The Study of Genesis: Post Twenty-Four (The Final Post in Genesis)
***Note – We have completed the book of Job and this is our final devotion in the book of Genesis! We will continue our studies into the book of Exodus next week!
Focus: Genesis Chapter 50
Tip: I highly recommend journaling your responses to the questions, prompts, and reflections. Writing them out can help you process more deeply and see how God is working in your life.
This week’s devotion includes:
Genesis Chapter 50 – “ Overcome Evil with Good”
Bible Memory:
Did you memorize last week’s Bible verse?
Hiding God’s Word in our hearts is such a valuable practice. Since I’ve been memorizing Scripture, I’ve experienced so many moments where God brings a specific verse to mind just when I need it most. It’s amazing how He uses His Word to speak into our lives right where we are.
This Week’s Memory Verse:
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
-Romans 12:21
Genesis Chapter 50
“Overcome Evil with Good”
(Read Genesis Chapter 50 First)
We have made it to the last chapter in Genesis.
Jacob (Israel) has just spoken his final blessings over his sons, and now he’s gone. Scripture says that Joseph fell on his father’s face, wept over him, and kissed him. His heart was broken.
Then the very next verse says Joseph commanded his servants…the physicians.
Can we just pause there for a second? Joseph is commanding his servants… the physicians. The same man who was once thrown into a pit and sold into slavery is now in a position of authority and honor. Only God can write a story like that.
Joseph tells them to embalm his father. In those days, the embalming process took 40 days (verse 3). It involved removing the organs, drying the body with salt and spices, and wrapping it in layers of linen. It was done as a way to honor the one who had passed. And the Egyptians mourned him for 70 days.
When the mourning period ended, Joseph asked Pharaoh for permission to go bury his father in Canaan just like Jacob had made him promise. In the cave where his wife Leah was buried, along with Isaac and Rebekah, and Abraham and Sarah.
And Pharaoh said yes.
So Joseph went and he didn’t go alone.
All the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of Egypt, Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s house went with him. The only ones left behind were the little ones and the livestock.
That’s a lot of people.
When I stop and picture that, this massive group traveling together just to honor one life and support one grieving family. They didn’t mourn alone. They went together and wept together. They felt deeply, openly, and fully.
Verse 10 says when they came to the threshing floor of Atad, they mourned with a “great and very sore lamentation” for seven days. It was so significant that the people of the land noticed and named the place Abel-mizraim, which means “the meadow of Egypt.”
After they buried Jacob, everyone returned to Egypt.
Joseph’s brothers start to get nervous.
They begin to think, “Now that our father is gone… what if Joseph finally decides to pay us back for what we did to him?”
So they send a message to Joseph, saying that their father told him to forgive them.
And when Joseph hears this… he weeps.
We’re not told exactly why Joseph weeps. Maybe he was hurt that they still didn’t believe his forgiveness. Maybe he couldn’t understand why they were still carrying that fear. Maybe it was all of it.
Then his brothers come and fall before him, offering themselves as his servants.
And Joseph responds in one of the most powerful ways in all of Scripture:
“Fear not… ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good…”
He tells them not to be afraid. He promises to provide for them and their families. And the Bible says he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Look closely at his character:
They were evil to him… but he forgave them.
They left him for dead… but he said fear not.
They hated him… but he said I will nourish you.
They threw him in a pit… but he comforted them.
They took 22 years from him… but he spoke kindly to them.
That kind of response doesn’t come from human strength. That comes from a heart shaped by God.
It reminds me of these verses:
Matthew 5:44
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
Luke 6:27-28
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
Romans 12:20-21
“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink…
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:17
“Recompense to no man evil for evil…”
1 Peter 3:9
“Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing…”
Proverbs 25:21-22
“If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat…”
Don’t let someone else’s wrong change who you are.
When you respond with good, you protect your own heart. You reflect God’s character. And sometimes… you soften theirs too.
Journaling Questions:
1. Is there someone in my life I’ve “forgiven”… but still hold at a distance in my heart?
2. What would it look like to respond with kindness instead of protection or pride?
3. Do I truly trust that God can turn what was meant for evil into something good?
4. Where might God be asking me to say “fear not” instead of “you owe me”?
We close out Genesis with Joseph living to be 110 years old. He got to see his children, grandchildren, and even some of his great-grandchildren. What a gift.
Before he died, he told his brothers that God would surely bring them out of Egypt and back to the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he made them swear to carry his bones with them when they went.
And the last verse tells us he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
But don’t let that feel like the end of the story.
Because God isn’t finished.
We’re about to begin in Exodus… and yes, Joseph’s bones will make it to the Promised Land.
God always keeps His promises.
The Georgia Nest 