GENESIS

JOSEPH

Joseph in Egypt
The Last Days of Jacob

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Genesis 48:1-50:26

INTRODUCTION

We come at long last to the end of Jacob's life. If you look more closely at Genesis, you will discover that whereas Genesis devotes 3 chapters to the life of Adam and 12 chapters to the life of Abraham, it devotes no less than 26 chapters (25-50) to the life of Jacob. Jacob's importance is seen in the fact that his new name "Israel" and not Abraham or Isaac actually becomes the name of the nation which descends from him and the other 2 patriarchs. At the beginning of his life, the people of God number less than 10. By the time of his death that same people now number anywhere between 200 to 400.

As Jacob comes to the end of his life, he is given the opportunity to reflect back on his life and to give closure to some matters still outstanding. The wonderful thing about this is that he is able to look back on his life and detect God's hand upon him and his family. Too often people just simply die or they die feeling only good about the life they lived. Jacob though is going to be able to look back and see God's hand upon his life.

Seeing the hand of God upon your life does not happen though just automatically. The person who can look back on his life and see God's hand is the person who has lived obediently to the Lord during his lifetime. Jacob's walk was not a perfect walk with God; however, it WAS a walk with God. During the greatest crisis of his life (the encounter with Esau after returning from Haran), Jacob had finally come to grips with himself and therefore come to grips with God. It had so radically transformed him that God changed his name from "Jacob" to "Israel."

The question which faces us is will we be able to look back at our lives at the time of death and see the hand of God upon our lives? Or will be just be able to look back and see some wonderful people we've met and some wonderful memories we've made over the years? We may be able to say that we've seen a lot of good things in our lives, but will we be able to say that God has made a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us because we walked with Him? The choice is definitely ours; it's one still not too late to make.


JACOB GIVES INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT HIS DEATH (47:27-31)

Jacob realizes that his death is approaching. He summons Joseph and asks him to swear by means of a body oath that he will indeed make sure that Jacob is buried in Canaan. He asks Joseph to make sure that he is NOT buried in Egypt.

This is not simply the sentimental request of an old man. When it is all said and done, Jacob lived a good portion of his life not in Canaan, so he had no sentimental memories about Canaan. In fact Canaan would probably have only painful memories for Jacob. It was there that the 10 sons had pillaged the city of Shechem. It was there that his favorite wife Rachel died (near Bethlehem). It was there that he received the awful news about Joseph's "death." Canaan and happy memories did not necessarily go hand-in-hand for Jacob.

So why his attachment to Canaan? It was the land God had chosen to be an "everlasting" possession for Jacob and his descendants. Although God had given him permission to live out the rest of his days in Egypt, he knew that the ultimate home for him and his descendants was Canaan. In honor of God's ultimate will for him and his descendants, he insists on being buried in Canaan.

Today there is so much conflict about that tiny strip of land. The Arabs claim it is theirs; the Jews will die before they give it back up again. Why are the Jews so insistent on keeping this land? Because of this promise. If the Bible is literally true, then this passage and others like it assert that this land is to be Jacob's and his descendants forever.

After Joseph promises to bury Jacob in Canaan, Jacob then bows and worships God, leaning on his staff. [Whereas many of our English versions say that he worshiped at the head of his bed, the NIV and author of Hebrews (11:21) claim that he actually worshiped while leaning on the top of his staff.] Why is this important? At the end of his life Jacob is still using the staff he started using after God broke his hip. His broken hip was a symbol of his broken will. From that point on Jacob was a changed man, a man who could truly walk with God. At the close of his life, Jacob worships leaning on his staff to mark that great change God had made in his life.


JACOB BLESSES THE TWO SONS OF JOSEPH (48:1-22)

Joseph receives word that Jacob is now sick and probably about to die. He takes his 2 older sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to Jacob for him to bless them. As will be seen later, Jacob has for all practical purposes cut off his oldest son, Reuben, because he had defiled Jacob's concubine, Bilhah. As the oldest son, Reuben would have received the blessing plus a double portion of the inheritance. Whereas Jacob will bless the 2 sons of Joseph, the ultimate blessing will go to Judah.

What about the double portion of the inheritance which would normally go to the oldest son? When Joseph brings in Manasseh and Ephraim, Jacob informs Joseph that he wants to elevate his 2 sons by adopting them, making them equal to the other 11 brothers. From this point on Jacob will actually be the father of 13 sons, not 12. By adopting Joseph's sons, Jacob is honoring Joseph, giving him a DOUBLE portion of the inheritance. Any other son Joseph bears now that Jacob has actually arrived in Egypt will be considered Joseph's son; these 2 though from now on will be called Jacob's sons.

Joseph wants Jacob to bless the 2 sons. In order for Jacob to bless the older son Manasseh with his right hand (the place of honor) and Ephraim the younger with his left hand, Joseph puts Manasseh on Jacob's right side and Ephraim on his left. At that point Jacob stuns Joseph by crossing his hands, with his right hand, the hand of honor, on the younger son Ephraim and his left hand, on the older son Manasseh. Joseph corrects his father, informing his that he is blessing the sons in the wrong order.

Jacob though is not simply blessing sons. He is looking back on his life and what God had done in that life. Many years earlier God had crossed His hands and blessed him, the younger son Jacob, instead of the older son Esau. Even though human custom says that the older son always gets the special blessing, God is not restricted to human custom; His ways are not necessarily our ways. In honor of this Jacob blesses Joseph's sons in reverse order.


JACOB BLESSES THE 12 SONS (49:1-33)

At this point Jacob summons all 12 of his sons so that he can bless them before he dies. Now this blessing is not quite the same kind of blessing we would normally think of. The "blessing" which Jacob gives is actually more of a kind of prophecy Jacob is making about each of the 12 sons. HE is not determining the future of each of his sons but rather accurately predicting what God is going to do for each of them in the future, for some of them a positive future, for others a negative future. Because the future of all the sons is not that important, we will focus on the futures of the 5 most important: Reuben the eldest, Simeon and Levi, Judah, and finally Joseph.

Reuben

Because Reuben defiled Jacob's concubine Bilhah, he has lost the preeminent position among Jacob's sons. Instead of receiving the blessing and double portion of the inheritance, he is going to be relegated to the head of a minor tribe. Hardly any mention will be made of Reuben's descendants in the future. They will receive a tiny piece of land to the east of the Jordan River, only to be swallowed up by the hostile nations around them.

It is true that God can and does forgive any and every kind of sin. Paul though says that some sins, though forgivable, are more damaging than others (1 Cor. 6:18). Moreover, our sins, though forgivable, can affect future generations. Parents need to bear this in mind. They need to live life in light of the fact that their lives can either bless or harm their children.

David the pastor and I were talking recently about divorce. Many times people say that people who divorce their spouses end up very unhappy. He said that that simply isn't true. What IS true, he said, is that the children are undoubtedly harmed. As a former youth minister of 9 years, I can say a big "amen" to that. The children of whole families fare so much better than children of broken homes. The kids did nothing wrong; however, they suffered because of the choices and decisions their parents made. The same principle is operating here with Reuben. His descendants suffer because of his lack of self-control.


Simeon and Levi

Because Simeon and Levi had deceived and led in the slaughter of Shechem and his people, Jacob "curses" their anger and their wrath. These will not even receive major tracts of land in Canaan but will rather be dispersed throughout the land. The tribe of Simeon receives a few cities in the south but is eventually swallowed up by the larger and more powerful tribe of Judah. Levi too will be scattered throughout the land of Canaan. Whereas this dispersion harmed the tribe of Simeon, in Levi's case this dispersion will actually be a blessing. The Levites will actually later become priests who will minister to all the people of Israel. By their cities being scattered throughout the land of Israel, the Levites will be able to minister most effectively to all Israel.


Judah

Next we come to the fourth son, Judah. Jacob prophesies that Judah's name which means "praise" will actually predict the way his brothers will treat him: they will "praise" him. Why? Because from this tribe will come the great kings of Israel: "the scepter shall not depart from Judah." In fact the role of king will be an everlasting possession of Judah. The tribe of Judah will actually produce the "great" king, Shiloh, a name for the Messiah.

It is only appropriate that this great honor be given to Judah. Reuben, the eldest, had sinned but had never really recovered from his sin. Judah, on the other hand, had sinned against Joseph, but as the story of Joseph showed, Judah had not only recovered, he had been transformed. In fact he set the tone for his tribe by willing to sacrifice himself for another, Benjamin. It is only appropriate that Jesus who actually did sacrifice Himself for others descend from Judah who was at least willing to sacrifice himself for others. When Jesus is given certain names of praise, one of them is "Lion of the Tribe of Judah," high praise for Jacob's fourth son.


Joseph

The fifth son we will look at is Joseph himself. It is easy to see this blessing as being nothing more than the act of a father who showed favoritism to the son of his old age. Although Jacob was wrong in favoring one child over another, the truth is that God had marked Joseph out for great things. By exalting Joseph, God saved His chosen people from starvation and from being swept up in the Canaanite culture. Jacob's favoritism did not force God to bless Joseph; God though on His own had marked Joseph out for greatness.

This greatness was to be passed on to his sons. Although Judah would be the dominant tribe of the nation of Israel, Manasseh and especially Ephraim would dominate the 10 tribes in the north. After the kingdom split because of Solomon's sin, Ephraim and Manasseh would dominate the northern kingdom. The permanent royal house would come from Judah; however, Joseph's tribes would also experience blessing as heading up the royal house of the northern kingdom. Jeroboam 1, the first king of the northern kingdom after Solomon's death, was from the tribe of Ephraim. Joseph's goodness and blessing like the blessings and curses of the other 11 sons, were passed on down to his descendants.


CONCLUSION

So we come now to the conclusion of Genesis. When you reflect back upon all that we have studied, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the book: the creation, Adam and the fall, Noah and the flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and Joseph, not to mention a whole host of supporting characters in the book: Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah, Benjamin, etc. Genesis has set the stage and introduced the major themes of the great drama God has been unfolding for the past 3,500 years. This great story begun by Genesis will not reach its conclusion though until that Greatest Son promised to Abraham returns and consummates perfectly the kingdom of God.