Hebrews 11:22 Commentary and Bible Study

Joseph is now 110. The children of Israel are in Egypt, but as yet their stay in Egypt is not arduous. Joseph says, because God has taught him this, that God will surely visit them and bring them out. They have been given a favourable part of the land to dwell in; Joseph of course is Pharaoh’s great steward and chancellor, Prime Minister, so their circumstances are good, but they are already longing to be back in their homeland. The worst of Egypt is yet to come. That other Pharaoh will soon arise who knew not Joseph, and the oppression would begin, and they would be turned into slaves and builders. They would be dreadfully treated and ultimately the cruellest Pharaoh of all would arise bringing very savage repercussions for people who didn't fall in line. But at the time of the death of Joseph things were not that bad. Egypt was a comfortable sanctuary, and they were fed and provided for. In due course Joseph was to die, and they put his body in a coffin and they embalmed him possibly in the Egyptian way, because it was to be preserved and it underwent a temporary burial. Later on when the children of Israel went back to their land nearly four centuries later, that coffin would be taken from its temporary place, and it would be taken to Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he would be buried there. But why did Joseph not instruct his body to be taken to Canaan, and buried with the bodies of other patriarchs as soon as he died just as his father had been? Why does he instruct them to keep his body in Egypt? Well, soon after his death the hard bondage will begin. From then on there will no longer be any liberty to take the bones of Joseph, or for the children of Israel to leave Egypt. But Joseph is obeying God in saying this. For three generations, according to the prophecies of God given to Abraham (Genesis 15:13), there would be a long period of suffering and oppression in a foreign land, Egypt. But God will have mercy on them and return them, and Joseph in complying with God's wishes wants his coffin to be there as an encouragement to the people when they leave Egypt and journey back to Canaan. The bones of Joseph, awaiting return are an expression of his faith, his belief that the people will return one day. ‘So,’ he says, ‘keep my bones with you here in Egypt. Don’t take me back and bury me in Canaan, keep me until everybody goes back. Let the fact that they are with you here in Egypt and not yet returned to Canaan and buried with my fathers; let that be an encouragement to you that you will one day leave this place and take my bones with you.’ They were to be a message, a sermon, to the people through all the generations that they were in captivity, however hard it became, that they were going back. That was his faith at the very end of his life; he had been faithful throughout, and his last words were an act of faith.