Sermon Tone Analysis

Thursday December 7, 2006

Genesis: Joseph as a Type of Christ in Genesis 37

Lesson # 251

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 37:2.

Last evening we completed our study of Genesis 39 and before we begin a study of Genesis 40, I thought it would be instructive to study the fact that Joseph is a type of Christ.

Also, this evening we will see that many of the events that took place in Joseph’s life that we studied in Genesis 37 and 39 “foreshadow” or “parallel” the events that took place in the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This evening we will look at the various ways that Joseph typifies our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Genesis 37.

On Sunday we will note how Joseph typifies our Lord in Genesis 39.

“Typology” is from the Greek word for form or pattern, which is tupos (tuvpo$) and in biblical times denoted both the original model or prototype and the copy that resulted.

Biblical typology involves an analogical correspondence in which earlier events, persons, and places in salvation history become patterns by which later events and the like are interpreted.

A type is a specific parallel between two historical entities.

An example of a type is found in Romans 5.

Romans 5:14, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

The Lord Jesus Christ employed typology in His teaching about Himself.

For example, in John 6, the Lord compared His humanity to the manna that was given to Israel, which typified His human nature that would provide for spiritual nourishment.

A type is designed to teach us a lesson about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we will see in this evening’s study that the historical personage of Joseph “parallels” the historical personage of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Also, many of the historical events in the life of Joseph that are recorded in Genesis 37 and 39 “parallel” many of the historical events in the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The fact that the events in the life of Joseph that are recorded in Genesis 37 and 39 typified the many of the events in the life of Christ and that Joseph himself is a type of Christ does “not” mean that Joseph is equal to the Lord but rather that Joseph and the events in his life foreshadow the Lord and the events in His life.

No other character in the Bible foreshadowed the Lord Jesus Christ more than Joseph.

In Joseph we see the Lord Jesus as the Preserver, Provider and Savior.

Of the seven great figures in the book of Genesis whose biographies we have studied, Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, Joseph’s story is the longest.

Genesis 37:2, “These are the records of the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives.

And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.”

Genesis 37:2 records Joseph as a shepherd feeding his father’s flocks, which typifies or foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd who fed His heavenly Father’s flock.

John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Genesis 37:3, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.”

Genesis 37:3 records that Joseph was loved by his father Israel, which typifies God the Father’s love for His Son Jesus Christ.

Matthew 3:17, “and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’”

Matthew 17:5, “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’”

Genesis 37:4, “His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.”

Genesis 37:5, “Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.”

Genesis 37:4 and 5 records that Joseph was rejected and hated by his brothers, which foreshadows our Lord’s Jewish brethren rejecting and hating him.

John 1:11, “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

John 15:23, “He who hates Me hates My Father also.”

John 15:24, “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.”

John 15:25, “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’”

Genesis 37:6-7, “He said to them, ‘Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Genesis 37:8, “Then his brothers said to him, ‘Are you actually going to reign over us?

Or are you really going to rule over us?’

So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.”

Genesis 37:9, “Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, ‘Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.’”

Genesis 37:10, “He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, ‘What is this dream that you have had?

Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?’”

The two prophetic dreams that Joseph received from God, which predicted his preeminence over his brothers typifies or parallels the Lord Jesus Christ’s preeminence over every creature and all of creation.

Colossians 1:18, “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

The fact that Joseph’s brothers disbelieved his words typifies or parallels our Lord’s Jewish brethren rejecting His words.

John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

John 6:64, “But there are some of you who do not believe.

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.”

The fact that Joseph’s brothers rejected this prophecy that he would reign and rule over them also foreshadows our Lord’s Jewish brethren rejecting Him as the King of Israel.

John 19:14, “Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.

And he (Pilate) said to the Jews, ‘Behold, your King!’”

John 19:15, “So they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’

The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’”

Genesis 37:11, “His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”

That Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him foreshadows the leaders of the Jews envy and jealousy of our Lord.

Matthew 27:17-18, “So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you?

Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’

For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.”

That Joseph’s father dwelled upon the two prophetic dreams that Joseph revealed to him typifies or parallels our Lord’s mother Mary dwelling upon the things our Lord said to her that He must be about His Father’s business when they found Him at twelve years of age in the Temple.

Luke 2:51, “And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.”

Genesis 37:12, “Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem.”

Genesis 37:13, “Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem?

Come, and I will send you to them.’

And he said to him, ‘I will go.’”

Joseph’s obedience to his father to find his brothers typifies the Lord Jesus Christ obedience to His heavenly Father’s will to seek and save sinners.

Hebrews 10:7, “THEN I SAID, "BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.”

Luke 22:42, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”

Genesis 37:14, “Then he said to him, ‘Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.’

So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.’”

The fact that Joseph was sent by his father Israel to his brothers also typifies God the Father sending His Son Jesus Christ into the world.

1 John 4:9, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”

1 John 4:10, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Genesis 37:15, “A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, ‘What are you looking for?’”

Genesis 37:16, “He said, ‘I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.’”

Genesis 37:17, “Then the man said, ‘They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.”

The fact that Joseph was found by an unidentified man wandering in the field foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ who had no place to lay His head.

Luke 9:58, “And Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’”

That Joseph was seeking out his brothers also foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ who would come to seek and to save lost sinners among His Jewish brethren.

Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Genesis 37:18, “When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.”

Genesis 37:19, “They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer!’”

Genesis 37:20, “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’

Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”

The fact that Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him typified our Lord’s Jewish brethren conspiring to kill Him.

John 11:47, “Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, ‘What are we doing?

For this man is performing many signs.’”

John 11:48, “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

John 11:49-50, “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.’”

John 11:51-52, “Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”

John 11:53, “So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.”

Genesis 37:21, “But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, ‘Let us not take his life.’”

Genesis 37:22, “Reuben further said to them, ‘Shed no blood.

Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him’ -- that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.”

Genesis 37:23-24, “So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; and they took him and threw him into the pit.

Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.”