Carry Up My Bones

part two

Scripture Reading: Genesis 50:22-26

So, Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph say Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. And Joseph sad to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So, Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

The promise of Genesis 3:15 was later incorporated into what is called the Abrahamic covenant. God called Abraham and made a promise to Abraham that through his Seed all the nations of the world would be blessed. That promise was passed from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and then to Jacob’s sons. And a part of the promise was the promise land. Which brings us to this text and to what Joseph is doing as he comes to dying.

In terms of the amount of space given in Genesis to different people, the life of Joseph takes up a significant amount of the book. In large part that is because Joseph is pointing us to Jesus. The parallels between Joseph and Jesus are astounding.

·       Joseph was loved by his father

·       He was betrayed by his brothers

·       Judah played a significant role in his betrayal

·       He was sold for silver

·       He went down into prison

·       He was given over into the hands of Gentiles

·       He was delivered out of prison through a baker and cup-bearer – bread and wine

·       He ascends to the right hand of power

·       He becomes the source of salvation to both his brethren (the Hebrews) and the Gentile world

Despite the extensive history of Joseph and these typological pictures of Christ, the mention Joseph receives in the New Testament is found in the book of Hebrews and it is about Joseph’s dying request. The writer of Hebrews points to that request as the evidence and example of Joseph’s faith.

It is helpful to notice what Joseph does and doesn’t do here. He doesn’t ask for a monument to built to him to remind people of his achievements in life. He could have done what powerful people in Egypt did and demanded some sort of monument to display his greatness for future generations.

For many people this desire to keep the memory of their lives alive is crucial. They see it as a way to continue to live on in some sense. Joseph sees no need of that and has no desire for it.

Joseph isn’t looking back. He is looking forward. He isn’t clinging to the past; he is living in expectation of the future.

How can that be? After all, he is dying.

Joseph knew the promise of God. He knew that God had promised to Abraham, and then Isaac, and then his father Jacob, and finally to himself and his brothers that they would inherit the Promise Land. Let me say it plainly, Joseph died in expectation of a resurrection. He died believing that he would live again and receive the promise of God.

But it wasn’t just the property in the Middle East the Patriarchs had in mind. As the writer of Hebrews also notes, they were looking for a city whose builder and maker was God. They were living in anticipation of the restoration of Paradise.

And to Joseph this wasn’t a mild hope. The language he uses is the language of certainty. English translations try to capture that with the word “surely.” In the original language Joseph uses a type of speech that is unique to the Hebrew language. He literally says, “visiting he will visit you.” That repetition is a way of emphasizing the certainty of it.

Joseph was certain God was going to fulfill the promise he made in the Abrahamic Covenant. He wanted to be in the Promise Land when the resurrection happened.