Bible Study/the Death of Jacob. Genesis 49:29 - 50:14 (KJV)

And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people bury me with my fathers in the cave that [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 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 for a possession of a burying place.

And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 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 for a possession of a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. The purchase of the field and of the cave that [is] therein [was] from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. (vs. 49:29 - 33)

And Joseph fell upon his father''s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. (vs. 50:1 - 3)

And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.

And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the
servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father''s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

And they came to the threshing floor of A tad, which [is] beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This [is] a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which [is] beyond Jordan. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to
bury his father, after he had buried his father. (vss. 50:4 - 14)

Most of my articles are written as an exegetical analysis of the text that I have chosen for the week. This one, however, is slightly different. While reading the passage for this week two concepts came to mind - one related to pastoral ministry and grief counseling, and the other related to the process of introspection. I will use two sets of verses in this text as "jumping off" points for the communication of these two concepts.

Facing Death

And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. And Joseph fell upon his father''s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him (Ge 49:33 - 50:1).

I have been an on-call hospital chaplain now for a number of years. Since I am "on-call," that usually means that I am called only when there is a life-and-death situation. In this capacity, I see death on a regular basis. I meet people in the last minutes of their lives. And, I meet the survivors - those who mourn for the loss of their loved one.

The immediate grief and anguish that survivors experience directly after a loved one''s death is unique. Although I have seen many emotions, no emotion ranks as more intense than the emotion suffered by a person who has lost a loved one. Since I have been involved with many deaths, I must say that I see people deal with death in two different ways.

The first way causes them to "retreat" from the reality of the situation. Often, those individuals don''t cry, they don''t talk, and they don''t desire to spend time with the loved one''s dead body. How many times have I heard someone say "I just want to remember them alive."

In my own personal opinion - based on personal observations - in order for a person to recover quickly from the grief associated with a death incident, they must recognize and accept the fact that the loved one is dead. They must come face-to-face with the truth.

A number of years ago, a very close friend of mine died suddenly of a heart attack. He was an athlete and appeared to be in perfect health. His death at 36 years old shocked everyone.

At a memorial service which I had helped to arrange, I talked with one of his closest friends. He said, "I can''t deal with the fact that James is dead. I''m just going to tell myself that he''s on vacation." Not facing the death of a loved one is a terrible mistake.

Joseph, in the passage above, didn''t deal with his father''s death in the wrong way. He faced it. He grieved deeply. He wept. Most importantly, he spent time with his father''s dead body.

There''s something so healthy about spending time with the dead body of a loved one. It''s painful, no question. But, at the same time, it cements the fact of the loved one''s death in the survivor''s mind. That fact - all by itself - will be a necessary and "key" component to help in the whole healing process.

It is appointed for each and every one of us to die (Heb. 9:27). Death is our very sure end. To help people recover through the grief process we must help them look at death face-to-face. I can think of no better beginning to the healing process than to spend time with the dead body of a loved one. The experience of pain far beyond what a person would have believed they could tolerate is good for them - at the very core of their being. It is one of the largest and most significant components in recovery from the loss.

To those who are pastors, or those who are in a ministry that occasionally encounters death, remember Genesis 50:1. Use it as a guideline for those who are left behind. Allow them and encourage them to visit the dead body of their loved one. And, while there, to suffer the anguish of their loss.

The Threshing floor

And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which [is] beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days (Ge 50:10). Joseph mourned for his father at the site of Atad''s threshing floor. What is a threshing floor? And, why is it symbolically important that Joseph mourned there?

A threshing floor was a flat area - usually on higher ground than the rest of the field area. It was used at the grain harvest to separate wheat from chaff. The "floor" was not of human construction, like we might imagine a "floor" in our houses. It was simply a clear piece of the flattest and highest ground near (or as
part of) the grain field.

The threshing floor was always round. The diameter of the circular area was typically 25 to 40 feet. The area within the threshing floor would have been totally cleared of all rocks, stones, and other debris. The rocks and stones that were cleared would typically be brought to the outside of the threshing floor area
and set up to form the perimeter of the circle itself. They became a short containment wall for the grain.

At the time of the grain harvest, the wheat would have been cut from the field and tied together in bundles, or sheaves. The sheaves would be brought to the threshing floor and placed in the center of the threshing floor circle. One at a time, the sheaves would be taken from the center, untied, and scattered in the threshing floor circle. Wheat and chaff would still be joined together at this point.

As part of the process, a worker would be escorting a donkey or an ox around the path of the threshing floor circle. The animal would be pulling a heavy, wooden cylinder containing spikes and ridges. That cylinder would roll over the grain stalks that had been thrown into the threshing floor circle. As the cylinder rolled over the stalks, the spikes and ridges on the cylinder would break the grain from the chaff. The grain would fall off the stalk and rest on the threshing floor.

After the stalks had been run over, a worker would come behind the ox or the donkey with a winnowing fork - a "pitch" fork. He would pick up the chaff with the fork. The grain would remain on the threshing floor. The chaff would be carried outside the threshing floor circle and tossed onto an ever-burning fire directly outside of the threshing floor area.

The author of the book of Hebrews says, ". . .it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (9:27). The picture painted above in the description of the threshing floor reveals an unmistakable connection to the final judgment of God. The best summary of the "spiritual meaning" of the threshing floor can be found in the words of Jesus Himself. He said:

"He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one]; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matt 13:37 - 43).

But there''s more that we need to know about the threshing floor. First Chronicles chapter 21 is one of the most vivid stories in the whole Bible. It is hard to read that story without pictures coming into mind.

In that passage, David has sinned greatly against God by numbering the army of Israel. The anger of the Lord descends upon Israel to strike people dead for a period of three days. Immediately, 70 thousand men die. In the midst of the destruction wrought by the Hand of the Angel, David, pleads with God to stop
the judgment.

From whence did he make his plea? It was from an elevated area within Jerusalem owned by Ornan, a Jesusite - a descendant of Canaan. Ornan had constructed a threshing floor on that site. David immediately purchased the ground from Ornan and sacrificed to God there. God heard his plea and
stopped the destruction of the Angel of the Lord.

Solomon, David''s son, would later build the Temple of God upon that very same threshing floor (2 Chr. 3:1). Today, we know that site as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Symbolically, we have already seen God''s final judgment pictured in the threshing floor. That picture is so clear and unmistakable. But what do we make of the fact that the very Temple of God was erected on a threshing floor?

The Temple was a place of worship - a place where man encountered his God in a very real and substantial way. The fact that the Temple was founded upon a threshing floor should indicate to us that worship - coming into God''s presence - should be an experience that causes us to examine ourselves and to purge ourselves from sin.

Clear indications of such continue to be found in the New Testament. There, in the context of the Celebration of the Lord''s Table (which is indeed a form of worship), Paul instructs us that ". . . if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged" (1 Cor 11:31).

The House of God must be seen as a threshing floor - a place where we examine ourselves and repent of sinful ways, lest we be judged by God in the end. David asks the question: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?" The answer is, "He that hath clean hands, and a pure
heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation" (Psm. 24:3 - 5). Thus, the command of James: "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded" (James 4:8).

Joseph used the solemn occasion of his father''s death as a time to "go to the threshing floor." It would be wise for us to establish times when we approach the threshing floor, too. Let us examine ourselves at times throughout the year to cleanse ourselves and purge ourselves of evil and sin.

Those times might include such "personal times" as the death of loved ones. But, at the same time, we might include other less dramatic times as occasions to "visit God" in a special way. We might use the Lord''s Table as one of those times. Most appropriately, we might also use each and every week''s worship service as a time to come before God to thresh out the chaff in our lives and to renew our relationship with him.

Suggested Follow-up Reading: Genesis 47:28 - Genesis 50:26 and I Kings 2:1-12

Alan L. Joplin