Tour of the Tombs

Bryan Schneider

August 13, 2022

Joshua 24:29-33

Today we are going to take a "Tour of the Tombs..." First, we will visit the tomb of Joshua, who left behind a wonderful legacy and bears the honorable title…

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Tour of the Tombs

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Summary

Joshua closes with three burials that bear witness to God's faithfulness and invite reflection on the legacies of Joshua, Joseph, and Eleazar.
Joshua dies as the servant of the Lord, and his generation's service leaves an influence that continues among the elders who outlive him.
Joseph's bones are buried at Shechem, completing the long journey of faith begun when he trusted God's promised return to the land.
Eleazar's burial in the land given to his son testifies that God has provided an inheritance and established priestly service among his people.
The sermon moves from those occupied tombs to Christ's empty tomb: the better Joshua, true High Priest, and reigning King has defeated death.
Because believers are united to the risen Christ, death brings their souls immediately into glory while their bodies rest in hope of resurrection.
The final tomb in the sermon's tour is the hearer's own, prompting the question whether one's life will glorify God and show faithful service flowing from faith and love.

Bible Study

Joshua 24:29-33 ends the book with the deaths and burials of Joshua, Joseph, and Eleazar. Far from being incidental notices, the three tombs summarize service, promise, inheritance, and priesthood. Joshua's generation serves the Lord; Joseph's burial fulfills his faith-filled command concerning the exodus; Eleazar rests in land God has given. Yet each grave remains occupied. The sermon therefore leads to Jesus, the better Joshua and final Prophet, Priest, and King, whose tomb is empty. His resurrection turns the believer's grave from a final defeat into a resting place until bodily resurrection and calls every hearer to a life whose chief end is God's glory.

Biblical Themes

God's covenant faithfulness
Faithful service and generational influence
Joseph's persevering faith
Inheritance in the promised land
Prophet, priest, and king
Christ the better Joshua
Death and the empty tomb
The believer's glory and bodily resurrection
A life ordered toward God's glory

Scripture Connections

Joshua 24:29-33: Joshua, Joseph, and Eleazar are buried, closing the book with testimony to service, promise, and inheritance.
Genesis 50:22-26: Joseph makes Israel swear to carry up his bones because he trusts that God will visit his people and bring them to the promised land.
Exodus 13:19: Moses carries Joseph's bones out of Egypt in faithfulness to that oath.
Hebrews 11:22: Joseph's command concerning his bones is explicitly remembered as an act of faith.
Judges 2:6-10: The generation that knew the Lord's works gives way to another generation that did not know them, adding urgency to faithful testimony.
Hebrews 4:8-11: Joshua's rest does not exhaust God's promise; a greater Sabbath rest remains for God's people.
Hebrews 7:23-28: Unlike mortal priests, Jesus holds his priesthood permanently and always lives to intercede.
1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 50-58: Christ's resurrection is the firstfruits and guarantees the final defeat of death for his people.
Philippians 1:20-23: Paul expects death to bring him into the presence of Christ, which is far better.
Revelation 14:13: Those who die in the Lord are blessed, rest from their labors, and are followed by their deeds.

Practical Applications

Seek the honorable legacy of being known as a servant of the Lord rather than pursuing a name detached from faithfulness.
Trust God's promises across long stretches of time, as Joseph did when he gave instructions about his bones.
Tell the next generation what the Lord has done so that faithful knowledge does not end when one generation dies.
Let the mortality of even great leaders turn your hope from human instruments to Jesus, who lives and reigns forever.
Face death with the concrete Christian hope of being with Christ and of bodily resurrection, not with vague optimism.
Order present service around God's glory and the good of his people, knowing that deeds done in faith follow the believer.
Consider what your habits, speech, relationships, and service presently teach others about the Lord you profess to follow.

Historical Context

These verses form the epilogue to Joshua. The burial notices gather up major lines of Israel's story: Joshua's commissioned leadership, Joseph's confidence that God would bring Israel out of Egypt, the possession of land at Shechem, and Eleazar's priestly ministry. The repeated phrase about Israel serving the Lord also points forward to the next generation's failure, making the transmission of faithful knowledge a central concern.

Westminster Standards

Westminster Confession of Faith 8.1, 8.4
I. It pleased God, in His eternall purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be the Mediatour between God and Man; the Prophet, Priest, and King, the Head, and Saviour of his Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the World: Unto whom He did from all eternity give a People, to be his Seed, and to be by him in time Redeemed, Called, Justified, Sanctified, and Glorified. IV. This Office, the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake; which that he might discharge, he was made under the Law, and did perfectly fullfill it, endured most grievous torments immediatly in his Soul, and most painfull sufferings in his Body; was crucified, and died; was buried, and remained under the power of death; yet saw no corruption. On the third day he arose from the dead, with the same body in which he suffered; with which also he ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of his Fathers, making intercession, and shall return to Judge, men, and Angels, at the end of the World.
Connection to the sermon: The three occupied tombs point beyond Israel's mortal leader and priest to Christ. He perfectly fulfills the mediatorial offices, was truly buried, rose bodily without corruption, reigns and intercedes in heaven, and will return as Judge.
Westminster Larger Catechism 1
Mans chief and highest end is, to glorifie God, and fully to enjoy him for ever.
Connection to the sermon: The sermon's final stop is the hearer's future tomb. Its question about legacy is governed by this higher purpose: faithful service matters because a life is meant to glorify and enjoy God, not merely to preserve a personal reputation.
Westminster Shorter Catechism 37
The souls of Beleevers are at their death made perfect in holinesse, and do immediatly passe into glory: and their bodies being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the Resurrection.
Connection to the sermon: This states the hope the sermon draws from Christ's empty tomb: believers go to Christ at death, their buried bodies remain united to him, and the grave is a temporary rest until resurrection.

Questions

Why does Joshua end not with conquest but with the burials of Joshua, Joseph, and Eleazar?
What made Joshua's title servant of the Lord a fitting summary of his life?
How did Joseph's command concerning his bones express faith in promises he would not see fulfilled during his earthly life?
What does Eleazar's burial in an inherited place say about God's provision for his people?
How does Jesus fulfill and surpass Joshua's leadership, Eleazar's priesthood, and Israel's hope of inheritance?
Why is Christ's empty tomb the decisive answer to the occupied tombs at the end of Joshua?
What hope does union with Christ give believers about death, glory, burial, and bodily resurrection?
If others examined the fruit of my life, what would they learn about the God I serve and the hope I profess?

Key Terms

Servant of the Lord: The honorable title given to Joshua at death, describing a life submitted to God's calling and purposes.
Legacy: The spiritual influence and testimony a person's life leaves to those who follow.
Promised land: Canaan, the inheritance God promised and gave to Israel, anticipating the fuller inheritance secured in Christ.
Joseph's bones: The remains Joseph commanded Israel to carry from Egypt, a long-standing testimony to faith in God's promise.
Priesthood: The ministry represented by Eleazar, fulfilled and surpassed by Jesus the heavenly High Priest.
Resurrection: God's raising of the dead, decisively inaugurated by Jesus' bodily victory over the grave.
Intermediate state: The believer's condition after death, when the soul is with Christ in glory and the body rests until resurrection.
Chief end: Humanity's highest purpose: to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

This transcript is provided to make the message easier to revisit. Minor transcription errors may remain.

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Well you turn over in your Bibles with me to Joshua chapter 24. Joshua 24. In 2021, we started our series on Joshua, and we're finally at the end. Joshua chapter 24, and this morning we'll look at verses 29 through 33. Joshua 24, verses 29 through 33. If you're using a Pew Bible, you'll find that on page 216. Here now, God's perfect word.

Now it came to pass, after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which he had done for Israel. The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. And Eliezer, the son of Aaron, died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phineas' son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

Prayer for Illumination

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and we pray now that your Holy Spirit might attend unto the preaching of it. God, please be our teacher this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.

Sermon

Did you know in America you could go on a tour of the tombs? If you wanted to, you could start on the East Coast and you could go to Arlington National Cemetery. I remember going there. I used to visit there every once a while when I was stationed on the East Coast. And all of these sprawling tombstones, white tombstones, all in order and laid. But there's a few tombs that are noteworthy there.

You could go and see JFK's tomb. Or if you wanted to travel a little bit south, you could go to Mount Vernon and you could go see the tomb of the first president, George Washington. Or you could go to Charlottesville, to Monticello, and you could go see the tomb of the third president. You could even go not too far away from here and see the tomb of Abraham Lincoln.

People do this all the time. They go and visit tombs. They go and they wanna see where are these people buried? What is this history that is there? Well, today I'd like to take you on a tour of some different tombs. Today I'd like to take you on a tour of five different tombs, actually, three of whom you'll find in our text this morning. The first tomb I'd like to take you to is the Servant of the Lord's tomb. I'd like to take you to verse 29 and show you the tomb of the one who faithfully served God.

This tomb is the tomb of Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses. We've been looking at Joshua's life and as we've been reading Joshua's life, this title hasn't been bestowed on him while he was living. Time and time again in Joshua's life, he is referred to as the servant of Moses. The servant of the Lord title is actually reserved for Moses himself.

But there, when you look on his tomb, as we go to the north side of Mount Gaash, as we go to his own tribal inheritance, how sweet is that? It's not land he had to buy. It's not Leith's land, this is Joshua's land. In the hills of Ephraim, there we see whose tomb? We see Joshua, the son of Nun. And what is written on his tomb?

The servant of the Lord. This is that servant of the Lord that in Joshua 1 we had found and we had heard of. God was trying to encourage him and spur him on as he was saying, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage. And here at the end of his life, the Lord has said to him, well done, good and faithful servant. And there on his tomb is inscribed the servant of the Lord. But he was no just ordinary servant who could not lead God's people. But what does this obituary continue to say about this servant of the Lord?

Verse 31. Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua. and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had known all the works of the Lord which he had done for Israel." Joshua died a hundred and ten years old. Not quite as old as Abraham, but of a good, good old ripe age.

And he had instructed God's people time and time again. And his legacy left behind him was so much so that as long as this man was living, the people followed the Lord. And then when we look at chapter 23 and we saw him address the judges and the officials and the leaders of God's people, as long as those leaders were still living, God's people followed the Lord.

There's a tomb on the north side of Mount Gaash, in the land of Ephraim, in the hills there. And on that tomb is written the servant of the Lord, Joshua. But then if we move just a little bit away, just to the north, we'll find an ancient plot of ground, an ancient burial ground, hundreds and hundreds of years old is this tomb. This tomb was bought by the patriarchs in Shechem. And there in Shechem, the patriarchs were buried. But there was a problem hundreds of years ago at this tomb. See, this tomb carries a story with it. Hundreds of years ago, this tomb of Shechem, there was a body missing in it. Joseph's body.

See, they were taken, the Israelites went down into Egypt, they had to go there to flee the famine, but there they were taken as slaves for 400 years. But one of the sons of Israel, Joseph, a ruler by name, he was put in charge of all the slaves. He was put in charge of all of Pharaoh's things.

And with his dying breath, he made his family promise. In his faith, he said, we're going to go back there someday. And when we go, you get my body, and you take my bones up to Shechem. And here we are. Hundreds of years later, God has remained faithful. And as we come to the tomb, we find that Joseph's faith has been paid in full. It's now Joseph's inheritance. Did you catch that? The bones of Joseph, verse 32, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem in the plot of ground, which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance to the children of Joseph. Joseph believed by faith that God was going to give that land to his descendants.

And now this tomb in Shechem, where the covenant in chapter 24 had happened, stands as a memorial to a great man, but even more, a great God. But there's one more tomb. There's one more tomb in that hill country of Israel, and that's of the first high priest who died in the land of Canaan.

Look with me at verse 33. As we come to verse 33, we find the tomb of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, who had died. They buried him in the hill belonging to Phinehas, his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim. As we see Eliezer's tomb, could you imagine what this must have been like? His father Aaron had died on the other side of the Jordan River, and now this was the first tomb of the first high priest on this side in the promised land. And it was owned by his own son. He was able to be buried in his own family's inheritance. God had remained faithful. God had given them a priest. God had given them a land. God had given them promises. And each one of these had seen the promises fulfilled or had hoped for the promises in their faith. Three tombs, three witnesses of God's faithfulness.

But if we traveled up the mountains from Ephraim, if we went up the elevation and we headed south, we would find another tomb. This is the tomb that was hewn out of the rock. A tomb that was made for a rich man. A tomb that was carved out for a rich family. But there in that tomb, once lied, a poor man who changed the world. But in this tomb, there is no body. In the tomb outside Jerusalem, this is where Jesus Christ had been laid. But it was in that tomb that Jesus Christ was laid. But he did not stay in that tomb.

And if we'd went to Jerusalem today, we might see a tomb that people might say is where Jesus raised, but you're not going to see anything in that tomb because he was raised from the dead. And we have faith in that risen Lord. That same faith that Joseph had all the way back in Egypt. when he said, don't leave my bones here because I know that God's promise is true. We have faith also that this is not our home, that this is not the end of the story, but if Jesus Christ is raised from the dead, so also we will be raised.

When we go, if you had traveled, if you spent thousands of dollars to go to Jerusalem to see that tomb, you would see an empty tomb. You would not see the tomb of a high priest because our high priest lives in heaven. Of the order of Melchizedek, the father has said, come sit here at my right hand. If you traveled in a plane and you landed in Tel Aviv, and you hopped on a tour bus and you went to go see a tomb, you would just see an empty tomb.

Not a tomb of a king. Because our king does not live in a tomb. But our king reigns in heaven. He is of the order of David. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. You need not travel all the way to Jerusalem to see this tomb. Because the tomb doesn't really matter. Because the person who is laid there lives forever. He's a better Joshua. Joshua led his people and loved his people. But the true Joshua, Yeshua, has come and his people follow in his footsteps. The tomb of Eleazar is still there in the plot of land that has belonged to Phineas. But our high priest is in heaven as a lamb who was slain.

So I must ask you, as we go on our tour of the tombs, the fifth tomb, What does your tombstone say? I ask you this morning, are you one of the people of verse 31? When your children, when your spouse writes your obituary, will they say that this, my beloved husband, my dear wife, our father, our mother, walked in service to the Lord all their lives.

What are you striving for in this life? Brothers and sisters, I must ask you, what is your chief end in this life? It's not the person who has all the toys who's going to win. but you are called to run the race. You are called to fight the good fight. You are called to cling to Jesus Christ and to serve him all of your life because you love him, because he is your king, because he is your high priest, because he is the mediator of a better covenant, because he is the one in whom you live and move and have your being.

What will your tombstone say? How will people remember you? We get sucked into this life, don't we? The humdrum of business, the things that need done, the car that's broken down, the children who need shoes, the field that needs cultivating, the stuff that needs attended to. What is it that is your highest goal? What is the legacy that you will leave behind?

Children, don't think that this doesn't apply to you now or someday you'll worry about those types of things. I will testify to you right now that if you walk out these doors and you make a right hand turn and you go to the north of the church, children, there are handfuls and handfuls of gravestones for children. who died in their youth. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Determine in your heart who you will serve. Who will be your master? What is your end goal in this life? When you look upon you, on that day you shut your eyes the final time, and you do immediately pass into glory.

Is it not our heart's desire to hear, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into my rest? How do we enter into that rest? By faith in Jesus Christ. How do we show that we are in Jesus Christ? How do we show that we love him? By serving him. By loving him and loving others. What will your tombstone say? Will we follow the Lord, church? Will we look to the risen Christ, who's above his tombstone says he is not here, he is risen? Let's follow the Lord.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the testimony you have given us in this book of Joshua. Father, and we pray that as we think upon the end of our lives, that it would affect how we live today. Father, I pray for your Holy Spirit that you would be working in our lives and in this congregation, that we would be known as servants, as people who loved you. Thank you for our priest. Thank you for our prophet. Thank you for our king. In Jesus' name, amen.

And thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.