This message could also be titled, How was Joseph’s Body like the Lord’s Table? Do you know in what three ways these two events are similar?
In the hall of fame list in Hebrews 11, we might be surprised that the author summarized all 13 chapters of Joseph’s life in one sentence, his dying breath: “By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.” (11:22)
The actual command is found in Genesis 50:24-25: “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”
Why did Joseph make this command? What difference does it make where he would be buried? Whether he planned all of this or not, his remains served at least three vital purposes in the history of the nation of Israel. These purposes directly parallel three of God’s purposes in establishing the ordinance of the Lord’s Table.
1) Hope when all they had was a promise
By the time Joseph was 110, he had probably noticed that the esteem given him for saving the country was dwindling. Further, he surely knew what God had said to his father Jacob as he left Canaan to move to Egypt during the famine: “I will go down with thee into Egypt: and I will also surely bring thee up again:” (46:4). Joseph also knew the even more specific prophecy given to his great grandfather Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16: “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, (Joseph did this) and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”
God had used Joseph to bring the family into that “land that is not theirs.” But he knew that, if the people would be afflicted in Egypt for 400 years, they would surely forget the promise of deliverance. So instead of complaining about God’s revealed will as we might have been tempted to do, he set up a visual aid to remind them of what would come.
Please notice that the burial request in Genesis 50 is directly connected with the promise that God would bring them out. Thus, during their years of bondage, whenever they looked at the grave of Joseph, they could be reminded of the promise of deliverance to come.
For the disciples, the Lord’s Table was given first to carry them through the dark hours before them. “That they through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Rom. 15:4) The hours would only last until Sunday but, no doubt, they seemed an eternity to them. Yet Jesus had said, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:28) It was not the end of something but the beginning! Remember how many times Jesus told them He would suffer many things, be killed AND RISE FROM THE DEAD? Yet, it seems no one got the message of hope for all were surprised to learn He was again alive. For the disciples this purpose was only days long. For the children of Israel it was 359 years before the first part of Joseph’s words was fulfilled.
It was to be a hope.
2) A Reminder of what He Had Begun
We are told in Exodus 13:19, “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.” The first part of the promise had been fulfilled. Now the coffin was both a reminder of God’s promise fulfilled and of that which is yet to come.
They took his bones through the Red Sea. It was there with them at Sinai when they got the Commandments and worshipped the golden calf. It was there as they headed north to the promised land a year later.
This morning we again celebrated the Lord’s Table. It is not grace giving in itself. It is, like the body of Joseph, a visual aid, a reminder of the great event of Christ’s death. “Who his own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2:24) “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Eph. 1:7) To some it is a meaningless routine or even a snack, perhaps a drudgery like dragging a coffin through the wilderness might have become. To others, it is as planned, a reminder to remember what was done for them at the cross.
But you will please notice that Paul said The Lord’s Table is more than just a reminder of a past event. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew (declare, preach) the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Cor. 11:26) The Lord’s Table links the solemn past event of His death for us, with the wonderful future promise of His coming. It is during this time between the two promises of the Lord’s Table that we live. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Phil. 1:6) His good work in us has only begun.
3) An indictment for unbelief
When they arrived at Kadesh-Barnea, they sent 12 spies out, one from each tribe. When the spies returned, two looked at God’s great power in fulfilling past promises, and applied it to His ability and willingness to fulfill the rest of the promise. Joseph had said they would come out and they did that. Now the same God was willing and able to fulfill the second part, to bring them in.
However, the majority voted with the doubters, those who had not learned to walk by faith and who forgot the second promise pictured in the bones. So God sent them back into the wilderness.
Now for 40 years the bones of Joseph were an indictment for their unbelief. They would not be able to keep the promise to bury him in the land. Their children would have to do that. (Psalm 78:40, 57)
In the context in 1 Corinthians, note how past and future are designed to motivate the Corinthians- and us- to godly living in the present. “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” (1 Cor. 11:28) He died and was raised just as He said. He is coming again as king on this earth, as He said. That is just as certain. In light of what He has done, and the assurance of what He will do, Paul admonishes us to “walk worthy.” (Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12) John says, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:3)
As the bones of Joseph during the wilderness wandering, the Lord’s Table is to be a time of reflection and an indictment at times if we are not living worthy of such a sacrifice or not living in light of His soon return.
Finally Joseph’s remains arrived at the border of the land. They passed over the Jordan as it heaped up. It passed the priests holding the Ark in the midst of the river. But before burial, the coffin would wait seven more years. It was there at the conquest of Jericho, the defeat and then victory at Ai, at the battle at Aijalon when the sun stood still. For over 400 years, Israel had lived between the fulfillment of the first promise and the fulfillment of the second. The bones of Joseph were to encourage them to walk by faith in the meantime.
Now, c. 406 years after the command was given, “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.” (Joshua 24:32) (This was near the border between the land given to his two sons, in what was later called Samaria. His grave is still there today) God had kept His promises in spite of their unbelief. Now they kept their ancestor’s promise to Joseph. For those who were willing to believe it, the past event at Joseph’s death encouraged them to keep their eyes of faith on the future event of being planted in their land, and they lived accordingly.
For over 2000 years the church has lived between the promises of His comings. The same Lord who was able to rise from the dead will come again. We are not to focus on the despairing events around us, but on the promise of what lies ahead. It is as sure as Israel’s history. The Lord’s Table, like the bones of Joseph, is designed to remind us of both past and future promises and to then motivate us to live worthy of His calling as we focus on His coming.
