Sermon(Gen 50:22-26): Joseph's last will

The original Korean text; https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025251559

 

 

 

>> 22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon Joseph’s knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, “God will visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. <<

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God is the God of the living. Thus, when we say, "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob," they are physically dead from the human point of view here, but are alive in God. This is the teaching of Jesus. Therefore you must not associate God with death. God is not a god of death but the God of all the living, and he gives life to all that need the life. In this sense, do not let any shadow of death fall on the temple where God is, for God helps all men overcome the death and gives them eternal life. For those living in God, the death is just a process, not a final destination. The reason why God abolished the animal sacrifice in the temple in the era of New Testament was that it was better even for animals to enjoy life rather than to be killed even in the temple, in the sight of God. Therefore, you should not let any traces of the dead be in the church if possible. It is not right to hang a big picture of the dead on the wall of the church where God is. Do not build a memorial hall for the dead in the temple or in the yard of the temple. Even the bones of the dead are placed in the basement of the temple or buried in the yard of the temple, which is a severe sin. Do you dare to make the holy temple of God your own grave? This is the extreme of presumption.

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But in today's text, Joseph told the Israelites living in Egypt to swear when he was dying. "God will call you out of this land, and you shall carry up my bones from here." Of course he is saying this, expecting that God someday will deliver Israelites, the slaves of Egypt, from Egypt. When a man dies, his flesh decays and his bones remain. Did Joseph leave such a will because he wanted that the Israelites would honor his bones? Or did he leave the will because he had the superstitious thought that there would be some pain to him after his death if his bones stayed in Egypt forever? No! There was a reason why Joseph told them to take his bones when they left Egypt in the future. If he just had not wanted his bones to be in Egypt, he would have told them like his father Jacob that they should bury his body in Canaan where his ancestors were buried right after his death. But Joseph didn't so. Joseph made such a will for the sake of the future generations of Israelites. He didn't made the will because he wanted his bones to participate in the glorious Exodus of the people of God from Egypt.

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We need to think about Joseph's position in Israel. Joseph was, as it were, the prime minister of Egypt as a foreigner. He brought his father and all his brothers into Egypt and gave them a place to live in. After Joseph, no one of Israelites who lived in Egypt held a high office like Joseph. Joseph was a legend to the Israelites living in Egypt. He was the spiritual center of the Israelites in Egypt. Even after his death, Joseph was the pride of all Israelites. I'm a descendant of Woo Hang Kim, whose nom de plume is Gab-bong, and who was a typical clean official of the Chosun Dynasty; and I'm very proud of him. Likewise, the Israelites in Egypt must have kept their identity in Egypt, thinking of their great ancestor Joseph.

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Joseph thinks of his position and the future of the Israelites. The Israelites were those who must not live in Egypt forever. They ought to leave Egypt when God's time came. In order to do so, all of Israelites ought to keep it in mind that they were the people who ought to emigrate from Egypt. Therefore Joseph made the rest of the Israelites swear to take his bones with them when they left the country. This oath was passed down from generation to generation. All Israelites born in Egypt heard about their legendary ancestor Joseph and saw the trace of him, that is, his coffin. And they heard from their parents also Joseph's request, "God will drag you Israelites out of this country. Take my bones from here then!" So all Israelites knew that they were those who should leave Egypt however many years might pass.

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My brethren, the Exodus took place almost 300 years after Joseph's death. Had it not been for Joseph's last will and the oath of the Israelites, Israelites would have lost the center of the national spirit and become Egyptians over just several generations after Joseph, and would have completely become Egyptians after 300 years so that they would never tried to depart Egypt, a very good country to live in. Israelites were slaves, however Egypt was a rich developed country at that time. And perhaps Israelites became the servants of Egyptians because they didn't give up their identity and wanted to live as one people Israel(, refusing to assimilate to Egypt). (Can Egyptians make other Egyptians their servants?) My brethren, Joseph requires that the Israelites should not bury his body in Canaan right after his death as they had done to the body of his father Jacob, but should hold a formal funeral for him when they came out of Egypt later. He requires them to make a vow on it. After all, Joseph, even through his bones, has given the Israelites the absolute mission they should never forget.

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We learn from today's biblical text the spiritual heritage that one generation should pass on to the next generation. We can learn what we should teach to our descendants-in-faith. The lesson is that we sheep of Jesus are those who shall surely depart this world for the heaven someday. The Israelites who were living in Egypt were those who should depart from Egypt and come into Canaan that God had promised their ancestors to give. However rich they may be in Egypt, or however high their offices may be in Egypt like Joseph, all of them must leave Egypt without exception. This is Joseph's command. My brethren, you are the ones who are to live in heaven forever. This world is fun, and sometimes acknowledges my value, and sometimes allows me the meaning of my being. But this world is not the place where I live forever. We have to leave this world thanks to the problem of our life span, or we can not but leave this world by accidents or illnesses even if we don't want. We must live with the firm expectation and hope for the sure eternal heaven, in this uncertain and imperfect world. In fact, is there a man who lived a rich and noble life as a prime minister in another country like Joseph? However Joseph had a right faith. He didn't even want his bones left in Egypt, because Egypt was rich in food and money but poor in the fear of God, and full of foolish idolatry and dirty demons. If Joseph who had lived such a magnificent life wanted to leave Egypt, much more should Israelites who have lived as slaves of Egyptians. They should, if their faith and Joseph's faith are the same. If you have the same right faith as Joseph, you will crave after the heaven. If you have a right faith like Joseph, you will not be indulged in the pleasures of this world.

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Our true hope is Jesus. Let the hands of your children be in the hands of Jesus. Those who meet Jesus and live a life of fellowship with him are like those who have met a lighthouse in the dark sea. Joseph, who lived in the land of Canaan, came to Egypt and became the prime minister, was the lamp of the Israelites. Joseph orders them to enter the land of Canaan. The Savior Jesus, who was in heaven and came into this world, is our eternal lamp. He taught us God the Father in heaven and said that he would go to heaven to prepare a place for us to live in. If we believe in this Jesus as Savior and follow him, we can all go to eternal heaven. Your children must meet this Jesus. And they can have true hope. They can know where to go when they meet Jesus. When they meet Jesus, they do not set their hope in this vain world, and learn to give up what is in the world if necessary. By his bone Joseph taught Israelites the hope not to be given up, by his empty grave Jesus our Savior taught us the surest hope.

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My brethren, what did Joseph leave behind? Joseph left his children and his precious faith as a teaching, and his bones besides them. Of course he left some fortune. What I want to say is that you will die and leave only some bones, that even the bones will resolve into soil so that there shall be no vestige of you on earth. Joseph's sons and daughters were already strangers to him (after his death), and the fortune he had given them were already theirs. What Joseph, who died and went to heaven, left behind in the world was just his bones that no one wanted to have. However much we may have in the world, and however high we may want to be in the world, this world would not keep ours dear. If a man dies, the world does not regard his body as precious, and tries to remove it as soon as possible. The world does not want to keep my precious things. Even the reputation and honor that a man has achieved for his lifetime is frequently destroyed by later envious generations. Therefore it is foolish to set one's hope in the world, to find the meaning of one's being in the world, and to pile up one's money in the world. We must set our hope in the eternal heaven where Jesus is. To live for Jesus in the world is the meaning of my being today. And I deposit money in the heavenly account by using my wealth for the kingdom of Jesus. This is the life on earth of him who has a right faith.

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Brethren, Bible says that the heart of the wise is in the funeral while that of the foolish, in the banquet. We can learn again from Joseph's death in the biblical text what is really valuable. Joseph said to Israelites through his last will, "Depart Egypt someday, and emigrate to the land of Canaan." Because Canaan was the promised land that God had given the sons of Israel (that is Jacob). My brethren, you must first not set your hope in this world yourself, but in the everlasting heaven. And love and serve Jesus your Savior who is the eternal heir of the everlasting heaven, with all your soul, strength and heart. You can go to the heaven only if he admits you. And you must live aright as a believer who has a hope for heaven. And let your sons and daughters have the sure hope for heaven. And leave quite a good will like Joseph.

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May you store up treasure in heaven!

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Chong Tack Kim

                                      - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -

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