The Spirit of Christ was in the hearts of the Old Testament prophets. This is different from the members of the church in New Testament times being sealed with the Holy Spirit. As occasion demanded, the Spirit of God the Son moved the prophets to write the words of the Scriptures.
Nevertheless, all the prophets who were moved to record the words of God were persecuted by the Jews of their time. In Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15, it says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,” and in verse 18, it says, “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren.” This is why, when Jesus came to this world and was living in Israel, many of the Jews called Jesus a prophet, but the Pharisees, the Sadduccees, and the scribes persecuted Jesus severely. All the prophets of Old Testament times were shadows of Jesus when He came as a prophet. They prophesied of things that were to come, and because of this, they were severely persecuted.
Let’s turn to Isaiah chapter 41 and read from verse 21. When we read verses like these, we are reminded of Joseph. It is easy to think that Joseph suffered because of the jealousy of his brothers. There are many people who read the Bible as one might read a novel. If, however, you refer to various other places in the Bible in connection with the verses you read, you will come to understand the precise reason that such incidents occurred and what is behind them.
“Present your case,” says the Lord. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination.” verses 21-24
This passage warns against worshiping idols. Now let’s read Isaiah chapter 44 from verse 6.
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them.” verses 6-7
The power to be able to prophesy about events to come was at work in the Old Testament prophets. When Jesus came to this earth, He, too, said many things about events that were to come in the future, and He explained carefully about the tribulation and the judgment. As a result, when you read the Gospels or the book of Revelation hand-in-hand with the Old Testament, you can see much more about what will happen in the future.
This same power was at work within Joseph. It was not without reason that Joseph had his dreams. Joseph, who was born to the wife that Jacob loved and cherished most of all, was envied by his brothers. The jealousy in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers reached its climax when he had a dream.
Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Genesis 37:5-11
This is what happened amongst the sons of Jacob. These were the forefathers of the Israelites, and yet they all despised this one brother. From his youth, Joseph—along with the many old Testament prophets—appears as a shadow of Jesus.
Joseph’s older brothers were shepherds. Joseph stayed at home with his father, Israel, and one day his father sent him to see how his brothers were getting on. This incident and order of events is very similar to that of God the Father sending His Son to the nation He chose on this earth whose history He has controlled. When he came to his brothers, however, they sold him in return for twenty shekels of silver.
Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Genesis 37:18
Joseph came near, but even before he had said a word to them, his brothers were already conspiring to kill him. Long before Jesus came, the Israelites had already been persecuting the prophets who foretold of the coming of the Messiah.
This is why Stephen spoke these words of deep significance as he faced his death at the hands of the Jews, saying, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 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 7:51-52). Through the same Spirit that had been in the hearts of the prophets, Stephen testified of the Christ who had already come and departed, but the Jews severely persecuted Stephen and the other apostles who preached in the same way.
It was as a result of the hard-heartedness of these Jews that the gospel was passed on to the Gentiles. We read about this in the book of Acts.
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!” Genesis 37:19-20
Joseph’s older brothers spoke of him as a “dreamer.” Just as the Old Testament prophets heard the word of God in visions and passed these words on to others, Joseph also told his brothers what was going to happen in the future.
Joseph’s brothers cast him into a pit, leaving him there to die. The eldest of Joseph’s brothers, Reuben, suggested that they should not actually kill him, but take from him the coat of many colors he was wearing and cast him into the pit.
Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. Genesis 37:24
This is a reference to Jesus’ death.
And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. Genesis 37:25
When Jesus was born on this earth, not Jewish, but Gentile wise men came from the east to find Him. They brought Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. Genesis 37:26-27
When Reuben had spoken, his brothers had not listened to him, but Judah’s words carried a little more weight. Judah was one of Jesus’ ancestors. Later, we find another similar passage. Jacob also listened to Judah’s words rather than those of Reuben.
Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Genesis 37:28
Joseph was sold to Midianite traders for twenty shekels of silver. Later, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, sold Jesus to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver.
The Ishmaelites took Joseph down to Egypt. From this part of Genesis through to the end of Exodus, we see the journeys of the Israelites. They set out from the land of Canaan, went down to Egypt, and then they went back from Egypt back to the land of Canaan. Abraham also set out from the land of Canaan, went down to Egypt, and then came back again, and when Jesus was born, He went down to Egypt, and came back again.
Hagar—the maidservant of Abraham’s wife, Sarah—was Egyptian. In Galatians chapter 4, it says, “For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children” (verse 25). It says here that this woman is Mount Sinai in Arabia. Hagar, this bondservant, gave birth to a son. It also says she corresponds to Jerusalem which now is.
The law received on Mount Sinai signifies living in the world. The history of the Jews has unfolded as they have observed the law with Jerusalem at the center. There are also a tremendous number of Christians in this world who live as slaves to the law, not knowing the grace of Jesus Christ.
Then it says in Galatians that “but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” (4:26). Jesus once spoke to His disciples about the Jerusalem that is above, in other words, the New Jerusalem. He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away” (see John 16:7), and, “I go to prepare a place for you” (see John 14:2). He was talking about the “city” that appears in the letter to the Hebrews where it says, “He has prepared a city for them” (11:16). So we can see the journey of the Israelites from the land of Canaan to Egypt and back again as signifying the entire history of mankind as well.
In the letter to the Romans, it says, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (11:36), and the book of Ecclesiastes says, “The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose (1:5). History is in the process of returning to the heaven that God created in the beginning. When it returns, the bride of Christ and the people of this earth—that is, Israel which is the nation of this earth—will together be included in God. We have a similar image in the Israelites who went down to Egypt very small in number, and later entered the land of
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