Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.””
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, September 25, 2018
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
So now we know it was Joseph who brought his family (who became the 12 tribes of Israel) to Egypt. He settled there after his brothers sold him into slavery. He rose in ranks and power until he was the most powerful man in Egypt, only under Pharaoh himself. Joseph's brothers traveled to Egypt to escape the famine, and it was there they were reunited with Joseph after many years.
400 years after Joseph brought his family to Egypt, we learn that the Israelites had become slaves themselves under Pharaoh. It is to these descendants Moses was born, and the exodus would become a foundational event in the lives of Jews.
But for now, despite having spent most of his life in Egypt, Joseph had one final request. After his death, he wanted his bones brought with the Israelites to the promised land. It would take centuries for his wish to become reality. But they would never forget.
Narrative Lectionary Daily Reading:
Genesis 50:22-26
So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household; and Joseph lived one hundred ten years. Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
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