"By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones" (Hebrews 11:22).
Joseph's Story
He was loved and favored by his father. Everyone knew it. Younger than the rest, his dad gave him a coat of many colors. It implied, "Joseph is in charge. Joseph is my favorite." Kind of awkward, but Joseph went with it.
And so did God. He gave Joseph dreams. In one, his brother's sheaves of wheat bowed down to his. In another, the sun, moon, and eleven stars (he had eleven brothers) bowed down to him (Genesis 37:1-11). Joseph told his family about his dreams, a questionable decision. His brothers already hated him for that jacket, but after hearing those dreams, they despised him all the more.
One day, his father sent him to check on his brothers as they cared for the flocks. They felt it an opportunity. Take him! Throw him into the pit! Kill him! No, sell him! Yes, that's what we'll do! Look! Over there! A caravan of Ishmaelites! Let's see what we can get for him.
The deal was done, and Joseph headed to Egypt, was sold once more, and lived as a servant to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. God favored him, and Potiphar trusted him, but Potiphar's wife desired Joseph. He was a man of integrity, so he fled from her, and she couldn't stand it, so she feigned he had tried to rape her. Reluctantly, Potiphar threw Joseph into prison.
A Life of Service
There, Joseph faithfully served until he ran the joint. He checked on prisoners, took care of the prisoners, running the facility with God's favor. It was a dream scenario for the keeper of the prison, who "paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him" (Genesis 39:23).
One day, Joseph saw two sad prisoners. He inquired why their faces were downcast. His loving gesture was the first step toward an open door. They told him they'd had dreams they did not understand. Both of them had been servants of Pharaoh. The first, a cupbearer, had a dream Joseph knew meant good news. In three days, the cupbearer would be restored to his previous position. The second man, the baker, would suffer punishment in three days. It was time for him to get right with God.
All came to pass as Joseph had predicted, but the cupbearer forgot Joseph, until years later when Pharaoh was plagued by two dreams. Joseph was summoned, and Pharaoh's dreams were interpreted. Joseph even knew how to apply the dreams, so Pharaoh put him in charge of the kingdom.
The years ticked by, and Egypt prospered. Famine eventually overcame the land, and the nations flocked to Pharaoh for grain, which Joseph had wisely stored up during years of plenty. Soon, land was traded for grain, and Pharaoh's wealth and property expanded beyond his wildest dreams.
Then, one day, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt. Like everyone else, they were in search of grain. Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him, and instead thought him an Egyptian royal. Joseph then organized a way for them to confess their sins against him. The story in Genesis is lengthy and beautiful, but suffice it to say it was all grace on Joseph's part, and the family was reunited. He told his brothers, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20).
Joseph's Faith
So when Hebrews 11:22 begins with "By faith Joseph," you can imagine the many directions that sentence could turn. By faith, Joseph believed the dreams God gave him. By faith, Joseph held onto his integrity in a foreign land when no one watched his life. By faith, Joseph loved God even when imprisoned. By faith, Joseph told Pharaoh double dreams are an indication God has guaranteed to perform His will. By faith, Joseph organized reconciliation and forgiveness in his family. By faith, Joseph saw how God had coordinated the events of his life, the evils done to him, for good.
But, though Joseph did have faith through all those events, our author doesn't mention them. Instead, he says, "By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones."
Joseph foresaw the coming day when God would take them out of Egypt. He knew they would go to the Promised Land that God had dedicated to Abraham generations earlier. Though he'd not lived there, he believed his bones would go there.
At the time of Joseph's death, at the moment he commissioned his family to bring his bones to the Promised Land, Israel was not a nation, but a family. And they were in a good place, for Pharaoh favored them. In Egypt, they'd been given good and peaceful land in which to prosper.
The Best Is Yet to Come
Joseph had no reason to wish for their future departure, for life was good in Egypt, and he had worked hard to make it so. But, still, Joseph knew. Israel would not be a small family with Egypt's favor forever. Eventually, 400 years later, they had to depart Egypt, despised because God had grown them into a nation of people.
Joseph's heart was set on that exodus. Though he nor his generation needed it, Joseph believed that day would come. He saw how good they had it, but believed a better day would come. And future generations, when they had it rough, would also need to believe a better day would come. And Joseph's bones preached that message. For 400 years, his coffin delivered a one-point sermon: "with God, better days are always coming."
You see, no matter how good things are today, we must believe better days are coming in Christ. Jonathan Edwards concluded his first sermon with the point, "And the best things are yet to come." In Christ, we rejoice, the best days are yet to come!
