JESUS SON OF GOD VS JOSEPH SON OF JACOB If we study Joseph, the Old Testament champion who saved his father, his brothers and his people from starvation, we can discover the hidden story of the Messiah. Theology calls this the principle of types and shadows. By studying one situation, life, or prophecy, we can glean truths and more deeply understand another situation. Joseph enacted the future of Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years before Jesus was born! Consider the startling similarities between the Hebrew ruler of Egypt and the Jewish Messiah. The names Jesus and Joseph come from the Hebrew root word for salvation and each man was the means of saving grace to his people. God sent Joseph from his father's house to a strange land in order for his family to be fed in a time of drought and thirst, providing bread for the very brothers who betrayed him. God dispatched Jesus from the right hand of the Father to the earth as the "bread of life" (John 6:48) and "living water" (John 4:10). Joseph's brothers rejected and betrayed him. His siblings sold him into the hands of his enemies and Jacob's favorite son became a slave. Jesus was betrayed by Judas, by Peter, by Thomas. the Bible tells us, "He came to His own and His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). Joseph's brothers sold him for twenty shekels of silver (Gen. 37:28), the common price for a slave. Judas sold Christ to the Pharisees for thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 27:15), the usual price of a slave. Joseph was falsely accused of rape by Potiphar's wife. Her lies sent him to prison (Gen. 39:19-20). Similarly, the Pharisees lied about Jesus' teaching, condemning Him to death. Because of false accusations, Jesus descended to the ultimate pit...death. But there's more! Through an act of God, Joseph was released from prison and promoted to the palace where he sat at Pharaoh's right hand. Free from death's ultimate confinement and bondage, Jesus arose and ascended to the right hand of God the Father. At every point, Joseph walked the exact path Jesus trod generations later. Read the Exodus story carefully and you'll discover that Joseph's brothers traveled to Egypt three times before the man who had worn the coat of many colors dropped his disguise. When Pharaoh's vizier dropped the masquerade and revealed himself, he said, "I am Joseph, your brother." His brothers wept openly and bitterly. How does that aspect of Joseph's life translate to Jesus? The connection has to do with the land of Israel. The first time the Jews entered the land under Joshua's leadership. After the Exile, the Hebrews entered the land a second time with Nehemiah in order to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and reestablish the nation. In 1948 the Jews entered Israel for the third time when the United Nations recognized their statehood. As foreseen by the prophet Isaiah, a nation was born in a day (66:8). Just as Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers on their third visit, the last return of Israel in 1948 prepared the way for the revelation of the Messiah. As we examine the past, we know that immediately before us lies the moment when the people of Israel will discover the identity of Messiah. On the third visit, He will reveal Himself. Jesus Son of God.
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