Genesis 49:29-33

The Death of Jacob - Funeral Planning [ 1 of 2)

As you may know my normal thing is to take books of the Bible and teach them. Let me tell you that one of the things I have learned in going through books of the Bible, I find myself preaching on things that I would never have thought to preach on if I were left in my own devices. In the past, as a preacher I’ve taken the popular subjects of the Bible, the practical subjects of the Bible. I have also sometimes looked at the congregation and figure out what I think the congregation needs, and that’s what they preach on. So, I’ve done some topical things, I’ve done some special messages, but in the main have preached through entire books of the Bible. 

What is interesting about taking this approach is that is I find myself speaking on these things that I would never have spoken on normally and that’s the case today, we’re in Genesis chapter 49 starting where we finished off last time and spilling over into Chapter 50. And you know what I have never regretting doing it, because I have always learnt something new and often something important as well which I wouldn’t have known about unless I had approached the word of God this way. 

The interesting thing about what going on here is it is telling us about Jacob’s buried arrangements. When it come to our own lives someone is going to arrange our funeral, even if we don’t do it someone is going to make the arrangements one way or the other. That’s not something that we would normally think about and it’s not normally something I would speak about. But if I’m going to teach the Bible verse by verse, book, my book, I’m going to bump into these sorts of situations, and you know what I have never regretting doing it, because I have always learnt something new and often something important as well something which I wouldn’t have known about unless I had approached the word of God this way.

This passage covers the death and the funeral arrangements of Jacob. But you know what it’s important to remember, either you or somebody else, is going to make arrangements for your funeral. Here is a question that needs to be asked and answered, who is going to make your funeral arrangements, are you going to make them? And if you don’t, well, somebody else will, in fact someone else will have to. If you can’t rely on someone else to do it, then the state will do it.

I think some of these things are addressed in Genesis chapter 49, because as I mentioned, this passage has to do with the burial of Jacob. Today I want us to look at this passage and focus on what part of it still pertains to us, today. I want us to learn some things that we can apply that are illustrated here in the case of Jacob. With that in mind, when you turn with me to Genesis Chapter 49 and let’s begin by looking at verse 29.

Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. 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 along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.

(Genesis 49: 29-30)

Let’s pause here and focus on what’s going on. If you’ve been following me through Genesis, you will know that Jacob and the whole family ended up in Egypt, at this point, Jacob is on his deathbed and verse 28 says that that all the 12 tribes of Israel have been given their inheritance. We talked about that in the last couple of episodes. This is the point where he puts his sons in charge and tells them how to take care of his funeral arrangements. Earlier in the Book of Genesis, namely in Chapter 47, he made Joseph promise that when he passed away, he would not be buried in Egypt, but back in Canaan, and here he is calling all of his sons together and making them make that same promise. The point of these opening verses is simply to tell us how Jacob tells his sons to bury him back in Canaan in the cemetery plot that his grandfather Abraham purchased. The one that Abraham and Isaac and their wives are already buried in.

There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”

(Genesis 49 31-32)

This is just telling us again the details of what had happened before, but there’s a deep significance here beyond just funeral arrangements. Why did he want to be buried there? What’s going on here beyond basic Funeral arrangements? Well, the answer is we need to remember that God promised the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and by saying I should be buried in that land, is for him, an act of faith. He is saying God promised the land, and that’s where I want to be buried. That’s my home. They’re all in Egypt but he’s saying I’m still believing the covenant of God, the promise of God, the faithfulness of God, and I want you to take me back to Canaan and I want you to bury me there. Look at verse 33. 

When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

(Genesis 49: 33)

I said he was on his deathbed I meant that literally it actually says he drew up his feet and breathed his last. As we would say today, he curled up and died. Once he has given instructions concerning his burial he lay down and died and then this interesting phrase is used where it says he was gathered to his people. So, after death, he was gathered to wherever his people were, Abraham, Isaac, and all the past relatives. So, this is one of the earliest verses in the Bible that indicates there is life after death.

In general, the Old Testament is about the earth, it’s about life and it’s about life on earth, but every once in a while you get these little verses that refer to life after death. The New Testaments, of course, full of them at. 

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 Corinthians 5:1

God so love the world he gave his only begotten son, who’ soever believes in Him shall have everlasting life.

(John 3: 16)

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

(John 14:1-3)

All those kinds of verses are talking about life after death. But this is one of those rare places where it does it in the Old Testament, and that is significant. There are two parts of this passage we going to look at over the next couple of days, and the first is today which is these closing verses of Chapter 49. Tomorrow we’re going to look at the opening verses in chapter 50 which relate to the burial of Jacob, but to close off Chapter 49, I want to simply make two points.

Number one, what’s going on in these verses is an illustration of Jacob’s faith. He trusted the Lord down to his last breath and the New Testament puts a premium on living and dying that way. We are to endure in our faith to the very end. We could go through a number of verses to talk about that, but we don’t have time to read them all but verse like; Matthew 24: 13, Romans 5: 3, Phillipians 4: 13, Hebrews 12: 12, and James 1: 2-3, I could go on.

This is what God wants all of us to do. He wants us to trust him and believe him and endure in faith till the day we die. The New Testament is putting a premium on enduring. I think within that the New Testament is teaching that’s although our place in heaven is secure, nothing can change that, yet this side of eternity we will have to endure great trials, non-less than the last weeks of physical deterioration most of us will experience in the last weeks and days of our lives. But by enduring in or faith we will then be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. Different groups of Christians may have different views about what heaven is like exactly, but all agree that the bible puts a premium on enduring in our faith until the very end, and that’s what Jacob did here.

The second thing I’d like to point out is this. He’s trusting the Lord and he made arrangements, even funeral arrangements. That’s what I was saying in the introduction, it not something I would normally have expected to speak about in a church setting but maybe I should. Maybe when so many churches are struggling financially it would be a good thing to get believers to think about what happens to their resources after they die. Lots of people struggle in the day to day to live and give out of their income, but perhaps some could more readily be able to leave a gift as a legacy to their church.

Somebody sooner or later is going to make your funeral arrangements if you haven’t done so, and if you don’t leave a will somebody else other than you is going to decide how your assets are distributed. And the person who will do that will be a representative of a civil entity that is called the court of probate, or its equivalent in your county. If you don’t make a decision as to how your assets are distributed a state civil servant will decide how they are shared out after you have died. I think we need to do something in response to that and I think this Old Testament passage helps.

So, what did Jacob do? What are the details? What arrangements did he make and what are the kind of arrangements we should make.  I'm going to talk more about that in a moment, but at this point just let me suggest that the bare minimum, is decide your final method of committal. Abraham did it, Isaac did it, they wanted to be buried in the family plot. Jacob was buried in the family plot. Their wives were buried in the family plot as well. So bare minimum, you should choose you method of dispatch. It’s biblical and you ought to do it, it’s very simple to do. Figure out what you want and tell you family either in person or in a will.

As an ex-pastor, I say do that because I’ve seen situations where a person didn’t do that, and at the worst possible moment, when the spouse and family have had to make those decisions. They have to go do things like figure out what to do and how it ought to be done. That ought to have been done way before the time when it was necessary. That may not be an exciting subject to talk about, even on a rainy night, but it’s one that’s very necessary, and the older you get, the more necessary it is. These verses are talking about the faith of Jacob and how he trusted the Lord to the very end how he made arrangements that indicated his faith. That is what is going on here, and that is what we should do also

So, Jacob dies, and now they’re going to bury him and that will be described for us at the beginning of the next chapter, and we shall pick that up tomorrow, and discuss how it should influence how we should plan for the same events after we have gone to be with the Lord.