A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Some critics have disputed the reliability of this number noting the LXX records the number as
seventy-five (cf. Acts 7:14). The difference of five in the two texts appears to be the inclusion of
five grandsons of Joseph identified in the LXX but not in the Masoretic text. The number
seventy here is representative of the entire nation of Israel as the seventy names are
representative of the whole world in Genesis 10. Because the brothers of Joseph were shepherds,
an occupation considered barbaric to the Egyptians, Joseph arranged for them to live in Goshen.
This region was not only cut off from other parts of Egypt, it also included abundant pastures for
the herds and flocks.
The devastating effect of the famine destroyed the economy of Egypt and the rest of the
world. With the failure of the economy, the men of Egypt agreed to purchase grain with their
land. During the remaining years of the famine, Joseph was engaged in buying up the land of
Egypt, except the temple lands, and setting up a new Egyptian economy based on state
ownership of property and a 20 percent tax on the gross national product. During this time, the
Pharaoh apparently directed the family of Jacob should be given the prime lands and be exempt
from the national taxation system. As a result, Israel and his family prospered during an
international economic crisis.
When Jacob became ill toward the end of his life, Joseph presented his sons to their
grandfather. Jacob blessed them and in essence adopted them as his sons in the place of their
father. In the process of blessing the sons of Joseph, Jacob followed a common pattern in the
Book of Genesis in passing over the firstborn for a younger. Then he called his other sons to his
deathbed and blessed them also. His address to them on that occasion was in part a prophetic
revelation of things to come in Israel. It records the first use of the significant prophetic phrase
“the last days” (49:1). His descriptions of his twelve sons are characterizations of the twelve
tribes that make up the nation.
Jacob insisted he be buried in the cave of Machpelah (with Abraham and Isaac) and not
in Egypt. His death marked a time of sorrow not only for his family but for the entire land of
Egypt. According to the custom of Egyptian embalmers, the body of Jacob was prepared for
burial. Scientists today are still unsure of the nature of the embalming practices which preserved
the bodies of Pharaohs so remarkably well. The national period of mourning for Jacob is here
identified as, seventy days and is remarkable in light of the fact the period of mourning for a
Pharaoh was only seventy-two days. It was not until then the sons of Jacob carried the body of
their father to the family tomb. After an additional seven days of mourning as a family, Jacob
was buried. Those who witnessed the proceedings at the tomb concluded it was a time of very
great mourning for the Egyptians.
After the death of their father (1859 B. C.), the brothers of Joseph feared his attitude
toward them might change. Still they did not understand Joseph’s outlook on life. “But as for
you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring about as it is this
day, to save many people alive” (50:20). Being surrendered to the will of God for his life, Joseph
could not be bitter against his brothers.
The time came when Joseph also died in Egypt, but not before he set his great-greatgrandchildren
on his knees. As he looked into the eyes of a future generation, he remembered
God’s promise to Abraham. Israel would not always remain in Egypt. Soon they would be going
home. Joseph would die in Egypt, but he too wanted to be a part of that great migration north to
the land of promise. Before he died, he had a request of the people he had saved from famine.
“God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here” (v. 25). And when he