November 19,2006
BY FAITH JOSEPH
Hebrews 11:22

   "When he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones" (Hebrews 11:22).
   It is remarkable that of all the events recorded in Genesis about the life of Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, we should read only of his plans facing death! Yet those very plans were a timely reminder to the Israelites facing the issues of Hebrews. Joseph had been betrayed by his brethren and sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. He was jailed under false charges and finally exalted to rule the world from the throne of Egypt and honored with the name, "Zaphnathpaaneah," the "savior of the world" (Gen. 41:45).
   Through "honor and dishonor," Joseph endured "seeing Him Who is invisible." Neither his humiliation and shame nor his exaltation above anything he could have imagined caused him to lose sight of the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, and his father Jacob. Even the dreams the Lord had given him emboldened his faith with patience to endure!
   How is it that one living three generations before Moses could be said to "make mention" of Israel's departing out of Egypt? It gets worse when we learn that "making mention" really means he "remembered" Israel's departure "out of Egypt" while they were the honored guests of Pharaoh. And the inexplicable becomes plain only if we remember God's promise to Abraham, "Know of a surety that thy seed (the Israelites) shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs (Egypt), and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them (making bricks for Pharaoh) four hundred years...also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance (exiting with gold from Egypt). And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age" (Gen 15:13-15). It is an added delight to learn that the Greek word for "departing" is "exodus." Oh the reality and substance of faith!
   Joseph had experienced God's fulfillment of his dream when His brethren and father bowed humbly before him. How much more could his faith see beyond the treasures of Egypt to the real city with divine foundations. He could face death with the assurance of faith knowing that as God had been faithful to him, He would lead Israel out of the house of bondage and the furnace of affliction. He could "remember" as if it were past or "call ... things which be not as though they were," just like Abraham (Rom. 4:17)!

Ivan L. Burgener