It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left. [NLT]
Hebrews 11:22
This is the last of this trilogy of summary verses which have been combined. I think you can see why by now. The author of Hebrews is talking about the Patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, oh and Joseph too. We understand why Abraham, Isaac and Jacob belong together. But why is Joseph linked to the other three? Simply because he is a line of extension into the future and the most successful in many ways. But more importantly, Joseph was the one son of Jacob who understood the LORD’s plan the clearest. He had it laid out for him in dreams, after all we are told he was the dreamer. Joseph was the one who understood God’s plan in detail and played his significant part in seeing it come to fruition. Joseph is the one we have the most evidence for as I have laid out in the Nugget series Evidence for the Exodus.
Joseph’s Dream: Years of Plenty and Famine
What was Found in the Grand Vizier’s Tomb
Given all that God has inputted to Joseph, he had the clearest understanding of God’s covenantal promises. Therefore Joseph remembered [εμνημονευσε], what God had promised. This is the first of the main verbs in this verse. Then he gave instructions [ενετειλατο], the second of the verbs. God had made the plan and the promises so clear to Joseph that he could say confidently that the Israelites WOULD leave Egypt. All Joseph had to do was look back and recall all that God had done in and through him and what He had said to him. On the basis of that confidence (read ‘faith‘) Joseph could recognise the signs of the times and know that the departure was close.
However, there is another element in this verse we need to take into account before we understand all that was happening. Do you recall / remember the way the writer has put these series of verses? They are in the context of unfulfilled expectation. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and now Joseph were following God by faith.
All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.
Hebrews 11:13
This is the reason why these names are grouped as they are. It is the common link between them all. They died still believing what God had promised them. Joseph is the last of these mentioned specifically and the one who perhaps had the clearest idea of the big picture, given the way God had told him the detail. Thus, he could say confidently that God’s promise would be fulfilled. Hence the emphasis in these combination verses on the moment of them dying. Therefore, when Joseph sensed that he was dying he gave them specific instructions as to his bones. He was very aware that he too was not going to see the promised fulfilled while living but he wanted them to take his bones with them and bury them in the Promised Land. He wanted to get to the Promised Land one way or another.
What I find remarkable is that when Manfred Bietak and his team found the tomb of the Grand Vizier desecrated (a person of Semitic descent yet who had an Egyptian pyramid built for him), David Rohl, despite being a ‘self confessed agnostic‘, recalled the text of the Bible saying that the Israelites took Joseph’s bones with them. Rohl told Bietak, “No this wasn’t the work of grave robbers. Grave robbers don’t steal bones. This person was venerated by those who took the bones. We have found the tomb of Joseph. All the pieces fit.” [With some poetic license on my part].
Yes indeed, all the pieces fit.
When you are thoroughly convinced of something yourself you can be convincing to others.
Suz Holmes
When you see the big picture clearly, the details fall into place and it all makes sense.
Ian
Don’t expect to get confirmation from people around you on what God is doing in you. They can’t see the big picture as clearly as God does.
Ian
Passion and devotion grow when you begin to understand the big picture or understand how to understand.
Ian