God Cannot Lie(2) -By Gabriel Agbo

You know the last word of a man is always very important. Every last word of a man always reveals the mind and the most important concern of the person. This is just why a will; which is regarded as the last wish of a deceased is very much respected, final and legally binding. People will always tell you all their heart at the point of death. And this was exactly the same with Joseph. Though, he was very prosperous, influential, wealthy, respected and taken good care of in Egypt, he still believed and longed for that land which God promised by oath to give to the descendants of Abraham. Now, he told them that God would unfailingly come to take them (the children of Israel) to the Promised Land and he made them to swear an oath that they must, without fail, take his body as they leave to Canaan. Great!
This was 80 years after they arrived Egypt and about 350 years before they left to the Promised Land. This man, though about to die, held tenaciously to God promise. Just look at his statement there, “Soon I will die,’ Joseph told his brothers, ‘BUT GOD WILL SURELY COME FOR YOU, to lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he vowed to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, ‘when God comes to lead us back to Canaan, you must take my body back with you’. So Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.” This is what faith in God is all about. Your ability to believe God’s promises beyond the present circumstances.

There was no visible sign then that what God promised them would come to pass. But Joseph had learnt over the years that his word does not fail. And here, he is transmitting the same faith to his brothers and the next generations of Israel. I love Israel for that. They know how to transfer their belief, culture, traditions and history to their young ones. Or how did Joseph come to know that God would definitely come to take the Israelites to the Promised Land? This promise was originally given to Abraham when God told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land for 400 years, but that He would later bring them out and get them established in Canaan. Abraham believed and passed the same information and faith on to Isaac, Isaac to Jacob, and Jacob to his sons, including Joseph. Now, what are you passing on to your children and the next generations? Faith or faithlessness? Yes, tell me.