THE MAKINGS OF A SUCCESSFUL PERSON

Genesis 50:1-26
Bob Bonner
December 2, 2007

This morning we come to the end of our study of the book of Genesis. As we focus on the chapter before us, you will notice that it begins and ends with the death of two people. Interestingly, when one steps back and looks at the whole book of Genesis, one of the themes of this book, from the beginning to the end is its emphasis on death. Although God has created us to have life, meaningful and successful lives, most never experience that kind of life. Many people today, though alive, are like the walking dead. Their lives are a documentary of a day to day existence rather than life! And this situation has been the way of life ever since the Fall.

As to this theme of death in Genesis, we first read about it in Genesis 2:17, when God warned Adam, “For in the day that you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die.” From there to our chapter for this morning, Genesis 50, it speaks of Jacob and Joseph’s deaths.

Why would God have this first book of the Bible begin and end this way? I believe that God is making a statement, that once He created the world, a place that was originally vibrant and full of life, we rebelled against Him and the end result was death. Spiritual, physical and emotional death, as well as the beginning of the death of this planet. This death would be experienced in broken relationships. 

Many would have a life experience defined by a death of hope and purpose. But then, woven throughout, God gives us pictures of heroes of the faith, who have found eternal life, right here in the midst of death. And Joseph was one of those persons. Furthermore, God gives us Joseph to learn how we might find life in the midst of a dying world. Through Joseph’s life, God shows us His way for eternal life and reconciliation with God. He shows us His way to living successful lives.

Genesis 49 closes with Jacob having just finished blessing his sons, pulling up his feet, crawling into bed and breathing his last. Each of these boys knew their father was dying, but still, we are never ready to let go of someone we love. That would have been especially true of Joseph, seeing as he missed knowing and being with his father for one third of his life. These past 17 years, having his father near him in Egypt, were a dream come true. But all dreams must come to an end, and so it was with this one. When Jacob died, Joseph knew he would see him again, but the grief and loss that goes along with the death of someone you love, even if you have known for awhile that he is going to die, that grief still exists. Hence, Genesis 50 begins with Joseph’s grief at his father’s passing and his honoring of Jacob in death.

“Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him.”

Please note Joseph’s affectionate token of departure, kissing his father’s still warm but yet dead body and contrast that to the obvious absence of any display of grief on the other sons’ parts. It does not necessarily say that they didn’t care for their Dad, but surely not even Benjamin loved Jacob as much as his brother Joseph did.

“Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.”

In Egypt, it was customary to have a 70-day period of mourning, especially for a person of national importance, such as Jacob had become, simply because he was Joseph’s father, Egypt’s savior and deliverer during the seven years of famine. Furthermore, because the Egyptians recognized it as a sign of God’s blessing for a person to live more than 110 years, they, along with Jacob’s family would join in mourning the passing of Jacob.

The Egyptians were masters of embalming the dead, a practice reserved for the honored dead. Joseph embalms his father to give him the dignity he deserved in this foreign culture. Then, he, his family and the rest of the Egyptians, mourned Jacob’s death for 2 ½ months, as they would have mourned a king in Egypt.  Following that, we read, “When the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me. Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ Pharaoh said, ‘Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.’ So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. There also went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company.”

This funeral wake that took one to two weeks of travel just to go one way, was probably one of the longest wakes in human history. It not only included the expected family members of Jacob, but also all the leading Egyptian officials, all the senior dignitaries from Pharaoh’s court and empire, and an army of chariots and wagons for transportation of food and supplies. The cavalrymen were sent for protection, for such an entourage would have been sitting ducks for any would be bandits. No need to make a period of mourning worse by unnecessarily opening up oneself for a massive attack by thieves or even small tribes of enemy warriors.

Having arrived in Canaan, we read, “When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond [“near”?] the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he [Joseph, the leader of the group] observed seven days mourning for his father. Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, ‘This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.’ Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.”

We do not know for sure where this “floor of Atad” or “Abel-mizraim” was located. Some say that it rests on the east side of the Jordan. Others say that it rests on the west side. Part of the debate rests on the two legitimate translations in Hebrew of the word for “beyond” or “near” the Jordan. If it is correctly translated “beyond” it means to the east of the Jordan. If it means “near” the Jordan, it could refer to a fertile green area west of the Jordan, near Jericho. 

One thing we are confident of is that the route taken to Canaan was to the east of Egypt up a major trade route that ran east of the Jordan. This is based on an understanding of the first Hebrew word in the name “Abel-mizraim.” The term “mizraim” in Hebrew is “Egypt.” The term “Abel” in Hebrew comes from a root word for “brook”. Since the word “brook” is associated with water, this word is sometimes used to refer to the water or tears that roll down a person’s face during a period of mourning. In other places in Scripture, it has a topographical meaning referring to a patch of ground that has been well watered, like a “meadow” that is green because it is a land that enjoys moisture. Hence, that leaves the translators with two choices for this expression of meaning. It can mean “meadow or mourning of Egypt.” It’s hard to tell which of these meanings is intended here, because both fit. This was a time of mourning, and if the place of mourning was on the west side of the Jordan, it could have been located in a meadow. 

Regardless of which side of the river of Jordan that “Abel-mizraim” existed, those who lived in Canaan could clearly see each site from the hills of above the Jordan. The distance from the ridge of mountains, which are about 1500 feet above the valley floor and parallels the Jordan river is only 5-10 miles from either site. Furthermore, the entourage of Egyptians and the adult children and grandchildren of Jacob was so great in number that it was a spectacle that led to a common subject of discussion among the Canaanites. To all appearances this was an official Egyptian mourning ceremony that made such a significant impression on the Canaanites that they renamed the place from Atad to “Abel-mizraim.” At this point, the Canaanites probably had no idea that this was Jacob being brought home to rest.  

We read, “Thus his sons [or Jacob’s family members] did for him [Jacob] as he had charged them; for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.”

Apparently, Joseph led just the family members over the mountains to Hebron to actually bury Jacob’s body, leaving the rest of the Egyptians at Abel-mizraim. When the graveside service was complete, they rejoined the Egyptians and headed back home to Egypt.        

During their trip back home there was a lot of time for Joseph and his brothers to ponder their family’s past and their lives with their father Jacob. I believe Chuck Swindoll is on to something when he writes about their trip back to Egypt. He states, “The return to Egypt must have included long moments of reflection. Perhaps Joseph and his brothers sat around a fire late into the night, where the caravan had stopped for rest, and recalled various scenes from the past. Recovering from grief takes time—months, sometimes years. And in this case, some of those reflective occasions stirred renewed twinges of guilt in the brothers’ hearts. And once that old taskmaster of the conscience resurfaced, fear and anxiety weighed them down.”

 All of this leads to what we read about in verse 15. “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, ‘What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!’”  This is so typical of all of us, isn’t it? Guilt has a way of lingering even though we’re told we are forgiven, whether it is by a friend, parent or brother, or even when God says He has forgiven us. Sometimes, we have a hard time receiving that forgiveness--believing that God would actually do that for us.

Questioning Joseph’s forgiveness and fearing their future, the brothers invent the following instructions that were supposed to come from their father Jacob to Joseph. “So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, ‘Your father charged before he died, saying, thus you shall say to Joseph, Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong. And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.’ And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.”

What agony of guilt and shame Joseph’s brothers must have felt even 17 years later, even after they had worked and lived together in peace in Goshen. There is absolutely no reason to believe that Jacob would have told his sons to remind Joseph to forgive his brothers. If Jacob had felt that way, he would have told Joseph these things himself. After all Joseph had done for them for the past 17 years, why would Joseph turn on them now? It makes no rational sense. But fears founded in guilt rarely do make sense. Imagine how their scheming and doubt of Joseph’s love for them must have broken Joseph’s heart.

 According to verse 17, “Joseph wept” for the second time in this chapter. The first time he wept was at the death of his father.  The second is for his brother’s lack of trust and sense of doubt that Joseph really loved them. After all these years, Joseph still must feel a sense of rejection, or the odd man out. Note only that, but falling on the heels of having just buried their father, the brother’s lying about their father’s instructions to Joseph not only dishonored Joseph, but it dishonored their father Jacob as well.

At the point of seeing Joseph weep, the brothers fear that they may have angered him so they approach him and fall at his feet to beg for mercy. In verse 18, they say, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” This statement, “he spoke kindly to them” is an expression that is used in emotionally tense and difficult situations so as to set others at ease. Literally translated, the Hebrew states that Joseph “spoke to their heart.”

Some people have to wait for a long time before they recognize God’s sovereignty in allowing others’ mistreatment of them, whether that mistreatment is intentional or not. When painful, disillusioning situations come our way, it is hard to accept them as really something designed by God for the victim’s good. Life is unfair at times, and it takes real maturity for someone to come to grips with the reality that sometimes God does allow injustice to enter our lives. Wise and mature are those who, when they are hurt, wronged or treated unfairly, follow in Joseph’s steps: That is, whether or not the ones who hurt Joseph recognized their wrongdoing against him, he trusted in his sovereignly good God, and quickly forgave them. Likewise, we are to recognize that God is still in control, and forgive others when they have wronged us.

Once again, Chuck Swindoll points out the significance of how close Joseph’s interchange with his brothers comes to the last four verses of the book of Genesis, and the end of Joseph’s life. Swindoll writes: “What a way to bring someone’s life to a close! The Spirit of God wastes no time moving from Joseph’s significant expression of grace to his last words. God’s timepiece finally ticks to the end of his magnificent life, as we transition from Joseph’s finest hour to Joseph’s final words. Right up to the end, the man is a joy to be around. No complaining, no whining, no regrets. And to the very end, he was thinking of others. Rather than calling attention to all that he had achieved—which was enormous—he reminded them of what God had promised—which was eternal.”

Please note, that Jacob died when Joseph was 56 years old and Joseph went on to live another 54 years. Therefore, between verses 21 and 22, 54 years have passed since Jacob was buried. Fifty four years between Joseph’s gracious statement to his brothers in verse 21 and the last four verses of Genesis. As we will see, enough time passes between these verses for Joseph to become a great, great, great grandfather. “Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s sons; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.’” This expression “God will surely take care of you” is a unique one in Hebrew that usually carries the connotation that destinies would be changed by the Almighty’s visitation from on high. Hence, there is a subtle warning being spoken here to his family: “Don’t leave here until God tells you to!” Then Joseph makes them take an oath that they understand the seriousness of what he has just told them, and that they obey his instructions. “Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here’ So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin [a mummy case] in Egypt.”

Please note that we are told twice that Joseph was 110 years old when he died. We don’t usually have someone’s age at death repeated in Genesis. In fact, off the top of my head, I can’t think of another time the age of a person’s life is repeated in Genesis. So why here? I believe the answer has to do with God’s providential timing of Joseph’s death and where he died. In Egypt, if you lived to 110, you were considered a person blessed by the gods. God chose to bring Joseph’s life to a close here on earth at this measuring stick of 110 years to be a testimony to the Egyptians, in a manner that they would understand, that this man was truly God’s agent in Egypt.

That brings us to the end of Genesis; but it leaves me with a question: Why didn’t Joseph request to be taken up to Canaan to be buried, like his father Jacob had requested, so as to be with the other patriarchs? I think there are probably several reasons, but here are just two. The first is that God had said that Jacob’s family was to stay in Egypt, and Joseph didn’t want his family to leave Egypt until God said they were prepared to head back home. If he requested to be buried immediately in Canaan, his family members might be tempted to disobey God and permanently leave Egypt.

Second, Joseph was hero to the Egyptians. He was deeply loved and I doubt they would have allowed his family to remove him from their midst. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Egyptians, who were the masters of burial, mummification and tombs didn’t built a huge monument in memory of their revered leader, who literally saved their nation from chaos and civil destruction. Presuming that his coffin was buried in a glorious tomb, I imagine that it was placed somewhere central to all of Egypt, so that the public would never be able to forget him and would be able to mourn him. Furthermore, whenever the Hebrews saw Joseph’s tomb, they would be reminded that Egypt was not their home and that they were committed to return to Canaan and to take Joseph’s bones with them.

Over the next 400 years of Israel’s history, being lived out mostly as slaves in Egypt, what a lesson those unburied bones of Joseph must have been to Israel. When the taskmaster dealt harshly with the people, so that their hearts fainted, and they wondered if God had forgotten them, it must have been sweet to go and look at the mummy case that held those decaying remains of Joseph waiting there to be carried forward one day to Canaan. Interesting, isn’t it? Back then, they looked at a dead man’s bones to be reminded of the hope that lay ahead. Today, our hope, our assurance rests within an empty grave!

As we review Joseph’s 110 years of life, it had been 93 years since he had been lifted from the pit to become a slave. Eighty years had passed since he had first stood before pharaoh laying out a plan to save the nation from a famine to come. Looking back, God had transformed a gifted, but cocky, self-centered, spoiled, arrogant young man, into a successful leader.

As we close up our study of Genesis, and in particular, the life of Joseph, there are many lessons to be learned about what is necessary to find success as a person and meaning in life, while living in a fallen world. Here are just a few of them.

This first lesson we learn from an overview of Joseph’s life has to do with God’s preparing a man for leadership. In short: When it comes to raising up a leader, God’s timing and ways are always perfect. As we reflect back on Joseph’s early character, maturity and wisdom when he was 17 years of age, he was nowhere near ready to take on any serious leadership position. But during the next 13 years of Joseph’s life, God was building and raising up a future great leader. Here are just three areas that I have chosen to highlight in which we see God building in to Joseph’s life during his first 13 years in Egypt. If any of these three areas of his life had been left unattended, Joseph would have failed as a leader.

The first area that Joseph needed growth and experience in was in the workplace. Very few people in this world are called to be the second in administrative charge of a nation. This unique leadership role demands varied skill sets. As a novice, God placed Joseph in a unique position to learn, develop and exercise his administrative skills during his ten years of enslavement, as the overseer of Potiphar’s huge estate. This was his proving ground preparing him for his future job of administrating the entire kingdom of Egypt.

The second lesson, and probably the most important lesson that Joseph had to learn in order to succeed with people was how to deal with trouble when it comes your way. Trouble typically comes our way from two different directions: one direction is the trouble we bring our way due to our own foolish decisions. Other trouble comes our way from without.

How easy it would have been for Joseph to do what so many are encouraged to do today when problems come their way... to rationalize one’s present behavior by blaming past parental or societal influences, to point the finger elsewhere. But not Joseph; Joseph learned to do two things when trouble came his way. His first response was to look within himself. 

I believe that the first time it ever dawned on Joseph that he had his own serious personal issues to deal with came to him at the age of 17, as he sat in that damp dark cistern, thinking he was going to die; and then, as a slave, being shipped to Egypt. This had to be a humbling time for Joseph. Up to that point, he had been the favored son, the son born with a platinum spoon in his mouth. But then, Joseph had to be humbled and he had to voluntarily humble himself before God, before God would ever exalt him to a successful leadership position. 1 Peter 5:6 clearly teaches us this truth today, when it goads us to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

I would suggest that even though Joseph was taking responsibility for his own immaturity and wrongdoings, he still struggled with his brothers’ actions against him. Joseph was human and like all of us, bitterness kept trying to gain a foothold in his life for past wrongs done against him. In the midst of that, Joseph had to learn how to trust God even when God allowed others to mistreat him.

During the next 13 years, Joseph came to know and trust his sovereign God, who sometimes allows others to commit evil against us. He learned that God was a God of justice, and in the end, what others meant for evil God would eventually turn into good for both God’s purposes and for us. 

In the meantime, God was teaching Joseph that he couldn’t allow bitterness toward others to take root in his life. And the only way to uproot bitterness, is to forgive others as God had forgiven Joseph for his own youthful cocky arrogance. So, Joseph forgave his brothers, Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife, and Pharaoh’s cupbearer, even before they asked for his forgiveness! He chose unilaterally to forgive them before he ever saw them again, post-prison days. 

But learning to forgive didn’t come easy for Joseph. Forgiveness took 13 years for Joseph to learn. You might think that was a long time to learn such a thing, but this length of time is quite typical when we are so arrogant as was this cocky young man, too full of himself, but who also wanted so badly to be a successful, godly leader.

By the time Joseph stood before Pharaoh and had given birth to two sons, you might remember that when he gave his two sons names, those names reflected Joseph’s trust in God, as well as his own arrival at forgiving and not allowing bitterness to take hold of his life. Hence, Joseph learned that when trouble comes your way, you must uproot all bitterness, by using God’s shovel of forgiveness if you ever hope to deal fairly with others in the future and to earn their trust. Bitterness was not allowed in any part of Joseph’s program to govern Egypt. Because he became known for his ability to forgive, Joseph was able to turn even his enemies into friends.

A third area typical for needed growth for those who wish to be successful for God, is the development of a servant’s heart. Joseph had to start thinking about others and how his words and actions would affect them. He could no longer treat others arrogantly like he did his brothers: ie, having been a tattle-tale, showing off his coat of many colors with an “in your face” attitude. He had to learn to keep his mouth shut and not to boast about God’s calling upon his life. If he was ever going to be a leader, he had to first experience what it meant to be a servant. Suddenly, being forced into the role of a slave for 13 years, and experiencing some of the injustices that come with being a slave, I’d say Joseph developed a servant’s heart, even while he was a leader. 

In the end, that which marked Joseph as being so successful as a person is that he didn’t allow bitterness to take root in his life. He learned to humble himself as a servant, and thus, genuinely care for others. He learned when to take credit for a job well done, and at the same time, never to forget ultimately to whom all credit is due.

As we consider all of the real human stories in Genesis, and in particular Joseph’s life, we can sum up a lesson concerning success that is true to all of them: And that is: Success does not depend upon the prowess of people, but the presence of God and our faithfulness in obeying Him in the small things of life. For when we look to the small things in life, and obey God there, those bigger things of life seem to take care of themselves.

You may look at your life this morning, as I do, and see so much room for needed growth, that you might leave here discouraged, wondering if you will ever arrive. You don’t need to live that way. If you know Jesus as your Savior and Lord and as you continue to seek His face and to obey Him, He promises to finish His maturing work in your life. He loves you, and promises that one day, for those who know Him, each will become a finished trophy of His grace. Our job, in the meantime, is simply to continue to obediently seek after Him. He’ll do the rest.

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