Our Heavenly Joseph
Genesis 45:26, 10-11
26They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." But he was stunned, for he did not believe them.
10"You shall live in the land of (M)Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.
11"There I will also (N)provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, and you and your household and all that you have would be impoverished."'
John 16:33
33"These things I have spoken to you, so that (BB)in Me you may have peace (BC)In the world you have tribulation, but (BD)take courage; (BE)I have overcome the world."
John 20:19-21
19So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for (AC)fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "(AD)Peace be with you."
20And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you..."
We all know that the past few months have been a difficult one. Some have drawn comparisons of the US Economy to a Financial Tsunami. As a result of the Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis, and the credit crunch it has put on the economy, banks, and other companies are going through much difficulty. In the Tech sector 300,000 have been laid off since August 27, 2008. Another 300,000 in the Financial Services Industry has occurred since August, 2007. I am sure we all feel the impact on those around us.
Actually if we read in the Bible, the prophesies in the Bible tell us that what we are seeing is a reflection of what is to come.
If you think about it, the problem we see is not just restricted to the US. The world is going through a difficult time, a tribulation. The effects are felt from New York all the way to Shanghai. In Taiwan, many workers including high tech engineers are asked to work 2 or 3 days.
It is difficult for us because for the most part, we have lived in a prosperous time. The past 100 years or so have been years of abundance. Never has the world seen such prosperity. If you think about all of the ¡°comforts¡± we have, the car, central heating, access to information (humangous computers used to calculate develop the hydrogen bomb does not compare with the processing power of an iPhone today).
But what happens during a tribulation or a Financial Tsunami. What you read in the papers is very clear. The US hasn¡¯t seen something like it in quite a while. In dire times, what people are looking for is a savior. Someone that can take care of their stomachs, their shelter, etc.. So you can see American¡¯s response to the economic downturn. You can see through the past election that people were looking for a Messiah. It doesn¡¯t matter how you feel things politically, but many looked to Obama to be a savior. People are desperate. And as a result, legislation that would not have passed years ago in this country are zipping through. People are afraid and willing to hand over things to the government. The government now owns many of the banks, may eventually own part of the automakers.
Revelation 13:15
15And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even [c]speak and cause (AS)as many as do not (AT)worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16And he causes all, (AU)the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a (AV)mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
17and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the (AW)mark, either (AX)the name of the beast or (AY)the number of his name.
18(AZ)Here is wisdom Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that (BA)of a man; and his number is [d]six hundred and sixty-six.
If you think about the world we live in today, with the Internet, more than ever it is possible that what we read in the passage is possible. First of all the technology is there. They have implanted RACF Ids to capture information. Just think about that as a replacement for the credit card.
Noone will be willing for something like that, but during a Great Tribulation when whether you eat or have shelter comes into play, people are willing to do anything. Americans are willing to allow the government to control more of everything. The case will be when the anti-Christ appears. He wants all to be in his hands.
But thanks be to God, we are not waiting for the Anti-Christ, but Christ to return, and there is a character in the Bible that is a type of Christ. This person is Joseph.
Types are used in the Old Testament to illustrate pictures of what God is trying to express to us. They are prophecies in picture form. For example, the tabernacle and the Temple are both types of the Church, the dwelling of God in the New Testament. The lampstand as well, how the Church needs to give off light. Individual characters are also used as types of Christ to manifest different aspects of Christ. People such as Moses the prophet, and Aaron, the priest and David the King speak of Christ the ultimate Prophet, High Priest, and King. But Moses, Aaron, and David were all incomplete representations of Christ. Remember how Moses disobeyed God and was prevented to go into the promised land. Aaron also misled the people of Israel when Moses went up to receive the 10 commandments from God. David committed murder and adultery.
But there is probably not another person that is a better type of Christ than Joseph. There is no better person to speak about the humility of Christ, how He humbled Himself, took on the form of a man as a bond-servant to serve mankind. He was ultimately rejected crucified, but rose again, and now sits in Glory.
Genesis 41:25-31
25Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same; (T)God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do
26"The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.
27"The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind (U)will be seven years of famine.
28"It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: (V)God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29"Behold, (W)seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;
30and after them (X)seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.
31"So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.
If you take note of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, they all had their own special characteristics. Interesting enough, Abraham built 4 altars speaks of consecration, Isaac dug 4 wells speaks of life in the deep, of fellowship with God, Jacob established 4 pillars, speaks of character and testimony (remember how God manifested the vision of His House to Jacob). But Joseph¡¯s life can be described by 4 garments He wore: the varicolored tunic from Jacob (later bloodied), the garment of a servant, the clothes of a prisoner, and garments of linen. What am I speaking of?
Varicolored Tunic
Genesis 37:3, 31:
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was (E)the son of his old age; and he made him a [a](F)varicolored tunic.
31So (AD)they took Joseph's tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood;
32and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son's tunic or not."
Garment of a servant
Genesis 39:12-14
12She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,
14she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.
33Then he examined it and said, "It is my son's tunic. (AE)A wild beast has devoured him; (AF)Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"
Garments of a Prisoner
Genesis 41:14
4Then Pharaoh sent and (M)called for Joseph, and they (N)hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.
Garments of Fine Linen
Genesis 41:39-42
39So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so (AC)discerning and wise as you are.
40"(AD)You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you."
41Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you (AE)over all the land of Egypt."
42Then Pharaoh (AF)took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and (AG)put the gold necklace around his neck.
The Vari-colored tunic speaks about how Joseph was the beloved of his Father. His brothers hated him because of this and the tunic became the bloodied tunic. He then became a servant, and later was thrown in the dungeon when he was falsely accused by Potiphar¡¯s wife. He did not yield to temptation, yet was wrongly accused. In jail, he was able to interpret the dreams for the cupbearer and the baker for the king, later one was restored and one perished. But later Joseph entered into Glory and as a result was able to deliver his brothers and Jacob.
Isn¡¯t this a wonderful prophecy of our Lord¡¯s life. John tells us that our Lord Jesus was the beloved Son of God. The only begotten who is in the bosom of the Father. God Loved His Son. But the Jews hated Him and were jealous of Him. He came unto His own but His own received Him not. Ultimately that vari-colored tunic became a bloodied tunic. John 19:23 ¡°23Then (AI)the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made (AJ)four parts, a part to every soldier and also the [c]tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. 24So they said to one another, "(AK)Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be"; (AL)this was to fulfill the Scripture: "THEY (AM)DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS."
Garment of a servant
Philippians 2:7but [a](N)emptied Himself, taking the form of a (O)bond-servant, and (P)being made in the likeness of men.
Garment of a prisoner
John 18:12
12(O)So (P)the Roman cohort and the commander and the (Q)officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him,
John 19:1-3
1Pilate then took Jesus and (A)scourged Him.
2(B)And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him;
3and they began to come up to Him and say, "(C)Hail, King of the Jews!" and to (D)give Him slaps in the face.
The Lord was crucified, and remember how one robber was saved and the other perished?
Garments of Fine Linen
Philippians 2:9-11
9(T)For this reason also, God (U)highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him (V)the name which is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus (W)EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of (X)those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is (Y)Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Our Heavenly Joseph
Our Lord was the beloved Son of God. But as Paul described it, we were the enemies of God. We rejected Him and our sins crucified Him on the Cross. But despite us, He loved us with an everlasting love. He was willing to die for us, so that God could forgive our sins through His Blood. But death could not hold Him and today He sits on the throne.
John 20:17
17Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to (Y)My brethren and say to them, 'I (Z)ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"
Jacob and his brothers thought he was dead. Never had anyone of them imagined that he was alive.
But Joseph did not render retribution, but loved his brothers. He said God had sent him ahead to Egypt to deliver them and to save them.
Despite the famine years, for Joseph¡¯s brothers there were no famine years because their brother was on the throne.
Brothers and Sisters, the Lord loved us so and delivered us from our sins.
We have witnessed the years of abundance in the past. Thank God for that. But we are also entering the famine years. We don¡¯t know how long it will be, one, two, or three years. The world is looking for superman, is hoping that our president can save us. One day the world will look to the Anti-Christ to save the world. But brothers and sisters, there is no famine years for us, because our Lord who calls us brother is on the throne. When you despair, look up, and see the Lord on the throne. The one who had the bloodied garments, the one who shed His blood for us is on the throne.
When the Lord rose from the dead the first words He said were ¡°Peace be to you.¡± There is no peace in this world. The Lord said My peace I give to you. In Me you have peace, but in the world you shall have tribulation.
We can have peace today, because for our sakes our God lost all his peace. From the day man sinned, God planned a way of salvation through His Son. God worked restlessly in man, dealt with Him and ultimately sent His Son. When the Lord came, He had no rest. In Mark, we see how He immediately did this and immediately did that. The only begotton, became a servant to serve us in the field as well as on the altar. He loved, He died, but rose again. So today, Because He Lives, we can face tomorrow. Our Heavenly Joseph is on the throne. He calls us brethren.
Because He Lives, there are no famine years.