FEBRUARY 18

Joseph lived to be 110 years old. At the time of his death, Joseph left behind a powerful confirmation of God’s divine destiny for the nation of Israel:

And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. (Genesis 50:24-26)

God’s people, now known as the nation of Israel, were living in Egypt at the time of Joseph’s death, having gone there to survive a world-wide famine. But as an heir of the promises of his spiritual forefathers, Joseph know Israel’s ultimate destiny–and it wasn’t Egypt.

Before his death, Joseph told the people, “You won’t be here forever. God will surely visit you, and you shall go to the land which He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Great men come and go, but the covenant of God remains unchanged (Psalm 119:89).

Joseph instructed his brothers to put his bones in a coffin and take the coffin with them to the Promised Land when they returned to Canaan. Even in death, Joseph did not lose sight of Israel’s divine destiny. He knew that God’s people would return to their Promised Land, and Joseph wanted to be interred there.

After Joseph’s death, the children of Israel continued to multiply and fill the land of Egypt (Exodus 1:7). Eventually, a new ruler came to power in Egypt and, feeling threatened by the growing population and power of the Israelites, he made them slaves. What a dark period for God’s chosen people. Their dream of returning to their Promised Land probably seemed to be just that–a dream.

For years, the Israelites toiled under the affliction of their taskmasters who made their lives miserable with hard labor. But the more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more the children of Israel multiplied.

All through these dark years and the endless days of toil and affliction, there stood that casket containing Joseph’s bones, a promise of their legacy and their destiny. “Someday,” Joseph had said, “God will surely visit you. You will not remain in Egypt forever!”

We do not have a casket to look back on, but we have an empty tomb vacated when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Despite the affliction you may experience on the way to your destiny, you have the legacy of His death, His resurrection, and His promises for the future.