In the last introduction, I made mention that there is much preaching about Joseph today and how he relates to our lives. We wanted to go a bit deeper and show that Joseph is a type of the people of God. Yes, one can find multiple layers of meaning in any text of God's Word; so one interpretation is not necessarily the only one. An example of this concept is that Abraham was promised seed as the stars of heaven. This indeed did foreshadow a Gentile people from all nations. But then replacement theologians mistakenly assume that as long as it is fulfilled that way, then it nullifies all the other interpretations to the extent that they say the church replaced Israel. No, Abraham had physical seed as well. And it is along these lines that this Joseph series goes. There are more than just object lessons here, but prophecy. With that in mind, let's turn our Bibles to Genesis 37:1-4
And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Bilhah and Zilpah were Jacob's wives' handmaids, and these brethren were their sons, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher (Genesis 30). Now I take the reading of God's Word here about the "evil report" meaning that it was something bad about them and/or something they said about Joseph or maybe even their father. The Hebrew text for report means "slander". The text does not say what that was, but as we read on, we see that Joseph was favored by Jacob, (He was one of two sons born by Rachel, the wife he loved the most) but he was not favored by his brothers. After all, who likes a tattletale? To make it worse, Jacob gave him a coat of many colors. This resulted in a prime example of sibling rivalry. Before we continue, let's just look at the Father, Jacob, as the Lord Himself and how he chooses us. Is Joseph a good church boy? Not by any stretch of the imagination---- after all, he already tattled. Yet the Father chose Him like God chosen Israel as mentioned in Isaiah:
Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
I'm getting ahead a little here, but pray tell, where do we teach Joseph would one day dwell? THE ENDS OF THE EARTH! And I can just hear his enemies saying, "Look at how proud you are---- all those Union Jacks and star-spangled-banners for a 'coat'!" Which nations besides Israel are the most hated? Even his own brethren hated him! I suppose they would have stayed on better terms if he had toned down a little and not tattled (or becoming the 'world's police force' as he is so often called). Nevertheless lets continue reading on:
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? : And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
You know what? It's interesting how people engage in theological debates as to what bible symbolism means, but Joseph's brothers very quickly picked up on the idea by saying, "Shalt thou indeed reign over us?" But if a similar passage in the bible was stated, but no interpretation given, there would be tons of debate. The brothers understood very clearly what the dreams meant, and in addition two dreams established the matter as the Law of Moses later stated (Deut 17:6). In addition, notice the symbolism that the dream had for Israel astronomically speaking---- sun and moon for his parents and stars for his brothers. The same symbolism is used in Revelation 12 of the woman, but I digress.
Continuing onward, we see prophetic dreams that Joseph had meant that he will be the chief tribe over the others. Our Sunday radio or TV show evangelists only see this happening in their lifetimes. They then go on to say how this story relates to our lives and then afterwards the subject closes like there's nothing more past Genesis. And we know that later on (if I may blow the plot a little) that Joseph will become ruler over Egypt and his brothers will bow to him when they become reunited. This is true, but later on in history, the tribe of Joseph became the dominant tribe over the house of Israel to the north. Besides this, Joseph (especially Ephraim) is often synonymous with the name Israel, hence a type of fulfillment where his parents were also subject to him. So there are at least two fulfillments to these dreams. Are there any more? Yes, if you believe this site and the teaching of the lost tribes of Israel. Joseph received the birthright. And if he received the birthright, he was the tribe destined more than the others to become a great people (nation) and a multitude of nations. And what happens when this empire and later on in history this great nation of ours today tries to "police" the world and spread its rule, colonies and advancements for others to enjoy? The bible already said it: And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. No one likes Imperialist pigs and a meddling superpower, as they are perceived. I often wonder what our world would have been like without them? For sure, I probably would not have this uncensored site. I'm not even sure these computers would have been invented yet to create a site for that matter. After all, God's people Israel (later becoming the Christian nations of the world) were meant to be his light-bearing people to become a blessing to all people (Genesis 12:3). The bible makes it very clear that this part of the birthright was predominantly with the tribe of Joseph. So, no Joseph, NO BLESSING!
If we continue reading the chapter, we see that Joseph sought his brothers and when he found them, was stripped of his coat and thrown into a pit due to their jealousy. He was then sold to the Ishmeelites where he would eventually end up in Egypt separated from his brothers. They concocted a story that he was killed by a beast and put blood on his coat to convince his father.
Although we will not get into the separation aspect in this chapter and message, later on we shall see the significance of his separation prophetically in the 'lost tribes' days, and it will amaze you. Chapter 38 is a little interlude regarding Judah's twin sons Pharez and Zarah. Judah's sons Er and Onan were slain by the Lord because of their wickedness and his daughter-in-law Tamar had no immediate husband to give her a child. So she tricked Judah into thinking she was a harlot and became pregnant by him (so the children she had should have been Judah's grandchildren if she had them the way she was supposed to). I find this chapter being mentioned at this time in history quite interesting also. Why is that? The reason is because Joseph was separated first, then the mention of Pharez and Zorah is made. What do we teach here regarding the transfer of the throne after the house of Israel was long exiled? More on that later as well.
Chapter 37 ends on a low note:
And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
Joseph was the firstborn of his favorite wife, and talk about needing family counseling (like these modern day preachers would have probably recommended to Jacob). There was a rift in the family when the father favored one son above the others and the tensions were high to begin with. To top it off, he refused their comfort---- an ultimate act of turning his nose up at the rest. I could just see all types of 'positive thinking' and 'name it claim it' preachers telling Jacob to forget about his son, that God has something much better for him. You see, their theology is "off the cuff" where they take a few principals and then use them to maneuver around the circumstances without regard to the fact that God already mapped things out. No. Joseph was NOT gone as modern day heresy preachers would teach. God had promises to keep. God told Jacob that he'd make him into a great nation and many nations. He said that Kings would come from him. He promised him the land. Yet, in all that, Jacob still had that element of doubt as to how this was to come to pass, and most theological voices one hears does not help in the least. As a matter of fact, I suspect they'd be the type to actually participate in the plan to sell Joseph off because he was not humble "like any good Christian ought to be". When man thinks he's wiser and tries to take the steering wheel from God, he not only becomes apostate, but screws things up as well. In spite of what happened to Joseph, in spite of how the brothers tried to arrange the cosmic purpose their way, God had it all under control, and BIG things and blessings were to come out of these circumstances.
| This is a painting of Joseph being placed in the pit by his brothers. It came out of Liaf's old Bible storybook. This book is still in good condition although it's now 40 years old. The book influenced Liaf to love the stories in God's Word. | |