Genesis 50:22-26

Genesis 50:22-26

[22] And Joseph  dwelt  in Egypt,  he, and his father's  house:  and Joseph  lived  an hundred  and ten  years.  [23] And Joseph  saw  Ephraim's  children  of the third  generation: the children  also of Machir  the son  of Manasseh  were brought up  upon Joseph's  knees.  [24] And Joseph  said  unto his brethren,  I die:  and God  will surely  you, and bring you out  of this land  which he sware  to Abraham,  to Isaac,  and to Jacob.  [25] And Joseph  took an oath  of the children  of Israel,  saying,  God  will surely  you, and ye shall carry up  my bones  from hence.  [26] So Joseph  died,  being an hundred  and ten  years  old:  and they embalmed  him, and he was put  in a coffin  in Egypt. 

What does Genesis 50:22-26 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Joseph lived to see God"s blessing on his children"s children. He died54years after Jacob"s death when he was110 years old. [1] Some Egyptian texts refer to110 as the ideal lifespan. [2]
Joseph probably could have experienced burial in a pyramid or had some other grand burial in Egypt. However, he wanted his family to embalm him and place his body in a coffin in Egypt. Later descendants could bury him in the Promised Land near Shechem. They did so in the parcel of land his father had bought and given to him, perhaps under Abraham"s oak ( Genesis 48:22; cf. Joshua 24:32). This expression of Joseph"s faith in God"s promises to his forefathers provides a fitting climax for the Book of Genesis and the formative period of Israel"s history. Genesis 50:24 contains the first reference to the three patriarchs together.
"The outstanding feature of Joseph"s life was faithful loyalty to God under all circumstances." [3]
"The story of Joseph illustrates patient faith and its reward. It ends the book of Genesis and brings its theme to a literary climax. ... But the story of Joseph shows us that the road to victory, dominion, mastery, and judicial authority, is through service, the humble service of a slave. Through service and suffering, God purges and destroys indwelling sin in the believer (not completely, but sufficiently), builds character in him, and fits him for the mastery of the world." [4]
"The Book of Genesis , like the Old Testament in microcosm, ends by pointing beyond its own story . . . . Joseph"s dying words epitomized the hope in which the Old Testament, and indeed the New (cf. Revelation 22:20), would fall into expectant silence: God will surely visit you." [5]
Believers who trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to bless in His own inscrutable ways will demonstrate their faith in the way they die.