Joseph – a type of Christ Genesis 37:1-11
Jacob’s favouritism towards Rachel and Joseph caused conflict in the family. This would lead to the events which would shape Joseph.
God uses unpleasant circumstances to mould those he loves. (Hebrews 12:6)
God shaped Joseph and the events of his life so that he would in many ways foreshadow Jesus.
The similarities are so evident that we consider Joseph to be a ‘type’ of Christ.
One way to define a type is: “An historical fact which illustrates a spiritual truth.”
There are a number of people who we would say are types of Christ. These are people who God anointed to somehow save his people. We can think of the judges and some of the prophets.
When his people were out of their depth, helpless, facing an imminent death, God sent deliverers. (Psalm 20:6-7)
We must rely on God because we cannot save ourselves- Jonah 2:9 …Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
A type of salvation also came through Joseph. He saved many from famine, including his own family; the Israelites, but He also saved many gentiles; all of Egypt and the surrounding nations.
Joseph provided food for many people.
Jesus created food for thousands on two occasions, but more than that – he is the Bread of Life. (John 6:35)
As second in charge of all of Egypt, Joseph had the power to do with his brothers as he pleased. What would you have done? Joseph loved them and had mercy on them. He saved them from his own wrath.
Our offence against God is great. All have sinned. We all deserve eternal punishment in hell, but God loves us and had mercy on us. Jesus saved us from the wrath of God.
When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy grain to save them from death by starvation, they didn’t recognize him.
The religious leaders didn’t recognize Jesus as their saviour. Most people still don’t recognize him.
Joseph sustained his family in a foreign land. As believers, we are in a foreign land. This world is not our home, but Jesus sustains us until we can go home.
We might really admire Joseph and even think ‘I’d like to be like that’. That’s good, but remember, Joseph was a type of Christ. As good as he was, Joseph wasn’t the main thing. The main thing is Jesus. Like Joseph, we should all be types of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
If you aspire to be like Christ, you need to know what he is like. How do we know what he’s like? Read your bible!
Here are a few passages to start with.
1 Peter 2:21, Philippians 2:1-11, John 13:12-15, John 13:34-35, Colossians 3, Ephesians 5, Galatians 2:20, 1 John 2:3-6
If we are to be like Jesus, we need to obey Him, just as he obeyed His heavenly Father, Just like Joseph did. (John 6:38)
We still struggle with sin, but as believers, our desire is to be like Christ, and we’re not alone in this.
God is shaping us. (Philippians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Hebrews 12:6-8)
While we’re still waiting for God to complete his work in us, we’ve already been made righteous. Our righteousness is in Christ. He took our sin upon himself and gave us his righteousness.
Joseph’s brothers came to realize that they were not righteous. They knew that they were guilty concerning their brother.
Joseph could have had vengeance against his brothers, but he saw that they were grieved by their own actions and he had mercy on them.
To be saved, we first have to realize that we need to be saved; we need to understand that we are guilty of sin against God and are under judgement. We need to turn to the only one who can save us. (John 3:36)
Are you relying on Jesus? (Acts 4:12)