Trinity Baptist Church

Life’s Most Important Questions

The Gospel According To Joseph

Genesis 37:2

 

Even though we brought our series on the life of Joseph to an end last week, I want to return to his story one more time.  I remembered a message I had preached some time ago about Joseph that I wanted to renew and share with you again.

 

Now that message is built on the premise that when you read the Bible, you can always find the Lord Jesus Christ somewhere because it's all about Him. It's His Book.  Therefore, when we read about Joseph we need to be looking for Jesus.

 

And what I want to help you to see tonight is this amazing parallel that exists between the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus.  Now this parallel exists in four dimensions.

 

Joseph, like the Lord Jesus is seen, first of all, as a Son.  Then He's portrayed as a servant.  Thirdly, he is seen as a sovereign and then finally He is portrayed as a Savior. Let’s look at them one at a time through the lens of Joseph’s life.

 

First of all, Joseph was

 

 

Genesis 37:1-3

 

There is no doubt that Joseph was a beloved son to Jacob.  Three things in regard to that stand out:

 

First there is

 

 

verse 3

 

Of all the people he loved and of all the love he shared, Jacob loved no one more than Joseph and we find a picture there of the love that God the Father has for God the Son.

 

When Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan and He came up out of the water, according to Matthew 3:17 there came a voice from Heaven as God Himself said, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."  It happened again at His transfiguration.

 

God has a lot of love and loves a lot of people and many enjoy a special relationship with Him, but He has a son named Jesus who is His little darlin’! And we find a picture of that here in verse 3

 

Joseph also had a

 

 

The last part of verse 2 says he brought a report of evil to his father.  That is a distinction that is drawn between his brothers and him.  They are evil; he isn’t.   In fact, it is interesting to note that the Bible never mentions any sin that Joseph ever committed. Did he sin?  I'm sure he did because the Bible says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

 

But we don’t have a single mention of any sin in the life of Joseph.  We know about Adam’s sin.  We know about the sin of Moses and Abraham and Noah.

But there is nothing of Joseph.  Why not?  I have a feeling the Holy Spirit left out any record of Joseph's sin that we might see him more fully as a picture and a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Read Hebrews 7:26 and you discover Jesus was holy and harmless and undefiled, separate from sinners!  

 

Joseph brought an evil report about his brothers.  That doesn’t mean Joseph was a tattle tale.  He was simply telling the truth. His brothers were wicked and evil and he brought that report to his father.

 

There is no doubt that Joseph was one who had a hatred for evil and he knew what it was when he saw it.  And because Joseph had a hatred for evil, his brothers had a hatred for him. I want you to see how perfectly that parallels the life of the Lord Jesus Christ because people hated Christ because of His hatred for evil.

 

Listen to John 7:7

 

This world that loves evil will always hate God's Son, and that's the reason some people can't find God's Son. That's the reason some people don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people can't find Christ for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. They don't want to find Him.

 

Jesus said, "Their deeds are evil and, therefore, they will not come to the light." That's the reason the world hates the Lord Jesus Christ.  Now the mark of Joseph’s distinction was a coat of many colors.

 

Verse 3

 

Why is that significant in regard to Jesus?

It is because in Him (Jesus) resides the fullness of the Godhead.  He is full of grace and glory!  Jesus is full of color and beauty and life and happiness.

 

Listen:  He is a happy Christ! He is a beautiful Savior!  He is the King in His beauty! All the splendors of the rainbow are tied up in the Lord Jesus. He is the colorful Christ!  God forgive us for robing our relationship to Him in blackness and sadness.  How dare we mope around like we’ve lost our last friend.

 

He is the vibrant, colorful, beautiful, splendorous Christ! He is the Jesus of the coat of many colors and He wears the robe of distinction!  He is the beloved Son of God!  He is distinctive from all others and He is dressed in the robes of royalty and joy.

 

The father’s love for Joseph is even seen in his name.  Do you know what the Hebrew name Joseph means?  It means "Jehovah has added”.  Jacob understood that God Himself was involved in the birth of this son of his old age and he pointed that out by naming him Joseph.

 

That means we don’t have to look any farther than just the name of Joseph to see a picture of the Lord Jesus.  Jesus is the great adder or multiplier.

 

By way of contrast, think of it this way:   Adam was the great subtracter. Adam lost everything for us.  But the Lord Jesus came to bring it back. That's' the reason Jesus said in John, Chapter 10, Verse 10, "I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly."

 

 

And the wonderful thing about it is we gained more in Jesus than we ever lost in Adam. When we invite people to come to Christ, we aren’t inviting them to something negative, but to something positive.  We are inviting them to life.

 

A little girl came to big church for the first time, looked at the Lord’s Supper table, saw the cross, and said to her mother, “Why is there a plus sign on that table?”  The cross is a plus sign, for the Lord Jesus is the One Who multiplies blessing upon blessing for us. And the name of Joseph is a reminder of that.

 

We see his father’s devotion and his faultless distinction.  Next notice his

 

 

Joseph had a dream and in the dream his family was bowing down to him.  And as you can imagine, that didn’t go over too well.

 

Genesis 37:5

 

Does that sound like Jesus to you?

 

Matthew 26:64-67

 

They hated Jesus!  But there is a future dominion that is coming!   And don’t miss this:  Joseph’s brothers are rebelling against the very thing that would eventually be their salvation.  Now there is a simple message in that for every one who’s every lived:  If you deny Jesus, you miss it all.  You either bow to Him or you die in your sins.

 

 

So first of all we see Joseph as he is the beloved of his father.  And I believe he is a wonderful picture of Jesus to us all.  But now, I want you to see, secondly, not only was he the beloved son, but he became

 

 

Now here we find some amazing parallels.  For instance, Joseph was

 

 

Genesis 37:12-13

 

Joseph, the son, was sent by the father on behalf of his brothers. Again, that is a marvelous picture of the Lord Jesus Christ! In 1 John 4:10 we read these words: "Herein is love; not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." God, the Father, sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  And don’t miss this:  Jacob sent Joseph to his brothers because He loved them.

 

Verses 14

 

Jacob not only loved Joseph, he loved the other boys also.  In like manner, God not only loves Jesus, He loves us also and to prove it, He sent His Son to us!

 

And notice what Joseph said when his father said, "Go to your brothers." He said, "Behold, Father, here am I."  Notice his submissive spirit. Jesus not only came, he came voluntarily and willingly.  And how did the brothers receive Joseph? The same way this world received the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at the attitude they had toward Joseph in Genesis, Chapter 37, and Verse 4.  He’s not only the sent one, he is

 

 

How was Joseph received by his brethren? He was received with hate. How was the Lord Jesus received by this world?  In John 15:24, "Jesus said, 'If I had not done among them the work which none other man did, they had not sinned; but now have they both seen and hated both me and My Father.'"

 

Why did the world hate Jesus?  The answer is found in Genesis 37:8

 

They said to Joseph, “We are not going to bow to you!” and they say the same thing to Jesus.  We will not have anyone to rule over us.  Right up to the crucifixion, they said the same thing.  And one of these days Hell is going to be filled with proud, arrogant sinners who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus Christ.   He is the sent one, the scorned one and thirdly, he is

 

 

How did he suffer?  First there was a conspiracy

 

Genesis 37:18

 

Just as they did with Jesus with Caiaphas and the Jews, they hatched a plan to do him in.  Then notice the abuse he suffered.

 

Genesis 37:23-24

 

They put him there to die.  Is that not a picture of Jesus?

 

Matthew 27:26

 

He was scourged, stripped, deprived of food and water, nailed to a cross and put to death.  The we discover that Joseph was betrayed.  Do you know his idea it was to sell Joseph?

 

Verses 26-27

 

It was Judah.  Do you know the New Testament usage of that name?  It is Judas, the name of the one who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

Joseph is sent, scorned, suffering and

 

 

Catch this:  Jacob was told about Joseph’s death, but he wasn’t dead at all.

 

37:31-34

 

In Jacob’s mind, Joseph is dead.  His beloved son is gone and the convincing evidence to that thought is some blood sprinkled on his coat.  Did you ever think about the fact that in the same way one day long ago the blood of Jesus Christ was brought to heaven and sprinkled on the mercy seat in the very presence of God?  Jesus died.  He was slain.

 

Jesus, like Joseph, is a beloved son, a rejected servant and thirdly, we see him as

 

 

We’ve already covered the story.  Joseph is put in prison and all kinds of things happen to him, but Romans 8:28 is still working: "And all things are working together for good." And, finally, Joseph is recognized as a man of great wisdom.

 

Genesis 41:38

 

Now, he's just finding out who Joseph is. And notice, he's saying, "This man is unique." He was so impressed with this man!

 

Verses 39-44

 

Joseph is now delivered from prison.  Not only is he out of prison, he is exalted to the second highest ranking position in the kingdom.  He’s not just free, he’s in charge. In fact, I guess we could say he is seated at the right hand of the majesty on the throne!

 

He is brought from shame to glory! And Joseph now, with the linen robe upon him, with the gold chain around his neck, with the ring on his finger, is now exalted! And not a finger is lifted without his permission! Not a foot is lifted without his permission because now he is lord!

 

Don't you like that part of the story where Joseph goes riding along in the chariot and someone goes out there before him to say, "Bow the knee! Here comes Joseph!" And all over the land of Egypt, everywhere that Joseph went, people would bow their knee!  Every so often, there might be someone foolish enough to say, “I don’t want to bow.”  But the response would come, “You will bow by decree of the Pharaoh himself.

This is Joseph and you will bow before him.”  That is nothing less than an historical event that prophecies of a coming day written about by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2 that says, "Therefore, God has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that He is king of kings and lord of lords to the glory of God.”

 

One day Madeline Murray O'Hara will bow the knee and say, "Jesus is Lord." One day Adolph Hitler will bow the knee and say, "Jesus is Lord." One day Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un and every other pretend dictator will bow the knee and say, "Jesus is Lord."

 

Osama Bin Laden will bow.  Saddam Hussein will bow.  Confucius will bow.  Mohammed will bow.  One day you will bow the knee and say that "Jesus is Lord." For every knee will bow and every voice will join that chorus of Heaven, Hell and humanity to say that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father!

 

And praise the Lord, we don’t have to wait or be made to bow.  We can say with the hymn writer of old, “All hail the power of Jesus name!”

 

Speaking of names, notice that that Joseph, the exalted sovereign is given a name.

 

Genesis 41:45

 

Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah. That’s an Egyptian name and it literally translates “Treasury of the glorious rest”.  But many Bible scholars say the best way to understand its meaning is "Savior of the World."

Others say

 

That's the name that Pharaoh gave to Joseph! Savior of the World! It actually boils down to the one who has the power of life and death and that power is placed in the hands of Joseph.

 

Now remember, we are talking about his exalted position.  First of all, a gold chain is put around his neck.  He’s got a signet ring.  He’s dressed in fine linen garments.  He’s made a prince, given authority and then given a new name.  Think of how that parallels what we find in the New Testament regarding Jesus.

 

In Acts 5:31, Peter says Jesus that God exalted Him to His right hand to be a prince and a Savior.  Isn't that beautiful? Not only is he given an exalted position at the right hand of the majesty on high, not only is he given a name which means "Savior of the world," but notice he is also presented with a Gentile bride.

 

Look again in verse 45

 

Here we find a picture of the church! The church is the bride of Christ! You and I show up on the pages of the very first book of the Bible!  We are that Gentile bride prophesied of so long ago in this Old Testament portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ!

So in Joseph, we have an exalted sovereign who is given a new name and a new bride and then we see that he is the only hope for a dying world.

 

Remember, it was Joseph who knew that the famine was coming, and it was Joseph who told Pharaoh to make preparations for the lean years that were coming.

 

Genesis 41:55-57

 

What did Mary say when the wedding needed wine?  “Whatever Jesus tells you to do, do it”

 

 Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man comes to the Father except through Me." Listen:  God is not going to deal with you apart from His Son, the Lord Jesus. You can come crying to God the Father all you want to but God the Father is always going to send you to God the Son, and whatever He tells you to do is what you have to do.

 

He is the only hope for a dying world!  Isn't it an amazing thing that way back in the Book of Genesis, a rejected Jew became the hope of the world?   I want to tell you, the same thing is true today. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows! But I want to tell you, the only hope of the world is the Lord Jesus Christ! He and He alone is the hope of this dying world.

 

And while we’re passing by, take a look at verse 49.

 

There was no shortage of what Joseph had to offer.

There was plenty for everyone who came. And there's plenty for you today when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again!  Thank God for the exalted Sovereign Who is the only hope for a dying world!. One more thing and I’ll be through.

 

First of all, we see him as the beloved son. Then we see him as the rejected servant.  Then we see him as the exalted sovereign. And finally, we see him as

 

 

It's interesting to see that Joseph goes looking for the very ones that sold him into slavery, and not to seek revenge but to show them his love.

 

They've come to Egypt because there's a famine in the land. They don't know; they don't recognize that Joseph is now the sovereign. So far as they're concerned, Joseph is long since dead.

 

They assumed he either died at the hands of the Ishmaelites or worked himself to death as a slave.  But either way, he’s dead.  And now they are dealing with a man they do not know. They have a need for him, but he realizes he cannot meet their need without first of all revealing himself.

 

 

Genesis 45:1-3

 

Now don’t miss what’s happening here.  They would have never known it was Joseph if he hadn’t revealed himself to them.  He’s older now, dressed as an Egyptian, speaking Egyptian and going by an Egyptian name.  And the only way they could know was for him to say, “I am Joseph.”

Did you know the same is true with Jesus?   You'll know Him by only by revelation, or you won't know Him at all. You see, we know Him because He reveals Himself to us. That’s why we share the gospel and compel people to come to church.  That’s why we have Sunday School and teach the Bible and have visitation and do mission trips.  It’s so those who are starving to death can hear Jesus say, “I am Jesus and I am your salvation.”

 

He revealed himself to his brothers. And why did he reveal himself to his brothers? So he could forgive his brothers.

 

Chapter 45:4-5

 

He speaks a word of comfort to them, a word of forgiveness.  And even though they did him in and put him to death in a sense, again we see the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in those verses saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they really didn't.

 

In their blindness, in their sin, in their rebellion, in their stupidity, they nailed the Son of Glory to the cross. But God was over it all, and Jesus did not die by accident! It was in the plan of God that Jesus would die so that He could not only reveal Himself, but bring forgiveness to men!

 

And the wonder of wonders is that Jesus revealed himself to me and then Jesus forgave me even though I helped nail Him to the cross. Then noticed what happens next.

 

Joseph commissioned his brothers.

 

Genesis 45:9-10

 

And notice why he wants them all to come to be near him.

 

Verse 11

 

What did he tell them to do? He said, "Go out and gather those that I've made provision for and bring them to me. Just go get them and bring them because I've made provision for them! I want to nourish you!"

 

Then after he commissioned them and sent them forth, then he admonished them.

 

Verse 24

 

Joseph said, "You go and bring those that I have made provision for and bring them to me so I can nourish them and they can be near me.”  Then he said, "See that you do not become troubled along the way!"  In other words, “Don’t worry and stick with it.”  How could Joseph issue that instruction?

 

First of all, because he understood their

 

 

Joseph said, “I’m going to provide everything you need to get the job done.”

 

Verses 19-20

 

In so many words he said, “I'm going to send you out to get this job done and I don’t want you to worry about your stuff.

Everything in the land of Egypt is at your disposal!"

Is that not what Jesus meant when He said, "All authority is given unto Me in Heaven and in Earth. Go ye therefore, and lo I am with you always."

 

 The resources of Heaven are promised to the person who has submitted to Heaven and who is willing to be obedient to the commission of the Exalted Sovereign.  We don’t have to worry about provisions.  We’ve already gone from famine to riches because of Jesus Christ.   He can also say “Don’t worry” because of their

 

 

Verse 24

 

What is their position? They are His brothers! They have come now from shepherds to royalty. The same is true of us.  He calls us brothers and sisters.  We are a part of the family.  We dare not disgrace His holy name!  If we mess up along the way, we betray our position!   We have provision, position and we have

 

 

What is our message?  What are we to say?

 

Verses 26-28

 

Think about the message Joseph sent them to share.  First, he said, “Tell him I’m not dead!  I'm alive! Next, tell him, I’m not only alive, I'm in a highly exalted position at the right hand of the majesty on high! And number three: I've made ample provision for you, and I want you to come and live with me.

That is exactly what Jesus is telling us to tell this old sin cursed world.  Just tell them, "I'm not dead! I'm alive! I am at a highly exalted position at the right hand of the majesty on high and I've made ample provision for you, and I want you to come and live with me!"

 

We dare not get troubled along the way.  If ever there was a day or a reason to not worry and stick with it, it is today.

 

May God help us to take the message tucked away here in the Old Testament is the Gospel according to Joseph and let it motivate us to tell our world about our Savior!

 

Let’s pray.