Fathers and Adult Sons: Joseph as a Father
- Feb 12
- 4 min read
Joseph as a Father: Faith Passed On in a Foreign Land
Last week, we followed the long and tender road between Jacob and Joseph—from favoritism and grief to reconciliation and peace. We ended with Joseph no longer the favored boy, but a tested man who had learned to trust God’s purposes across decades of suffering. Today, we take the next natural step.
We meet Joseph not as a son, but as a father—raising children in a land that is not his own, within a marriage that did not begin inside the covenant, and yet marked throughout by a steady, unashamed faith in the LORD.
An Unexpected Marriage
Joseph’s wife is Asenath, the daughter of an Egyptian priest. She comes from outside Israel, raised in a culture of many gods. Scripture gives us no record of her conversion, nor does it soften the reality: Joseph’s marriage joins him to a woman formed by a different faith and tradition.
The Bible neither condemns nor romanticizes this union. It simply presents it as part of God’s providence.
Joseph’s calling places him fully within Egypt—socially, politically, and domestically. He builds a home in a foreign land, with a wife who does not share his ancestral story.
And yet there is no indication that Joseph compromises his devotion to the LORD. Instead, his faith quietly governs his household.
Joseph’s life reminds us that God often works not through ideal arrangements, but through faithfulness lived out in complex and imperfect circumstances.
Children Named in Faith
Joseph becomes the father of two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. Their names open a window into Joseph’s inner life.
Manasseh means forgetting:
“For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” (Genesis 41:51)
This is not the erasing of memory, but the healing of pain. Joseph is no longer ruled by bitterness or grief. God has lifted the burden that once defined him.
Ephraim means fruitfulness:
“For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” (Genesis 41:52)
Joseph names Egypt honestly—it is a land of affliction, not home. And yet he testifies that God’s blessing is not limited by geography or circumstance.
In naming his sons, Joseph teaches his household who God is: the One who heals the past and blesses the present.
Faith Carried Forward
Joseph’s sons grow up Egyptian in language and culture, born of an Egyptian mother. And yet, when Scripture meets them again, they belong unmistakably to Israel’s God.
This did not happen by accident.
Joseph passes on his faith not by withdrawal from the world, but by integrity within it.
His humility in power, his forgiveness of his brothers, and his consistent acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty all become a living testimony to his sons.
Though his marriage began outside the covenant, Joseph does not abandon the covenant.
He carries it forward—quietly, faithfully, and without compromise.
Blessed by the Grandfather
Near the end of Jacob’s life, Joseph brings his sons to be blessed. What follows is remarkable.
Jacob adopts Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, granting them full standing among the tribes of Israel. Sons born in Egypt, to an Egyptian mother, are fully received into the covenant family.
When Jacob crosses his hands to give the greater blessing to the younger, Joseph gently objects. Jacob insists. And Joseph yields.
The man who once dreamed of rule now submits willingly to God’s ordering. He has learned what his father learned late: God’s ways overturn our expectations, and His wisdom can be trusted.
What Joseph Teaches Fathers
Joseph shows us that faithful fatherhood does not require perfect conditions.
He raises sons in a foreign land. He leads a home formed through a mixed marriage. He names his children in faith, not fear.
Joseph teaches us that God can preserve belief in unlikely soil—and that children can inherit a living faith even when their parents’ stories are marked by loss and pain.
Looking Ahead
Joseph’s final testimony will come later, when he asks that his bones be carried out of Egypt—a quiet confession that this land is not the end of the story.
But long before that moment, Joseph fulfills his calling as a father, passing on memory, hope, and trust in God to the next generation.
In Joseph, the favored son becomes the faithful patriarch.
Closing Prayer
Faithful God, give us grace to live and raise our children where You have placed us. Help us to trust You in imperfect circumstances and to pass on a faith marked by humility, forgiveness, and hope. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Discussion Questions
What does Joseph’s marriage teach us about faithfulness in complex situations?
How do the names of Manasseh and Ephraim reflect Joseph’s healing and trust in God?
What encouragement does Joseph offer to parents raising children in a culture not their own?
Children Named in Faith
Your Name
You got it from your father,
t'was the best he had to give,
And right gladly he bestowed it
It's yours, the while you live.
You may lose the watch he gave you
and another you may claim,
But remember, when you're tempted,
to be careful of his name.
It was fair the day you got it,
and a worthy name to bear,
When he took it from his father
there was no dishonor there.
Through the years he proudly wore it,
to his father he was true,
And that name was clean and spotless
when he passed it on to you.
Oh there's much that he has given
that he values not at all,
He has watched you break your playthings
in the days when you were small.
You have lost the knife he gave you
and you've scattered many a game,
But you'll never hurt your father
if you're careful with his name.
It is yours to wear forever,
yours to wear the while you live,
Yours, perhaps some distant morn,
another boy to give.
And you'll smile as did your father,
with a smile that all can share,
If a clean name and a good name
you are giving him to wear.
- Edgar A. Guest
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