Genesis Part 3 Week 11

Day 1

READ 

Genesis 50:10 

¹⁰ When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father. 

The large group arrived on the east side of the Jordan River. There they held a memorial service and mourned for seven days for Joseph’s father. In each case, it was not as much for Jacob as it was because of their honor of Joseph who had lost his loved one.  

REFLECT 

Does this remind you that attending a funeral service honors the surviving loved ones as well as the deceased person? Sometimes your presence at such a service can mean more than what you have to say. 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 50:10-13. This passage tells how the local residents heard the deep mourning of those from Egypt and renamed the place with the name that literally means “mourning of the Egyptians.” Finally, Jacob’s body was buried where he wished it to be buried.  

Day 2 

READ 

Genesis 50:14-15 

¹⁴ After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. ¹⁵ But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said. 

After Jacob’s burial, Joseph and his large entourage returned to Egypt. Now that his brothers had time to think about it, they wondered if Joseph might seek revenge because of what they had done to him.  

REFLECT 

Have you ever experienced someone wondering if you would seek revenge because of some wrong they did to you? Were you able to do what is said in Romans 12:18-20. 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 50:14-21. When Joseph heard what his brothers thought, he broke down and wept. Then his brothers said they would be his slaves. Verse 20 could be the theme of Joseph’s life: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.” Joseph did not know about Romans 8:28 in his day, but this was the kind of confidence he had in God. He trusted God to work His eternal plan for good. Joseph promised to take care of his brothers and their descendants. 

Day 3 

READ 

Genesis 50:22 

²² So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110. 

This marked the end of Joseph’s life at 110 years of age. He had lived a godly life, but like all humans, he died. There is no indication he was worried about dying; his main concern was to honor God in his life each day.  

REFLECT 

Is Joseph’s desire the same as yours? Be grateful for your salvation and live with an attitude of gratitude each day. Be a witness for Jesus and seek to take as many to heaven with you as possible. 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 50:22-24. Even when he was near death, Joseph had the confidence that God would take his brothers back to Canaan. He had confidence in God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  

Day 4 

READ 

Genesis 50:25-26 

²⁵ Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt. 

Just has his father had done, Joseph had his brothers swear an oath that they would take his bones with them when they left Egypt. When he died the Egyptians embalmed him and put his body in a coffin.  

REFLECT 

If you have had a loved one die who had trusted in Jesus, do you have confidence that even though the body may be in a coffin the inner person is with the Lord Jesus Christ? Be comforted with what Jesus said as recorded in John 11:25.  

RESPOND 

With your friend read again Genesis 50:25-26. See the confidence Joseph had that his body should be buried with his relatives, even as his father had wanted. For the believer in Jesus today, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 tells what will occur when Jesus appears in the air to catch up believers. Verse 18 can be especially meaningful to believers, “So encourage each other with these words.” 

Day 5 

READ 

Genesis 2:7-8 

 ⁷ Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. ⁸ Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 

 Genesis 50:26 

 ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt. 

The first book of the Bible began in the Garden of Eden and ended in a coffin in Egypt. But Joseph was ready to meet his God. As Abraham, he had believed God and God counted him as righteous because of his faith (see Genesis 15:6).  

REFLECT 

Have you made the decision to trust in Jesus as your Savior? If so, His righteousness has been put on your account as indicated in 2 Corinthians 5:21. 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 3:6-7. These verses tell of Adam and Eve choosing to go their own way instead of God’s way. 1 Timothy 2:14 indicates Eve was deceived but Adam was not—he knew what he was doing in disobeying God’s commands. As the father of the human race, Adam’s act of disobedience poisoned the stream of humanity so all his descendants are born with a sin nature and death results as Romans 5:12 indicates.