INITIATION:

First, we will examine the last words of Jacob, we will gain insight into his legacy, and the future of each of his sons within the divine plan. We can learn also from the importance he placed on it, because a place of burial matters in Canaan, it serves as a reminder of the promise that drove Jacob's life.

Second, we see in the life and death of Joseph, his enduring love for his brothers, shown in his lasting forgiveness, as well as a foreshadowing of how God's promise through His people will proceed in the generations to come.
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BIBLE TEXT:

GENESIS 49:28-33; 50:1-26
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SUBJECT:

JACOB AND JOSEPH DIE WELL
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MEMORY VERSE

For I [Paul] am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:6-7 KJV).
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CENTRAL TRUTH

God enables His children to finish up life very well.
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LEARNING TARGET

At the end of this lesson, every participant will be able to:

1. Examine the deaths of Jacob and Joseph, recognising what filled their hearts at the end of their lives.

2. Consider how God's promises were reaffirmed and clarified through the passage of time and generations.

3. Pray for God's help in focusing and trusting on God's promises till the end of life.
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MAIN LESSON DISCOURSE

1. JACOB'S FINAL WORDS

(Gen.49:28-33; 50:1-3):

A. Bury Me with My Fathers (Gen. 49:28-33):

Verse 28 sums up an important section where Jacob addresses each of his sons. These blessings are applied to the tribes that will later come from each with Judah and Joseph having preeminence (reflect back on Moses in Deuteronomy 33).

The tribe of Judah dominated the history of the south, and the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were dominant in the north. Ephraim and Manasseh were the tribal representatives of their father, Joseph. (If you look at an Old Testament map, it will demonstrate the immense land areas of these tribes, relative to the others. Note also that Jerusalem is located in the land of Judah).

Beginning in Genesis 49:29, Jacob spoke to his sons about his burial wishes.

First, Jacob requested to be buried with Isaac and Abraham in the promised land. He made a similar request earlier in Genesis 47:29-31. Why? The reason is that God had already told him that such would be so (Gen 46:4). And it also demonstrated that Jacob's faith in God's covenant promise stayed strong in his heart unto death. He wanted to be laid to.rest in that land of promise, just as his family had been. The location of "Mamre in Canaan" (verse 30, NLT) is on the outskirts of the city of Hebron in Israel today.

Fittingly, Genesis 49:33 closes by saying that Jacob finished speaking, "gathered up his feet into the bed," breathed his last, and "was gathered unto his people" (KJV). His final words declared the reality of the promises of God, and his faith in those promises. There could be no better way for this great patriarch to die.
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Questions For Application
ln what ways would Jacob's desire to be buried with his fathers in Canaan testify to his confidence in God's promises?

What would you like your last words to your loved ones to be when you leave this world for the presence of Jesus? Why?
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B. Joseph Weeps Over Jacob (Gen. 50:1-3):

Roughly half of Genesis 50 is occupied with descriptions of grief over the death of Jacob. It is important to see that the Bible recognises grief as a legitimate, even necessary, human emotion and process.

In fact, the process of grief is described in the New Testament as well as the old. Mark 5:38, for instance, reflects the practice of hiring professional mourners, which was very common in the ancient world. It was part of the process of mourning and grief for the family.

All of this indicates that the Scriptures support mourning. Yet as we mourn, we do not mourn as those who have no hope in Christ (1 Thess. 4:13).

Genesis 50:1 describes Joseph openly acting out his grief in a very personal ways. He laid himself across Jacob's face (likely including his upper body) and kissed him. Kissing was a common expression of affection when someone departed, just as is the case today. Clearly Joseph felt deep grief.

Verses 2-3 describe the preparation of Jacob's body for the journey to Canaan. Embalming was an Egyptian process, but it served an important purpose in allowing Joseph to preserve Jacob's remains for the extended trip.

From a large perspective, however, scholars note that Jacob's death and mourning are described in a far greater detail than other deaths in the stories of the patriarchs -Why? Many believe that this emphasizes the enduring character of God's promises. Jacob would return to the land of promise. This land is a focal point of all the Old Testament. It is a source of rejoicing as His people live there. And when they are taken from it, returning to the Promised Land is their heartfelt desire. Even the prophets focus their messages on exile as punishment and return as blessing.

This is an important message to us today. What is the focus of your deepest desires? For us, it is a restoration to the presence of God. This is ultimately the hope found in yearning for the new heavens and new earth, where we will live in perfection with our Lord forever. Death has no power to keep us from inheriting that promise.

Verses 2-3 also mention
extended times of mourning for Jacob among the Egyptians. In Egypt, seventy days of mourning was a period of time reserved for the Pharaohs. Even this pagan nation mourned the patriarch, and to the degree of a king. Truly, God had blessed the seed of Abraham--the carriers of God's great promises in the land of Egypt.
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Questions For Application
What are some common ways that Christians express grief?

Why is it important for Christians to recognise grief and sorrow as a normal and healthy part of dealing with the death of those we love?
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2. JACOB'S BURIAL (Gen. 50:4-14)

A. Jacob Buried in Canaan (vv. 4-9)

Notice how verse 4 begins: "When the period of mourning was over.." (NLT). Seventy days had been devoted to grieving Jacob. No doubt the pain of loss still stung Joseph and his brothers. But the time had come where Joseph also needed to move forward in action. He had made a promise to Jacob, and it was no small promise. By acting to make sure Jacob was buried in Canaan, he affirmed the reality of God's promise that the seed of Abraham would occupy the land of Canaan.

And so, Joseph proceeded to ask Pharaoh (through his advisors) permission to bury his father in the tomb Jacob had prepared. (As a side note, scholars have concluded that Joseph didn't go to Pharaoh personally because of mourning customs. There was no disrespect in his avoidance of Pharaoh.) Joseph asked to "go up" to Canaan to bury his father (v. 5). This imagery of going "up" to Canaan is a key term in chapter 50 (vv.6-7,9,14, 25). The same terminology is often applied to the Exodus (Exo. 3:8,17; 33:1). This passage foresees a time in the distant future, four hundred years later, when the seed of Abraham would go up from bondage in Egypt to the land where they belonged, the promised land. Much would happen in the interim, and much of that would be difficult for God's people. But His promise would endure.

Pharaoh graciously included all his officials in this grand funeral procession, as well as a great number of chariots and chariot drivers (Gen. 50:6-9). It was, in a sense, a parade worthy of a king. And how appropriate this procession would be. They carried Jacob, Abraham's grandson, from whom would come the saviour of the world.
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Question For Application
Have you ever been especially blessed by a friend or loved one during a time of grief or sorrow? Explain.
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B. A Place of Deep Mourning (vv. 10-14)

Genesis 50:10 records that Joseph, along with the entourage of family and Egyptians, stopped at "Atad, which is beyond Jordan" (KJV). This was likely a location near Jericho. And so, scholars note, it is very possible that the entourage followed the same route to Canaan that the Israelites would follow some four hundred years later. Once again, Scripture here foreshadows the fulfilment of God's promises in Scripture later on.

There, the entourage held a memorial and time of intense mourning for seven days (vv. 10-11). This event was so striking that the Canaanites took notice and named the place Abel-mizraim, which means "mourning of the Egyptians." It is worth noting, then, that this place would be remembered as a place where Egyptians mourned the seed
of Israel, the very people they would later enslave.

It appears that Joseph and his brothers left the entourage in Abel-mizraim to proceed as a family to Jacob's burial place.

There, together, the brothers
honoured their father's heartfelt, and prophetic request to be buried in the land of promise (verses 12-13). Afterward, they and the entourage returned to Egypt (verse 14).
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Questions For Application
Why might God have placed so many parallels in His Word between the accounts of the patriarchs and the Exodus?

What causes families to resist reconciliation until a time of grieving, and how can following the example of the brothers here, having already reconciled, make for a better family time when grief does come?
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3. JOSEPH REASSURES HIS BROTHERS (Gen. 50:15-26)

A. God Intended It for Good (vv.15-21).

As Joseph and his family. returned to Egypt, his brothers made a disturbing realisation. New that their father was dead, their brother could take revenge upon them without concern for offending Jacob. Perhaps they were still plagued by guilt in spite of Joseph's assurances that he had forgiven them (Gen. 45:1-15). Now, they found themselves in fear of their powerful brother (Gen. 50:15).

So, in verse 16, they hatched a plan. The brothers knew Joseph always submitted to the will and authority of his father. Motivated by fear (v. 15,19), they invented a story, sending a message to Joseph that their father had left Some important instructions: "Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you for their sin in treating you so cruelly" (verse 17, NLT). Note that in the Hebrew language, verse 17 includes three of the four words in the Old Testament for wicked deeds: In literal terms, to what they did was a crime, a sin, and evil. They had committed a horrible sin against Joseph and against God.

It seems, then, that at this moment the brothers finally came to terms with the depth of the wickedness they inflicted upon their younger brother. Now, all they could do was beg for his forgiveness. Yet Joseph had already forgiven them, as seen in his response to their message. He wept intensely.

The message had been sent through an intermediary, likely to prepare the way for what could be a tense meeting. Upon seeing Joseph, they threw themselves at his feet declaring, "Look, we are your slaves" (verse 18, NLT). Scholars see this as the dramatic climax to the story beginning in chapter 37. The word "slaves" in 50:18 is the same as that which is translated "servants" of God in verse 17. The brothers had come full circle. They once treated Joseph as worthless, selling him into slavery.
Now they see him as a surrogate for God, holding their fate in his hands.

But Joseph had no intention of treating them with anything other than affection (verses 19-21). There was no need to fear. They shouldn't equate him with God. He was not God's surrogate, but God's instrument during this critical chapter of His chosen family. The brothers must recognise that God ruled their future, not Joseph.

In the course of God's plan, He had taken what they intended for harm and transformed it into something incredibly good. They sought death for Joseph, but God used him to preserve life. They sought to end him, but God used him to bring a new beginning in the next step on the path of His promise to bless the world.

We will likely never be sold into slavery. But we will experience very difficult circumstances. In such times, It is easy to ask, "Why?" With God's grace, we can take the path Joseph chose, recognising that God can take what is meant for evil and make something from it that is good beyond our imaginations.
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Questions For Application
Describe a time when God took something bad in your life and made it into something good.

Why can it be challenging to remember that God holds our future?
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B. God Will Help You (vv. 22-26)
The death of Joseph, which closes the Book of Genesis in 50:22-26, includes two important points. First, Joseph emphasised his desire to eventually be buried in Canaan. He, like his forefathers, clung to God's great promise unto his last breath. Moses would later fulfil this request in Exodus 13:19.

Second, Joseph reaffirmed God's promises by declaring, "God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land of Egypt" (verse 24, KJV). It would be four centuries, and a profound change in status from welcomed guests to slaves, before this would be fulfilled. But God would help His people- just as He surely
helps them today.

Questions For Application
Describe a time when God has helped you in a supernatural way.
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DISCLAIMER:

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