The Death and Burial of Jacob

THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF JACOB

An Exposition of Genesis 49:29-50:14

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: September 15, 2024

Series: The Book of Genesis

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

49 ²⁹ Then he commanded 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 at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying 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 in it were bought from the Hittites.” ³³ When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

50 ¹ Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. ² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. ³ Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

⁴ And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” ⁶ And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.” ⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸ as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. ⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days. ¹¹ When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. ¹² Thus his sons did for him 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 at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. ¹⁴ After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father. (Genesis 49:29-50:14)

INTRODUCTION

If the Lord does not return first, you are going to die. Each and every one of us has an appointment with death. And the fact of the matter is – as even in recent months we have had memorial or funeral services for Buzz Robinson, Ben Conant, and Rebecca Cleveland – the Bible teaches us that the heart of the wise person is actually in the house of mourning (Ecclesiastes 7:4) – attending funerals and memorial services and gravesides, contemplating the realities of life and death and eternity.

Consider what we were just singing. It was worded a little bit differently in the song, but Psalm 23 refers to the valley of deep darkness, or the valley of the shadow of death, with the ultimate valley being death itself, through which we must pass. And the song that we sang before that – “Because He Lives” – speaks of that “one day” when we will “cross the river” and “fight life’s final war with pain” before we come through to the other side.[1] And these are really helpful things to think about, because really we are invited to a funeral this morning in our passage. The sermon is titled: “The Death and Burial of Jacob”.

Of course, parents are full of joy when a child is born into this world! A newborn, fresh out of the womb, fills the present moment and our future horizons with great meaning, as we hope that our child enjoys a long, healthy, and productive life. Isaac and Rebekah must have had their measure of joy when Jacob, along with twin Esau, had been born 147 years earlier. These children had been an answer to Isaac’s prayer for his barren wife Rebekah, and the Lord told Rebekah during pregnancy that the twins in her womb represented two nations, and that the younger (who turned out to be Jacob) would be greater than the older (who turned out to be Esau).

But this joy of children is mixed with sorrow, not only because our sin and their sin complicate everything, not only because they are going to have many bumps and bruises along the way, but also because sooner or later they are going to die. This is part of the painful reality of life in this fallen world: “in the day that you eat of it [the forbidden fruit] you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Our first parents ate of it, and death was immediately cast as a shadow over them and the entire human race that would descend from them: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Gen. 3:19)

The bitter refrain “and he died” occurs eight times in Genesis 5, and sooner or later you will become the one who has died. And in terms of the big picture of eternity, it will be soon: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14) The reputation, wealth, accomplishments, and fame that you gain during your earthly life will be of no consequence to you when you take your last breath: “for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” (1 Timothy 6:7) By the way, the lack of reputation, wealth, accomplishments, and fame will be of no consequence either. You're going to be standing before the Lord, the Judge of all the earth, with the condition of your heart, such as it is. Are you ready to stand before Him?

Many people want to live in denial of the reality of death. But that is not the way of wisdom. The way of wisdom is to live intelligently under God’s almighty hand, with death and eternity in clear view. The Bible doesn’t hide the reality of death from us, but instead shows it to us over and over again, so that we will learn wisdom and the fear of the Lord.

As I seek to unpack and apply today’s passage, I would like us to see it from three different vantage points. The first vantage point is the relocation of the person who dies. The second vantage point is the ‘down to earth’ experience of losing a loved one. The third vantage point is how Jacob’s death functions as a signpost to the larger story that God is weaving.

THE FIRST VANTAGE POINT: THE RELOCATION OF THE DECEASED

The first vantage point is the relocation of the deceased. Now this is only briefly hinted at in our passage, but we must see it. Jacob begins his final instruction by saying, “I am to be gathered to my people” (Gen. 49:29). And then, when the passage reports his death, it says that Jacob “breathed his last and was gathered to his people” (Gen. 49:29). It is obvious that being gathered with his people and being buried with his fathers are two different things. Jacob “was gathered to his people” immediately after taking his final breath, but he wasn’t buried with his fathers until three months later. A man’s soul-body union is temporarily severed at death, and the soul of the man is gathered to his people, whereas the body of the man is buried in the earth. So if you were to ask what happened to Jacob when he died, the right answer from this passage would be: Jacob went to be with his people, that is, with the people who predeceased him.

Now this passage is not attempting to give us a full-blown theology of what happens to the soul between the moment of physical death until the moment of physical resurrection at the last day. But nevertheless, this passage is clearly pointing to postmortem existence; it is pointing to some kind of life and fellowship beyond the grave, beyond the confines of this present world.

In the Old Testament, we only get a vague, mysterious picture of this postmortem reality. But the New Testament shines much more light on the subject. The New Testament gives us more insight into the location of the soul between the time of death and the time of resurrection.

The apostle Paul testifies to the immediate fellowship that will take place between him and the Lord after he dies: “My desire is to depart and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23). The Book of Hebrews tells us that even now, the residents of the heavenly Jerusalem include “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23). On one of His teaching occasions, Jesus contrasted the destiny of a poor believer named Lazarus with the destiny of an evil rich man: “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.” (Luke 16:22-23) Lazarus was gathered to his people, that is, to Abraham and to all the predeceased faithful ones who had rested from their earthly labors. At the same time, the evil rich man was gathered to his people, that is, to all the souls of the damned in Hades, the place of torment.

The question is not whether you will be gathered to your people when you die; the question is which people you will be gathered to. Who are your people? Are your people the righteous ones who trust God in response to His grace? Or are your people the unrighteous ones who reject God and live selfishly for themselves? When you die, will you fly to safety at Jesus’ side? Or will you descend to the place of judgment?

THE SECOND VANTAGE POINT

Now let’s turn to the second vantage point, which is the ‘down to earth’ experience of losing a loved one. Suffering the loss of a loved one is an experience common to mankind. I recall being a young teenager. I didn't have much in the way of theology or a philosophy of life worked out, but there I was at the calling hours at the death of my first grandparent, and I just completely lost it and broke forth in heavy sobbing. This is an experience that we are all familiar with.

I want you to notice that this passage covers at least a 100 day period, give or take. The initial scene is Jacob, on his deathbed, giving final instructions to his sons (Gen. 49:29-32). Immediately afterward, Jacob departs from this world (Gen. 49:33). Those four verses (v. 29-33) capture a portion of just one day. The day of Jacob’s death is followed by “[seventy] days of weeping” (Gen. 50:4; also see 50:3), which presumably included the forty days of embalming. After these seventy days of weeping, Joseph sought and obtained leave from Pharaoh in order to bury his father in the land of Canaan. A little time would have been required organize the large caravan of travelers, and then perhaps it took about a week to travel from Egypt to Canaan, and then another week to travel back to Egypt. They also paused their journey for seven days in order to make great lamentation “on the threshing floor of Atad” (Gen. 50:11), and presumably they took at least a couple of days for the burial itself at Machpelah. If you add all that up, it is close to 100 days. Jacob was physically present for a portion of the first day before he departed, but the other 99 days is about his surviving family members and neighbors expressing grief, preserving the body for burial, and making and carrying out the burial arrangements.

Although the scale of activity involved in Jacob’s burial far surpasses the amount of activity that will take place in most of our burials, nevertheless the fundamental elements are common to all humanity. Jacob has lived a long life – 147 years (see Gen. 47:28) – and his time on earth has come to an end. He knows that he is about to die. He uses his remaining strength to tell his sons where to bury him – not in Egypt, but at the family plot in Canaan, in the very same place where his first wife, his parents, and his grandparents are buried. He had been sitting on his bed, but after he finished speaking “he drew up his feet into the bed” (Gen. 49:33) and took his final breath. Jacob was gone. The father that they loved was now out of reach. They would hear from him no more, nor could they speak to him any longer. The immediate relationship between you and your loved one is severed, and a flood of emotion fills your heart, and you weep.

One of the things that I love about the Bible is its intense realism. Part of this intense realism is that people die, and the loved ones who remain weep. It is right to weep. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven… a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4). It is a sorrow when a human being pushes away the intense emotion that fits the occasion. Some people are afraid of certain emotions, but we ought to receive them as gifts to help us process that part of the journey. This is a time to mourn and weep.

Presumably all of Jacob’s sons wept, but Joseph’s leadership role is emphasized throughout Genesis 50, and Joseph’s grief is emphasized in verse 1: “Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.” The Lord had promised Jacob that “Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes” (Gen. 46:4) – and so Jacob had the comfort of Joseph’s presence at the moment of his death. This comfort belonged to Jacob, but grief belonged to Joseph.

Although Jacob had commanded all his sons to bury him in Egypt, Joseph knew that he had a special responsibility to oversee the burial. For Jacob had told Joseph alone back in Genesis 47: “Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” (Gen. 47:29-30) And Joseph had promised to honor his father’s wishes (Gen. 47:30). So, as we read through the burial account, Joseph is clearly taking the lead. He knows that in order carry out a successful burial, the body must be preserved. Therefore “Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father.” (Gen. 50:2) Joseph was 56 years old when his father died, and he had lived in Egypt these last 39 years, so he must have been familiar with Egyptian embalming practices. It took forty days for the physicians of Egypt to embalm the body of the deceased, thereby preparing it for burial.

As we read on in Genesis 50, it is striking how the Egyptians themselves participated in the mourning over Jacob. Of course, the Egyptians owed Jacob a great debt, for he was the father of the man Joseph who had saved Egypt during the troubled days of famine. The Egyptians engaged in an official season of grief in which they wept for Jacob. Once again we encounter the number seventy: back in Genesis 46, Jacob’s family numbered 70 when they came to Egypt, and now the Egyptians wept for Jacob for 70 days. The number 7 represents completeness, and 70 amplifies the completeness by a factor of 10. The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for a properly and perfectly complete period of time.

After this season of weeping, Joseph sought and obtained leave from Pharaoh in order to take a few weeks away so that he might go and bury his father in Canaan. Pharaoh granted permission, and with Joseph leading the way, “a very great company” (Gen. 50:9) prepared to make the trip. Who was in this great company? “[All] the servants of Pharaoh”, “the elders of [Pharaoh’s] household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, [Joseph’s] brothers, and [Jacob’s household].” (Gen. 50:7-8) A certain number of Jacob’s grandchildren and greatgrandchildren stayed behind with the flocks and herds in Goshen (Gen. 50:8). Further, “both chariots and horsemen” accompanied Joseph up to Canaan (Gen. 50:9). All this is a beautiful moment of common grace. Oftentimes the death of a loved one, dear friend, or respected figure softens hearts and brings people together. Of course, at this time in history Egypt and Israel were on good terms, as Egypt had shown generous hospitality to Israel. In any case, this passage shows us the people of Israel and the people of Egypt side by side, supporting each other in the common venture of showing respect to the great patriarch and laying his body to rest.

When the company arrived in a certain place in the land of Canaan, at “the threshing floor of Atad” (Gen. 50:10, 11), west of the Jordan River where Canaanites lived, they made great lamentation for Jacob, and “[Joseph] made a mourning for his father seven days.” (Gen. 50:10) Here again, seven days represents a complete time period – one full week. The Canaanites were impressed by what they thought was “grievous mourning by the Egyptians” and they named the place “Abel-mizraim”, which means mourning of Egypt.[2]

After this official time of grieving was completed, Joseph and his brothers proceeded to bury Jacob in the assigned place (Gen. 50:12-13), and thereafter Joseph and the entire company “returned to Egypt” (Gen. 50:14).

Some practical lessons

From this ‘down to earth’ vantage point regarding the loss of a loved one, we can detect some very practical lessons:

• It is right for a person to give instructions concerning his own burial before he dies.
• More specifically, it is right for a person to be laid to rest in proximity to his or her family members, and in his or her homeland.
• It is right for the family of the deceased to honor the wishes of the departed loved one, inasmuch as the wishes are lawful, reasonable, and doable.
• It is right to honor one’s own family in matters involving death and burial. Jacob wants to be buried with his fathers. And Jacob’s sons obey their father and carry out his wishes.
• It is right to honor the body of the deceased with embalmment and burial.
• It is right to mourn the loss of a loved one, and the mourning may be spread out over a significant period of time. Joseph wept immediately after his father passed, but two-and-a-half months later “he made a mourning for his father seven days”. Severe grief is not quickly abated.
• It is right to do whatever we can to support others in their time of grief. The Egyptians sympathized with Jacob’s loved ones by weeping for Jacob. Pharaoh gave Joseph leave in order to carry out the burial of his father. Moreover, many Egyptians accompanied Jacob’s loved ones on their trip to Canaan.

THE THIRD VANTAGE POINT

Finally, let’s turn to the third vantage point. The third vantage point is how Jacob’s death functions as a signpost to the larger story that God is weaving. And if I may put the point simply: the patriarch dies, but God’s promise doesn’t die; the saint dies, but God’s story doesn’t die. I don’t know about you, but I want to be connected mainly to something that doesn’t die – if all my hope is in people who die, then I’m in trouble. But if my hope is in the one, true, and living God who inhabits eternity, and whose promise and story will never die, then I am standing upon a firm foundation.

“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that every day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God.” (Psalm 146:3-5)

Our life, if it is to have the meaning and significance that God intends, must point to something bigger. The apostle Peter didn’t say that people should pin their hopes on him. Instead, the apostle Peter declared the truth that would outlive him and would never die:

“Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” (2 Peter 1:12-15)

The famous ‘hall of faith’ passage in Hebrews 11 tells us about the great Old Testament saints who lived by faith – and the list includes Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Hebrews 11 concludes by telling us, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39-40)

God made lavish promises to Abraham (Genesis 12-25), that he would become a great nation, that he would inherit the land of Canaan, and that he would be a means of blessing to the entire world. But long before these promises reached the fullness of fulfillment, Abraham and his wife Sarah died and were buried “in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah” (Gen. 49:30) near Hebron. God made the same lavish promises to Isaac (Genesis 25-26), but long before these promises reached the fullness of fulfillment, Isaac and his wife Rebekah died and were buried in the same place “east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan” (Gen. 49:30). And then in turn, God repeated the same lavish promises to Jacob (Genesis 27-49). Had Jacob become a great nation yet? Not yet, for at this point we’re talking about a small band of a few hundred people. Had Jacob and his people inherited the land of Canaan yet? Not yet, for now they were living down in Egypt and the obtainment of the promised land is still a few hundred years away. Had Jacob become a means to blessing the whole world? Not yet, at least not in the fullest sense. Yes, we have gotten some echoes and glimmers: Jacob blesses the house of Laban, and Jacob’s son Joseph blesses the house of Potiphar and the house of Pharaoh and the land of Egypt – but these were mainly physical blessings, which are true blessings indeed, but the blessing envisioned in Genesis 3:15, Genesis 12:3, and Genesis 49:8-10 is much weightier in scope, for the ultimate blessing is being released from the domain of darkness, having the serpent’s head crushed, having the curse of this sinful world undone and reversed, and living again in the light of the Redeemer King and experiencing His shalom – His peace, favor, and life. And so, as we come to that moment of Jacob’s death, we still have a long way to go. God has promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants, but as we near the close of the Book of Genesis, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are only buried in the land of Canaan, and their budding nation is living in a foreign land down in Egypt.

Like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we must also look forward to promises that have not yet been fulfilled. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) Believers are destined to “judge the world” and “judge angels” (1 Corinthians 6:2, 3). Indeed we will reign with Christ forever. The present age is still characterized by suffering even as we look forward to the future age of glory: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18) We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, the redemption of our bodies, the new heaven and the new earth, and the renewal of all things for those who belong to Christ. Like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we know that “here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14) These are promises not yet fulfilled, but they fill us with hope and motivate our everyday faithfulness.

And so, we humbly follow the call of the Lord, and we seek to serve Him to the best of our knowledge and ability in our own lifetime. But we remember that God is weaving together a story of redemption that began long before we were born, and that shall continue long after we have died, and we remember that we will only enjoy the fullness of the consummation of God’s plan when we rise again with our bodies on the day of resurrection, and in our glorified condition we shall see the Lord and enjoy His presence forever and recline with all the patriarchs and matriarchs, martyrs and saints, apostles and prophets, in the resplendent kingdom of God, where the light is always shining and the darkness is no more.

But in the meantime, we trust God with the timetable. It is remarkable that Jacob, the man born in Canaan who lived 110 years in Canaan, 20 years in Haran (to the north), and only 17 years in Egypt, should have this massive funeral procession with so many Egyptians participating, sympathizing, and grieving alongside Jacob’s family. The Lord can move in such a way that an entire nation is paying respect to one of His choice servants. But this snapshot of the Egyptians accompanying the Israelites to Canaan, and the Canaanites looking on in peaceful observation, is only a snapshot, only a brief moment in time.

God has a plan for Israel to become a great nation during their extended time down in Egypt, and yet God’s plan also includes Israel eventually being afflicted in Egypt (Gen. 15:13). And God’s plan includes bringing judgment upon the Egyptians at the end of Israel’s four hundred years there (Gen. 15:14), which we learn about in the Book of Exodus. And God has a plan to bring Israel into the promised land of Canaan shortly after their exodus out of Egypt, and this will mean judgment upon the Canaanites. At this moment in Genesis 50, the sin of the Canaanites was not yet complete and they were not ripe and ready for judgment, but that day is coming. And so, you can contrast this moment in Genesis 50 with a moment in Joshua 2, when the Canaanite woman Rahab, who chose to trust in the Lord, says that the Canaanites have heard about how the Lord rescued His people out of Egypt and brought judgment upon two Amorite kings, and the hearts of the Canaanites melted. What a contrast! In Genesis 50, neighborliness and common grace. In Joshua 2, judgment poured out and great fear. God’s story of redemption and judgment moves forward.

And in every generation, the description and he died or and she died applies to human being after human being. Time passes. Israel proves to be unfaithful in the land of Canaan. They descend into idolatry, immorality, and violence over and over again. The nation splits in half. The northern kingdom, called Israel or Ephraim, gets defeated by the Assyrians. The southern kingdom, called Judah, gets defeated by the Babylonians. Humiliation. Exile. Because of their sin. An underwhelming return to the land. Still longing for better days. Only glimmers of hope. Different pagan kingdoms take turns in the limelight in the Middle East. But the promise remains: “the obedience of the peoples” will come to a descendant of Judah (Gen. 49:10). The seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). God’s covenant people will bring the good tidings of salvation to every family on earth (Gen. 12:3). They waited. Patiently they had to wait for a branch to come forth and bear fruit from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), the lineage of David, a descendant of Judah. And so, in the days when Rome ruled the world, a Child is born, a Son is given, and He is the establisher of true justice and true peace (Isaiah 9:6-7). He didn’t live for 175 years like Abraham, didn’t live for 180 years like Isaac, didn’t live for 147 years like Jacob, didn’t live for 110 years like Joseph. He only lived for 33 years. Unlike everyone else who ever lived, He lived without sin. No deceit, no hypocrisy, no malice, no idolatry, no fear. He lived without fail upon the Father’s Word, and in the Father’s love. Thus He was qualified to carry all the sins of His people upon His own shoulders. He suffered in His own body the same judgment of God that had once been poured out upon Sodom and Gomorrah, upon Egypt and Canaan, upon Israel and Judah, upon Assyria and Babylon, upon Persia and Greece. Where is God amid the terrible judgments of the world? There, on the cross, showing you the way out of sin, which is to trust Him as the one and only Savior from sin.

Unlike Jacob, who had the comfort of dying with his twelve sons gathered around him, our Lord Jesus died with his twelve disciples scattered. Unlike Jacob, who had the comfort of drawing up his feet into the bed, our Lord Jesus was racked with pain as He labored to draw one more breath into His contorted and bloodied body. Jacob breathed his last and was buried three months later. “Jesus cried out… with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50), and on the very same day his body was taken down from the cross and wrapped in a linen cloth and laid in a tomb (Matthew 27:57-61)

Jacob died and was buried, and there he remained, abiding under the power of death. Jesus also died and was buried, but by His death He had actually undone the power of sin and death, and so on the third day He rose again with a title to eternal life in His hand for the benefit of all who put their faith in Him. And it is this death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord that assures us that every promise in the Bible is true, and we live with confidence that all of God’s good purposes for His people will come to pass, and in the meantime we serve the Lord with patience and perseverance in our own day, living in the power of the Holy Spirit and testifying to the redemption gospel story that the Father has been weaving together all along. 

Brothers and sisters, neighbors and friends, unless the Lord returns first, you are going to die. Make sure that your life is dynamically connected to the big story of God's grace that He has been writing and weaving together all along. And then, when you close your eyes in death, you will have the blessedness of being gathered with God's people.

ENDNOTES

[1] Words in quotation marks from the hymn “Because He Lives” by Gloria and William J. Gaither. © Copyright 1971 by William J. Gaither, Inc. All rights controlled by Gaither Copyright Management.

[2] See the ESV footnote on “Abel-mizraim” in Genesis 50:11.