TITLE: Carry My Bones
TEXT: Genesis 50:22-26
PROPOSITION: There important lessons we need to learn about respect for the dead.
QUESTION: Why?
KEY WORD: Lessons

Introduction:

1. Joseph was old and dying.

2. His dying request and prophecy.

   1. Prophecy – God will visit you and deliver you from this land.

   2. Request – When you leave take my bones with you.

3. And they did.

Joseph's bones

1. Joseph's dying wish – Genesis 50:22-26

2. Fulfilled – Exodus 13:19

Once before, the Bible talks about carrying a man's bones away. In the written Torah it says: "Then Joseph had the sons of Israel make a promise. He said, 'Promise me that you will carry my bones with you out of Egypt'" (Genesis 50:25, NCV). The Torah states that over 500 years later, "Moses carried the bones of Joseph with him, because before Joseph died, he had made the Israelites promise to do this" (Exodus 13:19, NCV). What is the lesson we can learn from those who carrying bones with them? A wise man summed up the meaning in this way: "Unless some things are carried from the past into the future, there will be no future worth having." From: http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/4407.htm

Lessons to learn

1. God keeps his promise.

   1. 2 Corinthians 1:20

   2. Sometimes it is not fulfilled on our clock or calendar

   3. This one – 400 years later.

   4. Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.
       

2. Collect antiques.

   1. Bring things from the past to learn from them. A wise man summed up the meaning in this way: "Unless some things are carried from the past into the future, there will be no future worth having."

   2. We learn from the past – learn from history

   3. We value our present because of the sacrifices of the past

3. Respect the dead. Honor their lives and memory.

   1. Vandals destroy tombstones

   2. Respect for native American burial grounds

   3. Veterans day, Memorial day, Mother's / Father's Day

   4. We should have Respect for –

      1. Unborn (abortion)

      2. Elderly, deformed (euthanasia)

      3. Dead (vandalize cemeteries)

      4. Past leaders – presidents, elders, preachers

4. Bury some bones (sins, forgiven sins)

   1. These bones need to be left buried.

   2. While we learn from the past – not repeat the same mistakes

   3. We must put the past behind us – Philippians 3:12-14