Genesis 50

End of an Era

The great story now comes to an end. The Book of beginnings, which opened with creation, ends with burial: we have moved from ultimate beginnings to ultimate realities. We began with Paradise, life and blessing; we end with Egypt, death and mourning.

There is a sense in which all of this demonstrates the beautiful craftsmanship of the book of Genesis. There is a weaving of stories that adds up to a significant commentary on human experience and on God's saving purpose. What a long road mankind has travelled, from "a garden eastward in Eden" (2:8) to "a coffin in Egypt" (50:26). The story is one of tragedy and of death: a tale of the loss of hope and of dignity, the loss of communion and of fellowship, the diminution of dignity. Why should death be the lot of men?

According to the Bible, death came into our experience riding on the back of sin (Romans 5:12ff). It was never meant to be like this. But once the door of disobedience opens, death and its companions make their entrance. The structure of Genesis sets the scene for us, reminding us of why we need the Gospel, and of what God in Christ is able to do for us.

Jacob's Burial

The chapter spends time telling about the burial of Jacob. It had a profound effect on Joseph: having wept with joy as a result of being reunited with his brothers, he now weeps with profound sadness at the loss of his father. The loss is felt throughout the land of Egypt, which mourns for seventy days (50:3), a remarkable length of time by any standard, given that seventy-two days was the length of time that Egypt mourned for its kings. Perhaps the extraordinarily long period of grief in the land is the final commentary on the place which Joseph had in the estimation of the people.

So the story of the deceiver, Jacob, comes to a close. Intermingling the themes of deceipt and treachery with God's divine sovereignty, the life of Jacob is at last a story of how God's electing purpose of grace is worked out in human experience. God's sovereignty does not rob us of our freedom, or devalue our choices, or guarantee our perfection. It is a sovereignty which is worked out through our faults our failings, our sins and shortcomings, bringing all things ultimately to God's appointed end. What Jacob sowed, he reaped: having deceived his father, Isaac, he was deceived by his own sons. Yet the one place which he found free from deception was the word which God spoke to him, promising him that God would be his faithful guide along life's way, bringing his salvation to bear fruit in the lives of men and women. In a world of deceipt and truth decay, only the word and promise of God retain their integrity for ever.

Joseph's Retrospect

The scene is now set for Joseph's last words to his brothers. First, they beg his forgiveness (verse 17). With Jacob's death they are afraid that the link with Joseph will be severed, and that Joseph might justly cut off all connection with them. Their repentance has come right round. Their father's death serves to remind them of their treachery against their father's God. How often does God use the severing of such ties to bring us to himself! Sometimes it is with the loss of Christian influences in our lives that we come to appreciate the reality of the Christian Gospel.

Second, they learn the lesson of his life (verse 20) -- "you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good ...". Joseph knew the depths to which sin had degraded them, by which they had plotted maliciously against Jacob and against Joseph himself. But he had learned that God's hand was in the affair. Their evil and malevolent purposes were working out the plan and purpose of God. Joseph's difficult life story has taught him rich and deep truths about his God, all of which throw their own light for us on the cross. There was the ultimate malevolent plan: to crucify the perfect, blameless, sinless Son of God. Neither in Joseph's case nor in Jesus's was God taken by surprise, so that he had to make the best of a bad situation: it was rather the case that God's great plan was worked out through the evil of men. What a blessing to be able to look back over years of difficulty and times of trial and say "but God meant it for good"! For, just as he brought good to Joseph and through Joseph; and just as the cross secured the salvation of God's people, so the hard things in our lives too can bear the fruit of holiness and of spiritual maturity as a result of God's work in our lives.

Third, they received Joseph's comfort (verses 21-2). As he had provided for them before, he provided for them now. He kept his word, to Pharaoh, to his fathers and to his brothers. Joseph is a man of great integrity, whose pledge was "I will nourish you ..." In all of this the covenant faithfulness of God shines through.

The Death of Joseph

Joseph lived to the age of 110. Like his father, he was carried up out of Egypt. But at the close of Genesis, as the sun sets on Joseph's life, there is a reminder to us of something quite wonderful: "God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob..." (verse 24). The story of Joseph has ended; but the word of God, given in the promises of the eternal covenant, transcends generational boundaries, as it transcends national and ethnic boundaries. It is a word for all time. These words of Joseph remind us that the word of God will not be buried with him. A great era has ended. But the story of salvation has just begun.