John Calvin Commentary Genesis 50:24

"And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." — Genesis 50:24 (ASV)

And Joseph said unto his brethren. It is uncertain whether Joseph died the first or the last of his brothers, or whether some of them survived him. Here indeed Moses includes, under the name of brothers, not only those who were truly so, but other relations. I think, however, that certain chiefs of each family were called at his command, from whom all the people could receive information. Although it is probable that the other patriarchs also gave the same command concerning themselves, since the bones of all of them were, in the same way, carried to the land of Canaan, yet special mention is made of Joseph alone for two reasons.

This was for two reasons:

1. Since the eyes of all of them were fixed on him because of his high authority, it was his duty to lead their way and to be careful that the splendor of his dignity did not become a stumbling block for any of them.
2. It was very important, as an example, that all the people should know that he who held the second place in the kingdom of Egypt, disregarding such great honor, was content with his own portion, which was only that of an heir of a mere promise.

I die. This expression has the force of a command to his brothers to take courage after his death, because God's truth is immortal. He does not want them to depend on his life or that of another person, lest they set a limit to God's power. Instead, he wanted them to wait patiently until the appropriate time arrived.

But from where did he get this great certainty, that he would be a witness and a guarantor of future redemption, except that he had been taught so by his father? For we do not read that God had appeared to him, or that an oracle had been brought to him by an angel from heaven. Instead, because he was firmly convinced that Jacob was a divinely appointed teacher and prophet who would transmit to his sons the covenant of salvation entrusted to him, Joseph relies on his testimony as securely as if some vision had been presented to him, or as if he had seen angels descending to him from heaven.

For unless hearing the word is sufficient for our faith, we do not deserve for God, whom we then rob of His honor, to condescend to deal with us. This is not because faith relies on human authority, but because it hears God speaking through the mouths of men, and by their external voice is drawn upward. For what God proclaims through men, He seals on our hearts by His Spirit.

Thus, faith is built on no other foundation than God Himself; and yet the preaching of men does not lack its claim to authority and reverence. This serves as a restraint on the rash curiosity of those who, eagerly desiring visions, despise the ordinary ministry of the Church, as if it were absurd that God, who formerly showed Himself to the fathers from heaven, should now send forth His voice from the earth.

But if they would reflect on how gloriously He once descended to us in the person of His only-begotten Son, they would not so insistently desire that heaven should be opened to them daily. However, not to dwell on these things, when the brothers saw that Joseph—who in this respect was inferior to his fathers, as he had received no oracle—had been instilled by them with the doctrine of piety, so that he strove with a faith similar to theirs, they would at once be most ungrateful and malicious if they rejected sharing in his grace.