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<2020.05> Images of Jesus as They Appear in the Life of Joseph

2005 European Bible Study Meeting
March 30, 2005, Evening Lecture
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.  Genesis 50:20-21
Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another,
and the Lord listened and heard them;
so a book of remembrance was written before Him
for those who fear the Lord
and who meditate on His name.
Malachi 3:16
 If we read carefully through from the first chapter of Genesis in which Joseph appears to the last chapter—chapter 50—we find that these chapters seem to be a summary of the entire Bible from beginning to end. 
 
 When we read the record of Jacob’s life as it is recorded in the book of Genesis, we can see that in the course of his short life, he went through the same course of events that the Israelites would later go through. Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel, had twelve sons. These sons became the forefathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, was later persecuted by his older brothers, and in this respect he is a shadow of the Christ. 
 The story of Joseph unfolds from Genesis chapter 37. One day Joseph had a dream and he told his brothers what he had dreamt. In his dream the sheaves of wheat belonging to his brothers had bowed down to his sheaf. At that time, his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” After that, Joseph had another dream and again he told his brothers about it. This time he dreamt that the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him. As a result of these dreams, Joseph’s brothers became very envious of him. 
 In the book of Acts, we read that at the time of the early Church, Stephen spoke before the Jews about the history of Israel, beginning with Abraham. Stephen said, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers” (Acts 7:52). He was saying, “Aren’t you demonstrating that you are the descendants of the evil nation that killed the prophets?” When the Jews heard these words, they were infuriated and took up stones with which they stoned him to death. 
 Joseph appears as a shadow of Jesus, but within this image of him, we also see what was to happen in the future; he appears as an image of the prophets of Old Testament who foretold of the persecution to which their brothers, the Israelites, would be subjected. The Bible says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), and, “the prophets … who prophesied of the grace that would come to you” (1 Peter 1:10). The prophets who foretold that the Messiah would some day come and stand amongst the Israelites were subjected to terrible persecution from their own people for many years, but the writings they produced during that time were put together to form the Old Testament. The prophets were inspired by God to write of events that would come about in the future, but because of this, they were persecuted by the Jews. 
 In the exact same way, when Jesus Christ, who came as the word made flesh, stood before the Israelites, they, too, were jealous of Him and despised Him, and so they had Him put to death on the cross. Thus, Joseph’s dream at that time was not simply the dream of a certain individual; it revealed the inspiration that was in the hearts of the prophets who foretold of the grace that was to come upon all mankind, and the heart of God, who was in Jesus Christ, and who reads what is in our hearts. 
Let’s turn to Genesis chapter 37 and read from verse 18. 
Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”  verses 18-20
 As Joseph drew near to the place where his brothers were feeding their sheep, they, being jealous of him, seized him and threw him into a pit. Then they sold him for twenty shekels of silver to some Midianite traders who were on their way down to Egypt. Judas Iscariot also sold Jesus to the chief priests, for thirty pieces of silver. In this way, we are shown through the Old Testament the attitude of the Jews who would some day crucify the Christ, the attitude of those who disregard God in order to demonstrate their own righteousness.
 Joseph was taken down to Egypt in this way, and there he became a servant in the house of Potiphar, a captain of the guard. God was with Joseph, making him to prosper so that he was selected to be overseer of Potiphar’s entire household. But then Joseph came up against a problem. Potiphar’s wife became attracted to Joseph and she attempted to entice him. He was subjected to this temptation. At that time, Joseph said to her, “There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).
 Jesus, too, who came to this earth in the body of a man, was the Son of God, but He was tempted as a Man. In Isaiah chapter 53, it says, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (verse 3), and in the letter to the Hebrews it says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (4:15). Jesus obeyed God where man cannot, and He overcame the power of the flesh which man desires to do but cannot, and in the end He delivered up His body to the cross. 
 After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, Satan come to him and said, “Command that these stones become bread.” At that time, Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (see Matthew 4:3-4) Such was Jesus’ obedience before God the Father. 
 When we believed what Jesus accomplished in obedience to God the Father, we came to participate with Him in His obedience. In the letter to the Ephesians, it says that we once walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, but now we have been taken hold of by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of obedience to live a new life in this world (see 2:1-5).
 Then, one day, Joseph went into Potiphar’s house to do some work, and Potiphar’s wife came and, taking hold of his garments, she said to him
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