Then Joseph 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.” 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
In the last chapter of Genesis, we learn not only about the end of Jacob’s life but Joseph’s as well,
We’re told that Joseph lived to be 110 years old.
Keep in mind that numbers in the Bible can be both literal and/or symbolic.
Especially when we encounter round numbers like 40 or 70, there’s a high probability that they hold a symbolic rather than literal meaning.
In the Egyptian culture, the number 110 represented a blessed and full life span.
The equivalent number in the Hebrew culture would be 120.
No doubt, since Joseph was residing in Egypt, the compiler of Genesis used 110 to show that Joseph’s final years had reached their peak fulfillment.
Joseph’s life was very blessed.
He lived to the point where he was even able to see his great grandchildren born.
Note the expression, “they were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees” referring to Joseph’s grandchildren.
As a literal translation from the Hebrew into the English, this doesn’t make much sense.
But Biblically, this phrase means that those children were born under the tribal authority of Joseph.
The biggest spiritual takeaway I get from the final moments of Joseph’s life is that like his father Jacob, he made his family promise him that his final burial place NOT be in Egypt.
Joseph had been very well treated and highly esteemed in Egypt.
God had blessed him greatly in Egypt.
He had achieved a full and satisfying life in Egypt.
However, Joseph never became too attached to Egypt.
It was still just a foreign land to him.
He knew who his God was and he knew that his ultimate resting place belonged in the Promised Land.
It is the same with us believers.
God may have blessed you greatly on this earth.
You may have great power, wealth, and authority (which I think is great by the way).
But don’t forget that your final resting place and eternal home is to be in the Promised Land.
Just as it was for Joseph.
God bless Israel!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE KNEW TESTAMENT
“Do not love the world or anything in the world.
If anyone loves the world,
love for the Father is not in them.
For everything in the world
—the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life
—comes not from the Father but from the world.
The world and its desires pass away,
but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
-1 John 2:15-17
“Dear friends,
I urge you,
as foreigners and exiles,
to abstain from sinful desires,
which wage war against your soul.
Live such good lives among the pagans that,
though they accuse you of doing wrong,
they may see your good deeds
and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
-1 Peter 2:11-12
Leave a Reply