Click here for the Hebrews 11:22 PODCAST
By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. ~ Hebrews 11:22
Today we return to Hebrews 11, the one chapter in the Bible where God gives us multiple examples of what it looks like to walk with Him by faith. Today, we consider the life of Joseph who was loved and favored by his father, Jacob. Of the 50 chapters in the book of Genesis, one fourth or 13 chapters of the book of Genesis are devoted to the life of Joseph.
Even though Joseph was younger than the rest of his 11 brothers, his dad gave him a coat of many colors which implied, "Joseph is my favorite." This created many problems between Joseph and his eleven brothers. And to add to that, God gave Joseph a dream that his brothers one day would bowed down to him. This resulted in Joseph's brothers hated him all the more.
One day, his father sent Joseph to check on his brothers as they cared for the family's flocks. Joseph's brothers took advantage of the opportunity as a caravan of Ishmaelites were passing by. So, they sold their little brother to the travelers who took him to Egypt where he ended up as a servant to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. God favored Joseph, and Potiphar trusted him, but Potiphar's wife desired him, as well. Joseph was a man of integrity, so he fled from her, and she couldn't stand it, so she falsely accused him of attempted rape. Reluctantly, Potiphar had Joseph put into prison.
There, Joseph faithfully trusted the LORD. In fact, even though he was a prisoner himself, Joseph was put in charge of the prison. There, Joseph ran the prison with God's favor. It was a dream scenario for the keeper of the prison, who paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him.
One day, Joseph noticed the sad faces of two prisoners. Jospeh asked why they were so sad. This gracious gesture was the first step toward an open door for Joseph. The two sad-faced men told Joseph of their dreams which they did not understand. Both of them had been servants of Pharaoh. The first, a cupbearer, had a dream Joseph knew meant good news. In three days, the cupbearer would be restored to his previous position. The second man, the baker, would suffer punishment in three days. It was time for him to get right with God.
All came to pass as Joseph had predicted, but the cupbearer forgot Joseph, until years later when Pharaoh was plagued by two dreams. Joseph was called before Pharaoh, and he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams accurately. As a result, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the entire Egyptian kingdom.
The years went by, and Egypt prospered under the influence of Joseph. Famine eventually overcame the nations, resulting in the nations coming to Pharaoh for grain, which Joseph had wisely stored up during years of plenty. Soon, land was traded for grain, and Pharaoh's wealth and property expanded beyond his wildest dreams.
Then, one day, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt. Like everyone else, they were in search of grain. Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Joseph then organized a way for them to confess their sins against him. This was a story of grace on Joseph's part, and the family was reunited. He told his brothers, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."
Today's verse begins with "By faith Joseph," and, we can only imagine the many directions that sentence could have turned. By faith, Joseph believed the dreams God gave him. By faith, Joseph held onto his integrity in a foreign land when no one watched his life. By faith, Joseph loved God even when imprisoned. By faith, Joseph told Pharaoh double dreams are an indication God has guaranteed to perform His will. By faith, Joseph organized reconciliation and forgiveness in his family. By faith, Joseph saw how this gracious God had coordinated the events of his life.
Though Joseph had faith through all those events, the writer of Hebrews doesn't mention them. Instead, he wrote, "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones."
According to Genesis 50, Joseph lived 110 years. The Israelites were still in Egypt, they were nomads, wanderers, and they had never possessed the land. While dying, Joseph made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones. While dying, he had not received the promise, and, it had been 200 years since the promise was first given to Abraham. Nobody had yet seen it. All of the patriarchs had died without seeing the promise from God come to fruition.
From a distance, Joseph foresaw the coming day when God would take his people out of Egypt. He knew they would go to the Promised Land that God had dedicated to Abraham generations earlier. Though he had not lived there, he believed his bones would go there. At the time of Joseph's death, the moment he ordered his family to bring his bones to the Promised Land, Israel was not a nation, but a family. And, they were in a good place, for Pharaoh favored them. In Egypt, they had been given good and peaceful land in which to prosper.
Joseph had no reason to wish for their future departure, for life was good in Egypt, and he had worked hard to make it so. But, still, Joseph knew, Israel would not be a small family with Egypt's favor forever. Eventually, 400 years later, they had to depart Egypt, despised by the Egyptians because God had grown them into a nation of people.
Joseph believed that God's will was the best for him and his family. Joseph saw how good he and his family had it in Egypt, but he believed the will of God was the best. And future generations, when they had it rough, would also need to believe in this God so much that they would be defined by Him. And, Joseph's bones preached that message for 400 years. His coffin delivered a one-point sermon: "God is faithful."
Joseph was a tremendous example of a man of faith in the God of the Bible. A key to his incredible adventure with God was his resolve to resist feeding the evil he knew to be in his heart. He didn't give into the potential anger toward his brothers or the temptation to give into the advances of Potiphar's wife. His whole life was totally built around the God of the Bible who gave to Abraham this incredible promise that is yet to come to pass. And everything in his life focused on the confidence he had in the God of the Bible, that He would do what He said He would do because He could be trusted. This is what biblical faith looks like.
