Burying Dad

 Read Genesis 50

Did Pharoah recognize how valuable Joseph was to Egypt? To himself?

Absolutely!

Joseph came to Pharoah and said, I promised to bury my dad in Canaan. He has a prepaid plot there already. It’s a family spot.

I’ll come back when I am done, but I need to go so I’m asking your permission.  How did the Pharoah answer? The proof is in the pudding.

 So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt— besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.

When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim.

So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.

You would expect Joseph and his brothers to attend. It’s a family burial.  You would expect those Egyptians who attended Joseph to attend.  Joseph was a guy with a small entourage.

But Pharoah sent an escort of Chariots and horsemen.  This was a display of support for Joseph and a little insurance that nobody messed with his all-star chief executive officer.

There was not only security, there were dignitaries from Pharoah’s own court.

Today, when the president goes somewhere, the Secret Service precedes him, accompanies him, and is always on guard for him.

What we see with Joseph would be like having not only the Secret Service but a company of Marines and Seal Team 6 out on the flanks.

It would be like sending the Secretary of State and the Speaker of the House to pay your respects.  This was a big-time showing.

And when Joseph stopped to mourn for a week before crossing the Jordan, everybody mourned. This wasn’t a Hebrew thing.  It was an everybody thing.

Joseph’s father and brothers had bowed down to him as he saw in a dream, but now the Pharoah of Egypt showed great respect for Joseph.

The Pharoah had eyes to see that Joseph had done great things.  Joseph had saved many lives. Joseph left the Pharoah with an intact nation instead of an insurgency of starving constituents.

Joseph was the man. And when his father died, it was important to all of Egypt.

There would come a time when the people who were growing in Goshen became an internal political threat to Egypt’s national security, but for now, they were highly revered.

The man who fathered the savior of Egypt would be honored.

God would codify this in the next book. You know the words as honor your father and mother.

Joseph could have done whatever he wanted. He could have exacted revenge on his brothers. He didn’t.  That’s the second half of this chapter.

He could have gone on business as usual.  His father’s death was surely not a surprise and even his knuckleheaded brothers could put together a trip to the homeland and a quick burial.

But Joseph chose to honor his father.  His father’s request was to be buried with Abraham, Isaac, and their wives along with his first wife Leah in the cave at Machpelah.

Joseph honored that request and he honored his father.

So, is there a message here for us?

Plan the biggest funeral service ever?  Maybe not.

How about honoring your father and your mother. You can do that at their funeral service and the people in attendance will say it was such a nice service.

Or, you can do it every day by the way you live. I would suggest to you that the everyday model is the best.

Honor your father and mother.

Amen.