A Type of Christ - Genesis 45:16-28

45:16-28 - The news that Joseph’s brothers had been found as well as his father, and that they were all coming to live in Egypt became big news, at least to the political elite, and even Pharaoh told Jospeh to take all types of food and beasts and wagons to Canaan to pick up his father and the rest of his house hold. Pharoah promised “I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.” Pharoah is able to give the best land to Jospeh’s family because at this point, he owns almost all the land in all of Egypt because he’s been selling the grain confiscated from the Egyptian citizenry, back to them taking all their money, land, and even themselves as slaves. I would imagine that if this land that was gained by Pharoah through these means was then just freely given to Joseph’s family, the Egyptian people would not be pleased and it would cause hate and bitterness between the two groups, Egyptians and Hebrews at some point.

Joseph does as Pharoah advises and sends out “ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she assess laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.” And even though “he gave each man changes of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.” I don’t know if Joseph’s affection for Benjamin is because they have the same mother and so must have spent considerably more time together bonding as children. I don’t know if it’s because Benjamin was the only one not complicit in Joseph’s selling into slavery, or maybe he was trying to prove a point, but I don’t know what that point would be.

The brothers go back to Jacob and tell him, “Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” Jacob can’t believe it, after grieving for his lost son for decades, “Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not,” but eventually, “when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.” The wagons were the proof that Jacob needed to convince him that Jospeh was alive and that he was the governor over all of Egypt.

Now I wonder what kind of conversation the boys had with their father about why Joseph was still alive. If we go strictly by what they told Jacob when Joseph disappeared, only that Joseph never showed up and they only found his coat torn apart and bloody, then there is a chance that Jacob never had to be told “well actually we sold him into slavery,” because it could have just been assumed that he got snatched up somewhere and that his brothers didn’t know anything about it. But if they did have to have that conversation, it would be very interesting to see how Jacob reacted.

One overall these about this account of Joseph is that he is “A Type of Christ,” meaning that he is an example that we can look to in order to further understand Christlike characteristics. I always wondered why we need to have all these “Types of Christ,” but the more I think about it, the more I realize that people all learn in different ways, they relate to different situations and different backgrounds and certain actions and the more that we can tie Christ-like characteristics to regular people, the more we can see how to incorporate it into our own lives and see that it is possible. If Jesus was the only one to ever demonstrate Christ-like attributes, then it would be fair to expect us to have them in our lives either.

The IM cites “how Abraham was a type of the Father and Isaac a type of Jesus when Abraham was commanded to offer Isaac in sacrifice. This act was ‘a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son.’” For Joseph specifically, seeing his brothers again after all those years, “demonstrates the Christlike nature of his character. He forgave without bitterness, extended love when undeserved, and saw the Lord’s hand in all that happened.”

Further, the IM lists more ways that “the life and mission of Joseph typifies the life and mission of Jesus:

1. Joseph was the favored son of his father; so was Jesus

2. Jospeh was rejected by his brothers, the Israelites, as was Jesus

3. Joseph was sold by his brothers into the hands of the Gentiles, just as Jesus was

4. Judah, the head of the tribe of Judah, proposed the sale of Joseph. Certain leaders of the Jews in Jesus’ day turned Jesus over to the Romans. Judas (the Greek spelling of Judah) was the one who actually sold Jesus

5. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver, the price of a slave his age. Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave His age.

6. In their very attempt to destroy Joseph, his brothers actually set up the conditions that would bring about their eventual temporal salvation- that is, Jospeh, by virtue of being sold, would become their deliverer. Jesus, by His being given into the hands of the Gentiles, was crucified and completed the atoning sacrifice, becoming the Deliverer for all mankind. TB comments, “What his brothers had done to him for evil, the Father had used for good. Jospeh saved Israel’s physical life; Jesus saved Israel’s eternal life.”

7. Joseph began his mission of preparing salvation for Israel at age thirty, just as Jesus began His ministry of preparing salvation for the world at age thirty

8. When Jospeh was finally raised to his exalted position in Egypt, all bowed the knee to him. All will eventually bow the knee to Jesus

9. Joseph provided bread for Israel and saved them from death, all without cost. Jesus, the Bread of Life, did the same for all men.

TB from the Torah Class also drew some comparisons between Joseph and Christ, and a few I have come up with myself:

10. Just as Joseph rejoiced that he was soon going to “be back in the presence of his beloved father.” Likewise Jesus was too to be reunited with His beloved Father. TB notes, “oh, what similar but greater spectrum of emotions that Jesus must have felt as He hung there on that cross, his life draining away. As He suddenly felt the full burden of the immeasurable crushing weight placed upon Him for the sins of every human that had even, or would ever, live… But, Yeshua knew, just as Joseph knew, that soon he would be back in the presence of his father. His mission was accomplished. God’s will was done. What his brothers had done to Him for evil, the Father has used for good.“

11. Joseph was responsible for feeding the people physically, just like Jesus’ command to his apostles at the end of his mortal ministry, “feed my sheep.” The sheep Jesus spoke of were people who had already accepted Jesus as the Messiah, but Joseph’s charge was more literal. The “feed” referenced was literal food for eating to ensure life in the people. The “sheep” referenced were literal sheep, in that this is what his brothers brought back to Egypt from Canaan.

12. Jospeh had prepared a place for his family to go that was rich in resources and a joy to live in, the land of Goshen, just like Jesus has prepared a place for all His “family” that will be a joy to live in. TB comments, “The Father has prepared a place for Yeshua’s brothers… all who have accepted and kept the faither in Yeshua. He is read to welcome all who will come, and will send for us at the appropriate moment.”

13. Jospeh sent back tons of gifts to make his family’s journey not only possible, but pleasant. He made sure that there was enough food for them to get back to Canaan, pack everything up, and then come back to Egypt. Similarly, Jesus has provided us with a plan so that we can make it through this mortal life and come back to Him when it’s time. But more than that, it’s not just the food that is sent to make the journey physically possible, Joseph also sent unnecessary pleasantries just to make the journey a little easier and sweeter. Joseph’s family could have made the journey there and back without any fancy wagons to carry them, but I bet the ride was a lot better because they didn’t have to walk the whole was. They didn’t need the new changes of clothes to survive the journey, but I bet it was nice to have them when the time came. Likewise, Jesus doesn’t only give us the bare bones of what we need to barely make it back to Him, by the skin of our teeth, He also gives us tender mercies, little gifts so that we know He’s there and that He’s involved and that He loves us. He makes our mortal journey as pleasant as possible when He can.

14. Jacob believed for decades that his son was dead and that he was never going to see him again, just like so many of us feel like we’ll never see our loved ones again after they die. Joseph came back to Jacob and they were reunited and Jacob felt complete. Likewise, Jesus brings back our loved ones to us, he gives us the opportunity to live with our favorite people again and have them again in our lives and feel complete.