B.It is inconceivable that the other brothers did not mourn along with Joseph, although our acquaintance with the family might cause us to think Joseph's heart was more sensitive.
C.PULPIT COMMENTARY: "It is neither unnatural nor irreligious to mourn for the dead; and he must be callous indeed who can see a parent die without an outburst of tender grief."
50:2 AND JOSEPH COMMANDED HIS SERVANTS THE PHYSICIANS TO EMBALM HIS FATHER: AND THE PHYSICIANS EMBALMED ISRAEL.
50:3 AND FORTY DAYS WERE FULFILLED FOR HIM; FOR SO ARE FULFILLED THE DAYS OF THOSE WHICH ARE EMBALMED: AND THE EGYPTIANS MOURNED FOR HIM THREESCORE AND TEN DAYS.
**The FORTY DAYS seem to be included in the SEVENTY DAYS.
50:4 AND WHEN THE DAYS OF HIS MOURNING WERE PAST, JOSEPH SPAKE UNTO THE HOUSE OF PHARAOH, SAYING, IF NOW I HAVE FOUND GRACE IN YOUR EYES, SPEAK, I PRAY YOU, IN THE EARS OF PHARAOH, SAYING,
50:5 MY FATHER MADE ME SWEAR, SAYING, LO, I DIE: IN MY GRAVE WHICH I HAVE DIGGED FOR ME IN THE LAND OF CANAAN, THERE SHALT THOU BURY ME. NOW THEREFORE LET ME GO UP, I PRAY THEE, AND BURY MY FATHER, AND I WILL COME AGAIN.
A.Perhaps the end of the famine also marks the end of Joseph's work, and the termination of his position of power.
B.The seeking of permission indicates he was no longer ruler of Egypt; But he was still an honored man.
C.MY GRAVE WHICH I HAVE DIGGED FOR ME: This sounds as though Jacob prepared for himself a niche in the Cave of Machpelah before he left his home to go to Egypt.
D.NOW THEREFORE LET ME GO UP: Royal permission would be needed for Joseph and this company to cross the border of Egypt.
50:6 AND PHARAOH SAID, GO UP, AND BURY THY FATHER, ACCORDING AS HE MADE THEE SWEAR.
50:7 AND JOSEPH WENT UP TO BURY HIS FATHER: AND WITH HIM WENT UP ALL THE SERVANTS OF PHARAOH, THE ELDERS OF HIS HOUSE, AND ALL THE ELDERS OF THE LAND OF EGYPT,
**The attendance of a great company of Egyptian State digni-taries again indicates the high esteem in which Joseph was held in this Country he had served so well.
50:8 AND ALL THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH, AND HIS BRETHREN, AND HIS FATHER'S HOUSE: ONLY THEIR LITTLE ONES, AND THEIR FLOCKS, AND THEIR HERDS, THEY LEFT IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN.
50:9 AND THERE WENT UP WITH HIM BOTH CHARIOTS AND HORSEMEN: AND IT WAS A VERY GREAT COMPANY.
A.CHARIOTS AND HORSEMEN: An official escort for protection.
B.IT WAS A VERY GREAT COMPANY: What a funeral procession!
50:10 AND THEY CAME TO THE THRESHINGFLOOR OF ATAD, WHICH [IS] BEYOND JORDAN, AND THERE THEY MOURNED WITH A GREAT AND VERY SORE LAMENTATION: AND HE MADE A MOURNING FOR HIS FATHER SEVEN DAYS.
A.THRESHINGFLOOR: A large circle where oxen trampled out the corn; It would be a convenient place for gathering a large company of people.
B.BEYOND JORDAN: Whether this is east or west depends upon the route they took, and that we do not know.
C.GREAT AND VERY SORE LAMENTATION: "Sore" is "heavy, much."
50:11 AND WHEN THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND, THE CANAANITES, SAW THE MOURNING IN THE FLOOR OF ATAD, THEY SAID, THIS [IS] A GRIEVOUS MOURNING TO THE EGYPTIANS: WHEREFORE THE NAME OF IT WAS CALLED ABEL-MIZRAIM, WHICH [IS] BEYOND JORDAN.
A.ABEL-MIZRAIM: This means something like "a meadow of mourning for the Egyptians."
B.They were mistaken, of course, for this was not an Egyptian funeral, but an Israelite funeral.
50:12 AND HIS SONS DID UNTO HIM ACCORDING AS HE COMMANDED THEM:
50:13 FOR HIS SONS CARRIED HIM INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN, AND BURIED HIM IN THE CAVE OF THE FIELD OF MACHPELAH, WHICH ABRAHAM BOUGHT WITH THE FIELD FOR A POSSESSION OF A BURYINGPLACE OF EPHRON THE HITTITE, BEFORE MAMRE.
A.This transaction is recorded in Gen 23.
B.Before Jacob, those buried here were Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah.
C.So the three great patriarchal fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) all now rested in the Promised Land.
D.And for all their descendents this funeral said: "Egypt is not our home;" It was a prophecy of their future.
50:14 AND JOSEPH RETURNED INTO EGYPT, HE, AND HIS BRETHREN, AND ALL THAT WENT UP WITH HIM TO BURY HIS FATHER, AFTER HE HAD BURIED HIS FATHER.
**This seems to have been a quick trip.
50:15 AND WHEN JOSEPH'S BRETHREN SAW THAT THEIR FATHER WAS DEAD, THEY SAID, JOSEPH WILL PERADVENTURE HATE US, AND WILL CERTAINLY REQUITE US ALL THE EVIL WHICH WE DID UNTO HIM.
A.The conclusion of their thought is a worried "what then?"
B.Sin is worrisome -- Think of all the years these men had held the knowledge and felt the pain of what they had done.
50:16 AND THEY SENT A MESSENGER UNTO JOSEPH, SAYING, THY FATHER DID COMMAND BEFORE HE DIED, SAYING,
50:17 SO SHALL YE SAY UNTO JOSEPH, FORGIVE, I PRAY THEE NOW, THE TRESPASS OF THY BRETHREN, AND THEIR SIN; FOR THEY DID UNTO THEE EVIL: AND NOW, WE PRAY THEE, FORGIVE THE TRESPASS OF THE SERVANTS OF THE GOD OF THY FATHER. AND JOSEPH WEPT WHEN THEY SPAKE UNTO HIM.
A.THY FATHER DID COMMAND BEFORE HE DIED: There is no reason to believe this is not true.
B.WE PRAY THEE, FORGIVE THE TRESPASS: Their request shows they were spiritual, and were SERVANTS OF THE GOD OF THY FATHER.
C.This difficulty in accepting forgiveness and fully believing in it is mirrored in the problem some now have in disposing of their feeling of guilt for past sins which are forgiven; Perhaps we need to meditate often on Heb 8:12 and 1Jn 1:7,9.
D.JOSEPH WEPT: This must have been for the thought that after all he had done for them they still did not understand him, and could not believe he was sincere in his love.
50:18 AND HIS BRETHREN ALSO WENT AND FELL DOWN BEFORE HIS FACE; AND THEY SAID, BEHOLD, WE [BE] THY SERVANTS.
A.There was no question about the intensity of their feelings.
B.Again we are reminded of Joseph's boyhood dreams.
50:19 AND JOSEPH SAID UNTO THEM, FEAR NOT: FOR [AM] I IN THE PLACE OF GOD?
**Even if he did not forgive them (he did), it was not in his hands to take vengeance - cf Rom 12:19.
50:20 BUT AS FOR YOU, YE THOUGHT EVIL AGAINST ME; [BUT] GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD, TO BRING TO PASS, AS [IT IS] THIS DAY, TO SAVE MUCH PEOPLE ALIVE.
A.When Joseph made himself known to his brethren in Gen 45:5, he said to them, "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life."
B.He repeats that thought here, and teaches the truth of what we call "The Providence Of God" -- He has the power to make any situation eventually turn out to be for our benefit.
50:21 NOW THEREFORE FEAR YE NOT: I WILL NOURISH YOU, AND YOUR LITTLE ONES. AND HE COMFORTED THEM, AND SPAKE KINDLY UNTO THEM.
**He had promised them this nourishment and care in Chapter 45, and had been giving it to them through the intervening time; Now the promise is repeated to give them assurance.
50:22 AND JOSEPH DWELT IN EGYPT, HE, AND HIS FATHER'S HOUSE: AND JOSEPH LIVED AN HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS.
50:23 AND JOSEPH SAW EPHRAIM'S CHILDREN OF THE THIRD [GENERATION]: THE CHILDREN ALSO OF MACHIR THE SON OF MANASSEH WERE BROUGHT UP UPON JOSEPH'S KNEES.
A.I WILL NOURISH YOU: Although Joseph may not have been in a powerful position in the land, he must have been quite wealthy, so he could care for his family.
B.Chronologists say he lived 66 years after the famine ended and his rulership was over.
C.It seems that his last years were peaceful ones.
50:24 AND JOSEPH SAID UNTO HIS BRETHREN, I DIE: AND GOD WILL SURELY VISIT YOU, AND BRING YOU OUT OF THIS LAND UNTO THE LAND WHICH HE SWARE TO ABRAHAM, TO ISAAC, AND TO JACOB.
50:25 AND JOSEPH TOOK AN OATH OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, SAYING, GOD WILL SURELY VISIT YOU, AND YE SHALL CARRY UP MY BONES FROM HENCE.
A.GOD WILL SURELY VISIT YOU: In Gen 46:4 God spoke to Jacob as he was on the way from Canaan to Egypt, and said, "I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again." Joseph knew and believed this promise.
B.JOSEPH TOOK AN OATH OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: Perhaps this was not so much a personal wish relating only to his final resting place as it was a wish for his coffin to be a reminder to the Israelites that Egypt was not their home.
..They were presently in Egypt, but they were not of Egypt.
C.May this impress upon us the need to keep in mind that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth who are seeking a better City where we can be at home with our Savior.
D.So Joseph died with a promise to his brethren that God had not forgotten them, and some day would lead them up out of Egypt; He asked that his bones be taken with them.
50:26 SO JOSEPH DIED, [BEING] AN HUNDRED AND TEN YEARS OLD: AND THEY EMBALMED HIM, AND HE WAS PUT IN A COFFIN IN EGYPT.
A.SO JOSEPH DIED: He was a great and illustrious man, but the end finally came, and it will for us - Ecc 2:14-16; Heb 9:27.
B.The Israelites had always lived separately in the Land of Goshen, and in the 66 years since Joseph was ruler, they must have had little or no contact with the ruler; So they could not ask permission to take Joseph's body home to Canaan to bury him with a great deal of attention, as had been the case with Jacob's body.
C.HE WAS PUT IN A COFFIN: His body was prepared for that day of deliverance; When the time came (about 360 years later), the children of Israel did not forget - Ex 13:19; Jos 24:32.
D.As we come to the end of the story, these words and events surrounding the death of Joseph show that times were changing in Egypt, as they always do -- Everywhere.
..Thus GENESIS ends on a somber note -- Dark days lay ahead.
GENESIS IN 4 WORDS: Four Events -- Four People.
GENESIS IN 8 WORDS: Creation - Sin - Flood - Nations;
GENESIS IN 12 WORDS: 4 Events: Creation, Sin, Flood, Nations
CONTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS TO THE BIBLE:
_________________________________________________________________
GENESIS | REVELATION
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED | I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A
THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH (1:1) | NEW EARTH (21:1)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
THE DARKNESS HE CALLED | THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT
NIGHT (1:5) | THERE (21:25)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
GOD MADE THE TWO GREAT LIGHTS | THE CITY HAS NO NEED OF THE
(SUN AND MOON) (1:16) | SUN OR OF THE MOON (21:23)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
IN THE DAY THAT YOU EAT FROM | AND THERE SHALL NO LONGER BE
IT YOU SHALL SURELY DIE (2:17) | ANY DEATH (21:4)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
SATAN APPEARS AS THE DECEIVER | SATAN DISAPPEARS FROM THE
OF MANKIND (3:1) | SCENE FOREVER (20:10)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
A GARDEN INTO WHICH DEFILEMENT | A CITY INTO WHICH DEFILEMENT
ENTERED (3:6-7) | WILL NEVER ENTER (21:27)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY | NO LONGER ANY MOURNING, OR
YOUR PAIN (3:16) | CRYING, OR PAIN (21:4)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
CURSED IS THE GROUND BECAUSE | THERE SHALL NO LONGER BE
OF YOU (3:17) | ANY CURSE (22:3)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
THEY WERE DRIVEN FROM GOD'S | THEY SHALL SEE THE FACE OF
PRESENCE (3:24) | DEITY (22:4)
_________________________________|_______________________________
|
ACCESS TO THE TREE OF LIFE | ACCESS TO THE TREE OF LIFE
DISINHERITED IN ADAM (3:24) | REINSTATED IN CHRIST (22:14)
_________________________________|_______________________________
**CONCLUSION:
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