God Offers the Promised Land, but 2.5 Tribes Say "No Thanks."

Numbers Chapter 32: Division of the Land East of Jordan

Numbers 32:1-42

Day 90. It is wonderful, even in an area of the province where things are still not fully opened up, to watch people ease up a little. Few masks, less worried about crossing the street when you approach them, more cars on the road, and more and more retailers opening. Life will slowly return to some point close to where it was before all this Covid-19 concern started. But it will not likely go all the way back in every respect. The government has managed to move its needle of control in the direction where individual freedom continues to decrease. They accomplished their fine-tuning towards a societal reset, a goal they are getting closer to with each ‘pandemic’ or its equivalent. Christians, however, know that God is fully in control and while the globalists and OWG (one-world-government) pushers think they’re winning, the truth is they’re bringing their treasured possession (world domination) closer to eternal doom. We continue to study our Bible and to keep alert, knowing how this all ends. Thanks for joining us.

The Passage

32 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that ^[a]it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, ² the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,³ “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon, ⁴ the land which the Lord ^[b]conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵ They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? ⁷ Now why are you ^[c]discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? ^8 [d]This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to the ^[e]valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they ^[f]discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ So the Lord’s anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying, ¹¹ ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, ¹² except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord fully.’ ¹³ So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed. ¹⁴ Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the Lord against Israel. ¹⁵ For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
¹⁶ Then they came near to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; ¹⁷ but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸ We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance. ¹⁹ For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”
²⁰ So Moses said to them, “If you will do ^[g]this, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, ²¹ and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven His enemies out from before Him, ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the Lord and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the Lord. ²³ But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do ^[h]what you have promised.”
²⁵ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our livestock and all our cattle shall ^[i]remain there in the cities of Gilead; ²⁷ while your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will cross over in the presence of the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”
²⁸ So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; ³⁰ but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. ³² We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”
³³ So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their ^[j]territories, the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴ The sons of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer,³⁵ and Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, ³⁶ and Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. ³⁷ The sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, ³⁸ and Nebo and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. ³⁹ The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.⁴¹ Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its ^[k]towns, and called them ^[l]Havvoth-jair.⁴² Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after his own name.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 32:1 Lit behold, the place, a place for
2. Numbers 32:4 Lit smote
3. Numbers 32:7 Lit restraining the hearts of
4. Numbers 32:8 Lit Thus your fathers
5. Numbers 32:9 Or wadi
6. Numbers 32:9 Lit restrained the hearts of
7. Numbers 32:20 Lit this thing
8. Numbers 32:24 Lit that which has come out of your mouth
9. Numbers 32:26 Lit be
10. Numbers 32:33 Lit borders
11. Numbers 32:41 Lit tent villages
12. Numbers 32:41 I.e. the towns of Jair

Thoughts on the Passage

So, the Israelites are on the east side of the Jordan, down east of the Salt Sea. The Jordan River runs primarily from the Sea of Galilee (in the O.T. a.k.a. Sea of Chinnereth; other names include Lake or Sea of Tiberias; and Luke calls it by its Greek name, and is the only one to use the title of ‘Lake’ Gennesaret in Luke 5; we also note that there is in Hebrew there is one word for lake and sea) down to the Salt Sea, which is quite a distance north of the Red Sea.  Canaan, the Promised Land, is on the west side of the Jordan.

Now the sons of two of the twelve tribes, that is, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, look at this land on the east of Jordan, and given their large flocks, decide this is good enough for us. They decide to approach Moses and Eleazar, plus other leaders of the congregation with their thoughts. They point out that this land had already been captured by the Lord and it was most suitable for livestock. So, they asked permission to given that land as their possession and they would not cross over the Jordan to Canaan.

But Moses wasn’t born yesterday and right away pointed out the injustice of that. The implication was that while all the other tribes were to across the Jordan to take the Promised Land (and risk getting killed), these guys and their people would stay at home sound and safe. And furthermore, these leaders were discouraging their own warriors from crossing over and possessing the land God had given Israel. Sorry, says Moses, “not a good deal and the optics stink.”

Furthermore, Moses reminds them of what their ‘fathers’ had done when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, saw the land before them, and discouraged the Israelites from going into the land God had given them, just as their request now might encourage them again. And that made God angry. That was when God swore none of the men (except Caleb and Joshua) who were 20 years old and up when the Israelites left Egypt would see the Promised Land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They caused God’s anger to force the Israelites to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until all those people 20 and up at the time of the Exodus from Egypt had died.

Moses was really hot now. These guys were adding more fuel to the fire and could easily have gotten God even angrier now that they were so close to the Promised Land. In fact, Moses tells them that the very lives of all the Israelites could be lost. So, basically, it’s a “no deal” situation.

But of course, the sons of Gad and Reuben would not give up. Clearly Moses’ anger had surprised them, and they had drawn back because verse 16 says they now “came [or drew] near to him”. But they must have correctly surmised that his anger was based on his objecting to the fact that their men not fighting next to their brothers and so they pressed on.

They came up with their next proposal. How about if they were to build cities for their livestock, and their families on the east side of the Jordan, but the men would go over to help the rest of the sons of Israel possess the promised land, fight with them to that end, and not return until all the others got their land, and there would be no inheritance for them (Reuben and Gad’s tribes) on the other side. Clever plan, and fair compromise I would say. Although, it seems strange to me that in verse 16 they seem to place the building of cities for their livestock ahead of the needs of their little ones. But of course, it was very much a pastoral farming culture where livestock determined many things.

So, Moses agrees that if they do as they have sworn, all will be well. If not, they will have sinned against the Lord, and that their sin would find them out. Moses passed that on to Eleazar and to Joshua, and the other heads of the various tribes. And the Reuben and Gad boys verified that in front of all. At least, this way, no one would be encouraged not to fight to take the land since even those of the tribes who would not possess the land would be fighting with them.

Now for some reason, in verse 33, where we are told what cities, etc., Moses gave to Reuben and Gad, we are also introduced to a third party added to those two. This is the half-tribe of Joseph, headed up by his son Manassah. Perhaps, in seeing what a deal Reuben and Gad’s leaders worked out, thought they’d like in on it as well.

Robert Jamieson suggests that it is possible that Moses himself invited them to partake of this deal as he observed that the land on the east of the Jordan would be sufficient to support not only the tribes of Reuben and Gad, but also that of Manassah. And he may have favored them in this way due to the role they had played in fighting the Amorites.

You will remember as we read in study.com:

“When Jacob blessed Joseph's sons, while on his deathbed, he set the two up as the replacement for Joseph's tribe, which then became called the ''House of Joseph.'' Because of the symbolism of the number 12 to Judaism (the 12 tribes of Israel, totality, wholeness), the tribes were not considered whole tribes but were instead called half-tribes. Jacob gave them double the territory the other tribes received so that, even though they were technically half-tribes, they would each have the same amount of land as Jacob's other sons.”

You will remember that Moses carried Joseph’s bones out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus as was Joseph’s desire.

The rest of the verses to the end of the chapter describe the various cities, etc., that each of the three groups represented – Reuben’s, Gad’s, and Manassah’s – built their homes and ranches in. We should note that Moses agreed to give them this land, before they actually went into battle to take Canaan. Those were the days when someone’s word meant something.

Now Chuck Smith suggests that we may see in these three tribes a lot of Christians today. They got out of Egypt which represents the bondage of sin, but they aren’t quite eager to get into the fullness of Christ – the Promised Land. They’re happy somewhere short of there. They have it nice there --- why take a risk to go for the Promised Land?

David Guzik says, based on Wenhan’s comments, that for these tribes to ask for this arrangement is “to show a disturbing indifference to the divine word, the word on which Israel's existence entirely depended."

One lesson for us to learn from this passage is that, as Guzik says, “It is a terrible thing to be used of the devil to discourage other believers to walking deeper and further with the LORD. We should ask God to guard us from ever discouraging the heart of another child of God.”

Once again, we look at our One and Only Hero of the Bible – God – when we consider this chapter. We note that He is silent in it. He is mentioned three times – once when those proposing the deal concede that God had won the land east of the Jordan for them; secondly when Moses reminds them how they had given rise to God’s anger; and finally, when Moses reminds them that if they continued they would make Him so angry, He might wipe all of Israel out. So, we see our God really forging, even when He takes no active part in the negotiations, the outcomes that result.

Here is what I take from all this. God, and God’s values and character, once imbedded in the hearts and minds of men can, without a doubt, impact our dealings and interactions.  And after all, isn’t that what being a Christian is all about.

The gems from the book of Numbers continue to be found.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Leads The People Out – With 24/7 Direction -- Exodus 13:17-22

Now it came about when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt.”  Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt.  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God shall surely take care of you; and you shall carry my bones from here with you.”  Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness.  And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.  He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
This is a most exciting and encouraging passage of Scripture for the believer for many reasons.  In it, we find six ways God involves Himself with us directly so that we may live the abundant life:

1.     God directed them in a way that not only would serve His purpose and plan for them, but would also protect them from harm when they least expected it.  The text says He did not take them through the land of the Philistines even though that would have saved a lot of time and distance.  Had they gone that way, they either would have been in the midst of a war the Philistines were fighting or the Hebrews themselves would have been pursued as enemies by the Philistines for they would have been easy prey for plunder as they traveled across the desert.  Easy, fast – is not always the best.  As Christians we need to learn that lesson.  The Philistines were mentioned at least eight times in Genesis – they were known for their hawkish view of co-existence, being almost always at war.  They were dividers and invaders. And today, our Enemy is also well known to us.  It is he that God is keeping us safely from, if we allow Him to.

2.     God also knew His people.  He knew they would change their mind if left to their own thinking on the best route, or when challenged with adversity.  He had therefore to get them to the point where there really was no chance of return; a point where they could only and fully depend on Him.   Is not that the way He deals with us when He is taking us out of our Egypt?  He does not test us or try us or present us with challenges we cannot handle when we are weak.  As He yearns for us to be more dependent on Him, for the moment we trust Him fully, He also waits for the right time when we can handle the hardship that often comes our way – not without difficulty or necessarily with a ‘bring it on’ attitude, but in full reliance on Him.  Thus He did with the children of Israel as He led them out of their bondage.  And so He leads them around the land of the Philistines through the wilderness to the Red Sea where He will give them an incredible lesson in faith.

3.     God prepares us. We notice here that He led them out of Egypt in what the text calls a ‘martial array’.  In essence, in this case, that is in an orderly, perhaps lightly armed, excited, and maybe a little angry for all the years they were in bondage.  They were girded, and equipped for the long journey.  Some footnotes say they were five in a rank (really five large divisions, under five presiding officers, according to the usages of all caravans at that time).  Perhaps they carried one or more banners which added to their hype, keeping in mind that they were indeed finally carrying Joseph’s bones out of Egypt.  But clearly, not yet prepared to fight, let alone win, wars and thus only the providence of God could keep them.  What is God preparing you and me for?

4.     He facilitates the keeping of promises made by godly men as part of His plan.  God saw to it that Joseph’s bones were carried out of Egypt as Joseph’s brothers promised him many generations earlier (see Genesis 50:24-25).  Moses knew of that as the story had been told over and over and he facilitated that desire of Joseph’s in accordance with God’s plan.  On his last day of his life, my father who had lived the latter part of his life regretting he had given his brothers permission to sell his father’s property, made me promise him that we would not sell his property as long as I lived; he did not care what happened after that. I promised him his desire.  Looking back almost seven years now I can see that God had His hand in my father asking me to do what he did.  As a result of that promise, our second daughter and her family agreed with us that we would demolish the old house (which dad had allowed as one of the options, for his interest was in us keeping the land) and build a new one for both her family and my wife and I.  Two years after my father’s death, seven of us moved in and have been enjoying the benefits of that ever since, with hopefully more to come.  [I don’t recommend it for everyone, and it certainly works better when it a daughter’s parents rather than a son’s that are involved.]  The lesson for us is that we need to be careful what we are prepared to make others promise.  We need to ask ourselves if it is indeed within the scope of God’s will.  In my father’s case, he knew that ‘land’ and its ownership was a positive thing in his Christian worldview and thus he could make that request of his only son without guilt.  And I am so thankful he did.

5.     God causes us to travel through places of significance in our journey.  As we had seen earlier in Exodus 12:37, God had taken them out of Egypt (Ramses) via Succoth.  Now Succoth was the place where many generations before this, Jacob had stopped there and started to settle down (Genesis 33:17) after he had made peace with his brother, Esau.  Somehow, through the route of Exodus, God wanted to remind His people of their history and His part in it.  The place called Etham on the other hand, is introduced here for the first time.  That is where they camped, their first stop if you like.  It was just outside the pure Arabian Desert or wilderness, on the border of Egypt.  It is mentioned again in the book of Numbers.  Its meaning is identified as “with them” or “their plowshare”.  One can easily see the connection to the first interpretation as being an indicator that as they go into the wilderness God is indeed ‘with them’.  A ‘plowshare’ on the other hand, according to Wikipedia, is a component of a plow (plough). It is the cutting or leading edge of a moldboard that closely follows the coulter (one or more ground-breaking spikes) when plowing.  The connection to this interpretation is more difficult to determine. Wikipedia goes on to say, “The plowshare itself is often a hardened blade dressed into an integral moldboard (by the blacksmith) so making a unified combination of plowshare and moldboard, the whole being responsible for entering the cleft in the earth (made by the coulter's first cutting-through) and turning the earth over.  In well-tilled terrain the plowshare may do duty without a preceding coulter.”  Perhaps that was the place where the Israelites were to regroup after immediately leaving Egypt, collect their senses as it were, and prepare for the difficult journey ahead.  The lesson for us is that we are to be alert to where God takes us as He leads us out of bondage and into freedom.  What are we to be mindful of?  What is he doing with us?  And why?

6.     Finally, God does not leave us ever.  I note near the end of this passage that the pillar of fire led them by night and gave them light, while the pillar of cloud led them by day.  God provides the appropriate directional tools for the circumstances if we care to avail ourselves of them.  For us today, we have His Word, as well as His proven blessings time and time again in our lives.  We also have the comfort and wisdom of other men and women of the faith who have been through similar circumstances.  Finally we have the assurance in our hearts that He loves us and His grace is sufficient for us as His Holy Spirit lives and works in us. We are told that God “did not take those pillars away” from the children of Israel.  And neither has He taken away all these relevant available resources from us today.  And that is true, no matter where we stand in our side of the bargain.  They are there for us to count on and turn to.  But what a blessing there is for the true “full-time” believer who abides in these resources, at all times.

Are you living the abundant life God wants you to live do you feel you are constantly struggling, fighting to survive, unhappy?  If you are not living in His grace, go over the material above again and see which roles of God are you blocking Him from effectively taking in your life.  Then give thanks to God for His willingness to take those roles on for us.  Finally, do all in your power to ensure you are not thwarting His efforts to impact your life in those roles.  Find the roadblocks and get rid of them.

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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Living on Joseph’s Legacy Exodus 1:1-7

Note To Readers: Welcome back.  Today we are continuing our study of the Old Testament, verse by verse, and where necessary phrase by phrase, and even word by word.  We approach it as ordinary laity who care about the gems that God has hidden in His Word for us.  Please join me on this journey as we begin today, Volume III, commencing with Exodus 1:1-7.   As always, today, and tomorrow, I welcome your thoughts and comments -- they are part of what energizes me.  Please sign up to get updates from my blog Epistoli -- this will include our studies in Exodus as well as some other thought-provoking topics I cover from time to time.  Please share our study with friends and family.   I know you'll enjoy it.  -- Ken Godevenos, Toronto, May 11, 2012.


Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan Naphtali, Gad and Asher.  And all the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt.  And Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.  But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.

As we start this third volume of our study through scripture, nothing can better describe how I feel more than this first passage in Exodus.  A good word for it may be “over-whelmed”.  In just seven verses the author of Exodus covers life from the time the Israelites went to Egypt during the famine, the death of Jacob, the death of Joseph, the death of all Joseph’s brother and their generation, and the prosperity of those that followed them.  It is a vast amount of history just in this first pages and that causes me to tremble as we embark on this book.  But if we ‘stay the course’, I believe we’ll be blessed with some of God’s greatest gems for life that He hid in this incredible account of the Children of Israel when they were both in the land of Egypt and in the wilderness.  This whole volume covers the first part of Exodus – the redemption from Egypt.

So let’s get right to it.  In these first few verses we are given some interesting facts.  The number of people who came to Egypt originally and counted in Jacob’s family (who were born to him or to his children) numbered seventy.  This number did not include Joseph and his two sons who were already there. 

Daughters are not mentioned in historical accounts at this point in history.  God’s perspective on the equality of woman was still to be revealed to man.  We can see its progression later in the Old Testament.  It was brought to its fullness in the New Testament.  In modern society, there were/are three major issues which got/get the attention of many.  The first was the issue of slavery; the second was/is the issue of female equality; and the third is the issue of homosexuality.  As part of our free will, I believe God allowed us to use our own judgment with respect to both slavery and female equality.  We did not do a good job and so you have, through scripture, a progression of how we as God’s people are to treat both our slaves (servants, employees) and the wonderful female companions, or women in general, God gave to us.  God’s view on these topics evolve and ultimately culminate in the New Testament when God tells us how to deal with our employees, and when God through the epistles of Paul and others, tells us how to lovingly treat and consider our wives.  Where you do not see a progression or evolvement in thinking is on the issue of homosexuality.  God’s position throughout the Bible remains the same – He is against it.  While He loves the homosexual as one of His own, He abhors the lifestyle that the homosexual chooses to follow.  There is no wavering of that position anywhere in the Scriptures.   So, while many liberals may think that Christians are on the wrong side of this issue as they claim we were on the slavery and women’s issues – and admittedly we were at one time – that is certainly not the case when it comes to homosexuality.  That is, it is not the case if our standard is God’s Word on the matter.  An excellent book on this subject is Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Culture Analysis by William J. Webb, Inter-Varsity Press, 2001.  I strongly recommend it.

Our passage goes on to say that in the period covered by the first seven verses of Exodus chapter one, Joseph dies, and so do all his brothers, and all ‘that’ generation, I would assume, referring to their peers in age.  The story could have ended there.  The Children of Israel could have died off.  But that was not the case.  That was not the purpose for which God led them to Egypt.  There was still a Covenant He had made with them and He intended to keep it.

So, instead, we read that the sons of Israel (in this case the sons of the sons of the sons of Jacob), his grandchildren and the generations that followed them prospered very well.  They multiplied in numbers and they became powerful in many ways.  They had spread out even further than in Joseph’s days and now they were to be found throughout the entire land of Egypt.

The first thing we need to note here is just what was meant by “increased greatly”.  May I suggest, as others do, this was an understatement.  The reality is that they started with 70 and some few hundred (either three or four) years later, subsequent parts of this book will tell us that they had grown to over six hundred thousand males over the age of 21.  Now, that’s more than a mere “great increase”, wouldn’t you say?

We also must note that the family’s “golden son” Joseph had died.  He was their original passport to favor in the sight of the Pharaohs and therefore in the sight of all Egyptians.  Life was good for many years.  But with Joseph’s death came the an element of fear and with it, the question of “what will happen to us now?”  To be fair, the Children of Israel had been concerned with this before, but Joseph had been able to assure them of God’s presence and protection, even after he himself was no longer going to be amongst them.

Will things get worse from here or better for the Children of God?  For now, they were prospering, but how long would that really last?

Thus opens the book of Exodus, also believed to be written by Moses.  It is in Egypt that this small band of seventy turn into a full-fledged nation.   Like all organisms that are destined to live, the nation of Israel had to pass through the birth canal and for them that was Egypt.  And the birth-pains they were about to experience, as the authors of the introduction to the New American Standard Bible, Open Bible, Expanded Edition suggest, were indeed very severe.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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Joseph’s Death & the End of Genesis - Genesis 50:24-26

And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you, and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.”  Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”  So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

With this passage we come to the end of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible.  In it, we find Joseph himself, in a manner similar to what his father experienced, being aware he was about to die.  I believe more of us know when our time is just about up than we may want to admit.  There are those who die suddenly in an accident or via a heart attack, of course, but more of us seem to get some warning, than those that do not.  Assuming you and I may get such a warning, the question arises as to whether or not we will be able to handle it as well as both Jacob, and later Joseph, did.

Joseph’s biggest concern as death approached him was the welfare of his brothers and their families.  He wanted to assure them that God would indeed take care of them.  He wanted to remind them that the goal was for God to lead them up from the land of Egypt to the land the Almighty had promised their father Jacob, their grandfather Isaac, and their great-grandfather Abraham.  This was an “oath” of God – a promise that would be kept not only because it was a promise, but also because it was God Who made it.  With this statement and his subsequent request to his brothers, Joseph is showing the depth of his faith in the God of his fathers.  And with it, an understanding that even he who had risen to the position he had in Egypt realized he was just a “wayfarer” there and not a citizen.  His real home was the land that God had promised his people.  That is the understanding that all of us need to have, exhibit, and share with those that come after us.  As true believers, we realize we are only journeying through life on earth, and our destination is the home that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.  If you are a Christian and reading this, and don’t feel that way – may I humbly suggest that something is out of kilter and you need to find out what it is.

In Joseph’s days, promises were very serious things.  Once made, people did all they had to in order to deliver them.  Would that we would take our ‘promises’ to others and to God as seriously.  Would that we would go out of our way, to any extent necessary, to keep our oaths.  To be a disciple of Jesus or to be like Jesus, to be like His Father, keeping promises made becomes one of the highest priorities.  And that goes from keeping a promise that simply says, “I’ll call you,” to one that says, “Until death do us part.”

Sometimes promises are requested from us.  In this case, Joseph asked his brothers to promise to carry his bones with them to the land God was going to give them when they went – whenever that would be.  And that was it; no more was said.  Given how well the people of God honored oaths and promises, we could be certain that Joseph’s brothers would both accept and deliver their promise to him.

My dad, in his 91^st year, and as he was knew his remaining days were very few due to his advanced cancer, asked a favor of me.  His one desire was that I, being an only child, would not sell the home he and mom had bought in 1953 – the home from which I was married, the home from which mom died, the home his three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren loved to visit, and the home from which he died.  He did not care if we rented it, used it, or left it empty – but he just did not want it sold until I had died.  He realized the generation after me would likely not value it for its historic or sentimental value.  He never posed it as a promise I had to make, but I knew that doing so would make him happy.  I, on the other hand, chose to ‘promise’ him that I would keep his request.  And so I did.  When dad died, we wondered what we would do with the house.  It turned out God had His plans already lined up; we just had to come in line with them as He brought His desire, and something that would have made my dad so pleased, to our minds and then, our pursuit.

My wife and second daughter spent the first year after dad’s death working with an architect to design a home that would allow three generations (my wife and I, my daughter and her husband, and their three children) to enjoy as one family.  And what a home they designed.  They hired a contractor and we watched as dad and mom’s home bought almost six decades ago was taken down, a new larger foundation was built, and a new house was erected.   As I pen this we have all enjoyed the benefits of living together (and yes, dealt with and still face some of the challenges) for close to four years already.  We all know we are in God’s will -- for us at least -- and we have all been able to keep the promise I made to my father.

I was not emotionally attached to the land my father had bought when I was five years old.  But I treasured it for what it meant to our family since my youth.  And when I saw it still had a role to play in the rest of my life and then in the life of one of my children and some of my grandchildren, I learned to really love it.  And I know I will love that way it until my own dying day.  Bible commentator Chuck Smith suggests the love the Jews have for Israel even today was not something that they latched onto in recent years, it was there from the time of Abraham forward, even before they possessed it the first time.

Joseph made his request of his brothers and then he died after having lived one hundred and ten years.  The Scriptures say he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.  There is no evidence that he was ever buried.   He lay in a coffin in probably some austere room for all the years between his death and when God took the Israelites out of Egypt.  Some commentators say that was 300 years, others say it was over 400 years.  It all depends when we start counting.  Either way, it was a long time.  And in that coffin, he lay above ground as, according to David Guzik, “a silent witness for all those years that Israel was going back to the Promised Land, just as God said.”  When a Jewish child would see the coffin and would ask why the corpse in it was not buried, the parent had an incredible opportunity to tell him/her about the Promised Land.

We do not know if Joseph had any indication from God as to how long it would be before the Jews were to leave Israel, but his faith in what God had promised could last as long as it took.  That is what real faith is all about.   It does not have a “limited time application” sticker on it.  If I believe in God and what He said, time is not an issue.  It will happen.

Joseph died, and even though the Egyptians whom he served so well would have wanted him buried in Egypt, he was likely given a royal funeral but then preserved in a coffin as per his wish, until he could be carried to the land God was giving his people.  While we focus on the hope that such a coffin would bring to the generation of Jewish people for the next 400 or so years, we must also be aware of the fact that its exposure was a thorn in the flesh to many Egyptian rulers that followed between Joseph’s death and the Exodus.  The idea of loosing all that population and later slaves was not an easy one to accept.

Matthew Henry points out “Joseph died looking forward to God’s unfolding plan of redemption”.  What a fitting ending for Genesis, the Book of Beginnings.  Henry writes, “It (Genesis) concludes looking forward to the continuation of God’s eternal, loving, wise plan.”  Are you in it?

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