Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (May 2014)
It is a sad fact that Western countries which were once strongholds of the Christian faith – from where countless missionaries were sent out all over the world – have embraced postmodernism and global humanistic values to such an extent that they are rapidly becoming biblically illiterate. Christian traditions, including the observance of Christ’s resurrection day on Sundays, have lost their spiritual value and became completely secularised and even paganised. This phenomenon is also evident in public quiz contests, in which simple questions on the Bible often baffle contestants. One such question on a show in England was: “Who was sold by his brothers as a slave to Egypt?” The participant was unable to answer, despite the fact that Joseph’s name was mentioned together with three other possibilities.
Let’s consider the prophetic significance of this Old Testament saint to see how the life and works of the future Messiah were portrayed in his experiences.
In Joseph we find one of the most obvious types of the Messiah in the Old Testament. His life not only portrayed the Messiah with reference to His first coming, but also with reference to His second coming. We see in Joseph’s experiences the suffering Messiah who was rejected and unjustly condemned by His people, but also the reigning King who will rule from the throne of David and lead his people in righteousness. The following excerpts from Genesis 37 to 50 are specifically significant concerning Joseph as a type of Jesus:
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children ... And Israel said to Joseph: Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. So he said to him: Here I am” (Gen. 37:3, 13). Jesus was also the dearly beloved Son who was prepared to go to His brothers, the Jews, when His father sent Him. He “stripped Himself [of all privileges] so as to assume the guise of a servant (Phil. 2:7 AB; cf. Matt. 15:24).
We read that Joseph’s brothers saw him coming from afar, and “even before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ... 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” (Gen. 37:18, 28). Jesus was also betrayed and sold for the price of a slave: “Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. ... Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said: What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver” (Matt. 26:3-4, 14-15).
Joseph was imprisoned by his owner because Potiphar’s wife had accused him falsely. Two of his fellow‑prisoners came from Pharaoh’s palace – one was later freed, but the other one was executed. Jesus, who was innocent and without any sins, was also accused, crucified and sealed in a stone grave with guards outside. Two criminals were crucified on either side of Him – the one received eternal life while the other one died in his sins.
Joseph was finally freed and promoted to the second most powerful position in the country. “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God? ... You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you” (Gen. 41:38, 40). We know that Jesus was exalted after returning to heaven and that He sits at the right hand side of the Father: “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:9).
Joseph had the answer to the problem which faced the starving people: “So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians: Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do” (Gen. 41:55). In the same way the Father sends a perishing world with their needs to His Son: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (Matt. 17:5). The secret to eternal life lies in obeying the words of Jesus Christ (John 6:63).
Joseph’s assistance was offered to famine-stricken people in all the surrounding countries: “So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the lands” (Gen. 41:57). Jesus, who sits on His Father’s throne, offers the bread of life to an entire perishing world: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger” (John 6:35).
Israel was also afflicted by the famine: “When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons: Why do you look at one another? And he said: Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die” (Gen. 42:1-2). So they went to Egypt, where Joseph acted ungrudgingly towards them and saw to it that they had enough to eat: “Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain” (Gen. 42:25). Jesus also accepts all people who come to Him. He satisfies their needs for salvation without reproaching them for the past sins that they have committed against Him. His promise is clear: “...the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).
The eyes of Joseph’s brothers were blinded to his true identity: “Joseph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him” (Gen. 42:8). Although the people flocked to Jesus when He came the first time, they did not recognise Him as the Messiah and King of Israel. Jesus said: “You know neither Me nor My Father” (John 8:19).
Joseph arrested his brothers and insisted that the youngest one be brought to him. “Then they said to one another: We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying: Did I not speak to you, saying: Do not sin against the boy; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us” (Gen. 42:21, 22). The fathers of Israel’s tribes threw their brother into a deep well without thinking of the consequences.
Jesus received the same treatment. “Then the governor said: Why, what evil has He done? But they cried out all the more, saying: Let Him be crucified. ... And all those people answered and said: His blood be on us and on our children” (Matt. 27:23-25). They obviously did not know what they and their children would have to suffer because of this fatal decision.
Joseph saw how anxious his brothers were, and turned away so that they would not see his tears. He knew that they were still suffering because of what they had done to him so many years ago. Jesus experienced the same pain: “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying: If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:41‑44).
Joseph felt no anger when he saw his brothers again – only love; and his love is a symbol of God’s love for Israel. “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord” (Jer. 31:20). Joseph’s brothers bowed before him, just as he had seen them bowing in his dreams so many years ago (see Gen. 37:6‑8). In the New Testament we read that every knee will bow before Jesus Christ and that every tongue will confess that He is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11).
Joseph revealed his true identity when he and his brothers met for the second time: “Then Joseph said to his brothers: I am Joseph; does my father still live? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers: Please come near to me. And they came near. And he said: I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life” (Gen. 45:3‑5).
When Jesus comes the second time, the people of Israel will recognise Him as the true Messiah and King whom they had crucified: “And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication. And they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one who is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of the city of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo [over beloved King Josiah, who was mortally wounded at thirty-nine, and for whom the people’s grief was extraordinarily deep. Like that will be the mourning of Israel, when they recognise as their once crucified Messiah Him Who has come to reign]” (Zech. 12:10-11; AB). “And someone will say to him: What are these wounds in your hands? Then he will answer: Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zech. 13:6). “They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say: This is My people; and each one will say: the Lord is my God” (Zech. 13:9).
We also read the following regarding to the second meeting between Joseph and his brothers: “And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another” (Gen. 43:33). Jesus, King of the Jews, can also tell the tribes apart. He will establish them according to Ezekiel 48 in the land when He comes again as King. Then, many Jews will again be greatly surprised.
Joseph’s whole family joined him in Egypt where he could look after them and see to all their needs. “Hasten and go up to my father, and say to him: Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me Lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children” (Gen. 45:9-10).
When the Messiah comes again, all the Jews still living in other countries will return to Israel to live with their King: “I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. ... Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted My hand in an oath to give to your fathers” (Ezek. 20:41-42). All prophecies on the occupation of the land only apply to the people of Israel, and cannot be transferred to other peoples or to the church.
What did Joseph’s brothers do after that? They told everyone: “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 45:26). When Jesus comes again, Israel will believe in Him and tell the world that the Messiah is alive and that He is King over all the earth. Their witness will be dynamic and powerful.