19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place."
Why would Joseph care where his bones end up? Maybe he doesn't at all but just wanted to use this as a reminder to them that God keeps promises. Even ones that probably felt impossible in the middle of their slavery in Egypt.
22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
not a ton said about the pillar of fire and the cloud. Could everyone in the land see it or just the Israelites? Either way, its just a couple sentences tucked away in Exodus but what a miracle of God's power to witness. The pillar of fire especially paints an impressive image in my mind. Believing would seem easy at that point with such a tangible view of God's presence.
knut
That verse caught my attention too. The Joseph role is a confusing and mixed up one. He gets betrayed by his brothers, and sold into slavery......becomes a powerful leader that is really responsible for the Israelites coming to Egypt in the first place....then probably dies seeing his people get taken advantage of and bonded into slavery. So, he is victim of his family....then the savior of his family....then immensely wealthy.....then really the creator of an enslaved nation.
ReplyDeleteWow! what a mess of circumstance. Taking the bones with them might be like washing off the dust of the town that doesn't respond to the word of Jesus. IDK!