Jacob's Death and Burial

Story: Jacob’s Death and Burial

Passage: Genesis 49:28-50:14

Characters:  Jacob, Joseph

Summary:  Jacob requested to be buried in the same field as Abraham.  He then died.  Joseph had him embalmed and Egypt mourned for him.  Pharaoh let Joseph and his family take Jacob to Canaan to bury him.  The family returned to Egypt.

Notes: Jacob knew he was a foreigner in Egypt.  He wanted to be buried in Canaan.  When he died, Joseph fell on him weeping.  It is obvious that the bond between Joseph and his father was something special.  Joseph was greatly grieved when his father died.  Jacob was obviously well respected in Egypt.  The entire nation mourned his death.  It is interesting that Joseph had the Egyptians embalm Jacob.  Basically, he was mummified.  Pharaoh allowed the entire family to bury Jacob in Canaan.  It is interesting to me that they came back.  I am under the impression that the famine is over at this point, but maybe it isn’t.  If it is, I wonder why they didn’t just stay in Canaan.  Maybe it was because of Joseph’s role of leadership there.  I find it interesting that Jacob chose to be buried in an obscure cave.  With the respect he had, he could have been buried in one of Egypt’s tombs.  Egypt is obviously known for their magnificent tombs.  This burial is very magnificent.  It is probably the largest burial mentioned in the Bible.  The Canaanites even renamed the place as a result of the grieving of the family.  This was a big deal.  A family who had had such obvious leaders had lost their leader.  Now the leadership was fairly evenly spread throughout the family. 

Questions:  Who took charge of the family?  If Jacob was mummified, is his body still out there today?  What made the burial so unusual that the Canaanites took notice? 

Lessons:  Jacob knew Egypt was not his home.  Throughout his life and even in his death, he showed that he knew he was from a different land: the Promised Land.  We are the same.  Our citizenship is in heaven.  Do we live and die like we believe that?  

Jacob Blesses His Sons

Story: Jacob Blesses His Sons

Passage: Genesis 49:1-27

Characters:  Jacob, his sons

Summary:  Jacob gathered his sons and blessed them.  In reality, he prophesied over all of them. 

Notes: Not all of these “blessings” were good.  This is the first time a human makes a prophecy in the Bible.  We have seen some sort of veiled prophecies, but this is the first time a person blatantly prophecies about the future.  Simeon was first.  As firstborn, he should have the biggest inheritance and blessing, Jacob begins by describing how he was excellent as firstborn, but he would not excel.  This was the result of him sleeping with his father’s wives.  Simeon and Levi were next.  They were identified as violent after the episode with their sister Dinah.  They would be scattered and divided.  Looking ahead in the story, both Simeon and Levi were divided, but it was a curse for Simeon and a blessing for Levi.  Simeon ended up being the smallest tribe and shared land with Judah.  Levi however never got land and served as priests throughout the land.  Either way, Jacob’s blessing came true.  Judah was told he would be a ruler.  Judah was probably freaking out after hearing his three older brothers’ blessings, but he was told he would be a ruler.  In fact, from the time of David until Christ, there was always someone from Judah in a leadership position.  Even Daniel was from the tribe of Judah.  When Israel finally lost all authority in the Roman Empire, Jesus had already been born.  So from the time of David until now, Judah has been a royal tribe in fulfillment of this prophecy.  Zebulun would dwell on the shore.  Issachar would be strong, but they would be servants.  Dan would be a judge.  Dan would also be a serpent.  They did indeed introduce idolatry into Israel.  They are left out of the list of tribes in Revelation 7, but they are included in Ezekiel.   Gad would be raided but they would fight back.  Asher would be rich and blessed.  Naphtali would have beautiful words.  Joseph had endured trials but God would continue to bless him abundantly.  Benjamin would be a ravenous wolf.  Benjamin was indeed a fierce tribe.  I could go into a lot more detail on these blessings, but I encourage you to look into them yourself.  Maybe as we read about the history of Israel we can refer back to these prophecies. 

Questions:  What did the brothers think of these blessings?  Were some offended with what they got?  Were they jealous of what others got? 

Lessons:  Here we see God’s redemptive nature in His plan for Judah and Levi, but we also see his justice in His plan for Reuben and Simeon.    God is both full of justice and grace.  It makes no sense to us, but it is possible for Him to have both.