Human Response 101: Do as Commanded

Genesis 50:12, 13 And his sins did unto him according as he commanded them, For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried in cave of the field of Machpelah, which bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Jacob had commanded his sons to bury him in the land in the cave where the Patriarchs were buried. Jacob commanded this to be done because he believed God’s promise in the Covenant that his children would one day possess the Promised Land. The twelve sons also believed, and therefore obeyed.

God promised the Land to Abram, and 100 years later at his death all he had was a field with a cave. But Abraham believed God, and took the field as a guarantee of the fulfillment of the Land Promise. Jacob also believed the Promise demanding to be buried in that land. It took well over 400 years for his descendants to actually possess the promise. Nevertheless, Jacob responded with faith, and the sons responded with faith and obedience.

Jesus Christ promised us a Kingdom, which we do not live in just yet. But we stake a claim to the Land that we do not yet see by believing in Jesus today. We have been baptized and we believe the gospel: we have eternal life now; the kingdom of God is within us. The Holy Spirit dwelling in our spirit is like a field within the entire glorious Land which will be ours. We are buried there with Christ by baptism into His death waiting in faith and obedience for the revealing of the whole thing, no matter how long it takes.