The writer of Genesis spends a good deal of time on the issue of Jacob’s burial. Why? In these times the place of your burial was an important indicator of your hopes. Pharaohs in Egypt were embalmed and placed in tombs, sometimes in pyramids, as we know, along with their possessions. This was an expression of what they valued and hoped for. Interestingly Joseph had his father Jacob embalmed according to Egyptian custom, but he was not buried in one of the tombs of Egypt. Rather, at his own request, Jacob was buried in Canaan, in the field Abraham had purchased. This expressed a hope for Jacob’s descendants that lay far beyond what was happening in Egypt. They would be in Egypt for hundreds of years to come, but their destiny did not lie there, and Jacob’s burial in Canaan signified this. Likewise, our destiny lies not in this present world but in “a new heavens and a new earth” in the age to come (Revelation 21-22). As Christians we are distinguished by this hope. Our eyes are not ultimately fixed on what this world can offer us now but upon what God has promised to us. In this way we can transcend the worldly perspective and learn to live for something bigger and more enduring than what this present age offers us.
Reflect on your ultimate destination in the age to come and allow this to change the way you view the present.
Genesis 49:29 to 50:14 along with Revelation 22:1-4
