(Gen. 50:15-2615And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. 16And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, 17So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. 18And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. 19And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 20But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. 22And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. 23And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees. 24And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 25And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. 26So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. (Genesis 50:15‑26))
The last two scenes in the history of Joseph present a striking contrast between the unbelief of the brethren and the dying faith of Joseph. If the first scene, described in verses 15 to 21, presents a sorrowful picture of unbelief of the brethren, it also brings into display the perfect grace of Joseph. A crisis in the history of the brethren makes manifest that they had no true knowledge of the heart of Joseph and therefore no real confidence in him.
The Past Reviewed
Joseph had saved their lives with a great deliverance (Gen. 45:77And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (Genesis 45:7)); he had put them in possession of "the best of the land" of Egypt, and he had nourished them with bread (47:12). For seventeen years they had been the recipients of Joseph's bounty, and the special objects of his loving care, and yet—when a crisis arises—it becomes manifest that they have no personal knowledge of Joseph. They know something of his greatness and glory; they know the great work he has accomplished, they know that every blessing they enjoy is owing to his position and work, but they had no personal acquaintance with his mind and heart. It is as if they said, "WE know what he has done for us, but we do not know how he feels about us."
And not knowing his mind, when the crisis arises it becomes manifest that they have no confidence in him, with the result that they conclude that he will think and act towards them according to the way they had thought and acted towards him.
The Heart Revealed
They remember that when Joseph was but a lad of seventeen, "they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him," and now they conclude, "Joseph will peradventure hate us." Conscience recalls how wickedly they had acted in regard to Joseph, and now they say, "[He] will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him." They judge of his thoughts by their thoughts, of his heart by their hearts, and of his acts by their acts.
The Condition Realized
Alas! are not we Christians today oftentimes like Joseph's brethren of old? We know something of the glory of the Person of Christ, we know something of the efficacy of His work, we enjoy the benefits that flow from His finished work on the cross and His present service in the glory, but when some little crisis arises in our history it becomes manifest how little we know of His heart, and therefore what little confidence we have in Himself. We lack that personal intimate acquaintance with Christ, by which alone His mind is learned in such fashion that we can say not only "I know what He has done for me," but "I know how He feels about me." The result is that in the presence of some special trial we are, like Joseph's brethren, greatly distressed in soul. One has truly said, "Nothing has contributed more to the present distraction of saints than the lack of personal intercourse with the Lord. There has been a great and increased zeal to acquire knowledge of the Scriptures, but personal acquaintance with the Lord has not been correspondingly sought after."
The Knowledge of Scripture
The brethren of Joseph had heard the gracious words of Joseph when alone with him, but, not knowing his heart, they had little entered into the full, deep meaning of his words. So with ourselves it is possible to have great knowledge of the words of Scripture and yet be ignorant of the great truths the words convey. A true understanding can only be obtained by the knowledge of Christ. Hence the apostle prays "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory, may give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." The knowledge of the schools—the knowledge of Greek and Hebrew—however useful in its place, will never give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Such knowledge may give an understanding of the letter of revelation, but not the spirit of revelation. We must know the mind of Christ to understand the words of Christ.
The Knowledge of Christ
Scripture speaks of external knowledge which a person may acquire by hearsay or sight, and also of conscious knowledge—that personal acquaintance by which we can know a person's mind. It is of this latter knowledge Paul speaks, when he says, "That I may know Him," and it is this knowledge we so often lack. We know and rejoice in the glorious things He has done, but do we know the heart of the One who has done so much for us, in such fashion that we can say, "I know how He feels about me"?
The Lack of Confidence
The lack of true knowledge of Joseph's heart, and the consequent lack of confidence in Joseph is revealed in the message that his brethren sent to him. And worse, they attempt to hide their own unbelief and mistrust of Joseph, by pretending they are only carrying out the dying commands of Joseph's father. It is impossible to believe that Jacob left any such command. In total forgetfulness of Joseph's forgiveness of all their sad past they now pray to be forgiven. In spite of all the manifested grace and love of Joseph their uneasy conscience leads them to harbor the thought that Joseph still has something against them. And even so, if not living in nearness to Christ—if we have not made acquaintance with His heart—we may, through sin, failure, and a careless walk, still think, when conscience begins to work, that Christ is against us for something we have done, and, like Joseph's brethren, ask for forgiveness. And yet however great the failure of a true believer, Scripture never suggests that he should plead for forgiveness as if that question were not fully and eternally settled, but rather he is exhorted to confess his sin that communion may be restored.
The Brethren Reassured
This lack of confidence, after all the love that had been lavished upon them, broke the heart of Joseph. He "wept when they spake unto him" (v. 17). The saddest thing in all this sad world is unrequited love. But though his tears showed how deeply he felt he utters no word of reproach The very tears would surely be sufficient to wither up their unbelief. But Joseph leads them into personal acquaintance with himself by letting them know there is nothing but love in his heart towards them, though he fully knows the evil of their hearts towards him.
The Fear Removed
"As for you," he can say, "ye thought evil against me," but he can add, "Fear ye not." He says as it were, "I know all the evil of your hearts toward me, but there is nothing to fear, for there is nothing but love in my heart toward you." And thus once again he removes all fear as to the past and all anxiety as to the future, for he adds, "I will nourish you and your little ones." Thus it was "he comforted them and spake to their hearts" (margin). Perfect love casts out all fear.
The Confidence Restored
What a difference this interview must have made to these brethren. After this did any one seek to cast a doubt upon Joseph's love they would surely say, "We have been in his presence, we have made personal acquaintance with himself, we know his mind. We not only know what he has done for us, but we know how he feels towards us.
The Faith Rising
In the final scene between Joseph and his brethren, the faith of Joseph rises above all the glories of this passing world and looks on to a better and brighter world that is yet to come. He thinks and speaks no more of the things that he had suffered, the power he had wielded, or the good he may have done. He forgets the things that are behind and reaches out to the things that are before.
The Things to Come
Isaac, in his day, when he "was old and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see," looked on with faith's clear vision to another world and spake "concerning things to come." Jacob at a later day, when dying, with like faith catches a glimpse of the glories on before, and worships, leaning upon the top of his staff. And now Joseph, about to take the passage through the valley, catches sight of the hills that are beyond, and rising above all passing things, lays hold by faith of the world to come.
The End Reached
And God is not slow to mark His approval of the faith of these dying saints, shining in its greatest strength in the moment of nature's greatest weakness. It is not the great deeds they may have wrought in the course of their active lives, but the faith, shining amid the feebleness of age and the weakness of their dying moments, that has secured them a place in God's list of worthies of other days. The faith of other saints may shine in overcoming the difficulties of the way, in escaping the snares of the enemy, and triumphing over the temptations of the world, but the faith of these three saints is distinguished in that it forgets all seen and passing things, be they good or bad, great or small, and looks on to another world. And this is the more striking in the case of Joseph, seeing he had filled a place of such vast importance before the world in his day and generation. He realizes that all the glory of Egypt ends at last in a coffin in Egypt. He had worthily filled a place of great power and glory in this world, such as no man before or since has ever had, but the end of all Egypt's glory is reached in these significant words, "He was put in a coffin in Egypt."
The Living God
Thus it is he speaks no more of man, and man's small world, but of God—the living God, of the faithfulness of God, of the power of God, and the land of God. "I die," says Joseph. The life of the man who had saved other lives by a great deliverance (Gen. 45:77And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (Genesis 45:7)) is fast slipping away, but if Joseph dies, God lives; if Joseph departs, God remains. And into the hands of the living and unchanging God he commends his brethren. Though he may be taken from them, yet he can say with the utmost assurance of faith, "God will surely visit you." The living God is their unfailing resource in the presence of the dying Joseph.
The Clear Vision
Furthermore, God will act in mighty power on behalf of His people, for, says Joseph, He will "bring you out of this land." Joseph had been long in Egypt; he "saw Ephraim's children of the third generation" (v. 23). They were thoroughly established in the land of Egypt. To nature nothing looked more unlikely than that a time would ever come when they would leave the land of Egypt for a land they had never seen, but faith, rising above things seen, and refusing to reason according to the mind of nature, sees with clear vision that, though the people of God may sojourn for a time in the land of Egypt, yet it is not the land of rest that God has promised for His people. Strangership in the land of Egypt may form part of God's ways with His people, but it has no place in God's purpose for His people.
The Faithful God
Thus the faith of Joseph passes on to the land of promise. As surely as God will visit His people in grace to bring them out of Egypt, so surely He will stretch out His hand in mighty delivering power to bring them into the land of His purpose—"a good land and a large... a land flowing with milk and honey." Moreover this good land, with all its blessing and glory, which is unrolled before the faith of the dying Joseph, is secured by the unconditional promise of God, made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joseph is dying, but no shadows darken the hour of his passing, for he sees in faith that all blessing to a far future rests upon the faithfulness and power of the living God.
A Death Remembered
So it comes to pass in the power of faith's vision of the living God he gives directions concerning his bones. They are not to be left in Egypt. What a witness to the Israelites must the coffin of Joseph have been through the long centuries, forever reminding them that not even death itself can hinder the living God from fulfilling all His pleasure, and carrying out His purpose for His people. So in accord with the oath made to Joseph, when at last they leave the land of Egypt, "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" (Ex. 13:1919And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. (Exodus 13:19)), still to be a witness to faith in God, throughout the forty years of wilderness journeyings. And when at last they reach the land of promise, his body is buried in the "parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor" (Josh. 24:3232And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. (Joshua 24:32)), there to sleep in the dust of the earth until he awakes to everlasting life and stands in his lot at the end of days.
The Savior Risen
Nor is it otherwise with the people of God today. Faith still looks beyond the valley of the shadow of death, to the home of God's eternal purpose. In the presence of death faith, as of old, still rests on the God of resurrection, but with yet clearer vision, for we see Christ risen from among the dead, seated at God's right hand of power, holding in His hand the keys of death and the grave. As our faith looks up to the risen Man in the glory, may the passing glories of this dying world become small in our esteem so that, forgetting the things that are behind, we reach out to the things that are before, while waiting for the moment when the Lord will surely visit His people—when He "Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
Thus while to sight all may seem to end in a coffin in Egypt, faith has in view that glorious moment when we shall be caught up together to be forever with the Lord. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
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