By Faith Joseph
- Randall Brewer
- Aug 18
- 5 min read
‘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 -
Joseph has one of the most praiseworthy testimonies in all the Bible. Countless lessons are learned from the life of this wonderful man. Yet the writer of Hebrews teaches us from a scene at the very end of his life, saying: ‘By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones’ (11:22). We would expect to hear: ‘By faith Joseph resisted temptation.’ Or: ‘By faith Joseph interpreted dreams.’ Or maybe: ‘By faith Joseph forgave his brothers,’ or ‘By faith Joseph provided for his family in a famine.’ Yet all those are passed over. Instead, Hebrews 11 remembers Joseph’s arrangements for his own burial. This, it turns out, is the noteworthy act of faith that God says is of special importance.
Joseph’s story proves God’s people go through different seasons of life. There were seasons when Joseph enjoyed life and seasons where he simply endured. It was at the end of his life, when Joseph and his family were living happily in Egypt, that the wise ruler wondered: “What does the future here hold?” Hebrews 11 says when he faced this question, Joseph trusted God and lived in hope. After all, faith is a tree bursting with fruit. And hope is the fruit of faith. The last act of Joseph’s life is found in Genesis 50:15-26. It’s a beautiful picture of a troubled family finally finding peace.
When Jacob died, his sons feared that Joseph would finally get revenge on them for once selling him into slavery. They sent messengers to Joseph asking him to forgive their evil past. Upset, Joseph wept at their message. Little did these brothers know of Joseph’s love for them. They went to Joseph and, bowing, said: “Behold, we are your servants” (Gen. 50:18), and Joseph said: “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good … Now therefore, do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones” (50:20-21). He met them in their hour of fear, and the brothers then entered a period of blessing greater than any other time. All their needs were met and their divided family was united at last.
All Egypt loved Joseph, and his brothers basked in his reflective glory. The nation loved Joseph so much that, when Jacob died, Egypt mourned for 70 days. Joseph and his brothers inherited a wonderful life. But the question still comes at the end of Genesis: What does the future be for the family of God? First came a time of growth. Exodus 1:6-7 says: ‘Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.’ When God’s people got to Egypt, they were only 70 people. But when they left centuries later, they numbered over 2 million. That’s extraordinary.
God’s people flourished after Joseph died. Likewise, we must seize every chance to grow in our walk with the Lord. Jesus said: “Work while it is day for the night is coming when no man can work” (John 9:4). There are days of growth and times of trial. Before Joseph, God said Abraham’s family would face hardship, saying: “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years” (Gen. 15:13). This must have been hard for Joseph to accept. His family was so well-loved. How could they ever be slaves, afflicted in the land that so blessed them? And how could their suffering last for 400 years?
Against the odds, Joseph believed what God told Abraham, knowing the world is forever changing. In time, what God told Abraham came true. ‘Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph’ (Ex. 1:8), who said: ‘“Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us” … Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens’ (1:9,11). So began the greatest oppression of God’s people. It’s easy to wonder how God’s plan to bring them to Canaan had to be fulfilled by oppression, but just as there are days of growth and times of trial, there are also eras of deliverance.
There was more to God’s prophecy to Abraham. God also said: “I will bring judgment on the nation that they (Israel) serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Gen. 15:14). The world is always changing, but true faith looks past the pendulum of culture. Like Abraham, we look for a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10). We know God’s ultimate plan for His people won’t be fulfilled here on earth, no matter how blessed we may be. No, our future holds times of growth, trial, and deliverance, which brings us back to Joseph’s dying words. Hebrews 11:22 says Joseph looked far into the future, all the way to the exodus, and gave clear instructions concerning his remains.
At the end of Joseph's life, the saviour of Egypt didn’t look back at past achievements or weep over the 400 years of oppression to come. No, his faith saw past changing tides, trusting what God had said long ago. Joseph’s last words prove that if you have faith, you will have hope. He said: “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob” (Gen. 50:24). He spoke as a prophet, giving hope to those who would endure long years of slavery. He promised God would visit them, save them from Egypt, and lead them to Canaan. And that’s what happened. Moses led Israel out of slavery and Joshua led them into the Promised Land.
It may sound strange to us, but Hebrews says that by faith Joseph left directions for his bones. He made his family swear, saying: “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones from here. So, Joseph died, being 110 old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt” (Gen. 50:25-26). Why did this matter to Joseph? What difference did it make where he was one day buried? Well, his father Jacob had made the same request in Genesis 49:29-32. He didn’t want to be buried in Egypt, but in the same cave as Abraham and Isaac in Canaan. Joseph swore this to Jacob and he kept his word (Gen. 50:13). Now, a generation later, it also mattered to Joseph. So he had his kin swear that when they were delivered out of Egypt, they would take his bones with them (50:25).
Why did God pick this particular event about Joseph for Hebrew’s Hall of Faith? Well, because the Promised Land was the land of, well, promise. It symbolised the heavenly city to come. When Joseph gave orders for his burial, he was saying: “When I die, I expect to enter into all that God has promised.” Thus he wanted Israel to take his bones to the Promised Land. His coffin became a sign of hope and a waiting place destined for Canaan. All during the Egyptian oppression, Israelites looked at that coffin with hope, knowing they too were destined for the Promised Land. They could say: “Joseph is going there, and one day we will too.”
Since the cross and Christ’s resurrection, the believer’s hope is not in a coffin filled with bones. Our hope is in the Lord’s empty tomb. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is risen indeed! He is in heaven preparing a place for all God’s people. And because He is in heaven, one day we will be there too. We will finally see the Lord face-to-face and enjoy time with heroes of the faith like Joseph. What a glorious day that will be, and the way is wide open for all who worship Jesus.
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