Coachlight
Bible Study - Joseph The Deliverer – Joseph 2 of 3
I.
There is no Old Testament character to compare with Joseph for purity of
character, steadfastness and perseverance.
A. At 17, sold
into slavery in
B. Persevered
through the most severe temptation
C. At 30, became
the Prime Minister of Egypt
A. Joseph’s two
names, one given at birth, other when he was exalted to the throne
B. By occupation,
a shepherd, type of the Chief Shepherd of the Church
C. Hated without cause
D. Delivered into
the hands of the Gentiles
E. Sold for 20
pieces of silver, potentially put to death
F. Well beloved by
his father
G. Wore a
distinctive robe
H. Sent by his
father, to his brethren with a message and to return with a report, but they
despised him
I. Jesus Was Also Sent By His
Father To His Brethren, But:
John 1:10-11 “He
was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He
came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
J. Joseph was
stripped of his raiment and cast into the pit to die, but came out of the place
of death, alive
K. He was sent
into
L. He was falsely
accused, by Potiphar’s wife and cast into prison
M. He attempted no
defense, and in prison he was numbered with the transgressors.
N. While in the
prison of rejection
1. He became the
savior of the king’s butler
2. He became the
judge of the king’s baker
3. The butler was
set free
4. The butler in
time mentioned Joseph’s name to the king who had a terrifying dream
5. Joseph was
called and interpreted the dream for Pharaoh
O. He received a
new name
1. He was exalted
to the throne of
2. He became the
savior of the world in a time of famine.
3. While exalted
he received a Gentile bride.
1. They were desperate
2. They heard that
there was corn in
3. The ten
brothers journeyed to
B. They were
recognized by Joseph, while at the same time he was unknown to them.
1. At the hands of
Joseph these brothers were severely punished by Joseph
2. Their past
crime of selling their brother was brought to mind.
3. Before he would
identify himself,
a. They must be brought to their knees
b. They must
demonstrate confession of their guilt
c. They must
repent of the potential murder of their little brother
Genesis 42:6-9 “And Joseph was the governor
over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and
Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down
themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them,
but made himself strange unto them, and
spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said,
from the
C. Joseph really turns on the heat - They were finding out that a man will reap
what he sows
1. Joseph
made his 10 bothers tell about their family
2. Joseph made them tell about his younger brother,
Benjamin
3. He put them in prison for three days and then let
them go
4. He demanded that one of the brothers be detained
in
a. Until they brought Benjamin back with them
b. This would prove that they were not spies.
D. Joseph had a
purpose and a plan in it all
1. He was not mean
or revengeful in his action.
2. His plan looked
forward to the future dealing of the Messiah and His people
3. The plan began
to work. Conviction overcame them and I hear them huddled together, saying:
Genesis 42:21-26
“And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in
that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not
hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.And Reuben answered them, saying,
Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not
hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required. And they knew not that
Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. And he turned
himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed
with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. Then
Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s
money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he
unto them. And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.”
E. They
returned home, but eventually ran out of food and had to return to
1. This time
they dared not return without taking Benjamin along
a. to prove they
had not been lying.
b. Over the bitter
protest of their father, Jacob, Benjamin was taken along.
2.Then the real
trial came
a. When they were
ready to return home, the silver cup of Joseph was slipped into one of
Benjamin’s sacks.
b. They weren’t
gone long when on Joseph’s order’s they were stopped
c. They were accused
of having stolen the precious cup, and returned to the palace.
d. The sacks of
grain were carefully searched
e. To their
surprise it was found in Benjamin’s sack.
1. It meant that
Benjamin was accused of theft
2. It meant that
Benjamin would have to be detained in
Look at the
text:
Genesis 44:15-18 “And Joseph said unto them, what deed is this that ye
have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? And
1. He said that if
Benjamin did not return, Jacob would drop dead
2. Now, we come to
the crux of the whole matter.
a.
b. Now he was
forced to retell the story.
Here are the
words of
Genesis
44:27-31 “And thy servant my father said
unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is
torn in pieces; and I saw him not since: And if ye take this also from me, and
mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the
grave. Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life
is bound up in the lad’s life; It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the
lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy
servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow
to the grave.”
1. He had wrung
from them a confession of their guilt and sin.
a. He had seen his
dreams come true
1. The sheaves
bowing down to him
2. The sun, moon,
and stars making obeisance
b. Can you imagine
the agony of these brothers before Joseph as he caused all their evil past to
rise up before them?
1. He saw their
agony as their past came back to haunt them.
2. They remembered
they had had cast him into the pit
3. Closed their
ears to his cries
4. Lied to their
father and thought it would never be revealed.
5. Everything that
needed to be accomplished in the purpose of God had been done
2. It was time
to reveal himself to them as their brother, Joseph:
Genesis 45:1-3 “Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by
him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man
with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the
house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my
father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled
at his presence.”
3. Then Joseph
freely forgave the, and we come to the climax:
Genesis 45:14-15 “And he fell upon his brother,
Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed
all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with
him.”
A. Jacob and
all of his family were brought from
B. The despised
Hebrews were favored above all people because their brother was on the throne.
V. This is the climax of the typology of Joseph - when he
freely forgave his brethren who had sold him into
A. This story
has a dispensational application to the nation of
B. We have to see
the picture of Jesus in Joseph’s whole history as the Savior of mankind.
C. But there is
another interpretation too often overlooked. Joseph and his brethren are a type
of God’s great program for the Nation of Israel.
D. Joseph is not only a type of the Savior of the
world - but the Messiah and King of
1. Jesus, typified by Joseph was the father’s
well-beloved Son.
2. In the fullness of time He sent Him into the
field of the world to seek His brethren.
3. He found the Nation of Israel in the land of
Dothan, the land of the law.
4. But they rejected Him, and sold Him for 30 pieces
of silver into the hands of the Gentiles.
5. While in rejection Christ sits on the right hand
of the King of the Universe
a. Receives a Gentile bride
b. Waits for the great tribulation - the day of
Jacob’s trouble (represented by seven years of famine).
6. After a dispensation of plenty since the Messiah
was rejected
a. there will follow the seven years of earth’s
greatest sorrow
b. The brunt of it will be borne by the Nation of
Israel. It is the Time Of Jacob’s Trouble.
7. Speaking of
that great day of the Lord, the tribulation period, lasting seven years and of
which the famine In Egypt was a type, Jeremiah says:
Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it
is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”
E. Joseph did
not forget the evil of his brethren – he gave them their just punishment with
agony during the famine
1. Isreal must
bear her punishment
2. Then she will
be saved.
3. This is why
Joseph did not have revenge upon his brethren
a. Refusing them
bread
b. But he did not
overlook their sin - and he made them agonize in it
In Acts 7,
Stephen, in retelling the story of Joseph tells us:
Acts
G. Yes, the
second time he is made known to them.
H. The first
time, “He came unto His, but His own received Him not.”
I. The world’s
last climactic time of trouble and tribulation prefigured by the seven years of
famine in Egypt is drawing very, very near.
1. The Church will
be with her Lord on the throne
2. Then the vials
of God’s wrath will poured out with vengeance
3. A time of
trouble that will be so great that unless those days were shortened, there
should be no flesh saved.
J. Why didn’t
Joseph make himself known the first time, instead of permitting them a time of
agony and sorrow?
1. Because his
brethren must be brought to their knees before him and confess their guilt.
2. The Bible
predicts this time of Israel’s agony and their deliverance in Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 16:17-18 “For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not
hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. And first I
will recompense their iniquity and their sin double…”
K. And after
they have been almost annihilated and destroyed, the Lord will make Himself
known to Israel, just as Joseph did to his brothers:
Zechariah
1. The sons of
Jacob
2. He will forgive
their sins and iniquities.
3. Like Joseph,
overcome them with love, compassion and forgiveness. Isaiah sings of this:
Isaiah 40:1-2 “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak
ye comfortably to
1. He will exalt
them above all nations of the earth.
2. This is the
fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant
Joseph
and His Brothers – A Type of Christ and
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Joseph |
Christ |
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In
the fullness of time He sent Him into the field of the world to seek His
brethren. |
In
the fullness of time He sent Him into the field of the world to seek His
brethren. |
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He
heard his brethern were in Sheckum –“fellowship”, he found them in |
He
found the Nation of Israel in the |
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But
they rejected Him, and sold Him for 20 pieces of silver into the hands of the
Gentiles. |
But
they rejected Him, and sold Him for 30 pieces of silver into the hands of the
Gentiles. |
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While
in rejection Joseph sits on the right hand of the throne of the Pharaoh of
Egypt |
While
in rejection Christ sits on the right hand of the King of the Universe |
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Waits
for the seven years of great famine -
the day of his brethren’s trouble – his brethren saved |
Waits
for the seven years of great tribulation - the day of Jacob’s trouble – The
Nation of Israel saved |
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Receives
a Gentile bride, an Egyptian |
Receives
the bride of Christ, Gentiles and Jews |
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Did
not forget the evil of his brethren – he gave them their just punishment with
agony during the famine Genesis chapters 42-43 |
Did
not forget the evil of his brethren – he gives them their just punishment
with agony during the Tribulation – Jeremiah |
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The
first time he saw his brethren they didn’t recognize the king, the second
time, he was made known to them Acts
7:12-14 |
The
first time He came |
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After
they have been almost annihilated and afraid, Joseph will make Himself known
to his brothers Genesis 43 |
After
they will be almost annihilated and destroyed, the Lord will make Himself
known to |
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Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! for
that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s
trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” |
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Jeremiah
7:31 Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Jeremiah
7:32 Not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I
was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: {although…: or, should I have
continued an husband unto them?} Jeremiah
7:33 But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD,
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and
will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah
7:34 And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD:
for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them,
saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their
sin no more. |
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