Hebrews 11:22

Hebrews 11:22

I. It is not possible to read the life of Joseph without beholding here the portrait of a great man, not merely as a commanding and guiding intelligence, but that which is higher yet, a strong and noble personal character. Evidently, all his early life was pressed upon by thoughts his brethren could not comprehend; a contemplative nature, before whom often floated in his boyhood dreams of what he yet was to be.

II. He was what we should call a self-made man; he was as much so as any man can be a self-made man; his life was one long contest with difficulties, but he overcame them all.

III. His greatness was moral greatness. He was not a warrior. He did not bear the sword; he had that perfectly-formed will, which is character; he had insight and foresight; and he had in his possession that which really makes life easy and character strong. He had principles; faith ruled and controlled his character. He saw the golden purpose running through the darker web of his life.

IV. In the commandment he gave concerning his bones we see (1) the nationality of Joseph. His heart turns to Canaan. (2) The lesson of faith. "I die, but God shall surely visit you." Amid the temples of Osiris, Typhon, and Isis, and the world of uncouth marvels and debasement of the Egyptian temples, he had not forgotten Jehovah. (3) A lesson of the sustaining power there is in the memories of good and great men. Joseph lived in the thoughts and affections and hopes of his descendants. The dust of the holy dead is precious; the words of the holy dead are watchwords. (4) We have here a trust, a hope, an aspiration, concerning the resurrection. I cannot but think that this glorious dreamer anticipated, not only the departure of the tribes, but the final unsealing of all those tombs, and longed rather to be near the old cemetery of Machpelah than amidst the cold, dark, stony, stately rooms of Egyptian pyramids and their coffins.

E. Paxton Hood, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxiii., p. 313.

References: Hebrews 11:22. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xvi., No. 966; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxvi., p. 68; A. D. Davidson, Lectures and Sermons,p. 485.Hebrews 11:23. Ibid.,vol. xxiv., No. 1421.