November 2nd, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Gathered To His People

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Opening Prayer

Almighty and Eternal God, You are great and greatly to be praised. Your power and wisdom are beyond our comprehension.

Read GENESIS 49:29-50:14

[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, [30] 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. [31] There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. [32] The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.” [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. [1] Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. [2] Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, [3] taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. [4] When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, [5] ‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.'” [6] Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.” [7] So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him-the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt- [8] besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. [9] Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company. [10] When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. [11] When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim. [12] So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: [13] They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. [14] After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Meditate

“When you come to welcome us, may you find us ready, schooled by the fear of you, untroubled, unhesitant on the last day” (Gregory of Nazianzus, 329-389 AD).

Think Further

Not far from where I live is the island of Lindisfarne (off the Northeast coast of England) or Holy Island, where Aidan founded a contemplative and evangelistic community in about 635 AD. Many people visit the island to seek God in an intentional way and to reflect on their lives. Last year, in one of the island’s retreat centers, I discovered an intriguing and thoughtful book about how to die well. One suggestion was that a dying person needs to be helped, in appropriate ways, to relinquish the relationships of life here and to turn his or her mind and heart to the relationships of the life to come. Maybe this is what we watch Jacob doing as he carefully prepares for his own good death (29-33).

“May you find us ready … untroubled, unhesitant on the last day.” Gregory of Nazianzus’ prayer might have been written with Jacob’s death in mind. This quiet man (25:27) has dominated over half the book of Genesis, his life characterized by a passionate belief in, and pursuit of, God’s promised blessing for himself and his people. This passionate pursuit has regularly involved lying and double-dealing–but also extraordinary, intimate encounters with God. “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” declared Jacob at Peniel (32:26), and he bears witness that the Lord’s blessing had been with him through thick and thin ever since (48:3,4,15). The instructions he gives his family for a Hebron burial make clear his firm belief that his story is simply one episode in the continuing saga of his people (29-32; 23:2-11). Buried with extraordinary Egyptian honors, Jacob has nevertheless resisted compromise with Egypt. “Jacob does his dying as he does his living, in terms of a promise that is not doubted. And that is enough, even though he does not know the form of the fulfillment” (Walter Brueggemann, Genesis).

Apply

“He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ … into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Pet. 1:3,4). What does this truth mean to you?

Closing prayer

Lord, I pray that I will live and die well, full of the hope of the Gospel and assured that nothing in life or death can separate me from Your love.

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