The Faith of Joseph

April 24th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.

Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. His story in the Bible is one of the most beloved stories, and there is nothing in the account of Joseph’s life that puts him in a bad light. As the son of Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel, he was indeed Jacob’s favorite son, and his brothers knew it. When Jacob showed his favoritism toward Joseph by giving him a multi-colored robe his brothers deeply resented him. Worse, Joseph had two dreams whereby he saw his brothers bowing down to him. When he made this known to his brothers they were furious. So when Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers while out in the fields, they took advantage of the opportunity to seize him by force. Though they spoke of killing him, they wound up selling him into slavery to a group of Ishmaelites who later sold him to the Egyptians. Then they lied about their crime by telling Jacob that wild animals killed him.

Joseph’s story of faith basically begins with him in Egypt. Clearly God led him through the darkest days of tribulation in order to bring him to the point where his faith would be fully mature. Joseph, because God’s presence was so strong in his life, found himself second in command over all of Egypt. Only the Pharaoh was higher in authority than he. He managed the food supply in Egypt because he had foreseen the drought that the land was enduring. People came from all over to buy food from Joseph – including his brothers who were living in Canaan with Jacob. When they arrived to purchase food they didn’t even recognize their brother Joseph, but over the course of time he finally revealed himself to them. Joseph forgave his brothers telling them that what they meant for evil God meant for good (Gen. 50:20). Eventually Joseph moved all of his brothers and his aging father Jacob into Egypt to escape the famine in the land.

As Joseph was dying he told his brothers: “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob… God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.” Clearly Joseph knew the Abrahamic covenant and believed God’s promises. He believed them so firmly that he commanded that his bones be taken up from Egypt after he died when the Israelites would one day return to the land. This of course is exactly what Moses did (Ex. 13:19) when he took the bones of Joseph with him as he led Israel out of Egyptian captivity hundreds of years later. Joshua later buried Joseph’s bones in the Promised Land (Josh. 24:32) after they finally settled in the land, that is, once the promise of inheriting the land was complete.

Joseph simply did not consider his eminent position in Egypt as his final goal or the land of Egypt as his final resting place. Canaan was his home because God promised it to him and his people. He had everything in Egypt, but like his great grandfather Abraham, he was looking beyond the temporary into eternity. He believed in the resurrection of the body all the way till his death when his faith was as strong as ever. He could have resented God and called Him a liar for not fulfilling His promises, but he refrained because he believed in his future bodily resurrection.

Food For Thought
While living in Egypt and enjoying all that his position offered him Joseph was far more focused on his eternal dwelling place. His faith was as strong in death as it was in life. His belief in God gave him understanding about the future. Some seek to understand before they believe, but we first Christians believe so that we may understand. Having faith in God and in His unseen promises opens the door to a life-long journey of understanding who God is. It all begins with faith in God, a faith that comes from first hearing His words and trusting them to be true.