Recognized Mourning

 Recognized Mourning

Genesis 50: ¹⁰ Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

 

¹² So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. ¹³ 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 bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. ¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

 

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After leaving Egypt, Joseph and the rest of the funeral processional arrived at the burial site. The inhabitants saw the mourning. Joseph mourned an additional seven days on top of the seventy and the forty done in Egypt.

 

My Observations:

• The Philistines recognized that Joseph and the Egyptians were not trying to raid the land, rather they were in mourning.
• The locals saw that the Egyptians mourned, and were so amazed that they named the place Abel Mizraim, which means “Where Egyptians Mourn.”
• Almost a third of a year was spent mourning over Jacob.

 

When Jacob made his sons promise to go back and bury him in the place where Abraham and Isaac were buried, they may have had mixed emotions. They had to go back to the place where they plotted against Joseph and near the place where they murdered someone out of vengeance.

 

They had been gone for almost twenty years, but the feelings may have still been there. The locals saw that they were minimally armed so they left them alone. Egypt and the Philistines were not friends, so this funeral was strange. GOD provided a peaceful mourning time.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD tell Moses about the inhabitants of the Canaanites?
• Have you ever been at odds with someone but saw that they were going through something?
• Can you recognize that someone you may be arguing with may be going through something only GOD can see?

Jacob’s Final Instructions

 

Jacob’s Final Instructions

Genesis 49: ²⁹ Then he charged them and said to them: “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. ³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³ And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

 

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After blessing his sons, Jacob gave his final instructions on where to bury him. After giving the instructions, he immediately passed away.

 

My Observations:

• Ephron was a Hittite who lived in the land of the Philistines
• Abraham insisted on buying the land when Sarah died because he wanted ownership versus ambiguous terms that would eventually allow some other family to reclaim the property.
• Leah was the only wife buried in the cave with Jacob’s ancestors.

 

There are significant things going on with Jacob’s final instructions. First, he insisted on being buried in the cave with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah. Abraham moved to the land of the Philistines and dealt with Abimelech. When Sarah died, he bought the land that had a cave on it. Jacob wanted to be buried there.

 

But in his dying statement, he mentions Leah. Wow! She is the mother of Judah which is the tribe of David and JESUS! Jacob did not want Leah for many reasons. He desired Rachel, who ended up dying in the birthplace of JESUS. Leah ended up being very special to Jacob and her prayers were answered.

 

The Philistines would become the ultimate enemies of GOD as they fought against the tribes of Israel over and over because of their belief in GOD. Samson would fight the Philistines and David fought Goliath, a famous Philistine. The Hittites believed in many gods. Ephron was a Hittite who owned land amongst the Philistines. GOD seemed to bring together the people who worshipped HIM and those who opposed HIM.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD tell Moses about Jacob insisting to be buried with his ancestors?
• Are there some things that you fought against GOD that were beneficial to you?
• Will you surrender anything that you are fighting GOD for, to get your own way?