Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

There are many aspects associated with the life of Joseph, who was Jacob/Israel’s first born son by his beloved wife, Rachel, but one historical account in particular is how Joseph was raised up from both a pit and a prison to sit at the right hand of the Pharaoh with full rulership of the kingdom, just as Jesus was put into Hell at the hands of His people, the Jews, but after three days was resurrected from the dead and now sits at the Right Hand of God the Father…providing the spiritual Bread of Life to those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). And Joseph’s rescue from prison to rulership served God’s purposes as it provided the only means by which Joseph’s family would be saved from a seven year-long famine.

NOTE: This post is excerpted in part from a study of the spiritual meaning of “Famine in the Bible“

Joseph was a “Type” of Jesus Christ during the Great Famine in Genesis 41-47

Remember how, back in Genesis chapters 41-47, when there was a great physical famine in the land, from which we learned the following:

Genesis 41:55-57, “And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy [corn]; because that the famine was [so] sore in all lands.“

But then, in Chapter 42 we see that Joseph’s brothers came to him from the land of Canaan to buy sustenance, Genesis 42:5&6, “And the sons of Israel came to buy [corn] among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 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.”

Then later in Chapter 43, Genesis 43:1 ¶ “And the famine [was] sore in the land.”

However, later in Genesis 45:11 we read that Joseph, after having revealed himself to his brethren, told them that he had prepared a place for them during the famine, in the the land of Goshen (the “best of the land” in Egypt Genesis 47:6), “And there will I nourish thee; for yet [there are] five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.” and finally in Chapter 47, we read in Genesis 47:12 “And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to [their] families.

Please also note that these were the same brothers that threw Joseph into the pit and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Nonetheless, Joseph, like Jesus, showed no recrimination on his part and was lovingly merciful to them and said to them first in Genesis 45:5, “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.” and second in Genesis 50:19 ¶ “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for [am] I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.” Jesus was put to death for the sins of all of God’s elect, His brethren, but God meant it for good that all those who would believe on Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.“

And it is no mistake what we read in Psalm 105:16-22, “Moreover he (God) called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, [even] Joseph, [who] was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. The king sent and loosed him; [even] the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.”

The Lord Jesus Christ was God’s Servant Who went to Hell (represented by the fetters and being laid in iron) and Jesus was tried by God’s Word as the Atonement for the believers’ sins. Then Jesus was resurrected and freed from Hell and raised to the Right Hand of God the Father (typified by the pharaoh at that time) as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The “princes” are the princes of this earth who will be bound and cast into Hell on Judgment Day, while the “senators” are those who are the believers, God’s servants, to whom God teaches wisdom and understanding from His Word. Note how there is a similar to what we read in Psalm 119:23, “Princes also did sit [and] speak against me: [but] thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.” In the first instance this is speaking of Jesus, but also all of the believers in Him.

CONCLUSION

Joseph stands as one of the clearest and most beautiful “types” of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Betrayed and sold by his own brothers, cast into a pit to die, but subsequently sold into servitude, and later imprisoned, Joseph was raised up by Pharaoh (used by God as another “type” to represent God, The Father) from the lowest place to the highest seat of authority in Egypt. There, at the right hand of Pharaoh, Joseph became the sole source of life-sustaining bread during a devastating global famine—exactly as the Lord Jesus, Who was similarly betrayed by His own people, and was put to death and descended into the depths of Hell, only to rise again on the third day and be subsequently exalted to the right hand of God the Father.

What man had intended for evil, God meant for good. Joseph’s suffering preserved the physical lives of his family and famine affected nations; Christ’s suffering and resurrection provide eternal salvation and the spiritual Bread to all who are drawn to Him. Just as the starving Egyptians and Joseph’s guilty brothers had to come to him, bow before him, and receive bread from his hand, so every sinner must come to Jesus, acknowledge Him as Lord, and receive the Bread of Life that satisfies forever. This account is not merely ancient history—it is a divine foreshadowing of the Gospel. The same God who sent Joseph ahead to save his people sent His only begotten Son to save His people. The famine in Egypt points to the deeper spiritual famine of not knowing God or His life giving Word. The storehouses of Egypt point to the inexhaustible grace found in Christ. May we, like Joseph’s brothers, come humbly before the exalted Savior, receive His mercy instead of the judgment we deserve, and find our place in the “best of the land”—safe, nourished, and eternally cared for in the presence of the One who was once rejected, but now reigns as King of kings. In Joseph we see the shadow; in Jesus we see its perfect, glorious fulfilling substance.