Mourning a great loss

His Excellent Greatness

(Genesis 49:28-50:14, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 1, 2015)

[28] All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. [29] Then 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, [30] in 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. [31] There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—[32] the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” [33] When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

(49:28-33) Jacob was “gathered to his people.”

After giving the Lord's oracles to his sons, the Patriarch Jacob dies. Death is a very mysterious experience because what we have always known to be inseparable in a person we love, his body and his soul, are abruptly divided. Jacob's sons are left with the body of their father. The other part of Jacob has entered another place beyond the present earth. In the books of the Law this second event of soul transport is referred to as being “gathered to one's people.”

Jacob clearly cares about the disposition of both his body and his soul. He wants his body to be brought to the land of Canaan and respectfully treated alongside the remains of others who have gone before him. God also wants us to know about Jacob's soul. That is why we are told that after “he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last,” he was “gathered to his people.” This is clearly not about the burial of his body, since that matter is addressed over a significant number of days as discussed in the following verses at the beginning of Genesis 50. Something beyond the burial of his body happened immediately. Jacob was gathered to his people.

Jacob died, but he continued to exist in another realm where his loved ones also existed. We should take comfort from the way that God describes this event in these verses. We do not grieve as those who have no hope. We worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32).

[50:1] Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. [2] And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. [3] Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
[4] And 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.’” [6] And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” [7] So 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, [8] as 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. [9] And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. [10] When 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. [11] When 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. [12] Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, [13] for 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. [14] After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

(50:1-14) His family mourned deeply Jacob's passing and buried his body with much respect and love in the Promised Land

We need to take notice of how many people mourned Jacob's passing, how long this mourning took, and how deeply they all mourned. Not only the sons, but many others paid their respects, including those who were important leaders among the Egyptians, “a very great company.” Their observances at this time were very inconvenient. This took many days and involved much travel. The custom of embalming allowed for a slow process involving seventy days of early mourning, travel, and then seven days of mourning at the grave before returning home to Egypt. Their grieving was very deep—“a very great and grievous lamentation,” not just by Jacob's immediate family, but “by the Egyptians.” The event was so large and so sad that the name of the location was changed to reflect this memorable time. When it was all done, Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt, as they needed to. The descendants of Israel stayed there for centuries while they waited for the Lord's call to return to the Promised Land in order to take possession of it.

This great event may have been what it was because of the prominence of Joseph, but have you considered that each person made by God is prominent as what the Apostle Paul calls “God's offspring.” (Acts 17:29) There is no life that is second rate. Every life lost is worthy of our grief. It is an even more horrible sadness when it can be said of anyone as it was of one of Jacob's distant descendants, “he departed with no one's regret.” (2 Chronicles 21:20)

Modern people try to mourn as briefly as possible. Others get stuck in grief and can't find a way out. Our experience of grief should be governed by godly goals that are very much worth our investment of time and tears. We need to get the most out of our grieving. Seven key goals:

GRIEF 101

1. Admit/Accept the painful fact. – My loved one has gone. (John 11:15)
2. Mourn honestly, even when honesty is messy. – Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

GRIEF 201

1. Receive what is new. – Bring out of your treasure what is new and... (Matthew 13:52)
2. Remember and treasure the departed. – … what is old. (Matthew 13:52)

GRIEF 301

1. Hope in God and in His everlasting kingdom. – Set your minds on things that are above. (Colossians 3:1-4) Thus Jacob's desire for a better land (Hebrews 11:8-16)
2. Serve the Lord and your neighbors more richly, as a bigger and better person, because of the trial you have endured. – Comfort those in affliction. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

SENIOR PRACTICUM

• Live the life that God has put in front of you. – This is the way, walk in it. (Isaiah 30:21) [In the beginning of grief, it may be enough that you are still standing, but after a while that may lead to the doldrums of standing still. By the strength that He supplies, you need to take the next step in the life that God has graciously given to you.

Finally, while more fruitful mourning would be a wonderful achievement for the Lord's people, we have something much better than this because of the excellent greatness of the Son of God. Jesus did sanctify mourning and the grave for His followers, but His victory over death goes far beyond a respectful memorial service. He has secured for His people a far better home. (John 14:1-3)

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 150:2b – Praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 26:36-46 – Jesus prays in Gethsemane