by faith...Joseph

Installment 13 on the matter of faith.

Joseph's mention of faith has to do with his request to take his bones out of Egypt when his people would be allowed to leave this foreign country. ( Heb 11.22, Gen 50.24)

1. He knew he would never get to leave Egypt alive.
2. Obviously, he knew his people would one day be delivered of this foreign land.
3. He prophesied to "take his bones with them," when they did leave.

To outline Joseph's life is to point out the life of every believer and the injustices that will, inevitably take place.

• Betrayed at the tender age of 17 - when all was still youth and innocence, his own flesh and blood double-crossed him because of jealousy.  The coat of many colors, throwing him into a pit without food or water, selling him into slavery...quite a start to this young man's life.  The pain would've been far greater emotional than physical.  Yet, we will see he stayed true to the integrity of his father's training. (Gen 37)
• A believer may be reassured even in the face of such betrayal that God is watching and loves us still.  He may not deliver as quickly as we want but He is watching.  Joseph was put in the care of one "Potiphar," a close advisor to the Pharaoh himself.  "And the Lord was with Joseph...and Joseph found grace in his sight." (Gen 39.2, 4)  However, don't expect the old "deceiver/the devil" to take it lightly.  Potiphar's wife is first on the scene to trap Joseph. (Gen 39.7-19).  Joseph stayed true and faithful to his father's teaching and the Lord "made (him) to prosper." (Gen 39.23)
• Betrayed a third time by his prison mates...promise broken as he asked them to "remember him" when they got out of prison. (Gen 40.5-23) The prison mate who did not die only remembered him  later to advance his own favor with Pharaoh. (Gen 41.9-13)
• Still this young man kept his integrity.  He was called out of prison to interpret Pharaoh's dream and never once accused the chief butler of forgetting him. (Gen 41.14-57)
• His true spirit and nature shines through again and again.  Now he sees his brothers who had sold him into slavery years before, come to Egypt in want of food.  He had opportunity and reason enough to send them away but he tests them, instead, to see if they are truly repentant.  A warning to believers to discern the face of evil.  Sometimes we can see it, sometimes we can't but this blogger believes in spiritual discernment, as long as one seeks the Lord's face and waits on Him in all things. (Gen 42-44)
• Because of the things he had learned in his youth and kept all his life, God, mercifully, restores him to his family. (Gen 46.29, 30)
• Joseph's conclusion in all this? He knows he will never leave Egypt and prophesies concerning his bones. Yet, he concludes, regarding his life and all the events that made it up and shaped such an exemplary life, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; God meant it unto good..." (Gen 50.20)

What is the lesson here regarding faith concerning Joseph?  

No matter what befalls the life of a believer our goal is to look to the endgame and goal, the Lord Jesus, our Hope "....the Author and Finisher of our Faith." (Heb 12.2)