Joseph as a Type of Christ
Bodie Quirk Old Testament Survey September 23, 2003 Joseph In the book of Genesis, we find something amazing. ... Although that is quite the interesting fact that one might chuckle over and then forget, a more meaningful discovery to behold is the comparison of God’s account of the creation of the stars (five words), to the scriptural account of Joseph. Of all the Patriarchs mentioned in Genesis, the story of Joseph fills more pages of the book than the accounts of any other Biblical patriarch. In fact, we read of Joseph more than Abraham, Isaac or Jacob and see that the story of Joseph consists of 25% of Genesis. ... The answer, although not so obvious, is because Joseph is an Old Testament picture of Jesus Christ. There is much that the student of Scripture could gain from studying the life of Joseph. ... However, as we tilt the lens of Christ upon the scriptural account of Joseph, we enable ourselves to look at Genesis with New Testament lenses. As we do this, we begin to now perceive Joseph as more than a patriarch, but a picture of the Savior. ... By doing this, we elevate the character of Joseph to that of Christ, not positionally, but practically, and seriously look to Joseph as a model of successful, admirable Christian living. As we begin to read the account of Joseph, (Gen. ... 37) with the lens of Christ as our guide, immediately we begin to see many striking parallels. ... ” Interestingly, we immediately get a picture of how Christ was treated when He came to Earth. ... In both cases, Jesus and Joseph were loved undeniably by their father in the same unique way, but were both mistreated and unfairly represented by their “brothers” (for Joseph it was his blood brothers, for Jesus it was his spiritual brothers, the Jews). As we continue in chapter 4 of Genesis, the following verses offer similar comparison of Joseph to Jesus. “And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him even more” (v. ... After Joseph described his dream in which his brothers would bow down to him and serve him, they replied, “Shall you indeed reign over us? ... ” What is so significant here is not merely that the same phase is used, but also that in both cases those who said that phrase in utter disbelief (brothers of Joseph and the Jews) were eventually put under the authority of the very one who made that bold proclamation (Joseph) or one day will be (Jesus, in the millennial kingdom).