July 08, 2025 | Be God's Family
Joseph and His Bones
Scripture: Hebrews 11:22(NIV)
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
Devotional
Hope for a better future is a powerful thing. It is a weapon against doubt. It is a tool amid turmoil. It is a vision for a better tomorrow.
At the end of the book of Genesis, the Israelites had moved to Egypt because of famine back at home. Their brother Joseph had welcomed them, providing security and food. But this would not always be so. A future Pharaoh would enslave the Israelites, and they would remain in bondage for four hundred years. To put that into perspective, four hundred years ago the Mayflower was arriving from England with a boatload of Pilgrims.
While Joseph could not have known all that would transpire in the coming four centuries, he spoke this God-inspired vision for the future: “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place” (Genesis 50:25). Four hundred years later “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him” (Exodus 13:19). And forty years after that “Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried a Shechem” (Joshua 24:32).
Carrying and burying the bones of Joseph in the Promised Land represented the fulfillment of the prophetic vision that “God will surely come to your aid.” God did. God always will.
Look at these prophetic promises from Scripture. They are filled with hope. Latch onto one and explore what it means for your future.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
Poem
Bones
Psalm 34
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Psalm 34:19-20
These bones
Old bones
Bones which have sustained
Structure
Posture
Semblance to my frame
When bones
Crumble
Hold me to Your breast
Carry
Bury
These bones home to rest
‘Neath the
Oak tree
There may I be lyin’
Safely
Resting
Buried, home in Zion
