The Sunday Conversation | with Pastor Luke Okoro | 20. 03. 2022
Genesis 49:8-10; 50:24-26 Exodus 12-13. Joshua 6:26. 1 Kings 16:34.
“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 a hundred , and ten years old; and they embalmed him , and he was put in a coffin in Egypt”. Genesis 50:24-26.
We must not lose sight of the essence of Our Conversation, to wit, the reality of God’s WORD being infallible, inviolable and incontrovertible. We have seen this reality in the fulfilment of God’s promises to Abraham with the birth of Isaac. God made Abraham to become a father of many nations. And in making him a father of many nations and, of kings of the earth for ever, He fulfilled the Abrahamic Covenant through Jesus Christ, who eventually became the initiator and fulfilment of the New Covenant .
By way of Biblical theology, Jesus came from the stem of Jesse, and of the lineage of David ( Davidic Covenant). (Matthew 1 and Luke 1).
The New Covenant is full made manifest in Jesus Christ, whose Second Coming, as we shall later converse, will be another fulfilment of God’s infallible Word. Hebrew 9:27. John 14:1-2.
Meanwhile, after the conquest of Jericho by Israel, Joshua, who led the campaign, had placed a curse on the city thus:
“And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. ” Joshua 6:26.
Several years later, a man named Hiel during the reign of King Ahab, rose to rebuild the city of Jericho. Hear the record of Scripture concerning this sad, but interesting reality.
” In his days did Hiel, the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.” 1 Kings 16:34.
God is always watching over His word to perform it. When Joshua spoke these words by God’s inspiration and cursed Jericho’s rebuilding by any body, it was not important that Hiel was not there. In any case, he was not born then. It was also not important that he did not agree to the declaration of Joshua, assuming he was even there. That you do not agree with what the Bible says about life, death and resurrection , or about judgement, hell and heaven does not set you free from their consequences, their obligations and their resultant liabilities or gains, as it were.
No doubt, Hiel could not have imagined that such a positive deed to his community would cost him two of his children who were also VERY INNOCENT.
It could have been unimaginable, yet it happened. Yes, their beautiful and divinely inspired names: Hiel, “God’s life in me”, Abiram , ” my father is exalted” , and Segub,” the elevated”– didn’t play tricks on heaven to alter biblical imperatives. A people’s sin shall surely find them out.
Jesus said that His words are spirit and life. God’s word doesn’t die. They live for ever more. John 6:63.
When God promised to deliver Israel from the captivity of Egypt, it was like eternity. It took 430 years to come to fruition. Joseph prophesied to his brethren in these words:
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 my bones from hence. So, Joseph died , being a hundred, and ten years old: and they embalmed him , and he was put in a coffin in Egypt”. Genesis 50 : 24-26.
The sons of Israel who were present when Joseph extracted this oath from them would be thinking the possibility of their getting freedom from Egypt. To be candid too, given the Super Power status of Egypt then,, it would have amounted to living in a fool’s paradise to imagine that Joseph was indeed serious with his demands.
But he was damn too serious to be kidding. He declared the mind of God , though some 400 years ahead, during which Israel’s captivity shall be over. The extra 30 years was actually due to their ignorance. They didn’t read their Torah parchment well to discover too quickly that their captivity in Egypt was to last for 400 year, only.
Now see what happened several centuries after the death of Joseph.
“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt” Exodus 12:40-42.
The events above could be a dress rehearsal of the departure of Israel from Egypt in fulfilment of the word of God.
“And it came to pass, when Pharoah had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines; although that was near;
But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you” Exodus 13:17-19.
The point must be made that , although Moses was not present when Joseph extracted the oath from his brethren or gave the prophesy, he did not in anyway make light of the injunction. He didn’t impute his own word or discretion or opinion into the prophesy. He didn’t interprete it to his fancy. He didn’t argue about it. As it was delivered to him by those who lived ahead of him, so he carried it out. For us believers, this can as well be a challenge: how do you carry out God’s instructions, even if they are not original to you?
Moses didn’t also lose sight of what was important because he was in a hurry. How about you? Many pay scant regard to major issues, and major heavily on things insignificant. Don’t be caught up chasing Mammonism, carnal indulgences and revelry, as in the days of Noah, when He shall appear. Titus 2:11-13. Be seriously guided. Remember Lot’s wife. Luke 12:15
Anyway, 430 years could appear too long for the ordinary mind, the carnal and fleshly contented man or woman to despair and faint and become wearied and hopeless. It could look like eternity, but before God, it is like the passage of a day. Trust Him in your matter dealing with hope, life and Godliness. He will not shift grounds or alter His nature or vary His conditions. He abides faithful for ever. That’s the God we serve. God bless. Happy Sunday.
(To be continued).
•Pastor Okoro, a revivalist and marriage counselor, can be reached on:
08051000462.
March 20.2022.
