The Hebrew writer moves quickly through the generations between Abraham and Moses, but his observations about Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all have one interesting thing in common. The writer focuses on their faith as seen when they are old and near death. I don’t think there’s any question that Isaac, who God had figuratively brought back from the dead, was faithful throughout his life. Nor do I think that Jacob, although flawed and misled by his mother, ever deserted God. Joseph’s faith was certainly tested through trials and hardships as well as through great honors and power. Yet the writer does not focus on the faith depicted in the days of their youth, those days of waiting for God, but rather, what the writer mentions here is the faith they showed as they made plans for their own deaths.
To be honest, I don’t know that I had ever really considered that before. Sitting with that for a bit has convinced me that the greatest test of our faith comes as we face our own mortality. That may be during old age, if God wills us to live that long, or it may be in the final years and moments of our lives if we are aware of impending death. Either way, we must consider that our lives could end at any moment, and in that thought, faith is a great blessing. The final blessing of faith is to help us wait with patience and hope in God’s promises as we live to die. And so it is God’s steadfast loyalty and faith that inspires our own. The passage in Hebrews 11:20 - 22 deals with three old men who are confident in the immutability and faithfulness of God’s own character.
In Genesis 35, we are told that Isaac was 180 years old when he died. It’s difficult to tell exactly when Isaac died, but he was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born (Gen. 25:26), and Jacob was around 60 when Joseph was born, so Joseph would have known his grandfather before being sold into slavery by his brothers. That’s not a pivotal detail in the story, but watching old people remain faithful is pivotal in the development of faith in young people. I know that, for me at least, watching my parents and grandparents face death with confidence has been one more brick in the foundation of faith they instilled in me.
On his deathbed, Isaac was confident in the divine origin of his words and the ability of God to carry out things as He saw fit: “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.” Isaac’s blessings looked far into the future, toward the promise none of them would see fulfilled. It is by faith that Isaac reveals to both of his sons blessings for them designed by God. It’s worth noting that the blessings that Isaac gives to Jacob and Esau go against all of the cultural norms of the day. The oldest son is still seen as preeminently blessed and entitled today in many cultures. However, Isaac knows these blessings aren’t of his own understanding. It is with faith that he issues the blessings favoring the younger son above the elder. The spiritual blessings of Israel and the physical blessings of Edom are foretold, and Isaac knows that God will be faithful to His word. His faith doesn’t waver in the face of death.
The Hebrew writer moves quickly to Jacob’s death: “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped leaning upon the top of his staff.” In Genesis 47, Jacob, now Israel, and all of his descendants have been allowed to settle in Goshen. Jacob, however, doesn’t want to be buried in Egypt, so he makes Joseph swear that his bones will be carried out and buried with his fathers. Joseph swears, and Jacob worships God, leaning upon his staff. Just as his father’s blessing had, Jacob’s words look into the future with confidence that God will work things to His purpose. At the end of his life, Jacob gave thanks to God for the life he’d been given.
Part of Jacob’s final blessing legally doubles Joseph’s inheritance through the individual blessings of both sons, and we know the blessing was honored by the rest of the family because Ephraim and Manasseh are always listed among the tribes. Just like Isaac’s blessing of Jacob himself, Jacob now prefers Joseph’s younger son in his blessing. The Genesis account says that this displeases Joseph, so Joseph tries to move his father’s right hand to Manasseh’s head. However, Jacob, directed by God, tells Joseph that Manasseh will father a great people, but Ephraim will be greater. In fact, in Hosea and Jeremiah, the prophets refer to all 10 of the northern tribes of Israel as Ephraim, making his name greater.
Jacob, the one who “stole” Esau’s rightful blessing, at least in some way must realize that God has used him as was foretold from his birth. Jacob couldn’t possibly understand the way God intends to bring these events to pass. In fact, when he faces death, his descendents are thriving in Egypt. However, he’s confident that won’t last. He’s been told it won’t, and he’s been told this family will, eventually, leave Egypt and inherit the promise. He is certain of it, and so he faces his death with faith.
Just as a side note, I’m not sure that those of us from the Western world can understand Joseph’s irritation at this reversal of blessings for his sons. Again, God requires His people to trust Him over their own cultural norms. How many times do we question, or worse, rationalize God’s commandments to fit into our culture? We worry that if our children don’t receive what we think they deserve, then somehow their self-esteem will be impacted - that somehow they won’t reach their full potential or that they will be resentful or bitter that they didn’t receive their due rewards. I see this all the time in the world of education…and I see it in the church. You know, Esau and Manasseh, these older sons, weren’t being left out. Even Ishmael…also the oldest son…had decisions to make about who he would serve.
God consistently flips the order of man’s cultural norms - Moses will be elevated above Aaron, Abel was preferred above Cain, Jesse’s youngest son, David, will become the king, and the King of the Kingdom will be a servant. If we invest ourselves in what our culture deems important, we will end up chasing the ideas of man and miss many of the blessings of the Kingdom. I remind myself that the ways of God are too great for my tiny mind! I just need to trust and work while I wait.
The faith of these older men as they are dying should impact these younger men to live in the same kind of confidence in God’s promise and purpose. Certainly, his father’s last days influence Joseph as he gives a similar command regarding his bones as he, too, looks to Israel’s departure from Egypt. The English Standard Version says that he “made mention of the exodus” before asking them to take his bones with them. I would think that Joseph, a man second in Egypt only to the Pharaoh, would find it difficult to imagine a day where his descendants would need to run for their lives from these people who he has not only lived among but from whom he has received respect and honor. But he believes it. He’s been shown by God that it will happen. I also think it’s worth noting that all of the events of Joseph’s life, those moments when he waited patiently, faithfully for God to move, are not even mentioned in Hebrews 11. He is noted for his faith in death. He is focused on events that live more than 400 years in the future. And when it’s time for Israel to leave, as Jacob and Joseph knew they would, Joseph’s dying wish hasn't been lost or forgotten, and Moses makes certain that his remains are with the people as they leave Goshen.
Understanding that God will be steadfast and true is “the evidence of things not seen.” When we talked about Noah, we discussed that Noah was given instructions concerning events still in the future. While others around him ignored the warning as improbable at best, Noah continued to follow the plan laid out by God, confident that what he had been told would come to pass. Likewise, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph look forward to a time after their deaths when God’s promises would be fulfilled. They don’t know how - they just know to trust what they’ve been told.
All three of these men, these holders of the promise, honor God in their final hours by dying with total dependence on His grace and faithfulness to the covenant. It is the final work of faith in one’s life.
I was privileged to be there in my parents’ final days and hours. My father waited patiently for death, knowing that he was in his final days. He endured last visits from friends and family, people who loved him and had looked up to him. Mother said he prayed in the night when he woke up restless. He listened to us sing hymns around his bedside, mouthing the words when his voice failed him. He tried to speak his final “blessings” on us until he slipped away.
My mother, too, welcomed the end of life here. She took her final breath with children and grandchildren around her bed singing, laughing, and telling stories. She was totally focused on transitioning to the spiritual realm.
Watching and waiting with them in their final days has solidified and deepened my faith. Their final acts of faith in what was to come has added to my prayers that I would face death with as much confidence and conviction as they did…and as Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph did. Faith not only helps us deal with the challenges of living, it allows us to die without fear, grounded in the hope that only God provides.
We, too, have been told of events in the future. We know the victory has been won, the King is on His throne, and He longs to welcome His redeemed into a perfected state of being. There’s evidence for it. His promises have never failed, and we can live and die secure in His steadfastness just as those before us have.
What a wonderful gift God gives us as He offers us the opportunity to trust Him to handle the future! In a world full of fear and anxiety about the future, and about death in particular, our faith makes us brave. We can face any situation with courage - not only as we deal with death around us, but as we consider the ultimate death before us as we, too, transition to the next realm and to judgment.
