The Book of Genesis
Part 102
Chapter 49:33 - 50:15
Solomon said, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart” (Ecc. 7:2).
It is not difficult to visualize the mourning over Jacob’s passing, some of it according to Egyptian custom, to be sure, and some of it in all sincerity.
Jacob’s Resignation
“When Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.” These last movements were indicative of his resignation in death. He knew that his long pilgrimage had ended, so without a struggle he expired.
The ultimate in Christian submission to the will of God is a voluntary yielding to Him in this grave crisis of life. The Apostle Paul wrote, “That in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Phil. 1:20). To Timothy at the close of his ministry he wrote, “The time of my departure is at hand” (2 Tim, 4:6). Such submission renders glory to the Lord. In predicting the death of Peter, the Lord Jesus said that He signified by what death he (Peter) should glorify God (John 21:19). How willingly Peter submitted! In anticipation of death he wrote, “Shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me” (2 Pet. 1:14).
The Mourning
Historians give descriptions of Egyptian mournings. Pompous ceremonies for the dead were relished by them. Great men among them, after embalming, were buried in state. Professional mourners were hired and wailed after the customs of the East. Men waving palm branches joined the procession, and at the end of the cortege the coffin followed on a boat, for the soul of the deceased, so they believed, was thus transported into the invisible world.
While there was much pretense in this ancient custom, there is no doubt about the sincerity of Joseph’s mourning. “Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.” Until he was seventeen years of age, Joseph had been very close to his father, and during the last seventeen years of his life this intimacy had not only been restored, it had been greatly increased. The loss to Joseph was keen.
The patriarchs believed in the resurrection (Job 19:25-27, Rom. 4:17. Heb. 11:17-19), but they did not have the full light of New Testament revelation nor its enduring hope. Paul comforted the hearts of the Thessalonian saints, saying, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others that have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thess. 4:13-14). Well might he add at the close of that passage, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
The Honour
“The Egpytians mourned for him (Jacob) threescore and ten days.” The usual time for the mourning of a king, so we are told was seventy-two days. The mourning of the Egyptians for Jacob must therefore indicate their high esteem. During the seventeen years he had been among them he had won their respect. It should always be thus with the people of God. The commendation of the early Christians has been left on record: “They continued daily with one accord… Praising God, and having favour with all the people” (Acts 2:4-7). They were much like their Lord, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
The Compliance
“And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them.” There was no attempt to break the will in this case. Filial love expressed itself in complete agreement and obedience. Their father had died in faith relying upon the covenant that God had confirmed to him. In hope he asked that his remains rest in the Land of Promise, thus anticipating the future when his descendants would possess that land given to them of God. That Joseph entertained the same hope is obvious. “Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence (Gen. 50:26).
The covenant, the land, and the future were all in the minds of the patriarchs. The wealth of Egypt might serve them temporarily, but it could not hold them indefinitely.
When the sons of Jacob returned from the burial of their father, the impression was deeper in their souls that their sojourn in Egypt was of a temporary nature. The cave in the field at Macpelah was a witness to that fact.
Joseph’s Forgiveness
That his brothers had lived near him and worked under him for seventeen years and yet doubted him, deeply grieved Joseph’s heart. We do not wonder that “Joseph wept when they spake unto him.”
Their attitude at this time indicates how deeply they were convicted of their own sin, how difficult it was for them to forgive themselves because of its enormity, how difficult it was to implicitly trust the words of Joseph, and how wrong their thoughts were relative to the premise upon which his forgiveness rested. We therefore do not wonder at their lack of assurance.
These components of their attitude illustrate why some believers do not enjoy the full assurance of divine salvation. Sin before God is exceedingly sinful, it is heinous, but He has provided a means by which it may be removed. He has said, “Though your sins be as scarlet (readily seen so that they cannot be hid before Him), they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson (double dyed, therefore humanly permanent), they shall be as (undyed) wool” (Isa. 1:18).
Joseph did not forgive his brothers for his father’s sake. His attitude of grace was not dependant upon either the presence or absence of Jacob. He acted out of the love and consideration of his own heart. Joseph’s unlimited pardon reminds us of the premise upon which divine forgiveness rests: “I even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isa. 43:25).