vaY'chi (And 'Jacob' Lived)
12) Genesis 47:28-50:26
What do new year resolutions and death bed requests have in common?
Both are expressions of hope and priority. New year’s resolutions are what we prioritize as goals for the upcoming year. Furthermore, they reflect a hope for success by our goals being accomplished. Similarly, death bed requests reflect the priorities of a dying person and what they hope for before they take their final breath.
The name of this week’s portion—the last one in the book of Genesis—is va'Y’chi which means “and he lived.” The “he” is Jacob. The “he” is Israel.
Interestingly, the Torah portion begins and ends in Egypt with a death bed request. It opens with Jacob’s dying request to Joseph and closes with Joseph’s dying request to his relatives. Let’s take a look at these two “book ends” of this week’s Torah portion to see what they have in common.
Here is the opening text in Genesis 47:29-30…
When the time for Israel to die drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but when I lie down with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”
Note the intimacy involved in having a son place his hand under the thigh of his father to make a promise. Here is the closing text in Genesis 50:24-25…
Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”
Do you see the commonality between these two requests—one from a father and one from his son? Look back at the text. What was their specific request? How does this deathbed plea to be carried and buried—from Egypt to Israel—reflect a hope in the promises of God?
They are going to be dead! Who cares what soil they are buried in?
I believe their priority stemmed from hope in a physical resurrection unto indescribable joy under the strong hand of God’s blessing. God made a promise for both seed and soil—people and land—to these men set apart as patriarchal platforms of promise to rescue the world.
One final thought…then I hope you will follow a link below to the free online commentary for this portion and let it support you going deeper into your relationship with God. The “bookended” verses above left out the very first verse and the very last verse. Let’s take a quick look.
Here is the first verse of the portion, Genesis 47:28, from which the name is derived:
Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.
Here is the final verse of the Torah portion from Genesis 50:26 (this journey continues in the Prophets and Apostles’ Writings that are available through the Parashah Project):
So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
The first words of the parashah describe Jacob living on through the life of his son Joseph. A father living on through the life of the son.
The last words in the book of Genesis describe this beloved son dead and buried but prepared for resurrection and fulfillment of the promises.
The priority and hope of God’s power to raise up these men compelled them to wait and hope in the fulfillment of covenant promises.
In this new year, may we resolve afresh to prioritize our relationship with God and our time in His Word. May God bless you afresh with hope in the return of the Messiah who is coming soon to fulfill ancient promises.
Readings for the Week:
Torah: GENESIS 47:28–50:26
Prophets: 1 KINGS 2:1–12
Apostolic Writings: MATTHEW 28:16–20
Click HERE for the online Parashah commentary.
Shalom and Happy Secular New Year,
Thomas