‘By faith Joseph, when his end was near, mentioned the departure of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones.'

Many examples from the life of Joseph could have been chosen as examples of faith but he centred on Joseph's confidence about the future of God's people, his faith in the promises of God in connection with the promised land. This was because it not only demonstrated his trust in God but also that he believed the promises about the future and looked for ‘the country' that his fathers had also sought (Hebrews 11:14). In all the examples in this section the stress has been on God's fulfilment of His promises, what He would accomplish in the far future, in which they firmly believed. Each held firmly to the future hope. They were in fact men looking forward to the Messianic hope.

The incident is described in Genesis 50:24, and its carrying out in Exodus 13:19 and Joshua 24:32.

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