The End of the Beginning
Genesis 50
Today we mark a major milestone in our study of the Bible—we have come to the last chapter of Genesis, the last sermon in our exposition of this first book of the Bible. We started this journey through Genesis in September of 2020, the year of the COVID pandemic. We have spent the better part of two years walking through Genesis. Today’s sermon is lesson number 69. For those of you who have been with us from the beginning, I applaud your perseverance in the word of God and your long-suffering with me as I teach the Bible.
In Genesis 50 three things are brought to a conclusion.[1] First, we conclude the story of Jacob’s descendants, which began in Genesis 37:2 with the words “This is the history of Jacob.” Remember that Genesis is divided into ten major sections, each beginning with the phrase “these are the generations of …” or something similar that translates the Hebrew word תּוֹלְדוֹת (tôlḏôṯ). Here we will see the burial of Jacob, the final patriarch of the nation which bears his new name, Israel.
Second, we conclude the story of Joseph and his incredible journey from being the highly favored son in his father’s house; to being hated by his brothers; thrown into a pit to die; sold into slavery; taken down to Egypt; being faithful in Potipher’s house, yet falsely accused and put in prison; and being forgotten there for years before being raised to the highest position in the court of Pharaoh. Joseph’s story of faith and faithfulness ends in Genesis 50 with his death and preparations for burial.
And third, Genesis 50 concludes the whole book of Genesis. The next page of your bible is the opening chapter of Exodus. Although centuries will pass between Genesis 50 and Exodus 1, the narratives are connected. Exodus does not tell a new story. Instead, it continues the story that was begun in the book of Genesis. We started in Genesis 1-2 with God’s beautiful creation and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden where “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good,” (Gen. 1:31). But it didn’t take long for man to ruin that perfect world by sin and rebellion against God. Evil spread rapidly after Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command in the garden: brother killing brother in the Cain and Abel incident; the repeated phrase in Genesis 5, “and he died”; the corrupt conditions of the world in the days of Noah necessitating God’s judgment through a worldwide, catastrophic flood; the prideful construction of the Tower of Babel–all of these serve as very prominent examples of the evil associated with the Fall and the depravity of mankind.
Yet, we also saw the promise of redemption in the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head, destroying Satan’s usurped dominion over this world (Gen. 3:15). Genesis is the story of God’s divine purpose to bring salvation to mankind. The stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and even Judah show how God selected and sanctified a people to fulfill His purposes. Through all of these narratives, we have learned much about the person of God, about His divine election, about God’s holiness and grace, and about His faithfulness to keep His covenant promises.
This final chapter has the two bookends of the death, embalming, and burial of first Jacob and then Joseph. But sandwiched in between is the heart of what God wants to communicate–His prevailing goodness working itself out in the providential governance of His creation.[2]
1. The Burial of Jacob – Foretaste of the Promised Land
Genesis 50:1-14 tells the story of the burial of Jacob. Moses recorded Jacob’s death at the end of Genesis 49, “And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.” (Gen. 49:33). In Genesis 49 Jacob had blessed his twelve sons in Egypt, but with his eye on Canaan, the promised land.
Here we see Joseph and his brothers carrying out Jacob’s final wishes—to be buried in Canaan in the tomb of the covenant family in the cave of Machpelah. What Moses seems to emphasize here is not only the obedience and care shown by Joseph and the respect and honor shown by his sons but also the honor and mourning demonstrated by the Egyptians. They mourned Jacob’s death for seventy days, only two shy of the customary period of mourning for a Pharaoh in that time. Pharaoh granted Jacob’s request that he be buried in Canaan. What’s more, Pharaoh sent a significant delegation of political and military officials with Jacob’s family on the journey to and from Canaan for the funeral.
Egypt had embraced not only Joseph who saved them from the famine but also Jacob. They honored him. We must never forget that the covenant promises made to Abraham which were passed along to Isaac and Jacob had the nations of the earth in view. God said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Throughout Genesis, we have been shown little glimpses of this. And here at the end of Genesis, we see that the Egyptians had such love for Joseph the Hebrew and for Jacob his father that they mourned many days at his passing. Yet, in spite of all the honor Jacob received in Egypt, this was not his home.
In Genesis 50, the Hebrew word עָלָה (ʿālâ) meaning ‘to go up’ occurs eight times (Gen. 50:5, 6, 7(2x), 9, 14, 24, 25). It is the word that in the next book will often be used for the exodus–Israel going up from Egypt into the Promised Land. It indicates where Israel really belongs–in the Promised Land. So, this funeral procession foreshadows the going up of the Israelites to Canaan after 400 years in Egypt. Jacob, though he was dead, was a firstfruits of the Israelites from Egypt. He was laid to rest in the cave at Machpelah as a deposit, guaranteeing what the LORD had promised was to come. Just as God had promised Jacob he would be laid to rest in Canaan (Gen. 46:4), so too, did the LORD promise Abraham that his descendants would return to Canaan after a four-hundred-year sojourn in a foreign land (Gen. 15:13). Jacob’s presence in his tomb in Canaan (along with Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah) would have encouraged the Israelites of the exodus to persevere in their journey. It would have let them know that God had prepared a place for them.
We have a similar but greater promise from our Lord Jesus Christ. He has gone up ahead of us by His death, resurrection, and ascension to prepare a place for us in God’s house. His promise stands that He will return to bring us to Himself, to dwell with Him in His Father’s house as sons and daughters of God (John 14:1-6).
Second in this chapter we see,
2. The Request of Jacob’s Sons – God’s Good Providence
After Jacob died, his ten older sons were worried that Joseph would turn on them and seek vengeance for the wrong they had done him forty years before. They had been living together in Egypt for seventeen years, under Joseph’s provision, but they feared Jacob’s presence was a mediating influence. The restoration of the brothers with Joseph was clearly not complete. There was work to be done still in their own hearts and between them and Joseph. For Joseph’s brothers, the ache of their guilt and shame was still present, manifesting itself in their fear and distrust.
They understood the severity of their sin. They understood that Joseph would do no wrong if he judged them. They feared Joseph. And so they offered sincere repentance, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.” Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.’” (Gen. 50:16-17). Humbly they fell before Joseph pledging their obedience and submission (Gen. 50:18). They now volunteered to do the very thing which Joseph’s dreams had predicted (Gen. 37:5-9) and which they had sought to avoid by their sin against him (Gen. 37:19-20).
Joseph’s response is a model for all who would respond in a godly way to unfair treatment or ungodly persecution: Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. (Gen. 50:19-21).
Vengeance belongs to God, not man. Joseph would not consider usurping a prerogative that belonged only to God (cf. Romans 12:19; I Thessalonians 5:15; I Peter 4:19). Furthermore, while their attitudes and actions were evil, the result was intended by God for the good of all (verse 20; cf. 45:5-8; Acts 2:23). How could Joseph be angry when good had come of their sin through God’s providence? Instead, Joseph returned kindness for cruelty (cf. Proverbs 25:21-22; Romans 12:20,21). The kindness Joseph had shown while his father was alive would continue he reassured them.[3]
We serve a God who is able to use that which is evil to bring about good. Never does this minimize or dismiss the evil that others do, but it does give us hope to know that God is sovereign even over the sinful actions of others. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). In the story of Joseph, we have a clear illustration of this. His brothers meant evil against him, but God meant it for good.
Most of us are quick to see God’s goodness in the blessings of life, but not so quick to discern His goodness in the trials. Jacob was like that. When his sons returned from their first trip down to Egypt to buy grain, and the unknown lord of the land (Joseph) had taken Simeon captive and was demanding that Benjamin accompany them on the return visit, Jacob wailed, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me” (42:36). But, in fact, all these things were not against him. The truth was, that God was for him. Even the trial of the famine was being used to reunite him with his beloved Joseph and to provide for all his needs for the rest of his life.[4]
Joseph knew this. He was able to see that God could use that which was meant for evil for good, and it helped him to forgive, knowing that he was not in the place of God to take vengeance on his brothers. God was working through His providence to unite the fractured family of Jacob into a nation, to preserve them as a people, and to use them to bless the whole world through the Savior-to-come.
Finally, we see,
3. The Death of Joseph – Future Possession
More than 50 years elapsed between Genesis 50:21 and 22. Moses was intent on placing the deaths of Jacob and Joseph side by side so we would see the parallels. Again we can see how truly blessed by God Joseph was with long life and being able to see even his great grandchildren.
But the real emphasis here is on the final words of Joseph in Genesis 50:24-25, “24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”” Notice the repetition here, “God will surely visit you.” It is interesting and significant that the one event in Joseph’s faithful life on which the New Testament writer of Hebrews comments was this event. “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones” (Heb. 11:22).[5]
Although the exodus of Israel from Egypt was not to take place for hundreds of years Joseph’s faith looked forward and said, “Do not forget Canaan to which you are going.”[6] Joseph believed in the promise of God. He not only believed it, he acted on it, making his family swear to carry his bones out of Egypt with them and bury him in Canaan.
The contrast between 1 and 50:26 is surely more than an ordinary coincidence. The book opens with life, it ends with death—“in a coffin in Egypt,” because in between had come sin which brings forth death. And yet Joseph’s coffin spoke of life as well as of death. It was a symbol of hope, a message of patience, a guarantee of life everlasting. When Joseph ordered them to carry his body out of Egypt, he is believing in immortality. Genesis, with its coffin in Egypt, was followed by Exodus, which means departure, deliverance; and Joseph spoke of that exodus, that salvation, which God would accomplish in His time.[7]
After centuries of watching and waiting that coffin was carried up out of Egypt: “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”” (Exo. 13:19). Then for forty years, that coffin accompanied the people of Israel wherever they went, and at length came the fulfillment of Joseph’s hopes. In the days of Joshua “The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem” (Josh. 24:32).[8]
All this means that “a coffin in Egypt” is not just the end of this great book of beginnings. More importantly, it is part of the beginning of the end. For it is the testimony of one, who like many others, looked for the coming of Him who was to destroy death, crushing Satan’s head.[9]
And so as we bring the book of Genesis to a close, to you want to sum up the message of Genesis we remember that:
- Sin kills (Adam)
- Judgement is sure (Noah)
- Salvation is by grace through faith (Abraham)
- God’s salvation comes through substitutionary sacrifice (Isaac)
- All whom God saves He conforms into the image of His Son (Jacob)
- God causes all things to work together for good (Joseph)
- So set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.
Genesis reveals God as a holy God who judges sin. The God of Genesis is one who provides salvation from His judgment apart from man’s efforts and in spite of man’s failures. Genesis reveals a sovereign God who chooses His servants according to grace, not human merit, and who works all things after the counsel of His will. Genesis reveals God not only as Creator, but also as Law-Giver, Judge, Preserver, and Redeemer. Genesis tells us who God is, who we are, and what we must do. Our Savior Jesus Christ is there in promise and in type. God prepares the way for Christ through His divine providence.
Genesis begins with life and ends in death, a sad reminder of the effects of sin on this world and on mankind. But that is the point, isn’t it? Genesis is not the end. It is the beginning. The rest of the Bible will bring us the end of the story, the redemption through Christ that was promised and foreshadowed in Genesis.
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[1] Joe Anady, Genesis 50: You Meant Evil Against Me, But God Meant It For Good, https://emmausrbc.org/2020/03/08/sermon-genesis-50-you-meant-evil-against-me-but-god-meant-it-for-good/
[2] Paul Apple, Bible Outlines: Genesis 50:1-26 — God’s Master Plan, https://www.bibleoutlines.com/blog/genesis-501-26-gods-master-plan
[3] Robert Deffinbaugh, The End of An Era (Genesis 49:29-50:26), https://bible.org/seriespage/50-end-era-genesis-4929-5026
[4] Steven Cole, A Mindset for Enduring Trials (Genesis 50:20) https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-85-mindset-enduring-trials-genesis-5020
[5] W. H. Griffith Thomas, A Devotional Commentary: Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1946), 487.
[6] W. H. Griffith Thomas, A Devotional Commentary: Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1946), 487.
[7] W. H. Griffith Thomas, A Devotional Commentary: Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1946), 488.
[8] W. H. Griffith Thomas, A Devotional Commentary: Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1946), 488–489.
[9] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 1277.
