God Meant It for Good

Genesis 49:29-50:26
²⁹Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

³¹There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—

³²the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.”

³³When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

^50:1Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.

²And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

³Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

⁴And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

⁵‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’ ”

⁶And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.

⁹And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.

¹⁰When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

¹¹When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.

¹²Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them,

¹³for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

¹⁴After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.”

¹⁶So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died:

¹⁷‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?

²⁰As 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.

²¹So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

²²So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years.

²³And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own.

²⁴And 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.”

²⁵Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

²⁶So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

One of the most oft repeated verses by Christians everywhere is Romans 8:28. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” It’s a great verse but you have to be careful when you quote it. If you speak it into someone’s life while they are in the midst of their pain they may not thank you for your “word” to them. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true, but timing is everything. Anyway, we see here at the end of Genesis the perfect example of that verse being lived out by Joseph and his brothers.

Jacob has died and received an incredible funeral and outpouring of love and devotion. The Pharaoh grants Joseph permission (for technically he is still a slave) to return to Canaan to bury Jacob in the location of the family tomb. And it would appear many of the high ranking Egyptian officials join in the funeral procession. We also see that Joseph has been almost completely acculturated into the Egyptian lifestyle as he has his father embalmed. This was not the Hebrew way. But it was probably the only way to get the deceased Jacob to Canaan in such an elaborate funeral march. After the family’s time of mourning, Joseph’s brothers make a logical assumption – surely Joseph will now extract vengeance for the way that they treated him so many years earlier. They then invoke the name of their deceased father. “Your father gave this command before he died . . . Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” Joseph has already long since forgiven them for the pain they caused him and in hindsight can see how God used all of it protect His people. He used “all things for the good of those who love Him”. When you know your pain is being used by an Almighty God, it does tend to take the sting away. Joseph’s story ends well with him dying at an old age but also asking that his bones be returned to Canaan just as Jacob had requested. (That doesn’t happen immediately upon his death, but his bones are taken by Moses when the Children of Israel escape Egypt 400 years later.)

As we close the pages on the story of Joseph we rejoice in a life that is lived for God. Despite the tragedy of slavery Joseph proves that no matter what turns your life takes you can still seek God’s face and live according to His will. His life also proves the old cliché that “hindsight is 20/20.” It is always good to look back and see that God’s hands are all over you and that indeed, “all things work together for the good of those who love God.”