LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Protection
Joseph Transmits Abraham's Promise
Genesis 50:7-14
The Message (MSG)
7-9
So Joseph left to bury his father. And all the high-ranking officials
from Pharaoh's court went with him, all the dignitaries of Egypt,
joining Joseph's family—his brothers and his father's family. Their
children and flocks and herds were left in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen
accompanied them. It was a huge funeral procession.
10 Arriving at the Atad Threshing Floor just across the Jordan River, they stopped for a period of mourning, letting their grief out in loud and lengthy lament. For seven days, Joseph engaged in these funeral rites for his father.
11 When the Canaanites who lived in that area saw the grief being poured out at the Atad Threshing Floor, they said, "Look how deeply the Egyptians are mourning." That is how the site at the Jordan got the name Abel Mizraim (Egyptian Lament).
12-13 Jacob's sons continued to carry out his instructions to the letter. They took him on into Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
14-15 After burying his father, Joseph went back to Egypt. All his brothers who had come with him to bury his father returned with him. After the funeral, Joseph's brothers talked among themselves: "What if Joseph is carrying a grudge and decides to pay us back for all the wrong we did him?"
10 Arriving at the Atad Threshing Floor just across the Jordan River, they stopped for a period of mourning, letting their grief out in loud and lengthy lament. For seven days, Joseph engaged in these funeral rites for his father.
11 When the Canaanites who lived in that area saw the grief being poured out at the Atad Threshing Floor, they said, "Look how deeply the Egyptians are mourning." That is how the site at the Jordan got the name Abel Mizraim (Egyptian Lament).
12-13 Jacob's sons continued to carry out his instructions to the letter. They took him on into Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
14-15 After burying his father, Joseph went back to Egypt. All his brothers who had come with him to bury his father returned with him. After the funeral, Joseph's brothers talked among themselves: "What if Joseph is carrying a grudge and decides to pay us back for all the wrong we did him?"
For Reflection
Death of the patriarch is not an ending of God's promise to Israel's family. Rather it is a beginning of new phase in God's faithfulness. Israel is buried in a way reserved for the most influential thus elevating the importance of him and his household.
Joseph's brothers, however, are still not confident in their position with him. At their father's death they fear the future. Their faith in God is tested again.
Pray
that your natural fear of the unknown consequence of change will not diminish your faith that God's plan for you is good. Pray that you will know that in all things God is trustworthy.
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