March 17, 2024
Reading: Genesis 50
Focus: Genesis 50:19-21 – But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Father God, thank You for forgiveness. Thank You for working all things together for our good. Help us to forgive as we have been forgiven. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Jacob was gone. Joseph and his brothers mourned his death. Joseph ordered that his father be embalmed as Egyptians were embalmed before burial. We know from archaeology that ancient Egyptians, at least the wealthy, were mummified for burial. So, Joseph was following the customs of his time when he had Jacob embalmed. The Bible tells us that it took 40 days for the embalming to be completed. We are also told that the Egyptians mourned him for 70 days. This tells me that the Israelites were respected because of Joseph. They were not slaves at the beginning of their time in Egypt.
When the mourning was past, Joseph asked permission of Pharoah’s court to take his father back to Canaan to the cave at Macpelah to be buried with Leah, his parents and grandparents. Joseph was second only to Pharoah, and he could have just gone but he followed the customs of his position. Pharoah granted that permission. The funeral procession was huge. It included all of Pharoah’s dignitaries, and all the dignitaries of Egypt. Also, all of the members of Joseph’s household and those of his brothers and his father. Only the children, the flocks and herds were left in the land of Goshen. There were also chariots and horsemen as well. That procession had to go on for miles. Remember this trip was about 250 to 300 miles long. It was definitely not a day trip.
The procession stopped at a place called the Threshing floor of Atad. A threshing floor was generally in a field and was a flat area where grain was separated from the husks of the grain. It had to be a relatively large place. This particular place had enough room for the family. They stopped here to mourn Jacob. Now, we know that Jacob was mourned seventy days in Egypt but this was the custom of the Egyptians. In Numbers, God decreed that a man should mourn his dead for seven days. During this time, anyone who had touched the body was considered unclean. It took seven days for one to be ritually clean. But once those days had passed, one was to purify himself, and consider the mourning to be ended. So even before that decree, Jacob’s family observed the seven-day mourning period. Then they carried Jacob to the cave at Macpelah and laid him to rest with his family. Then the whole company returned to Egypt.
I can only imagine that the brothers were worried about what Joseph would do now that Jacob was dead. Their guilt was still eating at them. They were thinking what they might have done in Joseph’s place. Does he hold a grudge? Will he take his revenge now that Jacob is dead? My question is why they didn’t believe in Joseph’s forgiveness seventeen years before? What do you think was going through their minds? “So, they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.” (Genesis 50:16-17)
It broke Joseph’s heart that they still feared him. Feared him enough to say that their father had left instructions of what to tell Joseph after his death. It probably didn’t help that his brothers came to him and bowed to the ground to him. They declared they were his slaves. Joseph had to reassure them again that there was nothing to forgive and nothing to fear. He laid it out plainly, “. . . You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So, then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children . . . ” (Genesis 50:20-21). I wonder how many times he had to reassure them that there was no need to fear him.
Jesus is the same way with us. We come back again and again. Often for the same thing. Jesus tells us that we are forgiven and that we do not need to fear over that sin ever again. But we are human and think in human terms. It is often hard for us to forgive and we paint God with that same problem. But God doesn’t have any problem with forgiveness. We are never so important or so sinful that God cannot forgive us. All we have to do is ask.
So, the family of Israel stayed in Egypt. Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years of age. He saw three generations of Ephriam’s children and Manasseh’s children. When he was about to die, he called his brothers and had the children of Isarel swear that, when they eventually left Egypt, they would take his body with them. He was embalmed and entombed in Egypt until the time the Israelites left Egypt.
So, we leave the Israelites in Egypt for the next 400 years or so.
Now, there are a number of different times assigned to the dates of Joseph and the dates of the Exodus from Israel. There is a city that has been found by archaeologists under southern sector of the ancient city of Ramesses. It is called Avaris. In this city, they have found a palace compound which has 12 tombs with memorial chapels above them, as was the custom of the Egyptians. One of which is in the shape of a small pyramid. Inside this tomb, there is no body. There is a statue of a man with red hair, pale yellow skin and a coat of many colors. The red hair and yellow skin was a typical depiction of northerners (non-Egyptians). (Patterns of Evidence-Exodus by Timothy Mahoney, Chapter V: Step One: Evidence of Arrival, 2002).
Timothy Mahoney is a filmmaker. He was intrigued over the numerous dates of the Exodus and wanted to find out why. His research led him all over the world and to many different experts. His book, and the documentary he made from it, looks at all the time lines, the histories of the Egyptian dynasties and the history of the Israelites. He believes that he has pinpointed the dynasty that was in power when Joseph arrived in Egypt and when the Israelites left Egypt. We have to remember that archaeologists make educated guesses about many things based on what they have found and what the current beliefs are. Sadly, they are not accepting of any other possibility either. That’s why there are sooooo many possible dates of various events. I would encourage anyone to get the book Patterns of Evidence by Timothy Mahoney and read it or look up the documentary on Amazon Prime Video. Both are very interesting.
Next week we will be beginning one of my favorite parts of the Bible. The Exodus. It is so full of interesting things. There are pictures of Jesus everywhere.
Father God, Help us to remember that there is nothing we can do that You cannot forgive. Please remind us not to fear and to be our peace. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food For Thought
- What do you think was going through the brothers’ minds after their father’s death?
- Do you think that they went to Joseph many times for reassurance? Why or why not?
- Do you think there is archaeological evidence that the Israelites were actually in Egypt? Why or why not?
- Would you be willing to forgive actions against yourself as Joseph did? Why or Why not?
- Do you think that the Exodus actually occurred? Why or why not?
