The saga of the bones of Joseph

1. The bones of Joseph left Egypt in that great exodus. When Moses assembled the people and they were ready to move out at the beginning of their great trek to Canaan — Exodus 13:19 — “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for he [Joseph] had made sons of Israel solemnly sware, saying, God will surely provide for you, and you will carry my bones from here with you.” Moses was the man of doctrine who kept the promise. That unburied coffin moved out with the people and at the front of the column for forty years was a reminder of the dynamics of Bible doctrine in the soul of one person. In fact, their only responsibility was to follow the colours. They followed the coffin. Why was it a coffin to them? Because they were reversionists. But in effect that coffin was their guidon, the national colours. To follow the coffin means to take in doctrine, day in and day out.

2. The bones of Joseph were forty years in the desert with Israel, carried by reversionists. They followed the coffin overtly but they did not follow the coffin spiritually. They didn’t follow it in the sense of taking in doctrine today, tomorrow, the next day. They had the greatest Bible teacher but they didn’t listen to his teaching and they revolted against his wonderful leadership, for Moses was a humble man under God with the most dynamic system of leadership the world has ever seen.

3. The bones of Joseph crossed the Jordan with the next generation under Joshua. The coffin was carried dry shod across the Jordan river, held up by the grace of God.

4. The bones of Joseph were finally buried 470 years after he made his speech — Joshua 24:32. Again, we have the principle of resurrection. Joseph in resurrection wanted to stand by his grandfather and his father. And in the resurrection which will occur at the second advent there will be a resurrection of regenerate Jews. There will be four generations of believers on the earth — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph — who claimed paragraph SG², who made the transition from time to eternity by dying grace, and who claimed paragraph SG³.

Summary

1. There are two areas of doctrine which are emphasised by Joseph in his dying moments. The first is national eschatology, the future of Israel under the Abrahamic and Palestinian covenants. Secondly, the personal eschatology: the future of Joseph in resurrection body claiming paragraph SG³.

2. Joseph, therefore, is a classic example of a believer who seized and held the high ground, enjoyed paragraph SG², had something better in the PCS of dying grace, and had something better than the best in his surpassing grace paragraph of eternity.

3. Joseph’s supergrace blessings included promotion to Prime Minister of Egypt, social and sexual prosperity with his right woman, great leadership dynamics, one of the finest and smartest policy-makers to ever control a nation. Economic and materialistic prosperity came to Egypt through his policies. The inheritance of the double portion of Israel is a part of SG³, sharing the happiness of God, His occupation with Christ, his lack of bitterness and reaction toward his brothers and others who maligned him.

4. Joseph made the transfer from time to eternity by means of dying grace. He not only had a great death but he had one of the most dynamic deaths in history. Very few deaths influence history for four hundred years after that death. His did.

5. Not only did Joseph anticipate his own resurrection but he is included in the salute and embrace principle of the aorist middle participle of a)sfazomai which we studied in verse 13.

6. In other words, Joseph has in the future a glorious SG³ paragraph — surpassing grace, blessings and rewards forever and ever. These blessings will glorify God for all eternity. What more can you say about anyone in that he glorified God in time, he glorified God even more in dying, and he glorifies God to the maximum forever and ever.