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JOSEPH REVEALS HIS IDENTITY, OR, THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST IN TYPE

12-26-10

JOSEPH (JESUS) REVEALS HIS IDENTITY TO HIS BRETHREN (SAVED)

(Gen 45:1-3)  Then Joseph [Heb: let him add, adding] [a type of Jesus Christ] could not refrain [Heb: restrain] himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried [in the Egyptian tongue], Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no [Egyptian, i.e. unsaved] man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard [Acts 9:7]. 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 [Heb: terrified] at his presence.

1.      Commentary: For the past thirteen years, to his 10 sinful older brothers, Joseph (Jesus) was an out-of sight dead man and now quite suddenly he appears resurrected alive before their eyes.

GOD’S PROVIDENCE

(Gen 45:4-8)  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near [illustrating new-found obedience to Joseph/Jesus]. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the [prophesied seven year] famine [i.e. tribulation] been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing [Heb: ploughing] nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save [Heb: chayah] [v.27] your lives by a great deliverance [this is what Jesus came to do]. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God [Providence]: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

1.      providence = Dictionary: the foreseeing care and guardianship of God over his creatures.

2.      posterity = Heb: a remainder or residual (surviving, final) portion:--that had escaped, be left, posterity, remain (-der), remnant, residue, rest.

3.      save = Heb: chayah; to live whether lit. or fig.; causat, to revive:--keep (leave, make) alive, X certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (X God) save (alive, life, lives), X surely, be whole.

THE RAPTURE (THE PROMISED ESCAPE FROM THE PROMISED DESTRUCTION)

(Gen 45:9-11)  Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me [a command], tarry not [before the destruction like Lot who “lingered” Gen 19:16]: And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 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.

1.      (Rev 12:5,6)  And she [the church, but Rachel in type] brought forth a man child [Joseph, but Jesus Christ in type], who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up [1 Thess 4:17] unto God, and to his throne [a type of Joseph being caught up to Pharaoh and his throne]. And the woman fled into the wilderness [of Egypt, in type], where she hath a place prepared of God [Pharaoh, in type], that they should feed [Gk: trepho; nourish] her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [the balance of the seven year tribulation period].

a.      Rachel = Heb: a wife of Jacob /// to journey; a ewe [the females being the predominant element of a flock] (as a good traveller):--ewe, sheep.

2.      (Rev 12:14)  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle [fig. the Bible], that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished [Gk: trepho; feed] for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent [for the balance of the seven year tribulation period].

3.      (Gen 41:28-32)  This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land; And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous [syn: grave, serious, severe, dire, heinous, dreadful, terrible]. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

4.      Commentary: The vision (dream) of the Apostle John was also doubled in Revelation 12:5,6 & 14. What do you make of that? “The thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.”

(Gen 45:12-15)  And, behold, your eyes see [Heb: discern] [like righteous Lot’s, but unlike the unsaved Sodomites], and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. 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.

1.      Commentary: Joseph was the eleventh brother of the twelve tribes. Joseph’s father and mother were Jacob [Heb: trickster, supplanter] and Rachel [Heb: ewe, sheep]. But Jacob wrestled with the angel (Hos 12:2-4) and got converted (imputed for righteousness, born again) in Genesis 32:28 and received the new name of Israel [Heb: he will rule as God]. Thereafter, the now “saved” Israel and Rachel the sheep had one more son named Benjamin [Heb: son of the right hand] who was the twelfth son, the last son, and the only full brother to Joseph. We are that Benjamin company.

a.      (Gen 32:28)  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed [Heb: overcome].

(Gen 45:16-20)  And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph [God said unto Jesus], Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade [Heb: load] your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons [Heb: something revolving, i.e. a wheeled vehicle] [first biblical mention – very important but presently indiscernible] out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your stuff [i.e. worldly stuff]; for the good of all the land of Egypt [a type of heaven] is yours.

(Gen 45:21,22)  And the children of Israel [please note usage of the name change denoting a change of character] did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision [Heb: food] for the way. To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

1.      (Gen 43:31-34)  And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another. And he [Joseph/Jesus] took and sent messes [food] unto them from before him [Joseph/Jesus’ mess]: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

a.      (Eph 4:11,12)  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

2.      Commentary: Enabling: The “five changes of raiment” are the coverings or outward trappings of the five offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. The five messes are the inner “provision for the way” or work of the five offices. And the three hundred pieces of silver (symbolic of the redeemed) may represent the assistance of Gideon’s 300 undefiled and unharmed shepherd-warriors who vigilantly (1 Pet 5:8) and discerningly lapped the water of the Holy Spirit rather than ignorantly bow their knees to the evil Midianite spirits encamped across the stream. This all is our inheritance.

(Gen 45:23-28)  And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed [fig. out of Eden: Gen 3:24]: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out [backslide] by the way [back]. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons [an exceedingly important perception] which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived [Heb: chayah; was saved] [v.7] [Why? Because he now believed Joseph (Jesus) was alive]: And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

1.     Commentary: But what of the mysterious wagons, the sight of which “revived” Jacob’s spirit?