Genesis 50
Jacob and the entire clan moved to Egypt with the aid of wagons provided by Pharaoh through Joseph. Food and clothes for the journey were provided, 70 persons of the direct blood line of Jacob, including Jacob. Joseph arranged for them to have land separated from the Egyptians. Jacob met and talked with Pharaoh and Joseph continued to administer the nation for Pharaoh. For seventeen years Jacob lived in Egypt, twelve years beyond the time of famine. Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and bequeathed to them a portion of the land they were to inherit, thus giving Joseph twice the heritage of the others (48:13–22).
I. Jacob by revelatory insight gives a statement of the character and influence of his sons (chapter 49).
A. Jacob speaks about his sons here partly by his knowledge of their acts and character and partly by revelation (49:1–27).
The inspiration of the Holy Spirit infuses both types of knowledge with both accuracy and relevance concerning the purpose of God. Moses added that Jacob blessed each one “with the blessing appropriate to him” (28, NASB).
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- Note the negative observations concerning Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Dan, and Benjamin. Uncontrolled, defiled, violent, anger, self-will, wrath, cruelty, strong donkey as a slave, a horned snake in the path, ravenous wolf are some of the words used to described these. The histories of these tribes bear out the implications of Jacob’s words. Reuben had violated Bilhah and Simeon and Levi slaughtered all the men in an entire city under the deceit of granting them covenant status. Samson came from the Danites (he was the last of the judges). The Danites slaughtered the people in a helpless city and established a religious practice built on unwarranted priests and forbidden images (Judges 18).
- Zebulun, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali had no negative proclamations from Jacob but only statements about their situation and commerce (49:13, 19, 20, 21).
- Judah, who has emerged as the brother with the greatest sense of responsibility and the most sacrificial and humble spirit (43:8–10; 44:14–16, 18–34), was commended for his bravery, even the bravery of a lion. His brothers would bow to him. This would occur in the person of the Messiah who would descend from his tribe (49:10; Revelation 5:5).
- Joseph received the most exuberant commendation. Though opposed by those who aimed to kill him, he remained firm and conquered so as to save the nation from whom would arise the “shepherd, the Stone of Israel” (49:24). Jacob’s progeny surpassed that of his father, and Joseph’s would be even more numerous.
B. Jacob gives instructions for his burial and then dies (49:29–33).
Knowing that the land where they had dwelt was God’s covenant blessing, promised to him (28:13), that his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, and one wife were buried there, and that God told him he would return after Jospeh closed his eyes (46:4), he charged them to carry him back to the cave in the field of Machpelah.
C. “And was gathered to his people (33) – Moses indicates that death was not an absolute cessation of consciousness.
Jacob’s going to his people was not just another way of saying, “They died, and he died.” Rather, this indicates that not only would the body after some months take its rest in the same place of those family members mentioned, but that his spirit, his rational consciousness, was in the presence of the same persons whom he mentioned in verse 31. The passive voice indicates that this gathering was done by another, that is, the work of God himself.
II. Jacob’s death leads to a season of mourning and return to Canaan for burial (50:1–14).
A. Joseph mourned and, in accordance with the request of his father, made preparation to take him back to Canaan.
He was embalmed, was memorialized with a period of mourning for seventy days, and then was transported with a large company of persons to the place of burial.
B. Not only did Joseph and his brothers go, but many Egyptians went in honor of Joseph, including the “elders of the land of Egypt,” and a large company of chariots and horsemen.
They mourned for seven days at a point of entering the land of Canaan, the “threshing floor of Atad.” Nearing the place of burial in the land of Promise renewed their sense of the separation caused by death. In addition, this display of mourning would alert the people that this was not an invasion—chariots and horsemen were there—but a solemn occasion of sad departure.
C. Having done as their father requested, Joseph and his brothers and the entire party that accompanied them returned to Egypt.
The sons of Israel had prospered to such a degree in Egypt, that there did not appear to be any discussion that now the time had come to return. For seventeen years they had lived on the best of the land of Egypt and had increased their herds and their families. God’s time for them to return and occupy the land as a nation had not yet come. There was one danger, however, that still assaulted the minds of Joseph’s brothers.
III. Joseph’s brothers are haunted with a man-centered fear.
A. Jacob had experienced the same kind of fear about Esau when he returned with his family to Canaan from serving Laban: ”I fear him” (32:11).
Perhaps these brothers remembered all the precautions that Jacob took in making sure he could reconcile himself to Esau.
B. They were aware of the wrong that they had done to Joseph and thought that Joseph would take advantage of the absence of Jacob to seek vengeance (15).
Had they forgotten that already they had been vulnerable to the power of Joseph and, though feigning wrath to test them, he had been exuberant in caring for them and their families (47:11, “the best of the land”).
C. “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong” (17).
Did Jacob in fact leave this message with the brothers? If he did, perhaps his own remembrance of the fear of facing an offended and powerful brother made him reserve this post-mortem request for their safety and the enduring unity of his family. It is possible also that this is a deception on the part of the brothers, putting into the mouth of Jacob the solution to their own fears from a nagging conscience.
D. Having reported what their father said, now they add on their own account, “And now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.”
In 45:7–9, Joseph had pointed to God as the one who had preserved him for a purpose of preserving them. Thus, they want to identify themselves as servants of “the God of your father.” Thus they seek to make connection with Joseph’s deep sense of divine engagement in their lives, and the life-long trail of divine guidance for their father Jacob, the “prince of God.”
IV. Joseph counters their fear with a God-centered vision for them and the future.
A. Again we find the deep emotion produced in Joseph by the submissive and sorrowful posture of his brothers.
“Joseph wept when they spoke to him” (17). Having seen his life as virtually gone, at the disposal of their accumulated hostility toward him, he knows that the intervention of God saved him and elevated him to this position of authority and preeminence. Though he is given unparalleled oversight of the affairs of Egypt, even now that the famine is past, Joseph has lost none of the sense that he is what he is by the grace of God. He had confessed in all sincerity as a matter of heart conviction, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance” (45:7). Could he now by any contortion of conscience become the destroyer of the ones he had been sent to preserve?
B. Joseph sensed their genuine fear.
They feared him because of his power and again fulfilled his prophetic dream by falling before him and consenting to be his servants (18). His response was two-fold.
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- “Do not be afraid.” They were not to fear that he would exert his power to oppress those who in God’s covenantal sovereignty were to be the nation to bless all nations.
- “For am I in God’s place?” To God they must give account. Their fear of him is completely insufficient for dealing with sin. If they think their only wrong terminates on the person of Joseph, they have not yet come to the point of true sorrow.
C. For another 54 years Joseph lived and saw the third generation of his children.
Like his father, in remembrance of the covenantal relationship established by God with Abraham, he arranged for his bones to be taken from Egypt back to the land of Promise (5). Four hundred years later, this was done (Exodus 13:19).
V. Some brief suggestions for thought.
A. Among the developing nations of the world the Bible focuses on this single family, its flaws, its jealousies, its protection in its development into a nation.
This is in itself a witness to the Christocentric character of the Bible. God’s covenant was not based on the worthiness of those to whom he granted it but on a desire to demonstrate his unperturbed faithfulness in glorifying his Son: “Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).
B. This literary phenomenon warrants an interpretive scheme that traces patterns of sins, grace, and redemption.
These themes emerge in the interactions between the various persons and also within the actions and developing character of individuals.
C. Also, given the brothers’ fear of Joseph rather than God, his response should prompt them to view their sin as David did his.
“Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge” (Psalm 51:4). Our sins against our neighbors are primarily and culpably against God.
D. Though Benjamin was a ravenous wolf and Saul of Tarsus of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5) lived up to that character in his unconverted state (Philippians 3:6; 1 Timothy 1:13), God’s electing grace and effectual power made him mighty in the gospel and faithful unto death (2 Timothy 4:6–8).
The fruitful vine had flourished through the weeds and rocky soil,
Though foul and fierce his brothers—
A donkey, viper, ravenous wolf, Joseph’s context of toil;
God made him to bless others.
Joseph’s brothers felt the pangs of conscience when their father died.
They feared for retribution.
Kind and gracious would he be? Could their past wrongs be laid aside?
They hoped for safe solution.
Dead and buried Jacob’s corpse was laid to rest in Abraham’s tomb;
Mourning done, protection lost.
Fear of Joseph drove the brothers; power his, their minds consumed,
Now they count the cost.
“Please forgive us,” now they begged. “Our father uttered this request.”
“Let us serve you as your slaves.”
Fear of God and love of grace made Joseph put their minds at rest;
“God alone has pow’r to save.”
“What you intended to destroy me, God decreed to give peace.
Do not fear; you’ll live and thrive.”
Blessings of the covenant still flow to us and will increase,
Sometimes languish, then revive.
Joseph saw of earthly blessing to the third generation;
Joseph’s vision saw God’s plan.
Through his labors, by God’s blessing, Israel birthed God’s salvation
Leading to the Promised Land.
