Embracing Death
Jacob is a man who has spent much of his life, on the run, fearing for his life, running for his life, to preserve it. First he ran for his life from Esau, then he ran for his life from Laban, then he wrestled with God for his life, then he feared his for his life from his sons destroying the Shechemites, and he was even a bit fearful of going to Egypt, for his life. And yet in chapter 49v28-33, after Jacob blesses his sons, we see a man that is ready to die. We see a man who is no longer running for his life. We see a man who has come to embrace death as it comes to him. After he blesses his sons, he gives specific instructions on his burial. And when he finishes, in verse 33, he simply drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last. He just pulls his feet up into bed, as if he is going to sleep – embracing the fact that it is time to die.
There have been some who have said that part of being a pastor is helping people to die, or preparing people for death. So many people are terrified of dying. Even many professing believers are afraid of death. That may be some of us, even. Or maybe we experience that fear from time to time. While I don’t want any of you to die until you are all old and full of days, I do want you to be prepared to die. I want you to be ready for it. And I want everyone here today, to be ready to die, today. Putting off such a preparation to just another day, or even another moment, is the most foolish thing one can do. And yet, that is what most people do. Many don’t even think about death, let alone prepare for it.
One thing to note about this passage is just how plainly death is spoken of. And the way in which Jacob’s sons and the Egyptians dealt with it, they just embraced it head on. It wasn’t something they tried to ignore or gloss over the reality of. They embraced it and dealt with it.
The Bible is the unchanging Word of God and is ever relevant; but in addition to that, one of the things that is unceasingly relevant about the Scripture is that it deals with death, and it tells us what happens when we die, and it gives us the answer to death. Though no human living has died, death is an ever relevant topic because anyone could die at any moment.
We ought to be prepared. Death is the most important and most urgent thing that we need to prepare for. My friends, any one of us could be driving home this evening, and out of nowhere a car comes smashing into yours and it’s all over. Any one of our hearts could stop beating at any moment. Our lungs may not take in our next breath. None of us has any idea when our time to die may come!
I was speaking with a young man when we were downtown witnessing. He told me he believed in a heaven and a hell, and that the way to heaven was repentance of sin and faith in Christ. But then he told me that he himself did not believe in Christ. And I said to him, but sir, why not? You could die tonight!
This is the case with so many people. We all know that we’re going to die, many even know the truth about what happens when we die, and yet, for whatever reason or another, we fail to deal with this undeniable reality of our own mortality. We put things off, and we think that we will have time later, but we don’t know that. Life is so fragile.
Hebrews 9v27 tells us that “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” We are all going to die, and die once, no second chances, and then after that comes judgment.
We don’t think about it like we ought, when we are young, most of us. I’m convinced one of Satan’s tactics is to distract mankind with their youth and the pleasures of the world that comes with youth, in order to hinder us and cause us to put off our preparation of death.
But our text does not simply call us to be ready to embrace death as people who will one day die and face death. But also, as mourners, when death comes for our loved ones or friends. We see a beautiful and emotional pictures of Joseph falling on his father, weeping over him in chapter 50v1. Not only is it Joseph here that is mourning for his father, but also, in verse 3, the Egyptians, weep for seventy days for Jacob. I found this fascinating. It would makes sense for the Egyptians to weep greatly for Joseph when he passes, but Jacob? Why are they weeping for Jacob? What has Jacob done for them? He has been living in Goshen, they must hardly even know him. So it is just crazy to me that they weep for seventy days, and then many Egyptians travel to Canaan as well for the burial, and weep there also. I think it was Calvin who said that Egyptians were simply going through the formal process of mourning over a death, and they were simply keeping their customs. I think that could certainly be partly true, but I think it is also out of the love and respect that they had for Joseph, that they mourn for his father. It seems to me to be a testimony to how well loved, honored, and respected Joseph was to the Egyptians, that they mourned for the loss of his loved one.
This teaches us to be ready to embrace death as mourners. Whether it is our very own loved one, or the loved one of someone who is dear to us. Let us be prepared to weep with those who weep, and take the appropriate time to embrace the reality that someone we loved has passed, weep over it together, then strengthen ourselves in the gospel, and continue on.
Ecclesiastes 3v1-8, reminds us of this, so beautifully.
There is a time to die and a time to mourn. The Christian can embrace all the different times of life, because we do so with hope, a certain hope, in the promises of God, by faith.
Embracing the Promise
When Jacob tells his sons the instructions for his burial, it is clear that it is not simply personal preference, but it is the preference of faith. Jacob is looking to, believing in, and embracing the promises of God, in his death. As Matthew Henry puts it, “…in mentioning his wishes now and rehearsing all the circumstances connected with the purchase of Machpelah, he wished to declare, with his last breath, before all his family, that he died in the same faith as Abraham.” He wanted to be buried in the land of Canaan, the land of promise, with his fathers, the patriarchs of the faith, who lived and died in faith before him.
The fact that Jacob desired to be buried with his fathers, and Leah, and not Rachel, shows, as well, that he now is acting in faith, believing the promises of God, and not simply acting of our his own feelings, flesh, and personal preference. He teaches us here that God’s ultimate purpose for his people is not in this world but in His promises.
Jacob wanted to be identified with God, the promises of God, and the people of God. The nearer and nearer Jacob got to death, the clearer and clearer he saw and grabbed hold of God’s promise to him. And his dying wishes, though he lived a rough life full of failures, he wanted to die, being known, remembered, and identified, as believing God, and being a partaker, a recipient of God’s promise. John Newton says that, “This is faith: a renouncing of everything we are apt to call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness and intercession of Jesus.”
He didn’t want to be remembered and known for what he did and accomplished in life – he knows that wouldn’t read very well on a gravestone, he wants to be known and remembered as being a recipient of God’s promise, love, and faithfulness. My friends, this is how we ought to die. Our good works will be nothing to brag about when death comes calling; but oh to be known and identified and remembered, as a great sinner who had a great Savior and was a recipient of the undeserved and unmerited grace of God in Christ and all the promises of the gospel therein. As John Newton said as he neared death, “Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”
Death sort of has a way of widening our spiritual eyes, as believers, to see more clearly how great sinners we are, and even more clearly how great of a Savior Christ is.
As Jacob dies embracing the promises of God, so we as Christians are to die embracing, looking to, and grasping hold of the promises of God to us – the promises of the Gospel. As we die, we hold on to the promise that our sins are forgiven, that Christ’s righteousness is given to us, that we have peace with God, that we have been adopted as sons, and that joy everlasting awaits us, and so much more.
Ultimately, though it is not simply the promises that we must believe and hold on to, but it is THE Promise – Christ. Christ Himself is the ultimate promise of the gospel. He is the ultimate promise that we receive. After all, it does no good to hold on to the promise of forgiveness of sins, or eternal life, if we are not holding on to Christ. Without Christ, we don’t have forgiveness of sins, righteousness, or eternal life, for they are all found in Him. So ultimately, it is not the promises, or the benefits of the gospel that we hold on to, but it is Christ that we must embrace! In Him is everything! He is everything! Christ is THE Promise. John Calvin says that “Faith is not a distant view, but a warm embrace of Christ.”
Jacob was put to rest in the promised land. It is there, in our promise destination, in Christ, that we will have rest. It is not a specific piece of land we are looking to, but it is Christ, He is our promised destination, He is our promised land, He is our resting place.
As Jacob died looking forward to the future fulfilment of the promises of God, so we do, in a much clearer sense, 1 Thessalonians 4v13-18.
In one sense, Jacob died with an eschatological hope. He died looking forward to the future fulfilment of God’s promises. We die with a similar hope, but a much clearer view of what that looks like.
John Calvin puts it this way, “Moreover, in order that a good conscience may lead us peacefully and quietly to the grave, it is necessary to rely upon the resurrection of Christ; for we then go willingly to God, when we have confidence respecting a better life. We shall not deem it grievous to leave this failing tabernacle, when we reflect on the everlasting abode which is prepared for us.”
Christ Embracing Us in Death
Ultimately it is not our embracing of death and our embracing of the promises, or our embracing of Christ that brings us hope, but it is Christ’s embracing of us in death. It is not how tightly we hold on to Him, but on how tightly He holds on to us.
One of the themes I see in this passage is how diligently and how affectionately Joseph cares for Jacob in his death. He sees to it that everything is taken care of all the way through the whole process. He is sort of shepherding his father’s death. In that I see glimpses of Christ, in how diligently and affectionately Christ cares for us, his people in death. He shepherds through the whole process. Psalm 116v15 tells us, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”
Verse 4-6: Joseph being a mediator here…and ensuring the resting place of Jacob
As Joseph mediates and ensures the resting place of Jacob, so Christ mediates and ensures that our resting place is found in Him.
Verse 2-3: The embalming process was meant to preserve the body from decomposition. So Christ preserves us from destruction in death –we will rise again. When a believer dies, he is eternally embalmed , so to speak, he is forever preserved from decay, in Christ. But when an unbeliever dies, there is no preservation, there is eternal punishment and destruction in the flames of hell.
The Christian dies, embracing death, the Promise (Christ), but most importantly, being embraced by Christ.
Concluding Gospel Thoughts
And more specifically, Christians can embrace death, because Christ embraced us in His death. As Christians we are embraced in our death by Christ, because He embraced us in His dying. Christ’s dying, on behalf of His people, was Him doing what was necessary for us to be embraced by Him. He did so, because on the cross, Jesus embraced our sin, He took on Himself. He embraced the punishment and wrath of God we deserved for our sin. He embraced death itself for us. He embraced the beating and mocking and the crown of thorns, for us. He embraced our shame and guilt for His own. He embraced the nails and the wood, for us.
If you know this to have been done for you, then you two can embrace death, because it is not a punishment, it is but a passage way to be swallowed up in the warm embrace of Christ.
But he who does not embrace Christ, will have to embrace the punishment for his sins on his own. He will have to face the wrath of God in hell that comes after death and judgment. And so I ask you today? Are you prepared to die? Have you come to Christ? Or do you dare roll the dice on having another day to live? Do not be so foolish to neglect the most urgent preparation we face. Come to Christ.
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