Joseph comforted those who had offended him. What grace he had! Because the offended one could comfort the offending ones, they could enjoy a pleasant life in the kingdom. Remember, Joseph and his brothers represented the people in the kingdom. Because of Joseph's excellent spirit, they could enjoy a good time together in the kingdom. But suppose Joseph wanted to render evil to his brothers. If such had been the case, the kingdom would have been an impossibility.

Like Jacob, Joseph died in faith. As he was dying, he charged the children of Israel not to leave his bones in Egypt, but to bring them into the promised land (50:22-26). This indicates that he expected the resurrection. He believed that one day he would rise up to inherit the good land and participate in all the enjoyment that would be there. Hallelujah for Joseph's victorious end! In the consummation of the book of Genesis we see Christ, the kingdom, and all the aspects of the overcomers. How we thank the Lord for all this!

In the beginning of this book, God created man in His image to express Him, and He gave man His dominion to represent Him. After the experiences of so many called ones, this book concludes with a life that, in Jacob on the one hand, expressed God in His image and, in Joseph on the other hand, represented God with His dominion. How excellent and wonderful this is!

However, what is portrayed in Genesis was still a shadow in the age of typology. By Joseph's time the reality had not come. Hence, in this sense, Genesis concludes with a verse showing that Joseph died and was put in a coffin in Egypt. He died expecting the age of fulfillment in which he would share in the reality. In brief, as a whole, the book of Genesis begins with God's creation and ends with man's death and his being put in a coffin, even in Egypt. Because of the fall, death, the coffin, and "Egypt" are the destiny of fallen man. Thus, fallen man needs God's redemption, which is fully revealed and typified in the next book, Exodus.