As we end in this journey with the Patriarchs, we will finish with Joseph. Again, Joseph is not considered a Patriarch, but his story gives way to the nation of Israel and the story of Moses. The familiarity with God’s covenant is typically associated with the covenant made with Moses called the Mosaic covenant. Within this covenant, we have the ten commandments which are the most well-known of God’s commands.
But the story of Joseph is the bridge which connects the placement of the Israelites in the land of Egypt. It answers the question of how they got there.
So, who is Joseph and why is his story so significant in the carrying of this covenant made to his great grandfather, Abraham?
We often associate the story of Joseph with a beautifully made coat. He was given this coat by his father, Jacob because he was his father’s favorite. Jealousy broke out amongst his ten brothers causing Joseph to end up in a well and ultimately in the land of Egypt as a slave. Because he was good at his job, he ended up being Pharoah’s top servant.
Through all the twists and turns of this story, his brothers who had sold him into slavery were then reconciled with their brother Joseph therefore allowing them to move to the land of Egypt. Joseph’s father, Jacob also came to Egypt and died while living close to his children including Joseph.
We have learned that the covenant of the land of Canaan was first given to Abraham, then to Isaac and now Jacob. Because of famine and family turmoil, Jacob can no longer reside in Canaan. Because of this, is the covenant still promised? Or is it no longer a part of this story?
Upon Jacob’s death bed, he speaks to each of his twelve sons telling them what will transpire in their lives once he is gone. As he was speaking to Joseph, he told him of the dream he had years ago as he was escaping his brother Esau. In this dream, God spoke to Jacob saying…
‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ Genesis 48:4 NIV
Then Jacob tells his son Joseph the same…
“I am about to die, but God will be with you[a] and take you back to the land of your fathers.” Genesis 48:22 NIV
Joseph, too, will return to the land of promise.
In a previous scripture, Jacob said,
“but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” Genesis 37:30 NIV
Jacob will return to the land of promise.
It was never God’s intention for His promise to be fulfilled in the land of Egypt. At the beginning of this journey with the Patriarchs, God promised to Abraham that the land of Canaan was the land that held the promise of a nation. It was from the seed of Abraham and Sarah that God would bring forth this nation created to worship Him. But with every twist and turn of this story, with the defiance and disobedience of God’s children, with every entrance and exit into the land of Canaan, God always brought His people home. This land represented God’s presence, His sovereignty, and His grace.
These people chosen by God, the Israelites, will all some day return to the promised land.
Do you see the incredible sovereignty of God in these stories? When God has a plan, NOTHING will stop it! Not sin, not disobedience, not deception, not even famine.
God desired to create a nation of people who would love and worship Him. Not because God is an arrogant God and needs praise, but because God is a loving God longing to have fellowship and relationship with us. He provided a land for His people where they could gather and seek Him. This was His desire.
As Joseph was dying, he said to his brothers…
“I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” 25 And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” Genesis 50:24, 25 NIV
But this story didn’t end with the death of Joseph and his body buried in the land of Egypt. This story goes all the way back to prophecy from God in a dream to Abraham. Do you remember this?
“Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions….In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, ….” Genesis 15:13-16 NIV
Do you recognize this story? God told Abraham about Moses.
When Joseph brought his family to Egypt because of the famine, this was the beginning of the growth of the Israelite nation. When his father, Jacob, moved his family to Egypt to be with Joseph, there were 70 Israelites in all. Seventy of God’s promised people. As history continues, the growth of the promised nation of Israel grew within their imprisonment in Egypt. As the leadership of Pharoah changed, so did the status of the Israelites in Egypt. They went from the treasured people in Joseph’s life, to the enslaved people in Moses’ time some four hundred years later. The nation of Israel grew from seventy to over a million people while enslaved in the land of Egypt.
But God’s promise was to always bring His people home.
From the promise given to Abraham, passed to Isaac, continued with Jacob, and now orchestrated through Moses bringing the Israelites out of the land of captivity, we can clearly see the sovereignty of God. In the book of Exodus, we read the well-known story of God bringing the Israelite nation through the Red Sea and then eventually back to the land of Canaan, the promised land that was flowing with milk and honey. As these people crossed into the land of promise, they were reminded of the promises God made to their forefathers, the Patriarchs of their faith. They had come full circle starting in the land of promise within the life of Abraham and returning to the promised land within the life of Moses.
Why is this important? Why did I take you on this journey?
When we look at this story in its entirety, we are reminded of the sovereignty of God and His promises. Each step of this journey leads us to one thing…the promise that He fulfilled in the journey of the Israelites. But this journey was not over even after the nation of Israel reached the land of promise. The ultimate finishing of the promise is Jesus Christ, the promise of a Savior. If we can believe in God’s sovereignty of the Promised Land, we can believe in His sovereignty of His Promised Son. It is within His sovereignty that we can breathe in life and salvation!
Finishing the story of Joseph and the fulfillment that he too would return home to the land of Canaan; Moses gathered Joseph’s bones…
“Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” Exodus 13:19 NIV
There is no place like home!
THE WALK 