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Dem bones

What was it about bones that made Jacob and Joseph both want theirs buried in the promised land? In Genesis 50 Jacob is embalmed and it is quite the process. Later his corpse is taken to be buried in daddy's tomb. Why wasn't Rachel buried there? 

When Joseph dies at the end of the chapter his body is put in a coffin in Egypt. However, before he dies he makes his family promise to take his bones to the promised land. Why was that so important and why didn't he get buried in the pm just after death? 

280 years would go by between the coffin and Moses coming into the Egyptian picture. Eventually, actually 80 years later Moses would remember Joseph and take his old bones back to the promised land. As one author puts it, remembering the nation's past agony of slavery as well as trusting in God to keep the promises that he had made about a return to the promised land. God is faithful. Bones don't need to travel but the trip was symbolic of God's liberty. 

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