At the risk of sounding redundant, I want to drive one basic point home: that the life of Joseph was a forerunner to the events that happened to the house of Israel, and ultimately, the lost tribes. There is deep prophecy here, and consequently, a pattern for the whole plan of God outlined in the bible. This is major stuff---- not just a good story. Again, I heard just today an advertisement on the radio about "The Life of Joseph" by a certain ministry. Of course, to them, all the events that transpired in Joseph's life was to compare "how it fits into our lives". What's with so-called Christianity today? Everything has to revolve around us. Where's God in all this? Can't we get our minds off ourselves and focus on God's plan? And when this site attempts to do that, we're supposedly the one that's apostate. I guess deep spirituality to many consists of the spiritual significance of one's hand in front of their faces and what goes on in this whole wide world is inconsequential.
On to this series. We are picking up our teaching on Genesis chapter 42, and there are several things I want to point out. I'm not interested in studying verse-by-verse per se, but rather give you the overall picture and point out some passages that deal with this prophecy I'm telling you about. Chapter 42 starts out with Jacob sending his sons to Egypt (because he heard there was food there) but in verse four it says that Benjamin stayed with Jacob. We'll see more of this brother turning up in various passages. A lot is said about Benjamin in prophecy. More on him later. Next of all, the ten brothers meet Joseph, and he was as Gentile as Gentile can get. Verse eight said, "They knew him not." Again, this is definitely a prophetic passage regarding the tribe of Joseph. They would be known as "not my people", i.e. Gentiles (Hosea 1:9). The tribe of Joseph is very well hidden today. This website ministry gets lots of flack regarding our "errors" and "leading people astray" because we teach the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and kindred peoples are the lost tribes of Israel, mainly headed by Joseph. Joseph is so well hidden, even his brethren today, the Jews, do not know him! What did Isaiah say in chapter 49?
"Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
Joseph was initially harsh with his brothers (to test them out) and they said in verse thirteen that one brother "is not". That's right. Who cares where the lost tribes are today? America IS NOT them. Britain IS NOT them, so say our critics. This is proof that if evangelists were around in the days of Jacob, I am convinced they would have had Jacob FORGET about Joseph and the promises of God and REPLACE him with other "positive thinking" theology. You see, many preachers do not really believe God. They say to him, "Lord, Lord" and do not enter because they DO NOT THE WILL of the Father.
As our story continues, Joseph wants his brothers to prove to him they are not spies by bringing Benjamin back with them. They are sorry they ever sold Joseph off! That guilty conscience of theirs was getting to them. Notice in these stories that Reuben and Simeon are taking some parts. They were the firstborn of Jacob and later Jacob transfers the birthright from them to Joseph's two sons, "as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine". That's all I'll say about those two guys for the time being. But notice in verse 23 that they needed a so-called interpreter. Joseph was such a "Gentile" that he knew another language fluently (even though he understood Hebrew). This brings to mind another passage in Isaiah about the lost house of Israel and hearing the Word of the lord in another language because they are Gentiles:
For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people... [Israel]. (Isaiah 28:11)
Now after Joseph sent his brothers away (to test them some more if you read the story) we see Jacob's distress again in verse 36. Wait a minute? God promised him all those great birthright promises and yet he was afraid of losing his sons? I take heart in such a passage. If you've been beating yourself up over doubt and discouragement, look at Jacob, the man to whom God blessed! An evangelist would have "mentored" Jacob "into accepting his loss" and to "move on for greater blessings in God". But is that what the bible teaches? NO! And you wonder why this site is so critical of mainline Christendom? Can our readers discern the difference in these stories alone as to what God promised vs. what is being taught today? Do you see the danger?
Chapter 43 tells how they finished their food and had to go back to Egypt to buy more grain. But there was one stipulation. They were not to return unless Benjamin was brought with them. Now you have to understand one thing here. Jacob believed that Joseph was long dead. Benjamin was the only other son of his favorite wife and his was very possessive of him. I'm telling ya. Jacob was feeling like many of us do when we want to believe in God's promises, but circumstances seem to make God's promises sound foolish. And to boot, your run-of-the mill TV bible preacher doesn't help when he calls such faith "delusional". We see Jacob's resulting fatalistic attitude in verse 14. It is really frustrating when you know God promised you something, but circumstances and people say you have no right to them and try to drag you down to their faithless level. But there were big (and good) things about to happen to Jacob down the road if only he saw what God mapped out years ago! Notice in verse 8 that Benjamin was to go with Judah (i.e. Judah was his surety) to go and see Joseph. If this does not smack one in the face with prophecy, then all I have to say is that such a person is spiritually obtuse. What historically happened when Israel split? Joseph and the other tribes (10 in all) became the house of Israel lost to history (Gentile like Joseph) while the house of Judah in the south was comprised of the tribes Judah and Benjamin! The apostle Paul came from Benjamin of the house of Judah to eventually go to Joseph, the children of Israel in the isles according to the apocryphal chapter of Acts 29. This important tribe is the "one tribe" God saved for King David's sake so that he'd always have a light in Jerusalem. In other words, Benjamin was the link from Judah to Israel when the gospel was launched!
And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. I Kings 11:36.
When we near the end of the chapter, verse 28 shows how all the brothers did obedience to Joseph, that great Gentile super-power that is accused of being the world's police force. So you see, Joseph's dreams of greatness were fulfilled in his lifetime as any of these megaministries teach, but goes far beyond his life to his descendants as well. And that's what we here are trying to show that you never heard taught before.
In chapter 44, Joseph sends his brothers off again with another trick up his sleeve. He wanted to test their care for each other by placing his silver divining cup in Benjamin's sack, because he knew, as Judah later testified, that the ol' man Jacob could not stand to lose Benjamin as well. One side road here I want to state is that Joseph claimed he could divine and the cup that Benjamin had was used to do so (vv.5,15). Apocryphal stories state that both the brothers Benjamin and Joseph knew how to read the stars. When they were together during the feast, Joseph took Benjamin privately and told him to do some stellar calculations which revealed to Benjamin that this great ruler in Egypt was indeed his brother Joseph. So the implication is they plotted this little ordeal together because Benjamin did not reveal his brother's identity. I find it interesting that the apostle Paul (from Benjamin) and some of the other apostles from that same tribe went to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel". They (like Benjamin) knew their brother Joseph. One guy and one tribe had big roles to play between the two houses! Do you hear this preached today? I would not hold my breath on that one.
The chapter ended with Judah giving a heart-warming testimony about Benjamin and Jacob, and how he was responsible for him. Is this like Christ? To be the surety? And he offered himself in place of Benjamin. How prophetic! By the first verses of chapter 45, Joseph could not contain himself any longer and finally broke down and revealed himself to the amazement of his brothers.
In our next lesson, we will see how the "misfortune" of Joseph was for the preservation of Jacob and his whole family, and they were all invited to live in Egypt. This ends with the great promises to each of Jacob's sons, but we especially want to focus on the birthright blessings and scepter promises.