Joseph lived to see God's blessing on his children's children. He died 54 years after Jacob's death when he was 110 years old.950Many Egyptian texts refer to 110 as the ideal life span.951
Joseph probably could have experienced burial in a pyramid or had some other grand burial in Egypt. However, he wanted his family to embalm him and place his body in a coffin in Egypt. Later descendants could bury him in the Promised Land near Shechem. They did so in the parcel of land his father had bought and given to him, perhaps under Abraham's oak (48:22; cf. Josh. 24:32). This expression of Joseph's faith in God's promises to his forefathers provides a fitting climax for the Book of Genesis.
"The outstanding feature of Joseph's life was faithful loyalty to God under all circumstances."952
"The story of Joseph illustrates patient faith and its reward. It ends the book of Genesis and brings its theme to a literary climax. . . . But the story of Joseph shows us that the road to victory, dominion, mastery, and judicial authority, is through service, the humble service of a slave. Through service and suffering, God purges and destroys indwelling sin in the believer (not completely, but sufficiently), builds character in him, and fits him for the mastery of the world."953
"The Book of Genesis, like the Old Testament in microcosm, ends by pointing beyond its own story . . . . Joseph's dying words epitomized the hope in which the Old Testament, and indeed the New (cf. Rev. 22:20), would fall into expectant silence: God will surely visit you."954
Believers who trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to bless in His own inscrutable ways will demonstrate their faith in the way they die.
