Humanly speaking, no one wants to die. Jacob, however, viewed his death as sleep (47:30, Heb.). Although no one likes to die, everyone enjoys sleeping. It is so sweet to sleep, especially when we are exhausted. For one hundred forty-seven years, Jacob had been bearing a heavy burden and had had many involvements. After enduring so many problems, the time had come for him to rest, to sleep. Thus, he considered death as sleep. He might have said, "My grandfather Abraham is resting. Why should I still strive and bear burdens? I would like to sleep as well."
By viewing death as sleep, Jacob indicated that he believed in resurrection (1 Thess. 4:13-16). He was not a Sadducee, an ancient modernist who did not believe in resurrection. Those who sleep wake up after they have had adequate rest. When I wake up after a good night's sleep, I am refreshed. Jacob has been sleeping for thirty-seven hundred years. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, some of Jacob's descendants, the Pharisees and Sadducees, were arguing whether or not Jacob would wake up, that is, whether or not he would be resurrected. The Pharisees, the ancient fundamentalists, believed in the resurrection, but the Sadducees did not. The Lord Jesus, of course, believed in the resurrection. He even told the Sadducees that God was called the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, indicating that He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. 22:32). Jacob is still resting, waiting for the time of resurrection. Perhaps when we see him, we shall say, "Good morning, Jacob."
Jacob charged Joseph not to bury him in Egypt, but in the good land (47:29-30). Although he gained much in Egypt, he had no heart for that place. His heart was in the good land. Hence, he charged Joseph to bury him in the good land, in the cave of Machpelah, where his fathers had been buried, that he might inherit the good land. By charging Joseph in this way, Jacob indicated that he had faith in God's promise. He believed that one day the good land promised by God would be the portion, the inheritance, of his descendants. As Jacob was departing, he was a man full of faith. I hope that when we depart we also shall be those full of faith, not faith in something vain, but faith in what has been promised by God in His Word. There are many promises in the Bible for us to believe in. When we depart, we must depart in faith in God's trustworthy word written in the Bible.
The record of Jacob's departure makes no mention of his illness, of his will, or of the way he distributed his properties among his children. The good land was their inheritance, and God's promise was the will Jacob bequeathed to his children. Although the record of Jacob's departure says nothing of his illness or bequests, it gives a beautiful, vivid picture of his life in the presence of God. Truly Jacob was a man of God. As he was dying, he was not threatened by death. Rather, because he was full of faith and hope, he enjoyed his departure.