It is a moving scene. Joseph had been without his
father for a couple of decades. Then he had enjoyed his fellowship in Egypt for
almost two more decades. But, sadly his father was gone. Now, Joseph laid his face
on the face of the body of his deceased father and just cried. Majesty and
dignity unleashed in an emotional torrent of tears.
It's hard for us to imagine in our microwave and
fast-food culture just how serious the passing of this patriarch was to those
who knew him... or just how long they actually mourned his passing. It was
either 77 or 117 days that Jacob's death was ritually recognized. There were 40
days which were set aside for the Egyptian method of embalming and 70 days
(either in succession or overlapping the first 40) for the Egyptian ritual of
bereavement. Then, in addition to travel time, Israel's family wept for him
with severe lamentations for 7 days at the threshing floor of Atad in Canaan.
It was at least a 77 day process... and could have been well over 117 days.
Almost 4 months were dedicated to this man's funeral. In our society we seldom
give much more than 4 hours to such ritualistic grief. Great cultural
difference, eh?
When it was finally over and they were all back in
Egypt, Joseph's brothers became fearful. They were afraid that he would seek
vengeance, since their dad was no longer around to be disappointed in him or to
speak for them. But, they were wrong. Joseph shed tears yet again when he
realized the unuttered dread that his brothers had harbored for all of those
years. Once again he reiterated his humble theology, “Am I in the place of
God? You thought evil against me; but
God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people
alive."
Indeed, he pampered his family until the day of his
own death. As his last request he asked them to preserve his bones after his
death and to take them back into Canaan when God returned Israel to that
Promised Land. It would be several centuries... but it was to come to pass
(Exodus 13:19).
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