In the closing verses of Genesis 50, we read of Joseph’s living more than 50 years after his father’s death. God gave Joseph a long life of 110 years – long enough to see multiple generations of his descendants. But then, when he was about to die, he called his brothers together and he told them something prophetic. God was going to come to their aid and bring them from this land back to their homeland. Then he made them promise to take his bones with them.

This postscript links ahead to the book of Exodus. But it serves much more than that; it reminds us of the central truth of Joseph’s life: God’s sovereignty over everything. Joseph knew God had worked providentially in his life, and he knew God was not done. God would continue working His plan to redeem His people – from Egypt, yes, but in an even greater way in Christ – as had been promised so long before to their ancestor Abraham and to Adam and Eve before that.

• In what ways do you need to trust in God’s sovereignty in the days ahead?