Genesis 50.22-26-Conclusion of Joseph's Life, His Last Words and His Death
Sunday April 29, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 50:22-26-Conclusion of Joseph’s Life, His Last Words and His Death
Lesson # 321
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 50:22.
This morning we will complete our study of the book of Genesis and our 321st hour of study of this book.
Today we will note Genesis 50:22-26, which will present to us the conclusion of Joseph’s life, his last words and his death.
Genesis 50:22-23 contain a notice of the conclusion of Joseph’s life.
Genesis 50:22, “Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father's household, and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.”
The family of Joseph remained in Egypt after the seven years of famine had ended.
The reason why Joseph’s family remained in Egypt after the seven years of famine and did not return to the land of Canaan was that it was according to the will of God.
If you recall, before departing Canaan for Egypt, Jacob sought God’s will as to whether or not he should go to Egypt and God responded by telling him that he should go to Egypt for there He would make Jacob’s family into a great nation.
Genesis 46:3, “He said, ‘I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.’”
Genesis 46:4, ‘I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.”
Therefore, Jacob’s family remained in Egypt even after the seven years of famine because God wanted them to be there so that He could make them into a great nation.
Also, remember by remaining in Egypt, Joseph’s family would be fulfilling the prophecy given to Abraham recorded in Genesis 15:12-16.
Genesis 15:13, “God said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.’”
Genesis 15:14, “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.”
The other reason why Joseph’s family remained in Egypt and did not return to Canaan after the seven year famine was that Joseph could not leave because of his responsibilities as the prime minister of Egypt.
The age at which Joseph died demonstrates clearly how the human life span was becoming shorter and shorter as evidenced in the fact that Noah died at the age of 950, Shem at 500, Terah died at 205, Abraham at 175, Isaac died at the age of 180, Jacob was 147 when he died and Joseph died at the age of 110.
The reason for the decrease in the human life span was due to the removal of the vast water vapor canopy that covered the earth during the antediluvian period and precipitated during the flood of Noah.
The vast transparent water vapor canopy that resided above the earth’s atmosphere and precipitated in the days of Noah gave the Pre-Flood earth a warm climate and produced a greenhouse effect with no storms in the earth’s atmosphere.
Genesis 1:6-7 records the restoration of this vast water vapor canopy.
Genesis 1:6, “Next, God commanded, ‘let there be an atmosphere in the middle of the waters, and let it be a cause of division between waters from waters.’”
Genesis 1:7, “Consequently, God restored the atmosphere and thus caused a division between the waters, which were beneath the atmosphere and the waters, which were above the atmosphere, thus it came to pass as previously described.”
Genesis 7:11 records the precipitation of this vast water vapor canopy during the flood of Noah.
Genesis 7:11, “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.”
The environment during the antediluvian period was changed radically and dramatically with the flood that took place in the days of Noah.
Therefore, the antediluvian world was radically different climatically and geologically from the “present heavens and the earth” (2 Pet. 3:7).
During the antediluvian period the entire earth was warm all year round, having no storms because of this vast transparent water vapor canopy but when it precipitated during the flood of Noah, there became “cold and heat, and summer and winter” according to Genesis 8:22 and the emergence of the North and South Poles.
This vapor canopy would be highly effective in filtering out ultraviolet radiations, cosmic rays, and other destructive energies from outer space.
Many of these are the source of both somatic and genetic mutations, which decrease the viability of the individual and the species, respectively, thus, the canopy would contribute effectively to human and animal health and longevity.
Jacob died when Joseph was fifty-six years of age according to a comparison of Genesis 41:46, 53; 45:6 and 47:28 and Joseph lived for another fifty-four years after that and died at the age of 110.
Genesis 50:23, “Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim's sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph's knees.”
This passage reveals that Joseph lived to see some of his great grandchildren.
His oldest son Manasseh had two sons whose names were Machir and Asriel according to Genesis 50:23, Numbers 26:29-31 and 1 Chronicles 7:14.
Joseph possibly had others whose names were not recorded and it appears that the children of Machir were born while Joseph was still alive and the most famous of these was Gilead, the ancestor of the Gileadites according to Numbers 26:29.
Nahum Sarna commenting on this expression “were born on Joseph's knees” writes, “The key to this phrase lies in a symbolic gesture, widely attested in Near Eastern sources, especially Hittite, as well as in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. The placing or reception of a child on or by the knees of another signifies legitimation, whether in acknowledgement of physical parenthood or by adoption. This practice is again referred to in the Bible in Genesis 48:12 and 50:23 and in Job 3:12. Its origin is in the idea of the knee as the seat of generative power” (The JPS Torah Commentary, pages 207-208, The Jewish Publication Society).
The phrase “were born on Joseph's knees” means that just as Jacob adopted Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph also adopted Manasseh’s son, Machir.
“Machir” is the proper noun makhir (ryk!m*) (maw-keer), which means, “one who is sold” and is a word play with the life of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers.
Machir’s descendants, the Machirites conquered Gilead, part of their inherited territory (See Numbers 32:39f; Josh. 17:1) and became so influential that eventually the name “Machir” designated the entire tribe of Manasseh (See Judges 5:14).
Genesis 50:24-25 contain the last words of Joseph, which were spoken in faith in the promises of God.
Genesis 50:24, “Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.’”
“Brothers” is the noun `ach (ja*) (awkh), which does “not” refer to his half-brothers, the sons of Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah and nor does it refer to his full brother Benjamin since that would indicate that Joseph died before his brothers, many of whom were much older than him, which seems highly unlikely.
Rather, the term `ach, “brothers” refers to the Israelite people as a whole, which is confirmed in Genesis 50:25 by the expression, “sons of Israel.”
Joseph’s statement “I am about to die” links him with the death of the other patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac.
Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph’s last concern was concerning the fulfillment of the promises of God (See Genesis 24:1-7; 28:1-4; 47:29-31).
In the Hebrew text, the expression “God will surely take care of you” is composed of the following: (1) Noun Elohim (<yh!Oa$), “God” (2) Qal infinitive absolute compliment form of the verb paqadh (dq^P*) (paw-kad), “to intervene” (3) 3rd person masculine singular qal imperfect form of the verb paqadh (4) Preposition `eth (ta@) (ayth), “for” (5) 2nd person masculine plural pronominal suffix, “all of you.”
The term paqadh means, “to intervene” indicating that Joseph is assuring the Israelites that God would intervene for them in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them the land of Canaan.
The infinitive absolute form of the verb paqadh stands before the finite verb of the same root, paqadh in order to intensify the certainty or force of the verbal idea, thus Joseph is predicting that God “would surely intervene” on behalf of the Israelites.
This construction literally reads in the Hebrew, “intervening, He will intervene” but to the Hebrew mind, it means, “He will surely intervene.”
Therefore, Joseph is communicating to his family in emphatic terms that God would intervene on their behalf in the future to deliver them and bring them back to the land of Canaan.
Joseph’s statement “God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which he promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob” is a reference to the Exodus from Egypt, which would fulfill the prophecy given to Abraham, recorded in Genesis 15:12-16.
Exodus 12:40, “Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.”
Exodus 12:41, “And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”
Joseph is also referring to the “Palestinian” covenant, which the Lord established with Abraham and confirmed to both Isaac and Jacob and was a confirmation and enlargement of the original “Abrahamic” covenant and amplified the land features of the “Abrahamic” covenant (Gen. 13:14-15; 15:18).
The “Palestinian” Covenant stipulated that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who exercise faith alone in Christ alone would not only come into permanent possession of the land of Canaan but also most of the land in Turkey, East Africa, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and Red Sea, Syria, Iraq, Jordan.
The boundaries of this land grant are on the Mediterranean, Aegean Sea, Euphrates River and the Nile River (See Genesis 15:18).
The Lord originally promised the land of Canaan to Abraham (See Genesis 12:7; 13:14-15, 17; 17:8).
The Lord extended the territorial boundaries of this promise of land with Abraham (See Genesis 15:18) and reconfirmed the promise of land to Isaac (See Genesis 26:3).
The Lord reconfirmed the promise of land to Jacob at Bethel when he was fleeing from Esau (See Genesis 28:13) and reconfirmed this promise of land again to Jacob at Bethel when he returned to Canaan (See Genesis 35:12).
The “Palestinian” covenant was reiterated to Moses (Ex. 6:2-8) who described the geographical boundaries of the land in Numbers 34:1-12 and who prophesied the fulfillment of this covenant during the millennium in Deuteronomy 30:1-9.
The Lord promises that this land would be given to Abraham’s descendants and this promise was fulfilled to a certain extent by Israel under Joshua (Josh. 21:43-45; cf. 13:1-7) and David and Solomon (1 Kgs. 4:20-25; Neh. 9:8).
The “Palestinian” covenant will have its literal and ultimate fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ (Isa. 11:11-12; Jer. 31-37; Ezek. 34:11-16; Hos. 1:10-11; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:6-7; Zeph. 3:14-20; Zech. 8:4-8).
Genesis 50:25, “Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.’”
The designation “the sons of Israel” emphasizes the national identity of Israel/Jacob’s sons and not their personal identity as Jacob’s sons.
The brothers entered Egypt as a nation in its infancy whereas their descendants will leave four hundred years later as a powerful nation.
By making the Israelites swear to him that they would bury his bones in Canaan, Joseph was expressing his confidence and faith in God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them the land of Canaan and looks forward in faith to the Exodus, which was prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 15:12-16.
Hebrews 11:22, “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.”
Exodus 13:19 records that Moses fulfilled this oath and buried Joseph’s remains at Shechem in the land Jacob had given him as a gift (See Genesis 48:21-22; Joshua 24:32).
Exodus 13:19, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.’”
Joshua 24:32, “Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph's sons.”
Genesis 50:26, “So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.”
Joseph’s body was embalmed and placed in a coffin, which would serve as a perpetual reminder to the Israelites of God’s promise to them that God would bring them back to Canaan.
Notice that unlike his father Jacob, there is no record of Joseph receiving a massive state funeral indicating that the situation in Egypt had already begun to worsen for the Israelites anticipating the cruel treatment the Israelites experienced four hundred years later recorded in the book of Exodus.
Therefore, we see the book of Genesis closing setting the stage for the events that would take place four hundred years later when God would use Moses to deliver the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt.