Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

 Good morning. He then talks about Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau, and Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph, and then finally Joseph mentioning the exodus of the sons of Israel and giving orders concerning his bones. While Joseph was alive, it did not look like Israel was ever going back to the promised land. After all, they had the best land of Egypt. Why would they want to go back to the unknown? This was before they were enslaved. Sometimes the "good" of the now keeps us from obtaining the "best" of the future. When we settle for the good, it obscures our vision of the best. We then come to think that this is the best that God has for us. Is there some good that you are settling for instead of waiting for the best – don't! The children of Israel may have forgotten, but Joseph did not. Then he talks about Moses' parents hiding him for three months ... Moses left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. Now if you read Exodus it looks like Moses was afraid when he left. He certainly seemed afraid when God told him to go back to Egypt to get His people released. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that He who destroyed the firstborn might not touch them (the Israelites). It did take a lot of faith. How could this protect the firstborn of the children of Israel? But there were indications previously. Some of the plagues only affected the Egyptians and not the Israelites. So it was logically possible that the firstborn of the Egyptians would die and not of the Israelites. But how could this sprinkling of the blood protect the children of Israel? Sometimes God ask us to do something that does not make sense, but the outcome is dependent upon it; for in obeying, we show our trust in God. Father thank You that the reader does not settle for the good, but rather endures for the best. He/she trusts in You to bring about the outcome.