Lesson 306: "Faith Will Take You Home"
“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones” (Heb. 11:22)! Joseph believed God from the start and would believe God to the end until he went home to be with Him. He was human and had times of doubt, but the faith he had was a genuine faith given to him by God and like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we too will be able to go home in faith because of God’s work in our lives; “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2), will be with us each and every step of the way. God had chosen Joseph to be the one through whom the nation of Israel would be preserved in Egypt and through whom the seed of the Messiah would also be preserved through his older brother Judah who led up the line of David (Matt. 1:2-16).
This faith reached out from Jacob to Joseph when he ask his son not to bury him in Egypt, but to carry him out and bury him where his fathers were buried (Gen. 47:30). Jacob was well aware of the eternal City whose architect and builder is God would be his home, but asked that his final “resting place” on this earth be that of God’s promise; Canaan. “They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field” (Gen. 50:13). Jacob understood that Egypt was not where God had promised that the nation of Israel would ultimately reside, but rather Canaan which came to be known as the land of Israel.
Remember that Joseph had a merry-go-round life; born to Jacob; sold into Egyptian slavery by his brothers; imprisoned in Egypt and finally becoming lord over all the nation of Egypt. All of this did not make him bitter or spoil him and the evil all around him did not corrupt him. Remember also that in the seventeen years he grew up with his family, he received godly training. “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Pro. 22:6). Joseph did not forget the faithfulness of the one true God and even in pagan Egypt he walked with the Lord. Did he encourage Israel to put their hope in the graciousness of the Pharaoh? No! Joseph was a friend of “his Pharaoh” but after his death another Pharaoh took control that did not know or even care about him. The good relationship between two groups of people became strained, contemptible and finally turned into the captivity of the Israelites. Years before, Joseph had seen through eyes of faith and had strong convictions of the future so he gave instructions as did his father that his bones were to be buried in the Promised Land (Gen. 50:24). Upon his death-bed he promised the sons of Israel that God would come to their aid.
How did Joseph come into all this wisdom? He had heard and/or read the beginning of the story (Gen. 15:13-14). What hope! What faith! Joseph might have been tempted to have a false sense of security during his lifetime but he looked through spiritual eyes and read both the warnings and saw the blessings. You and I must also learn/hear/read and live by the promises of God because we too live in a type of Egypt. We are pilgrims and strangers in this world who hates those who belong to the household of God. We must not keep our eyes on the momentary pleasures and comforts of our Egypt and, like Joseph, look to the promises. And like the Apostle Paul, aim for perfection (2 Cor. 3:11) and press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).
God has called us out and encouraged us not to “go back to Egypt” and gives us the strength to live by faith; waiting in expectation of a better country just like Joseph did (Heb. 11:16); believing that He has indeed prepared a place for us (John 14:1-3); trusting that He will restore us (1 Pet. 5:10). Stand firm to the end and know whom you have believed and be convinced that He is able to guard what you have entrusted to Him for that Day (2 Tim. 1:12). This which you have entrusted to Him is salvation which you obtained by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8).