By Bro. Paul Lin
So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees. And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Genesis 50:22-25 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/gen.50.22-25.NKJV
→ Joseph asked his children to move his bones out of Egypt.
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Genesis 15:12-16 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/gen.15.12-16.NKJV
→ God already told Abram that his descendants will come out of Egypt. That means His words are not in vain. God's words and promises never change.
→ Joseph was a well respected ancestor of Israelites so people dare not forget to fulfill his will.
◇ Joseph went through 5 garments and 7 times of weeping in his whole life. His life was the combination of sweet and bitterness. But throughout hese tribulations, God was always with him.
And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.
Genesis 39:3 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/gen.39.3.NKJV
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Luke 2:52 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/luk.2.52.NKJV
