BURY ME IN EGYPT

 

When I was a student chaplain at a hospital in Philadelphia, I spent a great deal of my time in the geriatric wing. The general routine was to start the shift by checking in with all the patients on the floor to see if anyone needed to talk or pray about things. The men were so predictable. On the first day we would have some small chat and I would be ushered out to, "help someone in greater need". On the second day I would get the wave, "Doing alright son, have a good day."

Then, on the third day things would be different. By this time the men had taken the tests they came in for and had been given "the news" by their doctors, which usually was very bad news. On the third day I always knew the visit was going to be a long one. I would say hello and the response was always the same – silence. Usually, they would be looking out the window or looking at nothing at all. I would pull up a chair and just wait; in a few moments they would start talking.

These men rarely talked about their illness or the treatments ahead. They always talked about life, the things they did, both with great satisfaction and great regret. They would talk about this person and that person and finally always, I mean always, they would wonder, that in the end, what is it that honestly, really matters? Finally, God has them where He wants them. Now they have to stop and consider: In the end, what is it that honestly, really matters? (Peter Loughman, 2008)

Jacob was leaving Bethel when Rachel delivered her second son Benjamin and died.  Jacob set a pillar on her grave (35:19-20). The site was still there at Samuel’s time (1 Sam.10:2). On his death bed, about 50 years after her death, Jacob recalled “when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died to my sorrow... so I buried her there on the way” (48:7). Jacob’s love for Rachel was God’s gracious provision to soften the hard years. The seven years of waiting seemed like days to him because of his love for her (29:20). Leah is only mentioned again once when Jacob says where he buried her (Gen 49:31).

After Rachel’s death, Jacob’s love for her seems to have shifted to her first son. Jacob loved Joseph more than the other sons. Because of this, his brothers hated him and sold him to Egypt as a slave (Gen 37:12-36). Later there was a severe famine in Canaan and Jacob sent his sons to buy food in Egypt. But, he could not let Rachel’s other son Benjamin go with them because he was afraid that harm might come to him (42:4, 38).  When the ruler of Egypt insisted that Benjamin must go to Egypt, Jacob despaired “everything is against me” (42:36).  He had no idea that he was just about to witness one of the greatest miracles in his life. It’s usually darkest before dawn; just before the night weeping gives way to the morning joy.

 Jacob’s sons found out that the governor of Egypt was their brother Joseph (41:41-44, 42: 1-7). They were terribly afraid, but Joseph said to them “do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you...for the next five years there will not be ploughing and reaping, but God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance, it was not you who sent me here but God (45:5-8).

When news reached Pharaoh that Joseph’s brother had come, he and all his officials were pleased. Pharaoh told Joseph to bring his whole family to Egypt. He said “I will give them the best of the land of Egypt so that they could enjoy the fat of the land (45:16-18).  God owns every land on earth; he also controls and directs the hearts of even Kings (21:1). God settled his people in the best land in Egypt.

When Jacob was told “Joseph is alive! In fact he is the ruler of Egypt” he was stunned and he did not believe them (45:25-25).  When he eventually realised that the favoured son, who he had given up for dead, was truly alive; he was delighted. On his way to Egypt God spoke “to Israel in a vision at night and said Jacob, Jacob, I am the God of your father...do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hands will close your eyes” (46:1-4).

As soon as Joseph saw Jacob, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time. Israel said to Joseph “now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive” (46:1-4, 29-30).  Joseph had a very high position in Egypt and for many years he had no contact with his father. Yet it did not lessen the respect he had towards his father. Joseph settled his family in Goshen, the best of the land (47:6, 11); there was no danger of intermarriage because “All shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians” (46:34).

Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How long have you lived?”  Jacob said, “The years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty.  My years have been few and difficulty and they do not equal to the years of pilgrimage of my father’s (Gen. 47:7-10). Abraham lived for 175 years (25:7) and Isaac lived 180 years (35:28). Jacob knew he was a pilgrim on earth; his real home was somewhere else. He looked forward to a city with foundation. He longed for a better country, a heavenly one (Heb 11:9-10, 16).

With sufficient food and Egypt’s protection, Israel’s family “grew and multiplied exceedingly” (47:27). Their fast growth made Egyptian leaders nervous (Ex.1:6-10). From Israel’s family of seventy (46:27) that moved to Egypt, they had grown to about two million people  by the time they left under Moses, 430 years later (Exodus 12:37,41).  God faithfully fulfilled the promise he made to his friend Abraham, when he was still childless. His descendants would become as many as the stars in the heavens (15:1-5). God also fulfilled his promise to Jacob “I’ll make you fruitful and will multiply you (35:11, 48:4). Some of our prayers will be answered long after we have left this life.

Seventeen years had passed since Jacob arrived in Egypt, when one day Joseph was told that his father was weakening.  He took his two sons to him. Jacob rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.  He said to Joseph, “The Sovereign God ...in Canaan said to me... ‘I will make you into a group of nations and I will give this land to your descendants as an everlasting possession’. Now, as for your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are” (48:1-5). Ephraim and Manasseh are numbered among the 12 tribes of Israel.

As he was dying, Jacob passed the baton of faith to the next generation. He wanted his son Joseph to know that God would fulfil his promises. He said to him, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers”. Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite” (48:21, 22). Joseph’s descendants took this land over 400 years later. Joseph was Jacob’s favourite son to the end; he also gave him a double portion of his inheritance. Out of the twelve tribes of Israel, Joseph fathered two, while each of his brothers only fathered one.

As Jacob approached death he remembered his encounter with God at Bethel (Gen 28:19, 48:2). He remembered the amazing, life-changing work of God in His life. He also remembered how God had faithfully cared and protected him all those years. When blessing Joseph’s sons, he said “may the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day^, the angel who has delivered me from all harm...bless these boys” (Gen 48:15-16). This is the first mention in the Bible of God as a shepherd to His people.

Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days. Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob and listen to Israel your father (49:1-2). He prophesied blessings upon each son, one-by-one. He acknowledged he was both Jacob (what he had to battle against) and Israel (what God made him). Jacob was far from perfect; His relationship with God had its ups and downs. And yet in spite of his problems, he had a special relationship with God.

When blessing Joseph, he referred to God as “the Mighty One of Jacob...the stone of Israel...the God of your father” (49:24, 25). These names of God reflect his personal relationship with God. Years before, Jacob had referred to God as the God of his father and the God of Abraham (31:5, 42). But here Jacob calls God his God.  The names also show that Jacob had learnt who God is in the crises of life. He had come to know God as a rock (strong, stable and permanent) in contrast with the frailty of man.

Jacob’s last instructions were “Please do not bury me in Egypt” (47:25, 49:29). He wanted to be buried in the Promised Land. Jacob died believing that his descendants would someday go back there. God had promised it and Jacob had learnt through experience that God keeps his word. Years later Moses led Jacob’s descendants to the border of Promised Land.  Joshua led them in and allocated land  to each tribe. God kept his promise to Jacob even though he didn’t live long enough to see it.

When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last. His was gathered to his father’s (49:33). Egypt was filled with magnificent tombs and Joseph could have buried his father in one. But Jacob wanted to be buried in an obscure cave in Canaan, because he would not live in the grave, like all God’s children he had an eternal house in Heaven (2 Cor. 5:1).