KEEPING THE PROMISE MADE TO A DYING FATHER

Proclamation:

“Then he gave them these instructions: ‘I am about to be gathered to my people.  Bury me with my fathers … There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.  The field and the cave were bought from the Hittites.’  When Jacob had finished giving instructions, he … breathed his last …”  Genesis 49:29-33 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of God which were written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  When Jacob arrived in Egypt, he sent his son Judah ahead of them to get directions to Goshen.  His long lost son Joseph met them there and they had a joyous and tearful reunion. (Genesis 46:28-29)  Pharaoh allowed them to have the best land in Egypt and Jacob blessed him. (Genesis 47:5-10)  Jacob lived for seventeen years in Egypt before he died.  Just before his death, he asked Joseph not to bury him in Egypt, but in the land of his fathers. (Genesis 47:28-30)  Also before he died, Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph, intentionally giving the younger son, Ephraim, the blessing which should have gone to the oldest son, Manasseh. (Genesis 48:8-20)  Then Jacob called his twelve sons together and blessed each one of them and spoke prophetically of their individual futures. (Genesis 49:1-33)  They would become the twelve tribes of Israel.  Then he gave instructions to all of his sons to bury him in the land of his fathers and not in Egypt. Joseph honored his father’s dying wish and kept his promise to him. (Genesis 50:1-13)

Application:

People make promises to others all of the time and they break most of them.  Many children are often “crushed” by the broken promises made to them.  However, there is something special about the promise one makes to a dying individual on their death bed.  Promises made to a dying family member are usually held in very high regard and are usually honored.  We should be very careful when we give our word to someone.  The old saying goes, “You are only as good as your word.”  We need to pray for faithfulness in the promises that we make to others. 

Honor Your Father And Mother

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land The LORD your God is giving you."  Exodus 20:12 (NIV)  

The fifth of the ten commandments which The Lord God gave to Moses for His people.  This is the first of the commandments that contains a promise for those who keep it.  Honor your parents and you will be blessed to live a long life.

We are told eight separate times in the Bible to honor our father and mother. (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16, Matthew 15:4, Matthew 19:19, Mark 7:10, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, and Ephesians 6:2)  To honor our father and mother means more than just saying nice things about them.  To honor them is to respect them, to obey them, to express feelings our for them and to them, to love them, to accept their correction and punishment, to follow their advice and direction, to comfort them in their illness and in their old age, and to provide them with financial and emotional support.  Honoring our parents requires us to demonstrate it with our actions.  They cared for us when we were children, they helped us as adults, and now the time has come, or soon will come, for the roles to be reversed, and we will help and care for them.  Most of them are not happy with their new dependent status.  It is a blessing for us if we are able to spend time with them and make their last few years as easy as possible for them.  Our parents will not be here with us forever, and we will regret it if we do not honor them while they were alive.  Most of us will bury our parents, and we will miss them years after their death.  We should be a blessing to them while we can.  If we are a blessing to our parents and honor them, The Lord God will bless us and grant us a long life.