Genesis 50:22 - Meaning and Application

Here, first, is the lengthening of Joseph’s life in Egypt. He lived to be 110 years old (Genesis 50:22). After he honored his father, God gave him a long life in the land he had, for the time, been given. This was a great mercy to his family, because he remained a support and comfort to them.

Second, here is the growth of Joseph’s family. He lived to see children born to both of his sons, even great-grandchildren, and probably he also saw his two sons publicly recognized as heads of separate tribes, equal with his brothers (Genesis 50:23). It adds much to the comfort of older parents when they see their descendants doing well, especially when they also see peace in Israel (Psalm 128:6).

Third, Joseph speaks what is like his last will and testament in the hearing of his brothers, when he saw death drawing near. Some of the brothers may already have died, since several were older than he was. But to those still living, and to the sons who stood in their fathers’ places, he said this. He comforted them with the assurance that they would return to Canaan in due time: “I am dying, but God will surely visit you” (Genesis 50:24).

Jacob, Joseph’s father, had said the same thing to him earlier (Genesis 48:21). We should comfort others with the same comfort we have received from God, and encourage them to trust the promises that have helped us. Joseph had been, under God, both protector and benefactor to his brothers. So what would happen to them now that he was dying? Their comfort was this: God will surely visit you.

God’s gracious help can make up for the loss of our best friends. They die, but we can still live, and live well, if God’s favor and presence are with us. Joseph also wanted them to be sure of this: God will bring you out of this land. So they were not to settle there as if Egypt were their permanent home. They were to set their hearts on the promised land and think of that as their true home.

They also were not to fear being crushed or destroyed there. Joseph likely saw the trouble they would face after his death, and so he gave them this word of courage: God would bring them out of Egypt in triumph at last. In saying this, he was looking to the promise God had made long before, and he spoke in God’s name as one sure of its fulfillment (Genesis 15:13, Genesis 15:14).

For a confession of his own faith, and to strengthen theirs, Joseph told them to keep his body unburied until that day came, that glorious day when they would be settled in the land of promise (Genesis 50:25). He made them promise with an oath that they would bury him in Canaan. In Egypt, great men were buried with great honor and much ceremony. But Joseph chose a burial in Canaan that pointed to God’s promise, even though it would be delayed for nearly 200 years rather than given in the way Egypt might have done it.

In this way, Joseph, by faith in the resurrection, that is, the rising of the dead, and in God’s promise of Canaan, gave directions about his bones (Hebrews 11:22). He died in Egypt, but he left his bones as a pledge that God would surely visit Israel and bring them to Canaan.

Finally, the chapter notes Joseph’s death and the keeping of his body for burial in Canaan (Genesis 50:26). He was placed in a coffin in Egypt, but he was not buried until his children had received their inheritance in Canaan (Joshua 24:32). If the soul, at death, returns at once to its rest with God, it should not seem too great a matter if the body does not find its rest in the grave right away, or even at all for a time.

Still, care should be taken with the bodies of God’s people, because of the hope of the resurrection. There is, as it were, a covenant with the dust, and God will remember it. A command has been given concerning the bones.