones

1 Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him, and kissed him.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,
5 'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.' "
6 And Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear."
7 So 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,
8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.
10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians." Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them.
13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place.
14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him."
16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died he commanded, saying,
17 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you." ' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."
19 Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
23 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."
25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."
26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Genesis chapter 50