Lesson 26 - Joseph's Final Years:
 Faith, Love and Hope
 Read Genesis 50 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.50

Like a fine painting or sculpture, God's work takes time, but its beauty is a tribute to the artist. The previous studies have shown how God used the years of hardship and suffering to produce in Joseph a spiritual maturity unsurpassed in the Old Testament. In this final chapter of Genesis we see how Joseph's life reflects the character of God. He provides a model for the way we should relate to God and others.

At the beginning of this chapter we see Joseph’s love for his father evident in the way Joseph cared for him and mourned him when he was gone.

Another thing to note is the fear Joseph’s brothers had of him when Jacob had died. If there was ever someone in a place to exact revenge for the wrongs done to him, it was Joseph. Yet, he refused to do so, and assured his brothers this would not happen.

*If you are ever in a position to take revenge on someone, how do you deal with such an opportunity?

Joseph’s answer to his brothers in verse 20 is one of the most important verses in the Bible regarding things someone else does to us that are meant to harm us. This is a verse that is well used by memorizing it and storing it in your mind where God can use it in your life.

*In what way has God used an injustice in your life for something good?
*Think about the people we have studied in this study – Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph – and write some ways you would like to be like them. Then ask God to make these character traits true in you as much as He did in these people.