Facing the Inevitability of Death
Joseph Series #10 (Final)
Genesis 47:27-50:26
By Dave Redick
Hwy 20 Church of Christ, Sweet Home, OR
If you have been the recipient of any funeral home advertising lately, have you noticed the message printed on the outside of the envelope? It often says something like, "The contents of this envelope may be offensive to some. If a frank discussion of death and funeral arrangements offends you, please do not open." Why would a "frank discussion of death" offend people? Because in our society we try our hardest to push the prospect of death out of our minds. We don't want to hear it. We don't want to be reminded that someday we will die.
Introduction
In his book, SPIRIT LIFE, Stuart Briscoe, a British preacher who moved to the US wrote,
"When I first moved to the United States, I was impressed with the number of total strangers who visited my home to wish me well and welcome me. Then I found out that they all sold insurance! One day my visitor was talking about the necessity of being prudent in the preparation for all the possibilities.
"If something should happen to you, Mr. Briscoe…" he started to say.
"But I interrupted with ‘Please don't say that, it upsets me.’
"He was a little startled, but tried again: ‘But with all due respects, sir, we must be ready if something should happen to us.’
"’Don't say that,’ I insisted.
"He looked totally bewildered and said, ‘I don't understand what I said that upset you.’
"’Then I'll tell you,’ I replied. ‘It upsets me when you talk about life's only certainty as if it's merely a possibility. Death isn't a possibility. It's a certainty. You don't say if, you say when, whenever death is the subject.’ Then I added, ‘By the way, when something happens to you, what will really happen?’"
While most of us would probably rather deal with the possibility of death than the certainty of it, I believe that it is very important that we do the latter. Death is a certainty. Unless we are a part of that last generation of Christians on this earth when Christ returns, every person in this room will deal with his or her own death. Each of us will come to the realization that, like all those before us, we're terminal in this life.
I like the little anonymous epitaph found on the obituary page of a newspaper one day:
He wore his rubber boots when it rained.
He brushed his teeth twice a day...with a nationally advertised toothpaste.
The doctors examined him twice a year.
He slept with the windows open.
He stuck to a diet with plenty of fresh vegetables.
He relinquished his tonsils and traded in several worn-out glands.
He golfed--but never more than 18 holes at a time.
He got at least eight hours' sleep every night.
He never smoked, drank or lost his temper.
He did his "daily dozen" daily. He was all set to live to be a hundred.The funeral will be held Wednesday. He's survived by eight specialists, three health institutions, two gymnasiums and numerous manufacturers of health foods and antiseptics. They'll all miss him.
We've come to that place in our study of the life of Joseph where one day very soon, the headlines of the morning Hieropolis Gazette are going to read something like, "GREATEST STATESMAN OF OUR TIME DIES.".
I believe we've learned some good things by looking at the life of Joseph. There are some other good things we can learn by looking at his death. That is what I propose to do in this message.
Actually, we'll look at the death of two men: Joseph and his father, Jacob.
One way to measure the life of a man is in terms of years. Doing so in the case of Joseph can give us a quick review of what we've already seen.
Joseph was 17 years at home as a boy, basking in the warm sun of his father's favoritism before his brothers threw him into the pit. He was nearly 10 years in the household of Potifar as a servant before he heard the accusing cries of Mrs. Potifar as she falsely charged him of molesting her. He was at least 2 years in Potifar's jail, suffering for something he did not do before he was released to the palace of Pharaoh to be exalted to second in command of all Egypt. It was 7 years of bumper crops that preceded the famine in Egypt as Joseph worked to store up food in preparation. Then it was 2 years before Joseph's brothers were forced to come to Egypt in search of food. Altogether, 22 or 23 years passed during which Joseph did not see his family. As we open out Bibles today, another 17 years have passed with Jacob and his family living in the land of Goshen. Joseph is now 57 or 58 years old. His father Jacob is much older than that. If I have figured it right, Jacob had 146 or 147 candles on his last birthday cake in Goshen. As we break into the account this morning, Jacob's earthly life is rapidly slipping away.
We'll begin in Genesis 47.
Most of us, unless we are stricken by premature accidents or disease, will probably live or have already lived to bury our parents. That was the case of Joseph as we read the description of Jacob's death first.
(Read v. 27)
One commentator estimated that the original 70 people who came to Egypt with Jacob could have easily grown to 220 by the time of the death of the great patriarch, and perhaps, since it says they were "very numerous," there were even more. They were a people basically left to themselves, protected by their relative, Joseph, who lived on Capitol Hill, personal caretakers of Pharaoh’s livestock as well as their own. The famine was long in the past, the fertile valley of the Nile once again was producing crops, and times were good.
A birthday is described in verse 28.
(Read v. 28)
What a massive birthday cake that would have been!
(Read v. 29-31)
Making promises to the dying is not an uncommon practice. We still do it today and it is proper. We don't, however, use this curious practice of putting the hand under the thigh, so a little explanation will probably help. In that day placing the hand under the thigh when making a promise meant that a serious oath was being taken. Jacob wanted to be assured that, as he was making preparations for his burial, things would be carried out according to his instructions. Joseph agreed fully to follow the directions.
There are a few words about preparing for death that I want to mention at this point. We need to admit the inevitability of death.
If you have been the recipient of any funeral home advertising lately, have you noticed the message printed on the outside of the envelope? It often says something like, "The contents of this envelope may be offensive to some. If a frank discussion of death and funeral arrangements offends you, please do not open."
Why would a "frank discussion of death" offend people? Because in our society we try our hardest to push the prospect of death out of our minds. We don't want to hear it. We don't want to be reminded that someday we will die.
That's really absurd if you think about it. Death is the most inevitable aspect of our lives!
William Saroyan was a Pulitzer Prize winning author whose name was a familiar entry on the best-seller lists. But now he lay dying in New York City of cancer, which had spread to several of his vital organs. One evening as he reflected on his condition and what the future might hold he placed a phone call to the Associated Press. After identifying himself to the reporter on the other end of the line, he posed a question that revealed the honest, searching sensitivity that characterized his career. It was a final statement to be used after his death (which occurred later in May of 1981). He said, "Everybody has got to die. But I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?" The man had so long dismissed it from his mind that he had given no thought to any preparation.
That is a common response and none-to-rare among Christians. Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:4,
"For indeed while we are in this tent [our physical body-DR] we groan, being burdened, because we don't want to be unclothed."
It's natural to fear dying. In Paul's sensitive metaphorical language, "we don't want to be unclothed." But it is unwise to ignore it because in so doing no preparation is made.
Let me state an opinion to you that I believe is valid. When we are informed of the approaching death of a loved one, frequently our first response is that we want to keep it from them. Let's say it's Grandma. She has cancer and the doctor has told the relatives that she probably has 3 months to live. "Listen," says a well-meaning relative. "Nobody is to tell Grandma. Just act like there is nothing wrong." So everybody puts on a phony act as they go in to see Grandma.
Grandma usually knows she's dying. It's uncanny how the dying usually know. But suddenly, because they're all afraid of spilling the beans, everyone is distant and acts strangely when they're around her. At a time when she needs compassion and understanding most, they are avoiding the subject that is foremost in her mind. Some will even avoid going to see her because they might slip and let the secret out. So Grandma is robbed of the opportunity to set her life in order, to go about making last minute arrangements, to give that last bit of matriarchal counsel to her daughters and granddaughters. Sometimes she even dies alone. That kind of facade can't be right!
Several times I have had well meaning people call me to go the to bedside of a dying loved one and been given the instruction not to let them know they are dying. Frankly, I refuse to do it. I won't participate. I usually say, "If he asks me, I'll tell him. If that isn't satisfactory, call someone else."
We need to admit the inevitability of death. No, it isn't a pleasant prospect, but it is real and something that is best faced head-on.
I'm impressed at the way the Patriarchs faced their deaths. The whole family came together for the event. They all had opportunity to say their last good-byes. They could seek forgiveness for any wrongs done. They could to pronounce patriarchal blessings. That certainly seems to beat what I have seen today.
Not long after the events of the last few verses, Joseph got an urgent message to come quickly to his father's tent in Goshen.
(Read v. 1-2)
Jacob knows his time to die has come. No one around is denying it. He needs to make the last minute blessings.
Joseph comes in first with his two sons, Ephriam and Manasseh, two boys now in their 20's. Time does not permit me to read all that was said. I encourage you to read it later. Let’s drop down to verse 10.
(Read v. 10-12)
What a touching scene this is! There in the dim, candle-let tent, perhaps even where Joseph was conceived so many years before, Israel pronounced the blessings of his inheritance.
Usually, the firstborn in the family received a double portion of the inheritance, but for reasons mentioned in the next chapter, Jacob bequeathed the double portion to Joseph.
(Read v. 21-22)
After Joseph had come in, the rest of the brothers were also brought in to stand around the bed of their dying father, perhaps in order of the oldest to the youngest.
Chapter 49 contains the words that were said, the prophecies that were made, and the blessings that were given to the brothers. It is very interesting. I encourage you to read it when you get home. The summary of what was said is found in verse 28.
(Read v. 28)
Joe Bailey, quoted by Chuck Swindoll in his taped series on the life of Joseph, spoke of the issue of the death of his grandmother. Perhaps it can help bring us into the emotion of the moment.
"One of my earliest memories is that of being led into my grandmother's room at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to give her a final kiss. That scene impresses me today with its Old Testament quality. Grandma, an imposing person, was conscious, slightly raised on a bolster, her white hair braided and carefully arranged on the quilt she had made as a young woman. The bed, a four-poster, was the one in which she had slept for 50 years, in which her four children had been conceived, and born. The wide boarded floor creaked its familiar creak. The kerosene lamp flickered on the massive bureau. The bouquet of sweet peas from Grandma's garden made the room faintly fragrant. The old lady was surrounded by her children and her grandchildren. In a few hours she died.
"Forty years later, my children were with their grandfather when he had his last heart attack. We gave him oxygen, called the doctor, and then the ambulance came. The men put grandpa on a stretcher, carried him out of the house, and that was the last his grandchildren ever saw of him. Children are excluded from most hospitals. In the intensive care unit of the hospital, my wife and I stayed with him until the visiting hours were over. The mechanics of survival, tubes, needles, oxygen system, electronic pacemaker, were in him and on him and around him. Grandpa died alone, at night, after visiting hours. His grandsons had no chance to give him a final kiss, to feel the pressure of his hand on their heads. In this generation, death has moved out of the home, into the hospital."
I tell you that story so you can recognize the difference between it and what we are about to read. Yes, sometimes those things are necessary, but I think sometimes we become so professional and clinical that we forget the human aspect. No wonder we fear death!
(Read v. 29-33)
Now drop down to the first verse of the next chapter.
(Read v. 50:1)
Joseph wept there for a long time.
Weeping at the death of a loved one is almost universal. I have seen the strongest men reduced to tears at a time of bereavement. That is as it should be. Even Jesus wept at the death of his friend, Lazarus.
In the next verse, Joseph goes to Pharaoh to ask permission to go back to Canaan to bury his father and return again. Pharaoh grants him permission. There is a state funeral in Egypt. It ends and Joseph departs with an Egyptian army escort to carry out the promise he made to his father. Then he returns.
Before we leave this, there is a reaction that this whole affair touched off in Joseph's brothers that I want you to see. It is in verse 15.
(Read 50:15)
Suddenly it dawns of these brothers that Joseph may have just been forestalling vengeance upon them until after his father died. They begin to think and speculate in their minds, "What it..." Their guilt returns.
I might just interject here that seldom is there a death without someone who lives on feeling guilty.
"If only I had..."
"If we had not..."
"If I had only...then..."
One of the reasons it is wise to inform a loved one that death is approaching is so that if there is some sort of unresolved difficulty or conflict, it can be worked out so that there is no residual guilt.
The brothers decide to make a preemptive strike against this possibility and send a message to Joseph in their defense in the next verse.
(Read v. 16-17)
What they did not realize is that Joseph had truly extended forgiveness. He had no such thoughts in his mind.
Before he could get back to them, they came to him.
(Read v. 18)
"We are your slaves!" is what they are saying.
I love Joseph's response. It reflects a life that is totally washed clean of the bitter memories of past experiences.
(Read v. 19-21)
It appears that Joseph spent the autumn of his life in peace, enjoying the fruits of a productive life. He had the joy of watching his two boys grow up and marry. He was present at the birth of his grandchildren and if I am reading this right, he even got to see his great-grandchildren. Oh, did he have some stories to tell his them!
(Read v. 22-23)
God is so good! In so many cases He allows us to experience the things that are so deeply satisfying. But death eventually comes to all men. In the same fashion as his father Jacob, Joseph called the relatives to his bedside.
(Read v. 24-25)
It is a continuing curiosity to me why Joseph, so much younger than his brothers, was survived by them. So far I haven't determined why in my study.
The conclusion of Joseph's life is very short in the way it is described.
(Read v. 26)
Death brings with it a certain sadness. It also brings about a dread, a fear.
Joseph was placed in a coffin in Egypt. Have you ever imagined yourself in a coffin? You say, "Dave, that's a terrible thing to say!" Well, maybe it's terrible, but the chances are very good that you and I will be put into a coffin someday - perhaps even sooner than later.
Is that a scary thing for you? I have to admit that it is to me when I first think of it. Is there any way to minimize the fear and dread of it?
Conclusion
C.S. Lovett, in his book, "DEATH: GRADUATION TO GLORY" writes this:
"When I was a boy, our gang used to swim the irrigation ditches that laced the San Joaquin Valley. One day we came upon a wide canal with the water running very swiftly. Should we try crossing it? At first it seemed we were all too afraid. But finally, one lad was brave enough.
"We held our breaths as he plunged into the swirling current. Anything could happen. And though the water carried him some way downstream, he made it to the other side. He climbed out and stood proudly on the opposite bank and shouted to us:
"Come on. There's nothing to it! I'm OK!"
"That was all we needed. Someone to go ahead and show us how simple it was.
"So it is with death. Mankind is held in awe by it. People have stared at it and wondered...speculated...but Jesus plunged through it to the opposite side. He, too, stands calling:
'Fear not! I have overcome death. I am He that lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore!'
For us who are Christians, death holds the prospect of some sadness at the loss of the ones we love. There will be some mourning. There is even some fear, not of the results of death but of the process itself. But our Savior has conquered death. He has risen from it, and we too can and will do the same thing by the power that He has given us. Amen!
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.
All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.
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