Hebrews 11:22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones.
The other night as I was putting our girls to bed, we were having a discussion that led to the topic of bones. As I was bringing up the topic of the Israelites carrying the bones of Joseph out of Egypt, suddenly, like a rush of mighty water, the Holy Spirit, flooded my mind, giving me revelation on such being a foreshadow to the prophesy in Ezekiel 37, of the dry bones.
I have previously written on Ezekiel 37, in two different blogs, “Barley Harvest, First Fruits and Ezekiel’s Dead Bones“ and “Ezekiel’s Two Sticks Brought into One” so if you would like to journey over to those, you may do so.
To begin, I want to go back to the point where the writer of Hebrews makes mention of Joseph giving instructions per his bones to his brothers.
♦Genesis 50:24Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 25And Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath and said, “God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”
I appreciated the commentary from Matthew Henry, especially the part that I have highlighted in bold:
50:22-26 Joseph having honoured his father, his days were long in the land, which, for the present, God had given him. When he saw his death approaching, he comforted his brethren with the assurance of their return to Canaan in due time. We must comfort others with the same comforts with which we have been comforted of God, and encourage them to rest on the promises which are our support. For a confession of his own faith, and a confirmation of theirs, he charges them to keep his remains unburied till that glorious day, when they should be settled in the land of promise. Thus Joseph, by faith in the doctrine of the resurrection, and the promise of Canaan, gave commandment concerning his bones.
Joseph believed that the promises made to Abraham would come to their physical fulfillment and encouraged his brethren that in due time Yahweh would come visit them in the land of Egypt (at the end of 430 years) and redeem them from slavery. (Gen 15:13-14)
The key focal point, in which Matthew Henry Commentary brought forth, is that Joseph’s bones being resurrected out of the grave and into the promised land was the prophetic foreshadow to the resurrection in Christ and the Kingdom of God.
When Joseph died, his body saw corruption, and his bones being brought out of the grave(Egypt) were later carried to Shechem, being buried in the land that was promised to Abraham (eternal inheritance/life). The temporal promises were fulfilled, but the greater or eternal promises were to point to Christ.
♦Gal 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.
The bones of Joseph, remained dead bones, until the fulfilled promise in the resurrection of Yeshua/Jesus.
♦Isaiah 26:19Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.
When Joseph had looked forward to them taking his bones into the promised land, he likewise to that of Moses, looked forward to the promises in Christ.
♦Heb 11:26He(Moses) valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.
This is why the author of Hebrews, states in this chapter that all those previously who looked forward to the promises did not receive it, as all was to point to Christ.
♦Heb 11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 40God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.
♦Heb 8:6But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
♦Rom15:8Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
When looking back at the promise that Joseph encouraged his brethren on, that Yahweh would visit them in their slavery in Egypt, we can see such being mentioned again upon the arrival of the Messiah. For which is a greater freedom from slavery, that out of the hands of the physical taskmasters, or the spiritual taskmasters that lead us to be slaves of sin?
♦Luke 1:67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; FOR HE HATH VISITED AND REDEEMED HIS PEOPLE, 69And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
Zacharias, the father of John, spoke this prophesy concerning the coming Messiah after he received his voice back. Notice how the foreshadow from the Exodus account, as well as the promises made to Abraham, comes into the reality found in Christ. Let us even look a few verses later still in the prophesy:
♦Luke 1:71That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(72)His holy covenant.—The covenant is clearly that made with Abraham in Genesis 15:18. In thus going back to that as the starting-point of the New Covenant which was to be made in Christ, Zacharias anticipates the teaching of St. Paul in Galatians 3:15-19.
Just as Yahweh had delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, and desired for them to worship Him in the wilderness, such is ultimately to be fulfilled in Yeshua, setting those truly bound in slavery(sin) free in redemption through His blood enacted through the New Covenant.
♦Matt 26:28 This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
This is what the earthly shadows pointed to, and found complete fulfillment in Christ.
♦Heb 9:15Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, now that He has died to redeem them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Yeshua spoke to the disciples that they were blessed to see what the prophets and righteous men before them, longed to see, that the mysteries of the kingdom would be revealed.
♦Matt 13:17For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Joseph’s faith in the promises of Yahweh, did not simply settle on the temporal, but eternal. His bones being brought into the promised land, would be a fulfillment in the raising of the dead from their sin, and brought into the eternal Kingdom of God.
Just as we see Abraham offer up his son Isaac, he believed that even in the death of his son, that God would raise him from the dead. It is in Isaac to which the covenant promises belonged, and we through Christ are the seed of Abraham and Isaac.
♦Heb 11:17By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
♦Gal 4:28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
♦Rom 9:7Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” 8So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.
In the NT we begin to see the raising of the dead with Lazarus, which was a foreshadow to not only the resurrection of Christ, but also us through Christ.
♦Col 2:12Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
♦Col 3:1Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
♦Rom 6:5For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
Somehow, in our fallible minds we have made certain prophesies so complicated, when it is just the simplicities in Christ. Yeshua referred to the religious Pharisees as “dead men’s bones” because inwardly they were spiritually dead, even though outwardly they had a form of righteousness.
♦Matt 23:27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
As we can see, the spiritual representation of “dead bones” are those who are spiritually dead. They are in the grave, and the only way to revive such bones is by hearing the Word of God.
♦Ezek 37:3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Through the breath of Yeshua, the breath of life, we become a “new creation in Christ” as well as the Body of Christ, or “One New Man”.
♦Col 2:19 He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.
♦Eph 4:16From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.
♦Joh 20:22When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
The prophesy from Ezek 37, directly correlates to the prophesy in the previous chapter:
♦Ezek 36:25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
This happens when we accept the gospel no?
♦Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Now, something that I will briefly mention here, is that many get caught up on the portion of such prophesy concerning God bringing people into the land. Both my husband and I recently wrote two blogs, called “Children of Promise“, and “Land of Promise“, to elaborate on such.
However, if we say that God brought back such people to the land in Palestine according to such prophesizes in Ezek 36-37, then we would have to say that they also have His Spirit. Which means that those who deny the Son can have the Spirit of Jesus living in them. That would essentially nullify the gospel message. For according to Ezek 36-37, the only time prophetically(other then the rebuilding of Jerusalem from Nehemiah) God stated that He would lead people into land is through His Spirit, cleanse them from sin, and have them obey His commandments.
♦Ezek 36:24For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. 25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
Rather, this is talking about becoming a “Holy Nation”(Israel), coming out of the nations, and into His Holy Nation, becoming a New Creation, being cleansed through the Living Water, of our sins, and receiving His Spirit, and entering the Kingdom when we finish the race.
♦Heb 10:22let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
In closing, I want to share an amazing correlation to all this which points also to the main picture I chose for this blog.
Several months ago, I had been meditating on Psalm 45 and came to see the amazing parallels with the Bride of Christ wearing the embroidered robe of colors, and Joseph, who was a type of Christ. It really shows the union of ONE NEW MAN, or the consummation of Christ and His Bride through the New Covenant.
“Bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh”… Eph 5:30For we are members of His body. 31“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
♦Psalm 45:13All glorious is the princess in her chamber; her gown is embroidered with gold. 14In colorful garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions are brought before you. 15They are led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the king.
Now, compare this with Revelation 7:9, in which the saints of God are before the throne(their King), from all nations, tribes, and tongues:
♦Rev 7:9After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
By faith Joseph believed the promises of Yahweh, and looked forward to the day in which his bones would be revived in the eternal glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. His bones, just like tablets of stone, remain dead objects until the breath of life is there to “place sinew and flesh”.
♦Ezek 16:8Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. 9Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 10I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
The Woman in the blog photo holds the staff of the Good Shepard, being brought to life by His Spirit. The New Creation she has become from the dead bones laying beside her, encapsulate her mind and she rejoices in the truth. Her heart beats faster, as she hears the blood of life flowing through her veins. The voice of the King comforts her, as death surrounds her. A heart she once knew as black and cold, has become radiant and pure. She is dressed in fine linen and purple, being adorned as a Bride to her Bridegroom. She kneels before her King in the wilderness, awaiting the time that He calls her home.
♦Rev 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.
♦John 11:25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
