When considering Joshua 24 most people look at verse 15 where Joshua gives the command to choose whom they will serve, or Joshua’s warning that they won’t be able to serve the Lord in verse 19, or the covenant and monument that Joshua made with the people verses 21-27, or the faithfulness of that first-generation verse 31. However, not many look at the burial of Joseph which is what I want to look at today.
Before Joseph died, he told the children of Israel that his body was not to remain in Egypt but was to be returned to the land God had promised them. Even in death, Joseph knew that Egypt though necessary for the time was not the final destination for God’s people. He wanted, even in death, to be where God’s people were. I could talk about the need for those claiming to be Christians to be where the people of God are, but I believe another lesson on Hebrews 10:25. It is good to note though.
The most fascinating thing I see is where Joseph is buried. Everything has now come full circle when you consider the history of the place. Barnes notes on the Bible explains this place like this, “Jacob consecrates his ground by the erection of an altar. He calls it the altar of the Mighty One, the God of Israel, in which he signalizes the omnipotence of him who had brought him in safety to the land of promise through many perils, the new name by which he himself had been lately designated, and the blessed communion which now existed between the Almighty and himself. This was the very spot where Abraham, about one hundred and eighty-five years ago, built the first altar he erected in the promised land Genesis 12:6-7.”[1] It is now consecrated anew to the God of promise.” Now on this place filled with history and the promise that God is the Mighty One of Israel, Joseph is laid to rest as we see the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that his dependents would inherit the land. How did they inherit the land? By the hand of God Almighty, by the hand of our God.
[1] Barnes' Notes on the Bible. Accessed 2/26/18. http://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/33-20.htm
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