a looking backward on a life that is about to "finish"
Joseph looks back on his life and focuses not on the wonderful
works of God done in his life, but on the words of God spoken through his father at his death
Words of inheritance, "given to thee" (Genesis 48:22)
Joseph's faith in waiting for the deliverance of God is
what marked his life as well as his death (Psalms 105:17-22)
"Until the time that His Word (Pharaoh's dream) came:
the Word of the Lord (Joseph's dream) tried him" (Psalms 105:19)
His life-long testimony of waiting for the deliverance
of God is what makes him a creditable witness to his brethren when he "remembered" ("made mention")
of their "exodus" (departing") - Hebrews 11:22
Joseph, like Abraham, "knew of a surety" that
the Exodus would take place and exactly when it was to take place
The "certainty" that marked Joseph's faith concerning
Israel's redemption is emphasized by the Hebrew figure of speech ("Polyptoton")
A "double repetition" of the same verb in different
inflections - "God will surely visit you" = "in visiting He will visit you" (Genesis 50:24)
A "double repetition" and the "certainty"
of judgment (Genesis 2:17) - "ye shall surely die" = "dying thou shalt die"
Resurrection: Earnest of the
inheritance(Genesis 50:25)
Joseph secures an oath from his brethren (Genesis 50:25)
based upon his trust in the thrice confirmed Divine oath made to the three national patriarchs (Genesis 50:24)
Note the loins (Genesis 35:11; Hebrew, chalats) or the thighs (Genesis 46:26; Hebrew, yarek) is associated with the physical issue of the Covenant promise
Hence, the weakening of it to remind Jacob of the power
of God Almighty in the performance of the Covenant promise (Genesis 32:25,31-32)
Not one of the three national patriarchs ever possessed
the inheritance, but "saw it afar off" by faith (Hebrews 11:13), which will one day be received in resurrection (Hebrews 11:35)
The Lord reminded the Sadducees of what Joseph knew by
faith (Genesis 50:24) - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of resurrection (Matthew 22:23,31-32 cf. Exodus 3:6)
The commandment Joseph gave concerning his bones (Genesis 50:25)
is similar to Jacob's burial oath secured from Joseph (Genesis 47:29-31)
Abraham purchased an earnest of the inheritance, the cave
of Machpelah, to be the burial place of the national patriarchs (Genesis 23;
Genesis 49:29-31)
Jacob went down to Egypt with "our fathers"
(Jacob's 12 sons) and died there (Acts 7:15
cf. Exodus 1:1-6)
Jacob was "laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought
for a sum of money" (Acts 7:16
cf. Genesis 47:29-31)
Joseph and his brothers "were carried into Sychem"
and were buried in that land which Jacob purchased "of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem" (Acts 7:16 cf. Joshua 24:32)
The land of Shechem was wrongfully destroyed by Simeon
and Levi, which forced Jacob and his family to flee from there (Genesis 34:25-30); it was apparently later seized by the Amorites (Genesis 15:16)
and rightfully delivered back by Jacob with his "sword and bow" (Genesis 48:22)
Jacob was opposed to the stealing of the Canaanites' land
(Genesis 34:25-30) and punished his sons' action by giving an extra portion of that land
to the brother they sold into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 48:22)
A purchased possession of land also includes with it the
seed that is to occupy that land - note the example of Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer (Ruth 4:9-10)
God commanded Jeremiah to purchase a field in the land
of Anathoth as an "evidence" that Israel will possess the land again (Jeremiah 32:6-15)
Purchased sacred burial grounds were pledges of the future
inheritance to be enjoyed in resurrection, which "evidenced" the faith of the Hebrew patriarchs in God's
covenant promise (Genesis 47:29-31; Genesis 50:25)