Previously we identified roughly 25 prophetic connections or ‘remez’ pictures in the life/story of Joseph, most of which are direct connectors to Yeshua.  That was Just Genesis chapter 37!!

This is loads of fun!  Let’s keep going!

Genesis 38 is a significant story for multiple reasons, but it does not directly involve Joseph.  We’ll skip to chapter 39.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the ‘Joseph’ story is his exile to Egypt and the ‘hidden nature’ of his time in Egypt…  so much so, that under a different name and ‘look’ his own brothers did not recognize him.

Chapter 39 begins to set the stage for this amazing transformation that is a fascinating picture of ‘Jesus’ among the Gentiles.

• v. 1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt…  Through the next few remez hints, we’ll see ‘Joseph’ but it is a process of him retaining his faithfulness to his Father, but his identity is increasingly hidden.  Yeshua, was exiled by the Jews and by the end of the third century, most of His Jewish heritage was all but erased.
• v. 2 he became a successful man   Multiple indicators of the Father being with Joseph are recorded thorough this chapter.  The Father was with Yeshua upon His exile from Judea.
• v. 3 Yahweh caused all that he did to prosper…  Likewise, with Yeshua, the growth of faith and belief in Him is an extreme example of the Father causing Him to prosper.
• v.5 Yahweh blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph…  Any nation that has been a haven for Yeshua/Jesus, has been blessed!
• v. 6 ..he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge…   Is not the entire kingdom in Yeshua’s hand, even now?  We’ll see this ‘blessing’ and increased responsibility motif repeated two more times.
• vss 7-14  …it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work…she caught him by the garment saying, ‘come lie with me,’ and he fled, leaving his garment in her hand…    Just as Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, (can’t you just hear that seductive voice making promises she had no authority to make…)  a most powerful being in his world, so Yeshua was tempted by hasatan, the prince of this world.
• vss 7-14 same verses, but another picture is of the disciples of Yeshua in the Last Days who will not buy the lie of the woman that rides the beast.  They will prefer prison (death) to carnal or worldly comforts.  This whole picture has much depth worth pondering.

Skipping forward into chapter 40:

• Joseph is again blessed in the the prison where he is kept.  More blessings are on him and the work of his hands multiplies.  Similarly, Yeshua was blessed among the Gentiles of Asia Minor, then He was blessed among all of Europe.
• 40:8 ‘Do not interpretations belong to God?  Tell it to me, please.”    The phrasing here is very interesting and hint, through sod, of the speaker being God.  Obviously, Joseph is not, but being a picture of the Divine Messiah who also acts as Mediator, this is a fascinating hint of Yeshua!!
• vss. 9-22 deal with the Chief Cupbearer and the Chief Baker.  There are several fascinating pictures here:

1. Wine and bread…  Yeshua is the bread of life and His blood is the wine as we see in the Seder meal.
2. There were two thieves on the cross the day of His death.  One was received into paradise, through faith, the other was not.
3. Yom Kippur involves a goat that dies and a goat that escapes…
4. Some who knew and served the King will be saved, some will not.  (Matthew 7:23)

• v. 12 and 18 …three days…  almost always a picture of resurrection.  Just as Joseph prophesies the raising of the Cup-bearer, so Yeshua prophesied His own raising.
• v. 20 …on the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday that he made a feast for all his servants…  Here, several possible feasts are in view.  Yeshua was crucified on Passover and raised at First Fruits, but the feast that is a ‘birthday’ of sorts is the annual celebration of Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah which, among other things, rabbinic tradition teaches is the birthday of the world.  And, the feast that He has for  all His servants, yet future, is Sukkot…  And, in a different sense, it is directly related to the ‘third day.’  The Millennial Kingdom will be in the ‘third day’ since Yeshua’s resurrection.

Chapter 41…  Loaded!

• v. 1 …at the end of two full years…  Possibly a picture of two thousand years?  Hmmm… The Story of Joseph is clearly pointing to a particular encounter with his brothers.  In like manner, all that has happened to Yeshua is still pointing to a particular prophesied encounter with His brothers (the House of Judah…)
• v. 5  …seven ears on a single stalk…  Not so much a direct reference to Yeshua as to His heritage.  This is a clear reference to the structure of a menorah.
• v. 8 …there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh…   This reference is interesting in that it hints at several verses.  Just as Joseph says, ‘interpretation belongs to Yahweh,’ we also must remember that Deuteronomy 13 says that obedience to the commandments is a mark of a true prophet or ‘dreamer of dreams.’  This would remind me of the many in this day professing visions and interpretations, but most are not to be listened to because they are not Torah observant.  See this blog post!   Yeshua, being the True Prophet, is the One through Whom we receive visions and interpretations.  Here Pharaoh experiences just that through Joseph, the only Torah observant member of his court.
• v. 12  …a Hebrew youth with us there, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard…  Yeshua, the Metatron, is THE Hebrew servant of the Captain of the bodyguard (His Father…)
• v. 13 ..just as he interpreted for us, so it happened;…  Joseph told them exactly what would happen.  Yeshua has done exactly the same thing, just read Matthew 24, or related prophecies throughout Scripture.  They always come true in a very literal way, in spite of the lack of understanding of the hearer or the closed-mindedness of some denomination.  (I am reminded of a few Reformed denominations that have as their official position a post-millennial return….  Ooops.  Doesn’t hold water next to Scripture.  I.e., Yeshua says otherwise!)
• v. 14 … Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph and they hurriedly brought him out….    Even Yeshua said, ‘Only the Father knows the times and the seasons…’  Yeshua waits to be told, ‘Now!  Go get the Bride and defeat her enemies!!’
• v. 14   …shaved himself and changed his clothes…  Several thoughts here.  Yeshua will not look, at His coming, like He looks in prison/exile, etc…  Also, the ‘clothes changing motif is common in ancient near-east treaties with reference to ‘coming home.’  Here Joseph will stand before the Pharaoh and all things will be put under his feet.  When Yeshua came up out of the grave (prison) He had new clothes and was heading to stand before the Father.  (John 20:17)
• v. 16 ..It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer…    Yeshua said, ‘I speak nothing on My own initiative, but only the words of the Father.’  (John 8:28)
• v. 25 …God has told to Pharaoh what He is to do…   Surely Yahweh does nothing without first revealing it to His servants the prophets…   (Amos 3:7)  Yeshua tells us exactly what is to come!
• v. 31    … it will be very severe…    Yeshua says, ‘Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short…’  (Matt. 24:22)  ‘Very severe!’
• v. 38 …’Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?’    Pharaoh just acknowledged Joseph’s ‘divine’ spirit and wisdom.  Yeshua, too has Divine Spirit and Wisdom.

More in the next part.  There is much, much more, but so much to process, I hate to overload you…

The story gets much better in the coming section!!  Watch for it!

Shalom, Pete