Joseph Dies As a Mummy In Egypt

Genesis 50:22-26

22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years.23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

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Those are the last sentences of Genesis. Like all great stories, Genesis ends with a note of sadness and with a few loose ends. Joseph dies, but unlike Jacob his father, he is not buried back in the Promised Land. Before his death, he tells his descendants that they will need the help of God to get out of Egypt and return to the Promised Land, and he makes them promise that when that day finally comes they will carry his bones with them back to the land of his fathers. And then he dies, and is embalmed after the custom of the Egyptians.

And so Genesis ends and the last sentence will take your breath away: The book closes with Joseph as a mummy in Egypt.

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Genesis concludes with Abraham’s family—the children of Israel— living in Egypt, outside of the Promised Land.

Exodus is the story of their rescue, and we begin reading it on Monday!

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P.S. The children of Israel never forgot their promise to Joseph. And generation unto generation, they were reminded that the day would come when God would bring them out of slavery, and that when that day came, they were to carry the bones of their brilliant ancestor Joseph with them. And so, this is what happens when the long- awaited Exodus finally occurs, so many centuries later:

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place” [Exodus 13:19].

I said before that Genesis ends without all the loose ends tied up. That may be true, but you know what?

In God’s time, all loose ends are eventually tied up. There are no details that the author of Creation forgets.

How Joseph's Slavery Was Israel's Salvation

Genesis 41:39-49

39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. 43 And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. 47 During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, 48 and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. 49 And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

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Through a series of miraculous coincidences, Joseph, who has been sold into slavery in Egypt, rises to become viceroy over the entire kingdom, and his shrewd leadership and management make sure there is food available when famine comes to the region. The famine causes his family—the children of Israel— to come to Egypt in search of succor, and it ends up being Joseph—the brother they sold into slavery—who is their rescuer.

As Joseph says later, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” [Genesis 50:20].

That’s a verse to meditate on as this new year begins. See, no matter what happens this year, God will turn it to good.

Be hopeful!

Joseph Preys on their Jealousy

Genesis 43:15-34

15 So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” 17 The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph's house. 18 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.” 19 So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. 21 And when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us, 22 and we have brought other money down with us to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.” 23 He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, 25 they prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

26 When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground. 27 And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. 29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” 30 Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.” 32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. 34 Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

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I think the ending of today’s passage is deeply moving. Go back and read it again and try to see and feel it—imagine the intensity of the scene.

Again, Joseph’s ploy is to recreate the situation that led to his sojourn in Egypt. When he was a young boy, his father singled him out and gave him a gift that his brothers did not receive—the many-colored coat. Here, Joseph singles out Benjamin at the expense of his brothers: he activates their jealously by giving Benjamin five times more than the rest of them.

When Joseph was younger, jealously led to a great evil.

What will happen now?

Judah Persuades Jacob

Genesis 43:1-14

Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” 3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” 6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. 9 I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. 10 If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. 12 Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. 13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. 14 May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

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Remember, this is the central question of Genesis 37-50:

Which brother will lead the family after Jacob is gone?

REUBEN, SIMEON, LEVI, OR JUDAH?

Reuben, as we saw Friday, is not a leader. (Plus, he slept with his father’s wife/concubine, i.e., the mother of 2 of his half-brothers! [See Genesis 35:21-22].)

The 2nd and 3rd brothers are Simeon and Levi. They seem to be hot-headed and bloodthirsty, as they are the ones who led the massacre of the city of Shechem, after Shechem raped their sister Dinah. (See the sad story told in Genesis 34.)

(By the way, I have no proof of this, but I wonder if Simeon is one of the instigators of the plan to murder Joseph and cover it up with animal’s blood [See Genesis 37.] This would explain why Joseph chooses Simeon as the one to stay behind in Egypt: “And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.” [Genesis 42:24].)

So, that leaves Judah. Could he be the one to lead the family after Jacob?

The last we heard much about Judah was in Genesis 38, when he is morally humbled after he (unknowingly) impregnates his daughter-in-law. (I KNOW!)

But here, he makes a beautiful speech to their father Jacob and offers to take full responsibility for Benjamin’s safety so they can return to Egypt and get food so that the family can survive.

His speech works, and Jacob gives his leave for Benjamin to go with the brothers on their return journey to Egypt.

Could Judah be the one?

P.S. Note that, unlike the last time the brothers returned without their missing brother—the time when they sold Joseph into slavery—this time they tell the whole truth to their father….

P.P.S. Jacob is here having his own Mount Moriah moment. You’ll remember that back in Genesis 21 we read about the culminating event of Abraham’s life: his giving up of the beloved son of his old age, Isaac. Here Jacob does the same thing by agreeing to send Benjamin.

12 Brothers and a Feast

I think the ending of today’s passage is deeply moving. Try to see and feel it as you read:

26 When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27 He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?”

28 They replied, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.

29 As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.

31 After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, “Serve the food.”

32 They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. 33 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. 34 When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him. [Genesis 43:26-34]

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 43:15-34

Joseph Goes to the Barber

As the story of Joseph unfolds, we see him becoming more and more Egyptian even as he pulls farther and farther away from his family. It’s significant that before he can come into Pharoah’s presence, Joseph has to shave and change his clothes: he’s discarding his old identity as a son of Jacob and beginning to take on his new identity as an Egyptian.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 41:1-14