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Genesis Chapter 50 "The Sons of Jacob, and Joseph's Charges." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Genesis 50:1 "And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him." Jacob has just passed away, while all of his sons were present. Genesis 50:2 "And Joseph commanded his servants to the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel." The Israelite people [Hebrews], and the Adamic race had never before used embalming for their dead. The Egyptians had perfected embalming to the point of mummifying bodies to hold their condition for thousands of years. Genesis 50:3 "And forty days were fulfilled for him; (for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed): and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days." These forty days are the required forty days of mourning. Though the mourning was for forty days the process of embalming took a full seventy days. Why would the Egyptians mourn during this period also? Because Jacob was the father of Joseph the one who saved the Egyptians and the world from starvation. Genesis 50:4 "And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found grace in your eyes speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, " Genesis 50:5 "My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me." Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again." The reason that Joseph did not appear before the Pharaoh, is that when a person was in the state of mourning, the Egyptians never shaved while in mourning. Joseph therefore was not presentable to stand before the Pharaoh. Genesis 50:6 "And Pharaoh said, "Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear." Genesis 50:7 "And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of the house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt," Consider all the honor that the Pharaoh showed in paying respect of Joseph's father. Genesis 50:8 "And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: (only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen)." This represents quite a large amount of people. All of Pharaoh's servants, as well as Jacob's entire family. Genesis 50:9 "And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company." As they moved this large company of people across the lands of the foreigners, I'm sure there was quite a bit of interest as to who had died. Genesis 50:10 "And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days." "Atad" means "a thorn". Genesis 50:11 "And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, "this is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians:" wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond Jordan." Remember this is a thrashing floor. Even the Canaanites knew that a great person had passed on. Genesis 50:12 "And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:" They took Jacob to the tomb where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah were already buried, and there they would lay him to rest beside his wife. Genesis 50:13 "For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre." There is a lot of things we will remember about the book of Genesis, however it is important that we remember that Joseph, and his entire life is a type of Christ. When Jacob died, the entire family and the important Egyptians went to the land of Canaan, and there met on the thrashing floor of Atad. This event also is a type of what is to happen just prior to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is brought to our attention in Amos 9:9. Amos 9:9 "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." The thrashing floor is where the grain is separated from the chaff, and the good and the bad are separated out. It is at this time, just prior to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the touching of our Savior's feet on Mount Zion that Jesus Christ will command the angels to start the sifting. The "House of Israel" are specifically the ten tribes that lived to the north of Judea, the land of "The house of Judah [the Jews]". Between 745 and 722 B.C. Assyria overthrew these tribes, and moved them to a place north of Lake Van in Iraq. Shortly after there arrival, this "House of Israel" migrated through the Caucasus Mountains, and on to the north and west. These people are identified not by their race, but after the event of migrating through the Caucasus, and are called "Caucasians". Though many people believe that this is a race of people, in ignorance they have forgot the event that took place some 2700 years ago. It is these people that have lost their identity, and believe themselves to be Gentile, when in fact they are of the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Hosea identifies these people as the "sons of the Living God", in Hosea 1:10. The Living God is Jesus Christ, who arose from the dead and lives at the right hand of the Father, and the sons of that Living God are called Christians. It is these that will be sifted by the angels, at God's command at the seventh trumpet, and even though they do not know who they are, God knows each one of them, and exactly where they are, and where they belong. . Genesis 50:14 "And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father." Even though they all came from the Land of Canaan, all of Jacob's family returned to the land of Goshen after the seven days of mourning. Genesis 50:15 "And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, "Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him." Isn't that just like a bunch of brothers? Think of all that Joseph has said and done for them, and now they are doubting his sincerity and commitment to them. This is what you call a guilt complex. They are guilty, and they know it, and even though Joseph has forgiven them, they have not forgiven themselves. Even today people ask God for forgiveness, and then they do not have the faith and trust to set it aside when our Heavenly Father forgives. They are tempting God in a most serious way. For God said when you are forgiven, those sins are blotted out, and set away from Him, and He simply doesn't want to hear of them again. Genesis 50:16 "And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, "thy father did command before he died, saying," Think about that, all that Joseph has done for them, and they are afraid of their own brother. Genesis 50:17 "So shall ye say unto Joseph, "Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil:" and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father." And Joseph wept when they spake unto him." The trespass was when they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, and he was taken down into Egypt to the house of Potiphar. Remember after Joseph had tested the true hearts of his brethren, and found them to be good, he revealed himself to them, and told them he forgave them, of it was God that had made and allowed this thing to happen. The brothers heard the words of Joseph, but I don't believe that they believed him. When Joseph heard this message by his brothers, it broke his heart. He wept. After Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross, and died for you, to allow you to become the sons [daughters] of the Living God; have you ever doubted that He loves you, and that He will keep His word to you. When you pray to God to forgive you of some sin, or thing in your life that you know displeased God, once you ask forgiveness, leave that sin there. Forget it, for it is of the Devil to throw it back at Him later. If you confess your sin, He is able and just to forgive you of your sin, and He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Genesis 50:18 "And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we be thy servants." Here we see the prophecy in the dream that God gave to Joseph, as recorded in Genesis 37:7-10. Joseph was revealed by God that his brothers would bow down to him. God's prophecy in that dream came true. Genesis 50:19 "And Joseph said unto them, "Fear not: for am I in the place of God?" Joseph told his brothers to stop it, as he asked them, "do you think I am God?" Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." Joseph told his brothers, that what they had meant for evil, God used it for good, and as you can see this day, God used me to save many people. The brothers of Joseph still did not have the faith to see God's hand in this entire affair. I hope you can see how Joseph and his brothers are a type of what was to happen some seventeen hundred years later, as Jesus Christ would go to the cross and pay the price for all of his own. Once the famine was over, and his entire family was safe and provided for, and Joseph in love forgave each of his brothers for what they had done to him, yet by throwing it back in Joseph's face, it was as if they didn't believe Joseph was true to them in his forgiveness. This hurt Joseph deeply. When one of Christ's asks forgiveness for the Heavenly Father, in Jesus Christ's name, and then keeps beating themselves with the guilt of the past, it also hurts our savior, for it is as we just don't believe that He will do what He said He would do; That is, blot those sins out forever. It make those Christians like little pigs, they just enjoy continuing wallowing in the mud and filth. Don't hurt our Heavenly Fathers feelings, for he loves you very much, and upon repentance, all your sins of the past are forgiven. Accept that by faith, and free yourself from all guilt. Sure, you may fall again from day to day, and that is why we must continue to name our sins as they come to mind on a daily basis, for in doing that, we set our mind free from the load of the guilt of sin. These events set forth within this family is a painful reminder in a lesson that there is nothing new; but in it we see that God is the same yesterday, as He is today, and He will be forever. He is always faithful and ready to forgive, if we will just come to Him in repentance. Genesis 50:21 "Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones." And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them." Joseph is telling them to stop fearing me, and he is reassuring them that he will continue to provide for them, and their little ones. What is done is past, and what was done, was done for the good of the Gentiles and all Israel. Did Joseph throw it back into their faces? definitely not. His words were kind and loving. From the first time that the brothers turned turned on him, Joseph never doubted that God had a purpose for His life. He did not know what that would be, but as he was sold into bondage, thrown into prison for a thing that he hadn't done, and kept there after the butler made a commitment to him, and never followed through for several years. When the time came, Joseph was willing to do what God had for him to do, and that was to be a savior to the Gentile world, and the entire family of Jacob. Genesis 50:22 "And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years." Genesis 50:23 "And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees." Joseph lived to see Ephraim's great grandchildren. Genesis 50:24 "And Joseph said unto his brethren, "I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which He sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Genesis 50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence." Just prior to Joseph's death, he called the family leaders to him, and made them swear an oath to him. Joseph told them that he will die, but some time after that God would visit them, and take them from Egypt back to the land that He had promised Abraham, Isaac and his father Jacob. Joseph said, when this happens, swear an oath to me that you will not leave me here, but take my bones back to the land that God swear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis 50:26 "So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old:" and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." Even in death, Joseph's age leaves us quite a lesson in Biblical numerics. The number one hundred stands for "the children of the promise", "The children of the covenant". Joseph had saved the "Children of the covenant", and he knew that God would lead, and keep every last promise that he made to his fathers. In the number ten, in biblical numerics, stands for "governmental perfection". There could not have been a more perfect government set up then that one set up by Joseph. It was through Joseph's government that all the lives were saved, both Israelite and Gentile alike. This was a perfect type of the one to follow, whereby all lives could find salvation; under the condition, that if they would believe. This book of Genesis covers the time from that world that was, in the first earth age; "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Then remember what happened in verse two, and the Hebrew word, "tohu-va-bohu"; The earth "became a waste and void." The time of the initial creation to the destruction took place over a period of millions of years, and the bones of the many reptiles, laid in layers of stone and shall are all evidence to God's destruction of that first earth age. This destruction was caused by the overthrow by Satan, and one third of the angelic [sons of God] that turned against God. This is not talking about Noah's flood, but the flood prior to the creation of flesh man, and the Garden of Eden. Then God placed one man in the Garden of Eden, and we followed that mans family, as his family went forward to many generations. That man was Adam. It is through Adam's family that God had chose to bring forth the true Messiah. Other races were created prior to Adam, and Eve, as recorded in Genesis 1:28, however it would be through the pure pedigree of the lineage of Noah that God would select to preserve life, as God warned and mankind would not listen. All of Adamic man was contaminated in their blood lines by the fallen angels that left their habitation in the heavenlies, and came to earth and married the daughters of men. Genesis 6:19; "And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female." Besides the animals, and Noah's family, the races are also a separate kind. Following the flood, and after the tower of Babel, where the languages were created by God, when he scattered the people living on the earth; and after a very few generations, the speech of the languages formed family, tribal nations. It was in the tenth generation from Noah that Abraham was born. And in Abraham, God made a special covenant with him, and this unconditional covenant is so binding, it is in effect until the very last day of this earth age, to those people and nations covered under this covenant. The covenant guaranteed land, seed that would grow into many nations and uncountable peoples, and blessings that would feed and bless the world. Though many many place these blessed people as being the Jews of today, we have just seen in the last fifteen chapters of Genesis where this blessed promise covenant was passed from Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, and finally to Joseph, through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The nations of today that represent the generations of these two sons of Joseph, in the latter days are the United States [Manasseh], and the British people [Ephraim]. Judah and Benjamin tribes formed the "House of Judah", and it is these people that came out of Babylon in the sixth century before Christ's birth, and were called the Jews. The trouble with most Bible prophecies of modern Christianity, they are simply in error, for they refuse to make proper identification. They attribute prophecy directed to the "House of Israel" as being the Jews, and they refuse to believe the prophecy of Hosea, which states that; "Yet the number of the children [House] of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not My People, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." Hosea 1:10 Friends, the place in the later days, is where ever they are, and this old "House of Israel" still call themselves Gentile, because the Kenites [false Jews have taught them to do so. No the House of Israel today surely make no identification between the covenant people, and themselves. Yet they call themselves "Christian". "there it shall be said unto them"; in the place that they are, "ye are the sons of the living God." The "living God" is Jesus Christ, who died for your and my sins, as well as the sins of anyone who will repent and believe on his name. Those people are called "Christians", and all the nations of this world today that call themselves "Christian Nations", are of the old "House of Israel". The origin of the superpower nations of today, and their peoples are given in the book of Genesis, and they were born at the same time as twins. Rebekah was told by God that she was giving birth to "two nations and two peoples", and we say that the trouble between them started from the womb. We know these two peoples today as the Russians [of Esau], and the Christian nations [of Jacob and the House of Israel, and the House of Judah].
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