Genesis 50 - Don't Be Scared Now!

 

Joseph broke down emotionally, throwing himself on his father after he died. He wept over him and kissed him. He commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. They did as Joseph commanded. The requirement for embalming was forty days. The Egyptians mourned for Israel for seventy days. Google source, bibleref.com, states that the standard period for mourning after the death of a Pharaoh was seventy-two days. Thus, for the Egyptians to mourn Israel's death for seventy days was a great honor. This honor was due to the respect the Egyptians had for Joseph. Have you ever benefited from the respect that someone had for one of your loved ones, like your parent(s) for instance? When the days for mourning had passed, Joseph petitioned Pharaoh's court to speak on his behalf stating that he promised his father that he would bury him in Canaan. Therefore, Joseph needed permission to leave Egypt for the burial. He promised that he would return to Egypt afterwards. I wondered why Joseph didn't go to Pharaoh directly himself. So, I googled. One of the suggested possibilities according to bibleref.com was that local etiquette didn't allow someone in mourning to appear before Pharaoh. Of course, Pharaoh honored Joseph's request.

Joseph went to bury his father. All the servants and elders of Pharaoh's house and all the elders of Egypt went with Joseph. Of course, all of Joseph's house, his brothers and his father's house went too. They left their children, flocks and herds in Goshen. In this great gathering, they also took horsemen and chariots. This was a huge funeral procession. When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned there with a great and solemn lamentation. Joseph observed seven days of mourning for his father. When the Canaanites saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they declared that the Egyptians were in very deep mourning. Therefore, the area became known as Abel Mizraim, which means "mourning of Egypt" according to one Google source. Jacob's sons did just as he wished by carrying him to the land of Canaan to the family burial grounds.

After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt. His brothers thought since their father was dead, that Joseph would hate them for what they did to him and seek revenge on them. They sent messengers to Joseph and told them to tell him that before he died, Jacob said, "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you. Now, please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph cried when he heard these words. Well, for Jacob to have said such words, that insinuates that Jacob knew what the brothers did to Joseph by putting him in a pit and then selling him. Joseph probably didn't tell his father all that his brothers did because he was extremely busy dealing with the famine and handling Pharaoh's affairs. I'm also guessing that the brothers never told Joseph about the lie they told their father about his demise. Since they were afraid that Joseph would seek revenge on them after Jacob's death, they made up the lie for the messengers to tell Joseph. Have you ever been mistreated by someone, but when it seemed that you got the "upper hand" in the situation, they start appealing to your "Christian values"? Afterwards, the brothers came and bowed before him, proclaiming that they are his servants. Here they go, bowing again. Remember Joseph's dreams in Genesis 37? Joseph said, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?" He told them that what they meant for evil against him, God meant it for good. God allowed it so that he could be used to save many lives. He, again, told them not to be afraid and even promised to provide for them and their children. Joseph's words of kindness brought comfort to them.

Joseph and his father's household continued to live in Egypt. He lived to be one hundred and ten years old. He lived to see Ephraim's children to the third generation as well as the children of Manasseh's son, Machir.

Joseph informed his brothers that he was dying. He told them that God would visit them and take them out of Egypt to the land He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He made the children of Israel promise that they would carry his bones out of Egypt. When Joseph died, they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

The next stop is in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 1.

To God Be the Glory!

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