Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 48-50.
Before Joseph’s death, he charged his brethren to do something regarding his remains.
“Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here’” (Genesis 50:25).
There are two noteworthy points about Joseph’s statement here.
First, Joseph knew that God would deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. God made a promise to Abraham that his descendants would possess a certain land. That land was not Goshen in Egypt, but Canaan. By faith, Joseph gave instructions based upon this future event that he was sure would happen (cf. Hebrews 11:22).
Second, Joseph wanted to be numbered with his brethren, not with the Egyptians. By this point he had lived in Egypt for most of his life. But he did not hold any sentimental attachment to the land of Egypt. When the Israelites finally left Egypt, he wanted to be sure that his bones were carried out with them.
We should learn some lessons from Joseph’s statement which he made before his death. First, just as he had faith in God’s promise, we must have faith in God’s promises as well. We have “a hope both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19) in heaven because of Christ.
Second, as Joseph recognized that he belonged in Canaan, rather than in Egypt, we must remember that this world is not our home. We are just “aliens and strangers” (1 Peter 2:11). “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).
Tomorrow’s reading: Exodus 1-3
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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