Carry Up My Bones

Scripture Reading: Genesis 50:22-26

The writer of Hebrews, when demonstrating the faith of the Patriarchs, fastened on Joseph’s “carry up my bones” statement he made just before he died as exemplifying faith. A few years earlier, when Jacob died, Joseph took leave from Egypt and returned to Canaan to have him buried. Now, when it is his turn to die, he doesn’t seek immediate burial in the tomb of his ancestors, but looks forward to the Exodus and exacts a promise from his brethren that they would take his remains with them when they left Egypt.

Although the majority of his life had been lived in Egypt, his wife was Egyptian, he spoke the Egyptian language, his father-in-law was an Egyptian priest, and he served in the highest offices of Egyptian power; Joseph’s soul was still Hebrew, and he still clung to the promise of God made to father Abraham.

Joseph was dying but he wanted his corpse to preach for him after his end in this world had come. The commitment he extracted from his brethren would serve as a reminder of the Exodus to come. Whenever a Hebrew child would see the tomb of Joseph, they would be reminded that “God will surely visit you…” He had faith – “God will SURELY visit you” – and he wanted that faith to preach.

As Joseph’s tomb was a perpetual sermon of the Exodus that was to come, Jesus’ empty tomb serves the same purpose. “He is not here, He has risen,” preaches to us of the Exodus that is to come; when the graves shall be opened and we all rise to meet Him in the air.