Exodus 13:19
Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear a solemn oath when he said, "God will surely attend to you, and then you must carry my bones with you from this place."
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him
This phrase highlights Moses' role as a leader who honors the past promises and covenants made by his ancestors. The Hebrew word for "bones" (עֲצָמוֹת, `atzamot`) signifies not just the physical remains but also the essence and legacy of Joseph. By taking Joseph's bones, Moses is fulfilling a sacred duty, demonstrating the importance of faithfulness to one's word and the continuity of God's promises across generations. This act symbolizes the connection between the past and the future, as Joseph's faith in God's promise is carried forward by Moses.

because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath
The act of making the sons of Israel swear an oath underscores the seriousness and binding nature of promises in the biblical context. The Hebrew word for "oath" (שְׁבוּעָה, `shevuah`) conveys a solemn promise made before God, indicating that this was not merely a personal request but a covenantal obligation. This reflects the deep-seated belief in the power of spoken words and the responsibility to uphold one's commitments, especially those made in the sight of God.

He had said, 'God will surely attend to you
Joseph's declaration, "God will surely attend to you," is a profound expression of faith. The Hebrew verb used here (פָּקַד, `paqad`) can mean to visit, attend to, or take action on behalf of someone. Joseph's confidence in God's providence and faithfulness is evident, as he assures his descendants that God will not forget them. This assurance is a source of hope and encouragement, reminding the Israelites of God's unwavering commitment to His people.

and you shall carry my bones up from this place with you
Joseph's request to have his bones carried up from Egypt is a testament to his unwavering belief in God's promise to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land. The act of carrying his bones is symbolic of the journey from bondage to freedom, from a foreign land to the land of promise. It serves as a tangible reminder of God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the hope of future fulfillment. This phrase encapsulates the theme of faith in God's promises and the anticipation of their ultimate realization.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The leader of the Israelites who led them out of Egypt. He is responsible for fulfilling Joseph's request to carry his bones to the Promised Land.

2. Joseph
A patriarch of Israel who had risen to power in Egypt. Before his death, he made the Israelites swear to take his bones with them when God delivered them from Egypt.

3. The Israelites
The descendants of Jacob (Israel) who were enslaved in Egypt and are now being led to freedom.

4. Egypt
The land where the Israelites were enslaved and from which they are now departing.

5. The Promised Land
The land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants, which the Israelites are journeying towards.
Teaching Points
Faith in God's Promises
Joseph's request to have his bones carried to the Promised Land reflects his unwavering faith in God's promises. Believers are encouraged to trust in God's faithfulness, even when fulfillment seems distant.

The Importance of Legacy
Joseph's actions remind us of the impact of leaving a legacy of faith. Our actions and words can inspire future generations to hold onto God's promises.

Obedience to Oaths and Commitments
The Israelites' fulfillment of Joseph's request underscores the importance of keeping promises and commitments, especially those made before God.

God's Providence and Timing
The transport of Joseph's bones is a testament to God's providence and perfect timing. Believers can find comfort in knowing that God orchestrates events according to His divine plan.

Community and Shared Faith
The collective effort to carry Joseph's bones highlights the strength found in community and shared faith. Believers are encouraged to support one another in their spiritual journeys.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Joseph's request to have his bones carried to the Promised Land demonstrate his faith in God's promises?

2. In what ways can we leave a legacy of faith for future generations, similar to Joseph's example?

3. How does the fulfillment of Joseph's request by Moses and the Israelites illustrate the importance of keeping our commitments?

4. What can we learn about God's providence and timing from the journey of Joseph's bones to the Promised Land?

5. How can we, as a community of believers, support each other in our faith journeys, as seen in the collective effort to fulfill Joseph's request?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 50:24-25
This passage records Joseph's original request to have his bones carried out of Egypt, showing his faith in God's promise to deliver Israel.

Hebrews 11:22
This verse highlights Joseph's faith, as he spoke of the Exodus and gave instructions concerning his bones, demonstrating his belief in God's promises.

Joshua 24:32
This verse records the fulfillment of Joseph's request, as his bones are finally buried in Shechem, in the Promised Land.
A Memento and a PledgeA. Nevin, D. D.Exodus 13:19
An Interesting Incident in Israel's Departure from EgyptJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 13:19
Burial PlacesH. O. Mackey.Exodus 13:19
Joseph's BonesJ. Orr Exodus 13:19
Rest in Native LandExodus 13:19
The Way of the Wilderness by the Red SeaJ. Orr Exodus 13:17-21
Fire and CloudH.T. Robjohns Exodus 13:17-22
Israel's Journey the Emblem of the Christian's PilgrimageJ. Urquhart Exodus 13:17-22
People
Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Hivite, Hivites, Israelites, Jebusites, Joseph, Moses, Pharaoh
Places
Etham, Red Sea, Succoth
Topics
Aid, Bones, Care, Carry, Caused, Certainly, Hence, Inspect, Joseph, Mind, Oath, Remember, Saying, Solemnly, Sons, Straitly, Strictly, Sure, Surely, Swear, Sworn, Taketh, Visit
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 13:19

     5137   bones
     8252   faithfulness, relationships

Exodus 13:17-22

     5828   danger

Library
Thought, Deed, Word
'It shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth.'--EXODUS xiii. 9. The question may be asked, whether this command is to be taken metaphorically or literally. No doubt the remembrance of the great deliverance was intrusted to acts. Besides the annual Passover feasts, inscriptions on the door-posts and fringes on the dress were appointed for this purpose. And the Jews from a very early period, certainly before our Lord's
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Fifth Day. Holiness and Redemption.
Sanctify unto me all the first-born.'--Ex. xiii. 2. 'All the first-born are mine; for on the day I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified unto me all the first-born in Israel: mine they shall be: I am the Lord.'--Num. iii. 13, viii. 17. 'For I am the Lord your God that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.'--Lev. xi. 45. 'I have redeemed thee; thou art mine.'--Isa. xliii. 1. At Horeb we saw how the
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

June the Tenth Pillars of Cloud and Fire
"The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud." --EXODUS xiii. 17--xiv. 4. I need His leadership in the daytime. Sometimes the daylight is my foe. It tempts me into carelessness. I become the victim of distraction. The "garish day" can entice me into ways of trespass, and I am robbed of my spiritual health. Many a man has been faithful in the twilight and night who has lost himself in the sunshine. He went astray in his prosperity: success was his ruin. And so in the daytime I need the
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Personality of Power.
A Personally Conducted Journey. Everyone enjoys the pleasure of travel; but nearly all shrink back from its tiresomeness and drudgery. The transportation companies are constantly scheming to overcome this disagreeable side for both pleasure and business travel. One of the popular ways of pleasure travel of late is by means of personally conducted tours. A party is formed, often by the railroad company, and is accompanied by a special agent to attend to all the business matters of the trip. A variation
S.D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on Power

"The Lord Hath Need of Him. " Mark xi, 3
What! of an Ass? Yes, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world." He gets renown to Himself by "using things which are despised." Let us never despair of the most foolish of men, if he become the servant of Jesus. It is said of the great John Hunt, that when a young man, he gave no promise of the talents he shewed in the work of the Ministry. We have spoken with one who knew him before his conversion, who made us smile as he described his gait and style of life. Yet this ungainly ploughboy
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Entangled in the Land
"For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in."--Exodus 14:3. ISRAEL WAS CLEAN escaped from Egypt. Not a hoof of their cattle was left behind; nor foot of child or aged man remained in the house of bondage. But though they were gone, they were not forgotten by the tyrant who had enslaved them. They had been a very useful body of workers; for they had built treasure cities and storehouses for Pharaoh. Compelled to work without wages,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891

Letter xxxvi. To Pope Damasus.
Jerome's reply to the foregoing. For the second and fourth questions he refers Damasus to the writings of Tertullian, Novatian, and Origen. The remaining three he deals with in detail. Gen. iv. 15, he understands to mean "the slayer of Cain shall complete the sevenfold vengeance which is to be wreaked upon him." Exodus xiii. 18, he proposes to reconcile with Gen. xv. 16, by supposing that in the one place the tribe of Levi is referred to, in the other the tribe of Judah. He suggests, however, that
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

Letter xxxv. From Pope Damasus.
Damasus addresses five questions to Jerome with a request for information concerning them. They are: 1. What is the meaning of the words "Whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold"? (Gen. iv. 5.) 2. If God has made all things good, how comes it that He gives charge to Noah concerning unclean animals, and says to Peter, "What God hath cleansed that call not thou common"? (Acts x. 15.) 3. How is Gen. xv. 16, "in the fourth generation they shall come hither again," to be reconciled
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought.
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Jesus Living at Nazareth and visiting Jerusalem in his Twelfth Year.
(Nazareth and Jerusalem, a.d. 7 or 8.) ^C Luke II. 40-52. ^c 40 And the child grew [This verse contains the history of thirty years. It describes the growth of our Lord as a natural, human growth (compare Luke i. 80); for, though Jesus was truly divine, he was also perfectly man. To try to distinguish between the divine and human in Jesus, is to waste time upon an impracticable mystery which is too subtle for our dull and finite minds], and waxed strong [His life expanded like other human lives.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Healing of the Woman - Christ's Personal Appearance - the Raising of Jairus' Daughter
THERE seems remarkable correspondence between the two miracles which Jesus had wrought on leaving Capernaum and those which He did on His return. In one sense they are complementary to each other. The stilling of the storm and the healing of the demonised were manifestations of the absolute power inherent in Christ; the recovery of the woman and the raising of Jairus' daughter, evidence of the absolute efficacy of faith. The unlikeliness of dominion over the storm, and of command over a legion of
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Jesus' Last Public Discourse. Denunciation of Scribes and Pharisees.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^A Matt. XXIII. 1-39; ^B Mark XII. 38-40; ^C Luke XX. 45-47. ^a 1 Then spake Jesus ^b 38 And in his teaching ^c in the hearing of all the people he said unto ^a the multitudes, and to his disciples [he spoke in the most public manner], 2 saying, ^c 46 Beware of the scribes, ^a The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: 3 all things whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus.
(the Temple at Jerusalem, b.c. 4) ^C Luke II. 21-39. ^c 21 And when eight days [Gen. xvii. 12] were fulfilled for circumcising him [The rite was doubtless performed by Joseph. By this rite Jesus was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 16, 17); that is, he became a member of the covenant nation, and became a debtor to the law--Gal. v. 3] , his name was called JESUS [see Luke i. 59], which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [Luke i. 31.] 22 And when the days of their
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Cavils of the Pharisees Concerning Purification, and the Teaching of the Lord Concerning Purity - the Traditions Concerning Hand-Washing' and Vows. '
As we follow the narrative, confirmatory evidence of what had preceded springs up at almost every step. It is quite in accordance with the abrupt departure of Jesus from Capernaum, and its motives, that when, so far from finding rest and privacy at Bethsaida (east of the Jordan), a greater multitude than ever had there gathered around Him, which would fain have proclaimed Him King, He resolved on immediate return to the western shore, with the view of seeking a quieter retreat, even though it were
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Among the People, and with the Pharisees
It would have been difficult to proceed far either in Galilee or in Judaea without coming into contact with an altogether peculiar and striking individuality, differing from all around, and which would at once arrest attention. This was the Pharisee. Courted or feared, shunned or flattered, reverently looked up to or laughed at, he was equally a power everywhere, both ecclesiastically and politically, as belonging to the most influential, the most zealous, and the most closely-connected religions
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Concerning the Communion, or Participation of the Body and Blood of Christ.
Concerning the Communion, or Participation of the Body and Blood of Christ. The communion of the body and blood of Christ is [1104] inward and spiritual, which is the participation of his flesh and blood, by which the inward man is daily nourished in the hearts of those in whom Christ dwells. Of which things the breaking of bread by Christ with his disciples was a figure, which even they who had received the substance used in the church for a time, for the sake of the weak; even as abstaining from
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Last Controversies and Discourses - the Sadducees and the Resurrection - the Scribe and the Great Commandment - Question
THE last day in the Temple was not to pass without other temptations' than that of the Priests when they questioned His authority, or of the Pharisees when they cunningly sought to entangle Him in His speech. Indeed, Christ had on this occasion taken a different position; He had claimed supreme authority, and thus challenged the leaders of Israel. For this reason, and because at the last we expect assaults from all His enemies, we are prepared for the controversies of that day. We remember that,
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Third Withdrawal from Herod's Territory.
Subdivision D. The Transfiguration. Concerning Elijah. (a Spur of Hermon, Near Cæsarea Philippi.) ^A Matt. XVII. 1-13; ^B Mark IX. 2-13; ^C Luke IX. 28-36. ^c 28 And it came to pass about eight days { ^a six days} ^c after these sayings [Mark agrees with Matthew in saying six days. Luke qualifies his estimate by saying "about." But if we regard him as including the day of the "sayings" and also the day of the transfiguration, and the other two as excluding these days, then the three statements
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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