Never Forget Where Home Is

 

So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So Joseph died, being 110 years old. (Genesis 50:22-26 ESV).

 

You may have heard the admonition to “never forget where home is.” That’s usually the advice given when children leave home to start their own family after marriage. While Joseph probably didn’t say these very words before his death, our reading today makes it very clear that he thought his “home” was in the “land of promise.” He called his brothers to “carry his bones” from Egypt to Israel when they returned. And, while we have no definitive proof that was done as he asked, there is a tomb (pictured here) which is located near Shechem at the eastern entrance to the valley that separates Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, just about 100 yards northwest of Jacob's Well, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus.

 

The last words of Joseph were all the more remarkable because he hadn’t lived at “home” for many years. He had grown successful and prosperous in Egypt. His children lived there. For all intents and purposes, Egypt was his home. This makes it very clear that he understood the concept of God’s eternal “promised land.” For the believers this is our eternal home.

 

Knowing where home is means you have to know where you have come from and where you belong. Many people grow up somewhere and never leave, and they cannot imagine living anywhere else. But in our increasingly mobile societies today, “home” can be harder to recognize. Joseph reminded his brothers that their home was the place God had promised to their forefathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And one day God would bring them back there. No matter how successful we may become in a particular place, the Christian’s home is defined by adoption into the family of God. Our home with God is only possible because God has come to our aid in Christ. Never forget that you belong to this faithful Savior. Your home is heaven!