By Faith – Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph Look to the Future

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.” (Hebrews 11:20-22)

With all the stories we find in the Old Testament about Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, do you find it a bit odd that not one of those events was mentioned in the writer’s commendation of them for their faith? Well, obviously some of the events of their lives played a minor supporting role, but they are not what this commendation for faith is about. So, what is going on? Let’s look briefly at the events referenced in Hebrews 11:20-22.

Isaac’s Blessing and Jacob’s Deception

We saw in a previous article[1] how Isaac was placed on the altar in preparation for what he must have assumed was certain death, only to have the ceremony interrupted and a substitute killed in his place. But that’s not mentioned here.

Instead, all we are told is that “Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future” (Hebrews 11:20).  This story is told in Genesis 27. Isaac is now an old man. He calls his oldest son, Esau, to his bedside and asks him to go hunting and prepare a tasty meal for him, after which he would “give you my blessing before I die” (Genesis 27:4).

Well, Esau’s mom decided to trick Isaac and get the blessing for her favorite son, Jacob. You can read the narrative in Genesis 27:5-17. Jacob follows Rebekah’s deceitful plan, and receives the blessing intended for his older brother (verses 18-30). 

When Isaac and Esau realized that the blessing had already been given to Jacob, Esau begged his father, ““Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud” (verse 38). Isaac did issue a blessing to Esau regarding his future, but it certainly wasn’t the blessing Esau wanted (see verses. 39-40). And as a result, “Esau held a grudge against Jacob” (verse 41). 

And that’s the story referred to in our verse in Hebrews 11!

Jacob’s Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh

We move on to Jacob and his blessing given to Joseph’s sons. This story is found in Genesis 48. This time it’s Jacob[2] who is old and nearing death. Jacob claims Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh as his own (verse 5). The Believer’s Bible Commentary explains the significance: “By doing this he arranged that the tribe of Joseph would receive a double portion of the land of Canaan when it would be divided among the tribes years later.”[3]

When Joseph brought the two boys to Jacob, he placed them so that Manasseh, the oldest, was at Jacob’s right hand. But Jacob crossed his arms and placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head; his left hand was on Manasseh—who was the older son. As a result, Ephraim received the birthright, the greater blessing. Joseph, of course, objected:

“Joseph said to him, ‘No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.’ But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.’ He blessed them that day and said, ‘In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”’ So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.” (Genesis 48:18-20)

And now we move on to Joseph’s act of faith. In Genesis 50:24-25 we read:

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.’”

Joseph fully trusted that God would deliver His people from their time in Egypt. He fully trusted that somehow, someway, the Israelites would come into possession of the land promised so long ago to Abraham. And he wanted to be there as well—even if it was only in the form of his bones in a coffin. 

Thomas Lea’s commentary on Hebrews lays it out for us in simple terms:

“As different as these three men were from one another, each presented an example of faith. The ordinary Isaac, the scheming Jacob, and the exemplary Joseph showed a faith which death could not weaken or destroy.”[4]

And Peter Adam says:

“These three examples of faith in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are related to God’s promise of descendants to Abraham. The next example, of Joseph, has to do with God’s promise of the land. ‘By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones’ (see Genesis 50:24–26). Joseph, in Egypt, still believed that God would fulfil his promise. He was embalmed so that one day his body could be buried in the promised land. Indeed, his bones were taken out of Egypt by Moses (see Exodus 13:19), and later buried at Shechem (see Joshua 24:32).

“Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph are examples of the faith of those who die, trusting God for the future, that he will go on working through human history to fulfil his promises.”[5]

By their actions as related in these verses we see the truth behind their faith:

“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” (Hebrews 11:1 AMP)

Go Deeper

  1. By Faith – Abraham Received Isaac Back from the Dead.
  2. Also called Israel, cf. Genesis 32:27-28; 35:10
  3. William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, ©2016, accessed on biblegateway.com.
  4. Thomas D. Lea, Hebrews, James, vol. 10, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999).
  5. Peter Adam, Hebrews: The Majestic Son, ed. Paul Barnett, Second Edition., Reading the Bible Today Series (Sydney, South NSW: Aquila Press, 2020), 111–120.

R.L. Wilson
R.L. Wilson

R.L. Wilson has been on staff at the Ankerberg Theological Research Institute since 1982. Wilson’s articles draw from the perspective of someone who grew up in a multicultural environment, and who has been a follower of Christ for many decades.

Leave a comment

Get The Latest

On The John Ankerberg Show