Joseph's Overcoming Faith

Copyright (c) 2008 Jon Straumfjord

By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. (Hebrews 11:22 NKJV)

The entire life of Joseph is a study of faith overcoming obstacles:

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children,.... Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But ... his brothers ... hated him....

Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; ... "There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."

And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Then he dreamed still another dream ..., "... this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."

So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. (Genesis 37:3-11, NKJV)

As a result of his dreams, Joseph's brothers captured him, sold him as a slave to some Midianite traders, who took him to Egypt, then they dipped his special coat in goat's blood and later told his father that he was dead (Genesis 37:23-28). Joseph then became a slave of Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, and because of the lies of Potiphar's wife, ended up in prison in Egypt (Genesis 39:1-20). While in prison, the Lord caused him to prosper at everything he did, and ultimately, he became the second in command to Pharaoh himself (Genesis 39:12-41:46). A couple years later, Joseph siblings and father moved into Egypt as guests of Pharaoh under the authority of Joseph, just like he had dreamt some fifteen years earlier (Genesis 41:47-47:12).

Even though Joseph was continually betrayed by those closest to him, and it often seemed that everything was against him, Joseph never lost his faith in the visions the Lord had originally given him. As a result, the Lord caused him to prosper in everything he did.

When Joseph's brothers, who had originally sold him into slavery, appeared before him, in faith, he said:

"God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 45:7-8, NKJV)

Rather than condemning his brothers for causing his multitude of problems, he proclaimed that it was all according to God's plan to not only prosper him, but to preserve his entire family as well.

Later, when Joseph was old and preparing to die,

... Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here." So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. (Genesis 50:24-26, NKJV)

Joseph's faith, that had sustained him throughout his entire life, would ultimately carry him to his final resting place in the promised land, some 400 years after his death.

What can we learn from Joseph's faith? First, true faith always overcomes all circumstances, even those that seem to portray failure. Second, true faith endures over time. Third, true faith always trusts the love and promises of God, in spite of seemingly contrary circumstances. Forth, true faith never condemns the actions of others, no matter what the original motives of those people were.

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