… taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. – Genesis 50:3

Today's Scripture Reading (October 31, 2024): Genesis 50

Diana, Princess of Wales, died on August 31, 1997. I remember the moment the announcement was made on the television channel I happened to be watching. I admit that I was stunned. The event was so unexpected. The images of her car careening down a French road with the Paparazzi close on their tail were unbelievable. That this was the end of the People's Princess seemed implausible. Indeed, there must have been a mistake. This couldn't be the end.

If the surprise was palpable in my home, I can't imagine the shock that shook the Royal family as the news reached them. It must have been a nightmare. Most of what we know about this time is basically just rumors. But, it seems that there was no plan for how to deal with Diana's death. There was no reason that one should have been devised; she was young and healthy.

Additionally, Diana was no longer part of the Royal Family after her divorce from Prince Charles. The Family might have guessed what would happen if Diana died, but they hadn't. They seemed to have to be continually reminded that Diana wasn't just Charles's ex-wife, but she was the mother of the future King of the United Kingdom, William. And so, the Royal Family stumbled from one mistake to the next, only making various decisions after the people demanded a response. One telling rumor was that the plan for Diana's funeral had actually been formulated for Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It was easier to modify that plan than to develop a new one. In the process, Royal customs had to fall to the wayside, if only because the people's esteem for their princess was higher than the esteem they held for the Royal Family. Even though she was no longer part of the Royal Family, the People's Princess would be treated like a Royal. It may have been a hard road for the Family, but the people made it a necessary path for the country to travel.

Jacob had died. He was a nobody. Jacob was just a foreign farmer whose way of life would have been despised by the Egyptian people and their leaders alike. And yet, the Egyptian officials took forty days to embalm him properly. And all of Egypt mourned his passing for seventy days, just two days short of time spent mourning a Royal family member. Experts have taken this as proof of the level of respect Egypt had for Jacob. But I wonder if we have that right. While Diana possessed the respect of the people, which went beyond that of the Royal Family, I think maybe that was not true of Jacob. The embalming and mourning period that the nation spent on Jacob might have actually been an indication of the respect the nation held for Jacob's son, Joseph. The nation mourned because Joseph mourned. And Joseph was so loved and respected in Egypt that the country could do nothing else but mourn with him.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 1