“I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” Genesis 46:4
God assured Jacob, “I will walk with you into this new and unfamiliar world to which I have called you. My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. I will never leave you and I will never forsake you” (see Heb. 13:5).
Then God promises, “And I will also bring you up again.” This is a remarkable statement because Jacob died in Egypt. So what does God, who knows all things, mean when He says, “I will bring you up”?
It could refer to the fact that after Jacob died, Joseph carried his body back to Canaan and buried him with his fathers. But if the reference was to Canaan, then God would have said, “Joseph will close your eyes, and then you will be brought up and buried with your fathers in Canaan.”
But the order is different. God says, “I will bring you up” and then He says, “Joseph will close your eyes.” This is a marvelous Old Testament glimpse into the experience of a believer at the end of life—to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6).
Jacob, you are afraid of what is going to happen in the future. Let Me tell you what will happen. I will go down with you to Egypt. Then, when you die, I will bring you up to Me. You will be away from the body and at home with Me. When that happens Joseph will close your eyes. But when he does, you will already be here with Me, so do not be afraid.
God has everything about your life, your death, and your eternity completely under control.
The circumstances of your life, death, and eternity are mostly unknown to you, but they aren’t to God. Will you think about each of these three, and entrust them into the hands of God?
