Genesis 47:29-31
And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me…
… bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.
As seen when Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac in Genesis 24, putting one’s hand under another’s thigh was a way of saying, “I want your full attention. Do not pull away. This matters.”
Jacob is nearing the end now, and with his final days in view, he calls Joseph close and makes him swear that he will not bury him in Egypt.
Why?
Because although Jacob had lived in Egypt, and although Egypt had been a place of provision, protection, and even reunion with Joseph, his heart was never there. Egypt served its purpose, but Jacob knew it was not home.
That is what stands out to me here. Jacob had it good in Egypt. The famine was behind him. Joseph was beside him. The family was cared for. Yet when he thought about where he wanted to be laid to rest, he said in essence, “Do not leave me here. Take me back to the land God promised.”
I like that. At the end of his life, Jacob was still looking beyond the place of present comfort to the place of promised inheritance.
And that says something to us.
This world may provide for us in many ways. There are blessings here. There are sweet moments here. The Lord gives us help, strength, friendships, family, and seasons of rest. But for the child of God, this world is still not home.
We live here for now, but our hearts are set on another country.
Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Even during the millennial kingdom, glorious as that will be, the heart of the believer will still be drawn onward to the new heaven and the new earth. That is the true land of promise. That is the place where every longing finally comes to rest.
Jacob seems to understand something that we also need to remember. A place can be beneficial without being ultimate. A season can be blessed without being final. Egypt was useful, but Canaan was home.
And for us, this present world is much the same way.
We work here.
We serve here.
We raise families here.
We preach here.
We suffer here.
We rejoice here.
But we do not belong here.
That steady awareness helps a believer. It keeps us from wrapping our arms too tightly around a world that is passing away. It reminds us not to measure everything by present ease or present comfort. Jacob had comfort in Egypt, but his faith still reached past it.
Think about that.
A man says the clearest things when he knows he is about to leave this world. And Jacob’s final request revealed where his confidence really was. He believed the promises of God. He believed Egypt was temporary. He believed God had prepared something more.
So he said, “Bury me not in Egypt.”
In other words, “Do not let my final resting place tell the wrong story. I am not an Egyptian. I am a man of promise. I belong to the Lord, and I belong in the land He swore to give.”
That is a good word for us. We may spend our years in this present world, but let us never settle our hearts here. Let us enjoy the gifts God gives, but let us keep looking beyond them. Let us be thankful for the Egypts of provision, but let us never confuse them with home.
Jacob bowed himself upon the bed’s head after Joseph swore to him. He worshiped.
Why? Because when a man knows the Lord will keep His word, he can rest.
Beloved, that is where peace is found. Not in pretending this world will satisfy us fully, but in knowing something better is ahead. The child of God can say, “I am grateful for what the Lord has done here, but my heart is in another land.”