Jacob's Death and Burial
Notes
Transcript
Text: Genesis 49:29-50:14
29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.
31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—
32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
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 it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’ ”
6 And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.
10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.
12 Thus his sons did for him 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 at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.
14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
PRAY
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Introduction:
Before we dig into the passage, I want to draw your attention to the structure of the passage. In these 19 verses, there are 5 sections:
A - 49:29-33 — Jacob’s commands given regarding his burial in Canaan
B - 50:1-4 — weeping over Jacob’s death
C - 50:5-9 — going up to Canaan to bury Jacob
B - 50:10-11 — lamentation and mourning over Jacob’s death
A - 50:12-14 — Jacob’s commands carried out regarding his burial in Canaan
This section is structured as a chiasm. Just to review, a chiasm has matching parts on both sides of the center, and the center is usually the most important point the author is trying to emphasize. And we can tell this through repeated words, phrases, and ideas.
For example, notice how Genesis 49:30 matches Genesis 50:13 almost word-for-word:
Genesis 49:30 “in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.”
Genesis 50:13 “for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.”
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Such repetition isn’t an accident; Moses wasn’t just trying to make sure he reached his word count for Genesis. He was intentionally showing us where the section begins and ends.
Chapter divisions are not inspired, and sometimes they get in the way of seeing the structure of a passage, as is the case here.
Other words that help us see this structure:
he commanded them - 49:29; 50:12
bury (verb) - 4 times in 49:29-33; 4 times in v. 5-9; 3 times in v. 12-15
burying place (noun) - 49:30; 50:5 (translated “tomb”); 50:13
The theme of burial seems to be central, since it occurs at the beginning, middle, and end of this section.
On either side of the center we have weeping (50:1-4) and lamentation and mourning (50:10-11), clearly parallel ideas.
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So the central section in Genesis 50:5-9 is what Moses especially wants to highlight here; and in addition to the concept of burial in this section, there is another Hebrew word repeated 5 times in this section that draws our attention to what Moses wants us to see: it’s the verb translated “go up” or “went up” in past tense.
v. 5 — let me please go up and bury my father
v. 6 — Go up and bury your father
v. 7 — So Joseph went up to bury his father
v. 7 — With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh
v. 9 — And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen
When we get to that section, I’ll explain the significance of that phrase, but for now, I just mention that so you’ll be on the lookout for these repeated words and phrases throughout the passage.
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Now we’re ready for the first section, 49:29-33.
Dying in Faith (49:29-33)
Dying in Faith (49:29-33)
29 Then he [Jacob] commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.
31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—
32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
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Consider this question: Are you ready to die? If you received word today that you had a terminal illness and only a short time to live, how would you respond? What would you feel?
Would you respond in…
Fear?
Anger?
Sadness?
Confidence?
The fact is that every one of us has a death sentence hanging over our heads. Because of Adam’s sin and our own, we will die someday if the Lord tarries.
Before we die, there are things that we need to know and believe so that we are ready to die well. We need to be prepared so that when our time comes, we can die with peace, joy, and confidence, as we see Jacob doing here.
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God had promised Jacob in Genesis 46:4, “I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” Here that promise is fulfilled.
Jacob had previously made Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan in Genesis 47:29-31, and now he commands the same to all his sons.
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This section begins and ends with the mention of Jacob’s command to his sons, and the focus of his command is that he should be buried in the promised land, the land of Canaan, in the plot of ground that Abraham had purchased back in Genesis 23 following Sarah’s death.
So although Jacob is about to die in Egypt, he is confident that the future of his descendants lies in Canaan, and for this reason, he commands his sons to bury him there.
One study Bible notes that “burying the patriarchs in Canaan underlines their claim to the land. Jacob’s desire to be placed alongside his relatives reflects his belief that God will be true to his promise to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants.”
Also important in this passage is the phrase “gathered to my people” in v. 29 and 33. We’ve already seen this phrase with regard to Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 25, 35; now it’s Jacob’s turn. This phrase seems to indicate belief in an after-life when family members will be reunited.
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At this point, Jacob has seen at least a significant part of the fulfillment of 2 of God’s 3 main promises: land, seed, and blessing.
Seed — Jacob has had 12 sons of his own, claimed Joseph’s sons as his own, and had 70 descendants move with him to Egypt, and they are multiplying rapidly. This promise seems to be coming true.
Blessing — God had blessed Laban through Jacob, and God has now blessed Egypt through Jacob’s son Joseph; the blessing for the families of the earth that God promises seems to be coming true.
Land — but the only land they currently possess is a burial plot. A field and a cave for a cemetery. But that small piece of land serves as a guarantee that someday God will fulfill that promise and give Jacob’s family the whole land of Canaan, not just a burial plot.
So at the very end of his life, Jacob is clinging in hope to the fulfillment of God’s promises. God has already proved His power and faithfulness to His promises in fulfilling 2 of the 3, and Jacob trusts that God will finish what He started, even though Jacob won’t live to see it.
Jacob is dying in faith — trusting the promises of God — confident that God will do what He promised.
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This is what Hebrews 11:13-16 says about the Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob:
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
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Maybe you haven’t given a lot of thought to it, but this is how we must live and die as well. We do not inherit the full measure of God’s blessing and promises in this life — we must live and die in faith, trusting the promises of God. For this to happen, what God has promised us must be more real and more valuable than anything else in this life.
Do you trust God’s promises regarding your future?
Are God’s promises regarding the life to come more real and more valuable to you than the things this world promises you?
If we love this world and this life more than we love God and His promises, we will not be ready to die well; instead we’ll be doing everything we can to avoid death and to cling to this life.
The way of faith counts God and His promises as more trustworthy and more lasting and of greater worth than anything this world offers.
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Grieving with Hope (50:1-4)
Grieving with Hope (50:1-4)
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 it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
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This section begins and ends with the mention of Joseph and weeping in v. 1 and 4. Another important word in this section is embalming.
Embalming was not a regular practice for Israel, but it was a normal thing in Egypt, especially for important people and royalty.
The only 2 people embalmed in Scripture are Jacob and Joseph, both mentioned in this chapter. And the reason for their embalming is essentially the same. Both of them had their bodies embalmed because they were not going to be buried in Egypt but rather in Canaan — Jacob immediately, and Joseph after the Exodus. Embalming would preserve their bodies for the trip to Canaan.
Interestingly, embalming was usually done by priests or other religious people, but here Joseph has the embalming carried out by physicians. It seems that Joseph may have done it this way to show that his own religious beliefs were different from the Egyptians. Though they both believed in an afterlife, the Egyptians worshiped other gods, and Joseph was being careful to maintain that distinction.
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In the middle of this section is the mention of a 40-day period in which the embalming took place. The mention of 40 days is probably significant, considering how often 40-day periods are mentioned in Scripture. 40 days seems to signify a period of waiting, testing, or preparation. You can probably think of a few, but let me just mention them:
Noah in Gen 7:4, 12, 17, 8:6; — 4 mentions of 40 days, twice at the beginning of the flood and twice near the end
Moses in Ex 24:18; 34:28; Deut 9:9, 11, 18, 25, 10:10; — 2x in Exodus, 5x in Deuteronomy; 40 days receiving the 10 commandments the first time and 40 days of intercession and receiving the 10 commandments a second time
Israel/spies in Num 13:25; 14:34; — the spies went through the land for 40 days; Israel would have to wander in the desert for 40 years (1 year per day of the spies’ journey)
Israel/David in 1 Sam 17:16; Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days before David stepped up and fought
Elijah in 1 Kings 19:18; — 40 day journey to the mountain of God
Jonah/Nineveh in Jonah 3:4; — 40 days for Nineveh to repent
Jesus in Matt 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; — 40 days of testing by Satan in the desert (corresponding to Israel’s 40 years)
Disciples in Acts 1:3 — 40 days with Jesus following His resurrection before He ascended
This mention of 40 days in Genesis 50 probably foreshadows specifically the period of receiving the law at Sinai as well as the period of testing and waiting in the wilderness.
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And here and in v. 10-11 we have grief expressed over the death of Jacob, and yet it is not grief without hope. Joseph and his family knew and believed the promises of God, so although they were grieved that they could no longer enjoy their father’s presence on earth, they believed they would be reunited with him someday.
We have that same hope today. Paul tells us in 1 Thess 4:13-18
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
There is coming a day of resurrection, the day when Christ returns. We will see Him face to face, we will have new bodies that will never get sick or die, we will be reunited with all our believing loved ones who have gone before us, and we will enjoy the presence of our Lord and Savior forever. All His promises will be perfectly fulfilled, and there will be eternal, ever-increasing joy in His presence forever.
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Foreshadowing the Exodus of Israel (50:5-9)
Foreshadowing the Exodus of Israel (50:5-9)
5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’ ”
6 And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.
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Again, the key words in this section besides “bury” are “go up” or “went up”.
We’ll see next week, Lord willing, that these words are repeated again at the very end of Genesis by Joseph as an anticipation of the book of Exodus, which follows in the very next chapter of our Bible.
Joseph says in Gen 50:24-25
24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up [cause you to go up] out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up [cause to go up] my bones from here.”
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We find this same word also mentioned in Exodus 1, as the new Pharaoh, well after the time of Joseph, fears that the people of Israel will go up from the land of Egypt. He says in Ex 1:9-10
9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape [literally, “go up”] from the land.”
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In Exodus 3:8, 17, God uses this same word as He makes the promise to Moses that He will cause the people to go up from the land of Egypt into the land of Canaan.
8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
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And then in Ex 13:18, Moses uses this word to describe the Exodus itself.
18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
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So this going up out of Egypt to bury Jacob is foreshadowing the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, which in turn is looking toward a greater Exodus, when Jesus would come to save His people from their sins through His death and resurrection.
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Expecting the Conquest of Canaan (50:10-11)
Expecting the Conquest of Canaan (50:10-11)
10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.
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This section clearly parallels the section from 50:1-4, although it uses the language of lamenting and mourning rather than weeping. But clearly it’s the same idea.
Another important phrase in this section is “beyond the Jordan” at the beginning of v. 10 and the end of v. 11.
This phrase is clearly intended to make us think of the conquest of the land of Canaan, since the Jordan river is the border of the land of Canaan on the east side. This is the same route the people of Israel would later take as they prepared to conquer Canaan under Joshua.
So this section prefigures the conquest of the land and the fulfillment of God’s promise to give the land of Canaan to the people of Israel.
Anticipating the Ultimate Exodus (50:12-14)
Anticipating the Ultimate Exodus (50:12-14)
12 Thus his sons did for him 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 at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.
14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
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The passage ends with this section that corresponds to the first section and so completes the chiasm. Jacob’s sons did what he had asked them to do — they buried his body in the land of Canaan, in anticipation not only of the Exodus which was coming, but also in anticipation of an even greater exodus — the final exodus, when God’s people will be raised from the dead and given new bodies, and death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire, and we will enjoy all the promises and blessings of God forever.
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Application:
Are you living by faith so that you can die in faith? Only those who die in faith inherit the promises; and to die in faith, you must first learn to live by faith. Trust God and His promises. Consider His promises more trustworthy and more valuable than the things this world promises you.
Grieve with hope. As you lose family members who are believers, you can be confident that you will see them again and be reunited with them. So grieve, but grieve with hope, confident in God’s promises.
