Joseph's Forgiveness and His Final Days

God is a God who keeps His promises. With the death of Jacob another generation of God’s chosen people had passed away. God had made a grand covenant with Abraham, a promise to make Abraham into a great nation in the land of promise and to eventually bless all people on earth through him. This grand covenant passed from Abraham to Isaac and from Isaac to Jacob. Now that grand covenant rested with Jacob’s sons, the twelve tribes of Israel. Living in the land of Egypt, these descendants of Abraham would experience hardship and slavery, but God would fulfill His promise. Jacob’s son Joseph gave voice to the Israelites’ faith in God’s covenant. But first he had to assure his brothers of his forgiveness. In Joseph’s declaration of forgiveness and faith we see the forgiveness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. Because God is faithful, we receive forgiveness through faith in His Son. The final verses of Genesis point to the themes of forgiveness, divine providence, and hope.