1. To show their belief in the promise ; though they could not go thither in person, they would have their bones carried thither to take possession, which was a visible symbol or public testimony of their faith that they doubted not of the promised possession.
2. It was an excitement to posterity not to settle their minds in
416 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SeR. LVI.
Egypt, lest being overcome by the wealth and pleasures of the country, they should forget the land of promise. It was as a trumpet to awaken them.
3. It was a public memoi-ial, by which upon all occasions they might call to mind the trutii of the promise when it came to pass. We see now, it is true, what Joseph spake concerning his bones ; as they called to mind that parabolical speech of Christ's destroying the temple and building it in three days : John ii. 22, ' Wlien therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.' They now believed tliat he spake of the temple of his body.
4. It was a pledge of their communion with the saints ; living and dying they would have no communion with idolaters, tliey would not lie in the same grave with them.
5. Canaan was a symbol of their eternal inheritance ; so to show their heavenliness, they desired to be in Canaan, living and dead, that is, in the land of promise, where Christ conversed, lived, died, rose again. That they did not merely look upon the temporal enjoyment of Canaan is clear, for Joseph was better in Egypt ; but they looked upon heaven, and the great promises and blessings of the covenant figured thereby, they looked for the translation of their souls to heaven, and a future resurrection of all the blessed hereafter. In short, Joseph would have all Jcnow that he did nut die an Egyptian, but in expecta- tion of the enjoyment of a heavenly life with all the patriarchs, of which this countiy was a figure. Hence the phrase is often used of ' being gathered to their fathers,' which did not only imply their lying in one common sepulchre, but their going to them in heaven, the true Canaan, and place of rest and establishment.
What shall we learn hence ?
[1.] Papists would gather the veneration of relics from the transla- tion of Joseph's bones, but fondly, for this was a thing which the Israelites would never have done if not bound thereunto by oath. These bones were carried into the land of promise to be kept, not for show and worship, but for burial.
[2.] Superstitious persons would gather hence a necessity of burying in holy or consecrated places, but fondly, for there were special reasons why these holy men desired to be buried in Canaan. Now there is no pi-omise made to one place rather than another, it maketh nothing ad animcb levamentum, to the good of souls.
And the custom of burying in places of worship, as it is very unhealthy and unseemly, so it is very modern. The Jews buried without the city, and Abraham in the cave beside Mamre. Deborah was buried under an oak, Gen. xxxv. 8 ; Kachel, in the way, ver. 19 ; and Joseph, in the field of Shechem, Joshua xxiv. 32.
But what is to be learned hence ?
(1.) Joseph maketh mention, not only of a departure out of Egypt, but of an introduction into Canaan, The blessings of the covenant are privative and positive ; we are not only delivered from hell, but we have an entrance and admission into heaven : John iii. 16, ' That who-
VeR. 22.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 417
soever believeth ia liim slioulcl not perish, but have everlasting life.' If we had only been delivered from the power of darkness, it is more than we could expect, as the prodigal son said, ' Make me as one of thy hired servants,' Luke xv. 19. But to be preferred to the privileges of the gospel, that is higher, and more glorious. Well then, let your obedience be privative and positive ; do not only depart from evil, but abound in the work of the Lord, Many are not vicious, but they do not look after communion with God.
(2.) Joseph was a great man in Egypt, yet his heart was elsewhere, he had no mind to the country where he was so well at ease. So though .Ave live in Egypt, let our hearts be in Canaan ; if we cannot get out of the world, let us get the world out of us : John xvii. 16, ' They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.' There was their abode, but their hearts were not there. Oh, it is an excellent frame of spirit when we can enjoy much in the world, as Joseph lived in great dignity ; and yet not be of a worldly spirit, and in the fulness of all worldly things to mind better things.
(3.) There is a communion between the saints departed in the Lord. Bury me with my fathers, saith Jacob ; and Joseph lying in the same grave is a pledge of their communion in heaven. They are called, 'a family,' Eph. iii. 15 ; and a society or company — ' The spirits of just men made perfect,' Heb. xii. 23. There is a double evil of death, it separates the body and the soul, and it separateth from our relations, fathers and children, and friends one from another. Now there is comfort against both ; the soul is separated from the body and joined to the Lord, loosed from hence, that we may be with Christ. And then as to company, we go to better company in heaven, we go to those that long for us, and look for us every day, to ' the spirits of just men made perfect.' Let us delight in the communion of saints for the present, that when we change our place, yet we may not change our company, unless it be for the better ; that we may be with our fathers. Wicked men are tormented in their society.