Genesis 49:28-50:4
Jan and I have been blessed in many ways, and one has been
traveling outside the United States, and most of the time it has been for our
pleasure. I was also given the
opportunity, in my business, to travel into Saudi Arabia and other countries,
in the Middle East, and this thought would come into my mind; what would happen
to my body if I were to die in this place? I know my body and my spirit are not affected by the
location, but it would be nice to give the family some closure and that is what
a funeral does.
So after blessing his sons, Jacob tells the boys that his
earthsuit is heading to the dirt and he does not want it placed in Egypt’s
dirt, (having been to Egypt I fully understand this request), but in a cave in
the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the land of Canaan; the one Abraham bought
to bury Sarah. In fact, it is
where Abraham is also buried and his father Isaac and mother Rebekah and also
Leah. It is not clear if the sons knew
how close Jacob was to death but the Scripture states; “When
Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and
breathed his last and was gathered to his people.”
You are never ready for a parent to leave and this is evident
by Joseph’s reaction as he fell on his father’s face and wept over him and
kissed him. Next, Joseph commanded
his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father and that required forty days
to embalm a person, by the methods used by the Egyptians. It is of interest that the people of
Egypt held Joseph in very high regard and Scripture states that the Egyptians
wept for Jacob/Israel for seventy days.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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