The Hope of the Promised Land
Read Genesis 49:29–50:21. What great themes of hope are found in
the conclusion of the book of Genesis?
The conclusion of Genesis is made up of three events that are filled
with hope.
First, there is the hope that Israel will return to the Promised Land.
Moses, the author of Genesis, describes Jacob’s and Joseph’s deaths and
burials as events pointing to the Promised Land. Immediately after his
blessing and prophecy on the “twelve tribes of Israel” (Gen. 49:28),
Jacob thinks of his death and charges his sons to bury him in Canaan, at
the cave of Machpelah, where Sarah was buried (Gen. 49:29–31). The
narrative describing the funeral procession toward Canaan becomes a
precursor to the exodus from Egypt several centuries later.
Second, there is the hope that God will turn evil into good. After
Jacob’s death and burial, Joseph’s brothers are worried about their
future. They are afraid that Joseph will now take his revenge. They
come to Joseph and prostrate themselves before him, ready to become
his servants (Gen. 50:18), a scenario that is reminiscent of Joseph’s
prophetic dreams. Joseph reassures them and tells them to “ ‘not be
afraid’ ” (Gen. 50:19, NKJV), a phrase that refers to the future (Gen.
15:1); because what was “ ‘meant evil’ ” against him, “God meant . . .
for good” (Gen. 50:20, NKJV), and turned the course of events toward
salvation (Gen. 50:19–21; compare with Gen. 45:5, 7–9). That is, even
despite so many human failures, God’s providence will overrule.
Third, there is the hope that God will save fallen humankind. The
story of Joseph’s death in this last verse of Genesis is broader than
just about his death. Strangely, Joseph does not command to have his
bones buried. Instead he points to the time when “ ‘God will surely
visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here’ ” (Gen. 50:25,
NKJV), which they did, many years later, in direct obedience to those
words (see Exod. 13:19). Ultimately, the hope of the Promised Land,
Canaan, is a symbol, a precursor, to the ultimate hope of salvation, of
restoration, of a New Jerusalem in a new heaven and a new earth—the
ultimate hope for all of us, a hope made certain by the death of Shiloh.
Read Revelation 21:1–4. How do these verses represent the
grandest hope that we have? Without this promise, what hope do
we have other than death alone as the end of all our problems?
