Jacob Breathed His Last and Was Gathered to His People
49:29 to 50:3
Jacob breathed his last and was gathered to his people DIG: Why is it so important to Ya’akov that he be buried in Canaan (46:1-4; 47:29-31)? What does this say about Jacob’s faith in God’s promises?
REFLECT: What arrangements have you made for your death? Is there someone you need to reconcile with before they die? Before you die? Do you have the assurance that you will see your loved ones again after they have passed away? Do you see death as an active foe or a conquered enemy?
Jacob had previously made Joseph swear that he would not bury his father permanently in the land of Egypt, but return his body to Canaan (47:29-31). Now Jacob repeats that command to all his sons in order to ensure that his instructions would be carried out.806
Then he gives them these instructions, “I am about to be gathered to my people.” This phrase is a single word in Hebrew and is a synonym for died. It is also used in the passive voice which meant that Jacob recognized that someone besides himself was in control of his life, and that he could do nothing about it. Who was it that was in control of his life? In Jacob’s own words: El Shaddai appeared to me at Bethel, in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me (48:3). Here, Jacob confirms that he had enjoyed a personal relationship with El Shaddai, the God of Abraham and his father Isaac. It was YHVH who was the absolute sovereign in Jacob’s life. He alone is the Giver and Taker of life. There is no better preparation for death than this. This is the same God about whom Job spoke, when he said that he know his Redeemer lives and that in the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25-26).
It was the same God who sent Messiah, who was the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14). Yeshua said that He is the resurrection and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him (Jn 11:25). All this is to emphasize that we must have a personal relationship with the Eternal One in order to face death properly. Jacob had that personal relationship. This is why he was able to face death with the hope of the resurrection of Messiah.
In addition to the spiritual preparation necessary for facing death, there are practical earthly matters to which one should attend as well. Jacob already had his place of burial planned. This decision was not left to the last moment, to be decided by his grief-stricken children. He did this years before. In Jacob’s case, he intended to be buried in the family burial site in Hebron. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field” (49:29-30).
There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The fact that Rebekah and Leah had been buried in the cave of Machpelah is only mentioned here in the Bible. This demonstrates that the field and the cave that were bought from the Hittites had truly become the family burial grounds (49:31-32).807 It is ironic that Leah, and not Rachel, was buried with Jacob. She achieved in death, what she was unable to achieve in life, to be close to the one she loved.
When Ya’akov had finished giving instructions to his sons, he summoned all of his remaining strength and drew his feet up into his bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people in Sheol (49:33). He died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side (Luke 16:22), awaiting the coming Messiah and the great resurrection day.
While his brothers and sons stood there watching, it was Joseph who threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him (50:1). Even though Yosef knew he would see his father again, there was still a void and he grieved the loss. Death is the great enemy (First Corinthians 15:26), and will be conquered in the future (Revelation 21:4). However, for the present, death causes sorrow. After a while, Yosef composed himself and proceeded with the necessary duties for the dead. As God had promised, Joseph’s own hand closed Ya’akov’s eyes (46:4), and he died content (45:28; 46:30).808
For the unbeliever, death is a curse, or a penalty for sin. For although death does not bring about extension or the end of existence, it cuts one off from any opportunity of obtaining eternal life. Looking at death as an enemy, the unbeliever sees nothing positive in it and recoils from it in fear. However, for those who believe in Christ, and as a result are righteous, death has a different character. The believer undergoes physical death, but its curse is gone because Christ became a curse for us by dying on the cross (Galatians 3:13). Therefore, for the believer, death is no longer an active enemy, but a conquered enemy who now serves not to condemn and destroy, but to free us from the dreadful conditions which sin has introduced.809
It was customary in Egypt to embalm the dead, so Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Isra’el. They used an elaborate process that assured that his remains would remain preserved almost indefinitely. For Yosef, it was a practical solution to the difficult problem of how to preserve his father’s body until he was returned to Canaan for burial. He used his own personal physicians and not professional embalmers so as to avoid the magic and mysticism practiced by the embalmers. Some of the remains were dedicated to the spirits of the underworld. So Joseph’s physicians embalmed him, taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And because he became known as a true man of God during the seventeen years that he had lived in their country, the Egyptians themselves mourned for him seventy days (50:2-3).810 The mourning period for a Pharaoh was seventy-two days. Thus, he was highly respected as the father of Joseph.
Advice to the ones left behind: Having pointed out several words of wisdom from Genesis concerning people who were facing death, consideration needs to be given to the survivors of a loved one.
1. Reconcile fully with the dying person: The survivors are the ones who must live with any potential guilt from a deteriorated relationship. We see an example of this principle in the account of the relationship between Joseph and his brothers in Chapter 50. After Jacob died, the brothers started worrying whether or not Joseph really forgave them (50:15). This showed that a reconciliation needed to take place. The issue was not whether Joseph or the brothers were right or wrong. The point is that more needed to be taken care of before anyone else died! In the end, Joseph told his brothers the same thing he told them when he first revealed himself to them in Chapter 45. He said that it was really the will of God that he endured the past trials and experiences. Then, as he had done before, he cried with them (50:17-19). Through Joseph’s relationship with his brothers, we can see how important it is to heal relationships when a wrong (or even a perceived wrong) has been done.
2. Respect the wishes of the deceased: The greatest form of loving-kindness (see the commentary on Ruth Af – The Concept of Chesed) is the kindness shown to one who is dead. It is a form of respect. This is why Jacob’s and Joseph’s requests were diligently followed after their deaths. Both requested to be buried in the Land of Isra’el rather than Egypt, the place of their deaths. For Joseph and Jacob, their requests were an encouragement to their families that they fully believed in the promises God made to their forefathers. For their survivors, it was an opportunity to show respect by following their requests.
3. Fully mourn and grieve: The patriarchs had little trouble expressing emotions. When it was time to laugh, Abraham laughed. When it was time to cry, there was great weeping. This becomes especially evident at the funeral of Jacob. There was a funeral entourage from Egypt to Hebron (see Ls – So Joseph Went Up to Bury His Father). When this entourage was observed by the Canaanites they said: How bitterly the Egyptians are mourning. We see from Scripture the intense mourning which was experienced by the sons of Jacob.
4. Cry! Cry! Cry some more: How was this mourning handled? For one thing, there were lots of tears. More specifically, it the Bible says: Then Joseph fell upon his father’s face; he wept over him and kissed him (50:1). Joseph, like others of his generation, was not afraid to express outwardly his emotion of grief over a loved one who passed away. But how often in modern western cultures does one hear, “Oh, don’t cry. Be strong. It will be alright.” Or perhaps worse, “Don’t cry. Just trust God.” We must realize why ADONAI made tears anyway. Some physicians will tell us that the tears of grief are actually healing tears designed by God to begin to wash out some of the toxins created in the body because of the stress of internal emotional grief. There have been studies done which will indicate that the best and most lasting healing of a grief-stricken person occurs when that person expresses grief openly, especially by crying.
5. Take your time: Another way to express grief in a healthy way is to take the time necessary for the required emotional healing. The Bible describes how there were several time periods devoted for mourning after Jacob’s death. It says, for example, that the Egyptians mourned for Jacob seventy days (50:3). Again, it says that after Jacob’s funeral Joseph mourned for his father seven days (50:10). The seven-day mourning period mentioned here provides the basis for the traditional Jewish custom of mourning for a seven-day period (or shiva) after a funeral. The shiva is a time when the whole community bands together and makes it physically possible for the grieving family to take time to begin the healing process necessary as the result of the trauma of losing a loved one. Just as one would not think it was healthy to walk on a broken bone, so likewise, it is not healthy to walk on a broken spirit. When the bone cries out, “Pain! Pain!” we rush to its aid and provide the necessary relief. It should be the same for the hurting mourner. Too often society judges strength by how soon the mourner can come back to work. But the real strength comes when, by the grace of God, one takes time out to nurture the deep wounds of the missing loved one.
6. Be strong: The patriarchs knew a secret, which is taking time to live life and to mourn death. As this parashah ends, the rabbis have inserted the following words at the end of the text (as is the case for the end of all the five books of Moshe): “Be strong! Be Strong? And may we be strengthened!” This can only happen when we take the necessary time to follow the Lord according to His Word, and letting the Lord minister to us in life’s most difficult moments, such as death. When we learn how to do this, then we can say: For to me, life is Messiah, and death is gain (Phil 1:21). Whether we live or die we belong to the Lord (Romans 14:8).
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