For this study we will be looking at Joseph and the trials that he faced throughout his life. It is in those trials that his faith was tested and his faith was seen as secure. In our last study we talked about Jacob but we looked at some of the story of Joseph because it was him, along with his son’s that would receive the blessing from Jacob. Much of what we talked about concerning Joseph in our last study was us looking at why Joseph would be the heir of the inheritance. This does not make sense to us if we just look at the fact that he is the 11th son born among these 12 sons. It is usually the first born son that would receive that blessing. Of course we know that Joseph was chosen by God to be the heir to carry on the promise of the blessings given originally to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob and now to Joseph.
There is much that could be said concerning the trials and problems that Joseph met throughout his life so we are going to first look at a specific area of his life to help us in understanding how God works in our life for His glory even though what we see may not be a good situation. Then we will look at what our text says here in Hebrews 11:22 which says By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave commands concerning his bones.
Just to get our focus on who Joseph is we need to remember that Joseph is the 11th son of Jacob but the first son of Rachel who is called Jacob’s beloved wife. You can read in Genesis 30:22-24 of his birth. After his birth there is not much to mention concerning Joseph until we get to Genesis 37. It is then that Joseph’s story begins and will take us all the way to the end of Genesis. Even though the storyline is primarily about Joseph, we need to remember that this story is given to us to show us how God preserved the line of Judah where our Lord Jesus would come from, the line of blessing that came through Jacob, to Joseph and then to Ephraim and Manasseh. It is in this time frame that Joseph is tested over and over again. It is through those times that we really see the faith of Joseph. As we move along we will look at some of Joseph’s back story to help us in understanding this faith that he had in the most difficult times of his life.
That brings us now to look at our first point for this study.
1.Joseph’s continual faith through life’s trials.
To set up this point I want to simply summarize some of the troubles that Joseph faced in his life. As I said already, Joseph is the 11th in line of 12 sons born to Jacob. It was clear that Jacob had some favoritism towards Joseph as the Bible states in Genesis 37:3-4 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him in peace.
As we see here that this favoritism brought jealousy from his brothers towards him and in fact a hatred towards him. This I am sure brought on more issues than what we read about in the Bible but for sure what we see in the Bible is enough to see the point. In Genesis 37:5-11 Joseph had a dream that showed that he would be in authority over his brothers and this brought even more hatred. Then as you move along into Genesis 37:18-36 we see first a plot made by his brothers to kill Joseph but then they settled to sale him into slavery and hide what they had done by making it look like that he had been killed by an animal of some sort.
This takes us to where he was in Potiphar’s house and was approached by Potiphar’s wife where she was making sexual advances towards him and then accused him of rape. This was what got Joseph placed into prison for about 2 years. In that time God blesses Joseph making him a leader among the prisoners. He would then continue to trust God as he interprets the dreams of the former chief cupbearer and the chief baker. The cupbearer would be restored back to his previous position and it was at that moment that Joseph says this in Genesis 40:14-15 Only remember me when it goes well with you, and please show me lovingkindness by remembering me to Pharaoh and getting me out of this house. 15 For I was in fact stolen from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the pit.
The story goes on that the cupbearer did not help at that moment so that Joseph could get out of that prison. This is where we come to where Pharaoh has a dream. The cupbearer then mentions to Pharaoh about how Joseph had interpreted both his and the baker’s dream correctly, so they bring Joseph to Pharaoh and this is what I want us to look at concerning the faith of Joseph. We must remember that Joseph has been sold into slavery, placed in prison for at least 2 years and now is being brought before Pharaoh. The faith of Joseph could easily be worn down but because of the fact that God has continued to guide Joseph even though his circumstances did not always visibly show that, he has remained faithful in following God’s plan in spite of the difficulties he has faced. Let’s read the account of when he was brought before Pharaoh and notice Joseph’s response. Genesis 41:15-16 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; yet I have heard it said about you, that you hear a dream and that you can interpret it.” 16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will answer concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.”
Some people may have been angry at God, angry at the government of Egypt that had him in prison for no reason or he could have just been defiant to talk with all that happened. But what we see is that even through all of what he had faced, Joseph still had faith in God to give to him what was needed at this moment. He did not take credit for the interpretations of the dreams of the cupbearer or baker but gave God the glory for them and now makes it clear that he is not the one that will interpret the dream but only God working in him.
It was this interpretation that showed that there would be 7 years of great harvest and then 7 years of famine. Joseph made a suggestion to build up stock over the years of harvest to prepare for the years of the famine. Then we read in Genesis 41:37-40 And the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants. 38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?” 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made you know all of this, there is no one so understanding and wise as you are. 40 You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.”
Throughout this time the story of how he eventually revealed himself to his brothers was amazing and I encourage you to go read Genesis chapters 42-45 to see that story. But I do want to point out the time when he reveals himself and what he said to set us up to look at our next point. Look with me at Genesis 45:4-8 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” And they came near. And he said, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 So now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 So God sent me before you to establish for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive for a great remnant of survivors. 8 So now, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has set me as a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
This shows us that all of what he went through was to establish the remnant that God had preserved to continue the line of Judah that our Lord Jesus would eventually come through and the line of blessing through Joseph. Let’s look now at our next point and our text again in Hebrews.
2.Joseph’s faith in God’s plan.
Look with me at Hebrews 11:22 again that says By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave commands concerning his bones.
What we see here is clearly something that Joseph would have not known without God’s revelation of the reality that the children of Israel would in fact leave Egypt one day. What was spoken about is seen in Genesis 50:24-25 that says And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”
This statement was not something that he knew because of some insight but was a testament to his faith in God’s promise to bring His people into the land that was promised to his forefathers. Joseph knew the promises that were given to Abraham, Isaac and his own father Jacob. He knew that God promised them a land and the land was not in Egypt. Joseph knew that God had placed him in Egypt to preserve life so that he along with his brothers would survive. Here at the end of Joseph’s life he makes what seems like a very unlikely request to carry his bones out of Egypt when God fulfills the promise made to them. To us this seems to be some type of prophetic message because we know the end of the story but to them it was the faith Joseph had that God would fulfill His promises to His people, Israel.
The fulfillment of this did happen in the time of Moses as we will see in coming studies when we look at the faith of Moses. It is in Exodus 13:18-19 that we see this fulfillment begin. Look with me at what is said there: Hence God turned the people to the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in battle array from the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you.”
Now this shows us that indeed Joseph’s bones were carried with them when they left Egypt but there is more to the story. We find in Joshua 24:32 Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the portion of the field which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred qesitah; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons.
So the principle of what we see here is that Joseph had faith in God in the most difficult situations. But even through all of what he faced, he remained trusting in the Lord’s promise to possess a land of their own and to be a people for their God. His faith should be a testament to us that we too need to remember that even through the most difficult times, God is working and that means we must follow His way of living and trust Him in spite of what we may see before us.
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