Genesis 50:1-14
Genesis contains all the great events which affect the human family: birth, marriage, the loss of a wife, mother or father; and it shows us faith in action for going through these things. Jacob’s end is very beautiful. The good land of Goshen where he passed the last seventeen years of his life did not make him forget the land of Canaan or the promises which the LORD made to him at Beersheba (Genesis 46:4). And he showed his sons the value he attached to Canaan by giving them precise orders about his burial. He is to rest in the cave of Machpelah where the members of the family of faith await the resurrection day. The price has been paid in the past in order to assure his right to this.
Great solemnity is given to patriarchal funerals. Generally in the Old Testament we see the entombment of a man corresponding to his faithfulness. The burials of Jehoiada and king Hezekiah honoured their godliness (2 Chronicles 24:16; 2 Chronicles 32:33). Today, when a believer leaves this world, this does not give rise to great ceremonies. Death for the child of God has lost its terrible power; it is compared to a simple sleep which will end with the resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). But even if death has lost its sting, let us never forget what it cost its Conqueror.