The Coffin That Preached Hope Series

Introduction: The Prince Who Never Forgot Home

Joseph is one of the most famous characters in the Bible. We know him for his coat of many colors, his dreams, and his rise from a prison cell to the palace. By the time he reached the end of his life, Joseph was the Prime Minister of Egypt. He had immense wealth, power, and prestige. He was fully integrated into Egyptian society—he wore their clothes, spoke their language, and had an Egyptian wife.

If there was anyone who should have been comfortable settling down in Egypt, it was Joseph. But this verse reveals where his heart truly was. On his deathbed, he didn't talk about his wealth or his political achievements. He talked about a promise. He refused to let Egypt become his final resting place. His last act was to give a strange and specific command about his own skeleton—a command that would stand as a beacon of hope for centuries.

1. Faith Sees the Future (The Prophecy)

The verse says Joseph "made mention of the departing of the children of Israel."

At this point in history, the Israelites were not slaves yet. They were guests of honor in Egypt, living in the fertile land of Goshen. Life was good. It would have been easy to think, "This is it. We have arrived."

But Joseph looked past the comfort of the present. He remembered the promise God made to his great-grandfather Abraham—that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. He knew Egypt was just a temporary stop, not the destination.

True faith is not blinded by present comfort. Even when life is going well here on earth, faith reminds us, "This world is not my home." Joseph knew that a "departing" (an Exodus) was coming. He believed God's Word more than his own current prosperity.

2. Faith Refuses the World's Glory (The Commandment)

Next, he "gave commandment concerning his bones."

Think about this. As the second most powerful man in Egypt, Joseph could have had a magnificent funeral. He could have been buried in a towering pyramid or a golden sarcophagus, surrounded by treasures, celebrated as a national hero of Egypt.

But Joseph rejected the pyramids. He didn't want to be remembered as an Egyptian prince; he wanted to be known as a Hebrew believer. He told his brothers, "God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence" (Genesis 50:25).

He was essentially saying, "Do not leave me here. When God moves you, take me with you." He would rather be a bag of bones in the Promised Land than a mummified prince in a pagan land. This is the choice of faith: it chooses the dust of God's will over the gold of the world's glory.

3. Faith Preaches from the Grave (The Legacy)

This is the most powerful part of the story. Joseph died, was embalmed, and put in a coffin in Egypt (Genesis 50:26). But because of his command, they didn't bury him deep in the ground. His coffin likely remained accessible or unburied in a prominent place.

For the next 400 years, things got bad. The Israelites became slaves. They were beaten, broken, and hopeless. But imagine a Hebrew father walking his son past that coffin and saying:

"Son, do you see that box? That is the body of Joseph. He made us promise not to bury him here. He said God is going to come for us one day and take us home. That coffin means we aren't staying here forever."

For four centuries, Joseph’s bones were a silent sermon. Every time they looked at his coffin, it preached a message: "God is faithful. We are leaving."

And God kept His word. Exodus 13:19 tells us that when Moses finally led the people out of Egypt on that Passover night, amidst the chaos and the rush, "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him." Joseph finally went home.

Conclusion

Joseph’s faith teaches us a vital lesson about perspective.

* Don't get too comfortable in "Egypt." The world offers us success, comfort, and pleasure, but it is not our home.

* Keep your eyes on the "departing." Just as Joseph looked for the Exodus, we look for the Rapture and the resurrection. We are waiting for God to take us to our Promised Land.

Joseph let his death testify to God's promise. What is your life testifying to? Does your life tell people that you are living for this world, or does it point them to the hope of the world to come? Like Joseph, let us live—and die—with our hope firmly set on the promises of God.