50 Chapters in the Making
a commentary on Genesis 50
Welcome to another Biblit! Today is the day. We are finishing up Genesis, so crazy! As a reminder, there will not be a Biblit next week to prepare for the start of Exodus! Be on the lookout for that, though, because Exodus chapter 1 is coming on 9/7!
If you could, do me a favor and share the news with anyone that might be interested in studying Exodus with us!
Anyways, back to Genesis. Last week we saw Jacob bless his children and then die. This week we will finalize the life of Joseph. Let’s jump on to this commentary of Genesis 50.
Context
The chapter picks up with Joseph mourning his father’s death. He has Jacob embalmed, which is standard Egyptian practice, and then mourns him for 70 days (another standard practice).
After the mourning period, Joseph talks to Pharaoh’s household servants rather than Pharaoh himself, probably because his appearance post-mourning was not suitable to speak to the king. He tells Pharaoh about the promise he and his brothers made to their father to bury him back in Canaan. Joseph promises Pharaoh that if he allows them to bury Jacob, he will return to Egypt to continue his role as vizier.
Pharaoh obliges and allows Israel’s family to go bury their father. They had a much easier time leaving Egypt compared to Moses!
So Joseph, his brothers, and a great entourage from Egypt travel out to bury Jacob.
They stop in the land of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan River. Most likely near their final destination of Hebron and the cave of Machpelah. It is here that they lament another 7 days for Jacob. In fact, the scene is so powerful that other Canaanites take notice and call the land Abel-mizraim, which means “mourning of Egypt.”
After they bury Jacob, Joseph stays true to his word and returns to Egypt.
Let’s keep in mind, this is the first time Joseph has seen his homeland in about 39 years!
Despite that, Joseph leaves and stays true to his word. This time it is at least under better circumstances. The first time he traveled to Egypt, he was sold as a slave by his brothers, this time he travels with his brothers freely.
Now we focus back on the brothers for a bit. We’ve seen the way Joseph responded to Jacob’s death, but the brothers’ response is a little different. Remember, we did a 17 year time jump from the midst of the famine until Jacob’s death. Joseph’s brothers have been living in Gosehn for almost 20 years happy as clams.
However, now that Jacob is dead and gone, their fears arise again.
They tell Joseph that before Jacob died he gave them this command:
“Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” (Genesis 50:17-18 CSB).
We don’t have this recorded elsewhere so there is no telling if this is true or not. But either way, that would miss the point. The point is the brothers were fearful and asked Joseph not to kill them now that their father is dead.
Joseph responds with the incredible quote:
“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.” (Genesis 50:19-20 CSB).
The Hebrew word for “planned” there is the same word Jeremiah uses in his famous passage:
“For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 CSB).
Thus peace is kept for the remainder of their lives.
The final part of Genesis 50 wraps up the life of Joseph. He dies at a ripe age of 110, which, fun fact, is the ideal age to live according to Egyptian literature. Joseph was most likely around 56 when Jacob dies so this means he worked as vizier for another 54 years, or a total of 80 years.
Joseph is also the only patriarch to see his great-grandchildren born, how cool is that!
Just like Jacob, Joseph also asks his children to bury his bones back in the land of Canaan too. Joseph has faith in the Lord to return Israel to the promised land. He doesn’t know how much struggle and heartache is going to incur in the meantime, but he trusts God can do it.
Thus Joseph dies and is embalmed. His children promised to bury him and many years later, they upheld their promise in Joshua:
“Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. It was an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.” (Joshua 24:32 CSB).
Interpretation
Ok, what do we glean and learn from this passage?
Joseph’s brothers are still fearful, but God has it all planned out. It has been years of living at peace with Joseph, but after the tragic event of their father’s passing, the brothers are cast back into fear. They plead for their own lives, but Joseph calms them down. He reassures them that, yes, they did an awful thing, but that they didn’t thwart God’s plans. Joseph is able to look at the devastating events in his life and point everything back to the Lord’s great and mighty plans! Plans for salvation and the rescuing of a nation to come.
Joseph trusts in the Lord and doesn’t take matters into his own hands. Remember when we studied Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and saw how often they took matters into their own hands? How we pleaded with them, “just pray, seek the Lord first,” but they didn’t? Joseph was gifted with an incredible heart from God. He did not do this.
What do I mean?
Well, Joseph knows the Lord’s promises. That God promised to bring Israel into the land of Canaan. We know he knows this because he tells his children to bury his bones in Canaan for that reason. Joseph is 2nd in command, he has an entourage, and he travels back to Hebron. There would have been consequences, but I think Joseph could have moved back right then and there. But he trusted God and God’s timing. God has a plan for Israel to be enslaved and rescued. A plan that would be the ultimate representation of our sinful state and the rescue through Jesus Christ. Joseph trusted Israel would be saved, and so he stayed true to his word and returned instead of staying in Canaan. I think this is incredibly honorable!
Application
Ok, how do we apply this incredible final chapter of Genesis to our own life? Probably in many many ways, but I’ll boil it into this one thing. In fact, this might be my big takeaway from the whole book of Genesis.
Trust in the glorious plans the Lord has for your life.
Easier said than done. Here are a few things from this passage that help me:
We see that Joseph reflects on his life and recognizes the Lord’s plans in it. I think one great way for us to recognize God’s plans is to reflect on the past. Look back over our lives and see how the Lord is working. The more familiar we are with His plans, the easier we will recognize them, and the easier it will be to follow and trust Him.
God’s plans do not always lead to easy, fun, and painless lives. There are things we can find joy in in this world; I’m not trying to deprive you of that. But if bad things happen, it doesn’t mean God is NOT at work. That’s hard and I think the only way to be good at recognizing this is through prayer.
Trust in God’s timing, not your own. Sometimes we feel super assured in God’s plans. Tay and I feel passionate about foster care and adoption. But we need to be patient and follow God’s plans and His timing. We can’t take matters into our own hands even if it is something God wants for us. He might want to grow and prepare you more for whatever it is He’s calling you to.
Alright! That’s it for Genesis 50! Remember, no Biblit next week, but the following week we are jumping into Exodus!
Please share it around and let’s get more people involved in the community for the study of Exodus!
Love you all and appreciate every single one of you for reading, encouraging, and praying for me. I love writing, and I especially love writing about God’s word. It helps me learn more about the Lord, which is the main reason I do it. Please pray that I can continue to write these, enjoy them, and learn from them. Pray that I can write what the Lord wants me to, and that people can be encouraged and driven to the Lord by His own words, not mine. That is the whole goal.