Schoolmaster to Christ
CHAPTERS 36, 37-50

Scripture Reading: Genesis 36 (KJV)

This chapter furnishes a catalogue of Esau's sons, with their various titles and localities. We shall not dwell on this, but pass on to one of the most fruitful and interesting sections in the entire canon of Inspiration.

Scripture Reading: Genesis 37 (KJV)

In Scripture there is not a more perfect and beautiful type of Christ than Joseph. Whether we view Christ as the object of the Father's love, or the object of the envy of His own – in His humiliation, sufferings, death exaltation, and glory, in all Jesus Christ is strikingly typified by Joseph.

In this chapter we have Joseph's dreams, the statement that draws out the enmity of his brethren. He was the object of his father's love, the subject of high destinies, and because the hearts of his brothers were not in communion with these things, they hated him. They had no fellowship in the father's love. They would not yield to the thought of Joseph's exaltation. In all this they represent the people of God in Christ's day. He came to His own and “his own received him not." He had "no form nor comeliness in their eyes." They would neither own Him as the Son of God, nor king of Israel. Their eyes were not open to behold "his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of "grace and truth." They would not have Him – they hated Him.

In Joseph's case, we see that he did not relax his testimony because of his brethren's refusal of his first dream. "And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren; and they hated him yet the more . . . And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren." This was simple testimony founded on Divine revelation; but it was testimony that put Joseph in the pit. If he had held back his testimony, or taken the edge and power off it, he might have spared himself; but instead, he told them the truth, and therefore they hated him.

It was the same way with Joseph's great Antitype. Our Lord bore witness to the truth; He witnessed a good confession; He kept back nothing; He could only speak the truth, because He was the truth. His testimony to the truth was answered by the cross, the vinegar, the soldier's spear. The testimony of Christ was also connected with the deepest, fullest, richest grace. He came as "the truth," and He came as the perfect expression of the Father’s heart of love:" ‘grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’ He was the full disclosure of what God was, leaving man without excuse. Jesus came and showed God to man, and man hated God with a perfect hatred. In the cross we see the fullest exhibition of Divine love, answered by the fullest exhibition of human hatred – touchingly foreshadowed at the pit into which Joseph was cast by his brethren.

"And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh; come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit; and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

These words remind us of the parable in Matthew 22: ‘But, last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.’

God sent His Son into the world with this thought, "They will reverence my son;" but, man's heart had no reverence for the "well beloved" of the Father. They cast him out. Earth and heaven were at issue regarding Christ; and they are at issue still. Man crucified Him; but God raised Him from the dead. Man placed Him on a cross between two thieves; God set Him at His own right hand in the heavens. Man gave Him the lowest place on earth; God gave Him the highest place in heaven, in brightest majesty.

All this is seen in Joseph's history. "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel;) even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breast and of the womb; the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren" (Gen. 49:22-26).

These verses beautifully exhibit "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." "The archers" did their work; but God was stronger. The true Joseph has been shot at and grievously wounded in the house of his friends; but "the arms of his hands have been made strong" in the power of resurrection, and faith now knows Him as the basis of all God's purposes of blessing and glory regarding the Church, and the whole creation. When we look at Joseph in the pit and in prison, and then look at him as ruler over all the land of Egypt, we see the difference between the thoughts of God and men. When we look at the cross and "the throne of the majesty in the heavens," we see the same thing.

The coming of Christ brought out the real state of man's heart toward God. "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin" (Jn. 15:22). It is not that they would not have been sinners. No; but "they had not had sin." So He says, in another place, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin" (Jn. 9:41). God came near to man in the Person of His Son, and man was able to say, "this is the heir;" but yet he said, "come, let us kill him." Hence, "they have no cloak for their sin." Those who say they see, have no excuse. Confessed blindness is not the difficulty, but professed sight. This is a solemn principle for a professing age like the present. The permanence of sin is connected with the mere profession to see. A man who knows he is blind can have his eyes opened; but what can be done for one who thinks he sees, when he really does not?

Scripture Reading: Genesis 38-50 (KJV)

This chapter presents one of those remarkable circumstances in which Divine grace is seen gloriously triumphing over man's sin. "It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah" (Heb. 7:14). But how? "Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar" (Matt. 1:3). This is peculiarly striking – God, in His grace, rising above the sin and folly of man, in order to bring about His own purposes of love and mercy. Thus, a little further on in Matthew, we read, "David the king begat Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias." The Spirit of God is conducting us along the genealogical chain through which Christ came; and, in doing so, He gives us Thamar and Bathsheba. There is nothing of man in this. When we reach the close of the first chapter of Matthew, it is plain that we find "God manifest in the flesh" from a genealogy that man could never have devised. It is entirely Divine, and no spiritual person can read it without observing, in the first place, a blessed exhibition of Divine grace; and, in the second place, the Divine inspiration of Matthew’s Gospel – his account of Christ's genealogy according to the flesh.1

In perusing these interesting sections of Inspiration, there is a remarkable chain of providential actions, all leading to one grand point: the exaltation of the man who had been in the pit; along with a number of subordinate subjects. "The thoughts of many hearts" were to be "revealed;" but Joseph was to be exalted.

"He called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant; whose feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in Iron; until the time that his word came; the word of the Lord tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance; to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom" (Ps. 105:16-22).

The leading subject was exalting the one whom men had rejected; and then producing in those same men a sense of their sin. This was admirably effected. The most trivial and most important, the most likely and most unlikely of circumstances are made to minister to the development of God's purposes. In Genesis 39 Satan uses Potiphar's wife and in Genesis 40 he uses Pharaoh's chief butler. The former he used to put Joseph into the dungeon; and the latter he used to keep him there, through ungrateful negligence; but all in vain. God was behind the scene guiding the springs of the vast machine of circumstances. Then, when the right time came, He brought forth the man of His purpose, setting His feet in a large room. This is always God's prerogative. He is above all, and can use all for the accomplishment of His unsearchable designs. It is marvelous to be able to trace our Father's hand and counsel in everything; marvelous to know that all sorts of agents are at His sovereign disposal; angels, men, and devils – all are under His omnipotent hand, and all are made to carry out His purposes.

In the Scripture now before us, all this is apparent in a remarkable manner. God visits the domestic circle of a heathen captain; and the household of a heathen king, making his sleeping visions contribute to the development of His counsels. It is not merely individuals and their circumstances that we see used for the furtherance of God's ends; but Egypt and the surrounding countries are brought into the scene. In short, the whole earth was prepared by the hand of God to be a theatre on which to display the glory and greatness of the one "who was separate from his brethren." Such are God's ways; and it is one of the happiest and most elevating exercises for the soul, to trace the admirable actions of our heavenly Father. God's providence is forcibly brought out in this profoundly interesting history of Joseph. For a moment, look into the dungeon of the captain of the guard. See there a man "laid in iron," charged with an abominable crime – the outcast and off-scouring of society. Then, in what seems like a brief moment, he is raised to the highest eminence – who can deny that God is in it all?

"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: Only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot that he had: and they cried before him, bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt" (Gen. 41:39-44).

This was not ordinary exaltation. Contrast this with the pit and the dungeon; note the chain of events that brought it about, and you have a noted exhibition of the hand of God, and a striking type of the sufferings and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph was taken from the pit and the dungeon, where he had been placed because of the envy of his brethren, he became ruler over the whole land of Egypt; he was the channel of blessing, sustainer of life to Israel and the whole earth. This is so typical of Christ; Who, for all intents and purposes, was laid in the place of death by the hand of man; raised up by the hand of God and set in dignity and glory.

"Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it" (Acts 2:22-24).

There are two points in Joseph's history that render the type remarkably perfect; his marriage with a stranger in Genesis 41, and the interview with his brethren in Genesis 45. The following is the order of events. Joseph presents himself to his brethren as one sent by the father; they reject him, and, as far as they are concerned, put him in the place of death; God takes him up and raises him to a position of highest dignity; thus exalted, he gets a bride; and when his brethren are thoroughly broken and prostrate before him, he makes himself known to them, tranquillizes their hearts, bringing them into blessing. He then becomes the channel of blessing to them and to the whole world.

Let us briefly consider Joseph's marriage and the restoration of his brethren. The strange wife shadows the Church. Christ presented Himself to the Jewish people, and being rejected, took His seat on high, sending down the Holy Spirit to form the Church, composed of Jew and Gentile, to be united with Him in heavenly glory. The Church has already been considered in Genesis 24, but one or two points remain to be noticed here. First, we observe that Joseph's Egyptian bride was intimately associated with him in his glory.2 Being part of him, she shared in all that was his. Also, she occupied a place of nearness and intimacy, known only to her. So it is with the Church, the bride of the Lamb. She is gathered to Christ to share His rejection and glory. It is Christ's position that gives character to the position of the Church, and her position should always give character to her walk. If we are gathered to Christ, it is as exalted in glory, and not as humbled down here. "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more" (2 Cor. 5:26). The Church's gathering point is Christ in glory. "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me" (Jn. 12:32).

It is important to ponder the practical consequences that flow out of the truth of being gathered to a risen and glorified Head in the heavens. If Christ were on earth, we would be gathered to Him here; but, because He is hidden in the heavens, the Church takes her character from His position there. Hence, Christ could say, "they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world;" and again, "For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (Jn. 17:16, 19). So also we read, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious; ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an Holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (2:4, 5).

We must be gathered to Christ as He is, and where He is. The more we come to understand this, the more clearly we shall see the character of walk that becomes us. Joseph's bride was united to him, not in the pit or the dungeon, but in the dignity and glory of his position in Egypt. Surely, we have no difficulty in perceiving the vast difference between the two positions.

We read further, "And unto Joseph were born two sons, before the years of famine came." Before the time of trouble came the fruit of his union appeared. The children God gave him were called into existence previous to the time of trial. So it will be regarding the Church, the whole body will be gathered to the Head in heaven previous to "the great tribulation" that shall come on all the earth.

We now turn briefly to Joseph's interview with his brethren. During the period that Joseph was hidden from the view of his brethren, they were called to pass through deep and searching trial, an intensely painful exercises of conscience. One of these exercises is poured out in the following words: "And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear therefore, behold, also, his blood is required" (Gen. 42:21, 22).

Again, in Genesis 44, we read, "And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord What shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants." None can teach like God. He alone can produce in our conscience the true sense of sin, bringing the soul down into the profound depths of its own condition in His presence. This is God’s own work. Men run on in their career of guilt, heedless of everything, until the arrow of the Almighty pierces their conscience. Then they are led into those searchings of heart that find relief only in the rich resources of redeeming love. Joseph's brethren had no conception of all that was to flow to them from their actions. "They took him and cast him into a pit . . . and they sat down to eat bread." "Woe to them . . . that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph" (Amos 6:6).

However, God produced grief of heart and exercises of conscience in a wonderful way. Years rolled on, and these brethren might have imagined that all was right; but, then, "seven years of plenty, and seven years of scarcity." What did they mean? Who sent them? And for what were they designed? Admirable providence! Unsearchable wisdom! The famine reaches to Canaan, and the calls of hunger actually brings guilty brethren to the feet of the injured Joseph. How revealing is the display of God's own hand in all this. There they stand, with the arrow of conviction thrust through their consciences, in the presence of the man whom they had, "with wicked hands," cast into the pit. Now, in the presence of Joseph, their sin had found them out.

"Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren" (Gen. 45:1). No stranger was allowed to witness this sacred scene. What stranger could understand or appreciate it? Here we witness, as it were, divinely wrought conviction in the presence of Divine grace; and when these two come together there is an easy settlement of every question.

"And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. 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 . . . And God sent me before you, to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you sent me hither, but God."

This is grace setting the convicted conscience perfectly at rest. The brethren had already condemned themselves, so Joseph needed only to pour the blessed balm into their broken hearts. This is all typical of God's dealings with Israel, when "they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn." In Acts 2, Peter gave them that view of the cross, and they were cut to the heart, crying out, “What must we do?” It was then, by Divine grace, that the cleansing efficacy of that "fountain which shall be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1).

Then, in Acts 3, we find the Spirit of God in Peter further producing this Divine conviction in the conscience of His people. "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses."

These statements were designed to elicit from the hearts and lips of the hearers the confession made by Joseph's brethren – "we are verily guilty." Grace then follows.

"And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

Here we see that, although Israel carried out the enmity of their hearts in the death of Christ, as did also Joseph's brethren in their treatment of him, yet, God’s grace to each is seen – all is shown to be decreed and foreshown by God for their blessing. This is perfect grace, surpassing all human thought; and all that is needed is a conscience truly convicted by the truth of God. Only those who can say, "We are verily guilty," can understand the words of precious grace, "It was not you, but God." Thus it must always be. The soul that has thoroughly pronounced its own condemnation is prepared to understand and appreciate God's pardon.

Footnotes:
¹ A comparison of 2 Samuel 11 and Genesis 38 with Matthew 1 will furnish the thoughtful student with material for an edifying meditation.
² Joseph's wife sets forth the Church as united to Christ in His glory; Moses' wife presents the Church as united to Christ in His rejection.
³ The close of Jacob's career stands in most pleasing contrast with all the previous scenes of his eventful history. It reminds one of a serene evening, after a tempestuous day: the sun, which during the day had been hidden from view by clouds, mists, and fogs, sets in majesty and brightness, gilding with his beams the western sky, and presenting the cheering prospect of a bright tomorrow. Thus it is with our aged patriarch. The supplanting, the bargain-making, the running, the management, the shifting, the shuffling, the unbelieving selfish fears - all those dark clouds of nature and earth seem to have passed away, and he comes forth, in the calm elevation of faith, to bestow blessings and impart dignities, in holy skillfulness that only communion with God can impart. Though nature's eyes are dim, faith's vision is sharp. He is not to be deceived regarding the relative positions assigned to Ephraim and Manasseh in the counsels of God. He does not "tremble very exceedingly," in view of an almost fatal mistake, like his father Isaac in Genesis 27. Quite the reverse. His intelligent reply to his less instructed son is, "I know it, my son, I know it." The power of sense did not, as in Isaac's ease, dim his spiritual vision. The school of experience taught him the importance of staying close to the Divine purpose, and nature's influence did not move him away. In Genesis 48:11, we have a beautiful example of the mode in which our God always rises above our thoughts, proving Himself better than all our fears. "And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed." In the view of nature, Joseph was dead; whereas in God's view he was alive, and seated in the highest place of authority. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2:9). We pray that our souls will rise higher in apprehension of God and His ways. It is interesting to notice the way in which the titles "Jacob'' and "Israel" are introduced in the close of the Book of Genesis; as, for example, "One told Jacob, and said, Behold thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed" Then, it is immediately added, "And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz." Since we believe that Holy Scripture always has specific meaning, this interchange of names no doubt contains some instruction. In general, it may mean that "Jacob" sets forth the depth to which God had descended; "Israel," the height to which Jacob was raised.
⁴ For more information on the Divine unity that pervades Holy Scripture, see ‘God’s Word’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.

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