Jacob’s Death and Burial
Genesis 49:29-50:14
We are coming to the end of Genesis.
The end of another era of Biblical history.
Genesis 49:29 – 50:14 NLT
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah. 32 It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.
50:1 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob was embalmed. 3 The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf. 5 Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and bury my father. After his burial, I will return without delay.”
6 Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said. 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household, and all the senior officers of Egypt. 8 Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9 A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father. 11 The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim, for they said, “This is a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them. 13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite.
14 After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial.
Examine the Scriptures
Genesis 49:29 – 50:14 NLT
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then Jacob instructed them (his sons), “Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
- Jacob instructed his sons to bury him with his father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
Jacob’s request represented hope for the future.
Jacob had made this same request earlier.
Genesis 47:29-30 NLT
29 As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I die, please take my body out of Egypt and bury me with my ancestors.”
So Joseph promised, “I will do as you ask.”
- This is a testimony of Jacob’s understanding and belief in the promises God had made to him as well as to Abraham and Isaac.
Review.
Genesis 23:9 NLT
9 … let me (Abraham) buy his cave at Machpelah (Mach pe lah), down at the end of his field. I will pay the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial place for my family.”
This is the only land in Canaan owned by Abraham
Abraham paid the full price and became the legal owner.
Hebrews 11:9 NLT
9 And even when he (Abraham) reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT
13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Acts 7:5 NLT
5 “But God gave him (Abraham) no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet.
30 This is the cave in the field of Machpelah (Mach pe lah), near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah.
Abraham and his wife Sarah.
Isaac and his wife Rebekah.
Now Jacob and Leah.
Notice that Jacob mentions Leah, not Rachel.
Genesis 35:18-20 NLT
18 Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”). 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can be seen there to this day.
- Leah appeared to receive more honor in death than she did in life.
32 It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”
Not in Egypt where he was currently living.
33 When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.
Genesis 47:28 NLT
28 Jacob lived for seventeen years after his arrival in Egypt, so he lived 147 years in all.
Jacob’s life had not been easy.
Jacob was both deceptive (with his father) and crafty (with his uncle Laban).
In the end, Jacob died as a man of genuine faith.
Death Is Inevitable
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NLT
A Time for Everything
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
Psalm 90:10 NLT
10 Seventy years are given to us!
Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear, and we fly away.
James 4:14 NLT
14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
Hebrews 9:27 NLT
27 …. each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
- Death Is Inevitable for all of us.
- Scripture recognizes Jacob as a man of faith. (Hebrews 11:21)
Hebrews 11:21 NLT
21 It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
- Jacob’s death was the end of another era of Biblical history.
50:1 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him.
2 Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob was embalmed. 3 The embalming process took the usual forty days.
This appears to be embalming by Egyptian physicians using Egyptian processes.
Usually in Egypt, mummifying was a forty day process, which included gutting the body (the heart was removed not because the ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the center of intelligence, emotions, and feelings), drying it, and wrapping it. (MacArthur)
- Jacob was embalmed by the physicians who had served him.
And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
The period of mourning for a pharaoh was 72 days.
Jacob was obviously a greatly honored man.
Note the details recorded in the Scriptures.
4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf. 5 Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and bury my father. After his burial, I will return without delay.”
Another brief look at the character of Joseph.
Love and respect for his father.
Respect for authority (the Egyptian government). Romans 13
6 Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said. 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household, and all the senior officers of Egypt.
This Egyptian escort was a display of honor and respect for Joseph by the Egyptian dignitaries.
8 Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9 A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.
- This was Joseph’s first time back to his homeland in 39 years.
This journey was made in sorrow to bury a man, the next journey into the land would be to live there.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad (At id), near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father. 11 The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim (A bel miz ram), for they said, “This is a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”
A place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them. 13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite.
- Jacob’s instructions to his sons about his burial had been carried out.
Genesis 46:2-4 NLT
2 During the night God spoke to him in a vision. “Jacob! Jacob!” he called.
“Here I am,” Jacob replied.
3 “I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. 4 I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”
God had promised Jacob that Joseph would be with him when he died and Jacob would be brought back to the land of Canaan.
14 After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial.
Joseph’s second trip to Egypt.
The brother’s fourth trip to Egypt.
