Looking Ahead

As we have studied Genesis over the last year one thing can be seen as we traverse the pages of time… what one generation does will impact the next!

Adam and Eve bring sin to all mankind

Noah’s faithfulness brings life to his family

Canaan’s sin against his father brings a curse upon his descendants

Abraham’s faith brings blessing to his family line and all man kind eventually

Abraham’s lack of faith in Egypt brings about Ishmael and his descendants

Issac’s favoritism in his home brought division that remained even to the time of Christ

Jacob’s deception is portrayed in his own sons deception and lies

Jacob’s favoritism brings about division and heartache

Many of these individuals would do good, live by faith, and serve as examples… yet the sin in their life would also leave its mark and impact generations to come.

In our passage today we are looking at Jacob’s death, the blessings recieved, and what is highlighted for us as time will go by

Genesis 47:27-48:1 and Genesis 49:28-50:14 share the events around Jacob’s (Israel) death for us...

Genesis 47:27–48:1 NASB95

Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous. Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” He said, “Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed. Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.

Genesis 49:28–50:14 NASB95

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him. Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site. “There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him. Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. When the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying, ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; 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; then I will return.’ ” Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.” So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. There also went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed seven days mourning for his father. Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. Thus his sons did for him as he had charged them; 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 had bought along with the field for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

Death

Jacobs narrative began with him in the womb now we see him laid to rest with the other two patriarchs of the nation Israel.

We saw his struggles

We witnessed his heart and heartache

We saw his journey to faith in the One True God

We experienced his parenting victories and failures

In the end… we see him cling to the promises of God

Faith in the Promise

One day they would return to the land… and one day their people would posses it

Jacob desired to be where God had promised, where God had drawn him close, in the land he had wrestled with the Lord

Jacob had lived life well enough to learn… God is good to His Word and remains faithful even when we are NOT!

A Life of Impact

Notice the impact his death had on his family

Grieving, mourning

Notice the impact for Egypt and Pharaoh's home

They had grown to love the man

Jacob had an impact through his son Joseph to a pagan nation… the world

This chapter closes for Jacob… but now we will see God transition from working with a man like Abraham, Issac or Jacob… we will see a chapter open where we see God work with a nation, the Nation Israel! and as Jacob is laid to rest we see Israel rise forth as Jacob blesses his sons… the twelve tribes

Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness (12: Highlights of Twilight and Midnight)

John Donne, seventeenth-century English poet, was not only one of that country’s great poets but also one of her most celebrated preachers. He wrote eloquently about death:

All mankinde is of one Author, and is one volume; when one Man dies, one Chapter is not torne out of the booke, but translated into a better language; and every Chapter must be so translated. God emploies several translators: some peeces are translated by age, some by sicknesse, some by warre, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation; and his hand shall binde up all our scattered leaves againe, for that Librarie where every booke shall lie open to one another.

A Reflection on Life

Blessings are not as familiar to our culture or day in age. However, final words on a death bed are given greater weight than most. A confession on a death bed will hold up in court. Directives given will reflect the heart of a person. Jacob was not the world’s best father, nonetheless… he knew his sons and was in tune with them more than we see in the pages of Genesis In his blessings to them we see some stern warnings and rebukes, along with prophetic words given that would bring more clearly into focus the promised seed from Genesis 3 and Genesis 12…

Prior to to his speaking with his twelve sons Jacob does something rather unusual… He adopts Joseph’s sons and gives them the blessings of the oldest sons… Genesis 48:5-6 and Genesis 48:13-22

Genesis 48:5–6 NASB95

“Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. “But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.

Genesis 48:13–22 NASB95

Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn. He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” He blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. “I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

Jacob on his deathbed sends for his sons and his word are recorded for us in Genesis 49:1-2

Genesis 49:1–2 NASB95

Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come. “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; And listen to Israel your father.

Verses 1-2 Watching you, knowing you, and listening to the Lord here is what is to come

Reuben (Genesis 49:3-4) is scolded, one who sought to be preeminent was brought low

Genesis 49:3–4 NASB95

“Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. “Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

Simeon and Levi, (Genesis 49:5-7) who took matters into their own hands, seeking violence over the Lord

Genesis 49:5–7 NASB95

“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. “Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.

Interesting Levi’s descendants were scattered over Israel, no land was given them

HOWEVER, we see God graciously give them the honor and role of being the mediators between God and Israel for the sins of the people

Judah… (Genesis 49:8-12) the third son, in his blessing is a beautiful prophecy of Shiloh (the Messiah)

Genesis 49:8–12 NASB95

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. “Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. “He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. “His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.

Eternal ruler, the promised seed being made clearer

As each son is given their blessing and words concerning their character with warnings it is amazing how we would see the traits of these men in their family tribes later on.

Our past never dictates who we are, what we do, but it has great influence and it is something to give over to God and allow Him to work, allow Him to have victory in our life, so when people see the change we can declare as the Levites would one day… TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

The Next Chapter

It is concerning how much people today live only for today. There is little thought to tomorrow, little thought outside themselves, and very little thought to living for eternity.

We strive to better ourselves by looking deeper within ourselves

We create a generation of self-focused individuals

When Christ says the opposite… live for others, put others first

We are instructed to DIE TO SELF, take up our cross, live for Him and live for eternal purpose and with an eternal perspective

In these verses we are challenged to realize the truth God would express to the nation Israel as they would come out of Egypt 400 years later in Exodus 34:6-7

Exodus 34:6–7 NASB95

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

As Jacob passed from this life he realized what was import, THE TRUE WORD OF GOD AND HIS PROMISES… FAITH!!!

There was the promised hope of the promised seed,

through Abraham, Issac, Jacob… now to be looked for in one who would rule through the line of Judah!

Through that line would come One, the Christ, rightful heir to the throne of David, the One who is called King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!!!

Jesus Christ… died for us so we can not only face death with hope, we can face tomorrow and we can truly live for today!