Joseph is a wonderful, perhaps the most perfect, type of Christ in the Old Testament. Almost all the people that lived on the pages of the OT are flawed in some area of their lives. I do not think I can point to a single episode in Joseph’s life where he failed in his walk. Biblically, I know he was a sinner just as we are because the Bible declares that truth in Romans 3:10, 23. The story of Joseph is found in two places: Genesis and Hebrews.

Genesis 50:24-26 are the last verses in the book. Joseph is now an old man. Remember this as you read the blog. He was 17 years old when he was sold into slavery. As a teen, he was shipped off to Egypt. In our passage he is now 110 years old. For 93 years he lived in Egypt. Do you feel the magnitude of that fact? He was just a young man forced to leave the Promised Land, never to see it again. But he believed the promises of God. He knew what God had promised Abraham, Isaac, and his father, Jacob. Now, as a man about to die, he gives instructions to his brothers. “God will surely visit you” are words he utters twice in these three verses. The word “visit” means that God has an active interest in you. He told them of a day that God would take them from Egypt and put them in the land of promise, the Promised Land. “When God shows up, you take my bones with you” (Tom Foskey paraphrase). How long was the wait? We know it was four generations, approximately 160 years. Think about the kids born into those Israelite families. They hear stories about Joseph and how he saved them from starving and once in a while the family will take a walk to visit the building where a coffin sits. Each time the father or the mother recounts the story of the great savior, Joseph. They remark to the kids, “His bones are in this box. When God visits us, his bones will go with us.” That statement became a fact in Exodus 13:19. Moses took the coffin, the “hope chest,” with Joseph’s bones when the Exodus from Egypt began. All during the wandering in the wilderness the bones of Joseph were with them. Finally, when the second generation crossed the Jordan River, his bones were buried by Joshua in Shechem. You find that in Joshua 24:32.

Let me share with you three thoughts from Joseph’s story.

  1. Pass along your faith to your children, grand-children and even great-grandchildren. If you look back at the preceding verse, 50:23, the text tells us that Joseph saw the third generation; the children of Machir and the children of Manasseh. It was important to make sure these children knew God was going to “visit” one day. Do you make it a point to inject God into daily life? Do you as a parent value the truths of God enough to make the things of God a priority? Joseph believed that promise God had made and looked forward to the day Israel would be back into the Promised Land. Tell those kids the stories of the Lord and what God has done for you. Tell them of God’s promises and that he will “surely” keep them just as he “surely visited” Israel 160 years after Joseph’s death.
  2. Pause before you become bitter. I have known of elderly Christians that just got bitter as the years passed on. Christians are supposed to be different. We are just passing through; our citizenship is in Heaven, so let’s not drive our tent pegs too deep in this life. Joseph in his final moments is being bragged on by God in the Bible. Hebrews 11:22 lists him and what he did just before he died. If a man had the right to be bitter, Joseph would have. Joseph was hated by his brothers because his father doted on him, he was sold into slavery at 17, and he was accused of attempted rape and sent to prison. He finished his life in a land he never felt a part of. He may have looked Egyptian outwardly but inwardly he was always an Israelite. No matter our circumstances, we must choose to believe the promises of God and do our best to become sweeter and kinder as the crossing draws near.
  3. Praise God because his plans are bigger than ours. Joseph was only one cog in the plan of God for the nation of Israel. An important cog, but just a single cog. God always thinks and plans farther than we could even dream. We are but workmen in the work of the vineyard. Acts 13:36 tells us that David served his generation by the will of God. That is all any of us are asked. While the Lord has left us here, we work in his service. Joseph would be used to provide food and protection for thousands of Israelites. God moved him into this position through circumstances he had a hard time understanding. At one point, he told his brothers concerning his journey into slavery, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” When God was finished with him, another stepped up having the mantle laid across his shoulders. The work of God is bigger than me but oh how I thank God he lets me be a little cog in his work. You and I will look back one day, seeing all that God did and say, “The Lord allowed me to be a part of that.” Take every opportunity to serve the Lord.