This lengthy article has been divided across 5 blogs or 5 parts.
Perspective Digest: A Publication of the Adventist Theological Society.
By: Jo Ann Davidson
Joseph was a prophetic type in the truest sense of the word, with dozens of resemblances between his life and that of Christ. Even more, many of Israel’s leaders were from the tribes of Joseph’s two sons:
• Joshua, a descendant of Joseph, became leader of Israel after Moses’ death, and led God’s people into the promised land; more than half of the land of Canaan was possessed by the two tribes descended from Joseph;
• In the Book of Judges, three of the 12 named judges were from the tribe of Joseph (Deborah, Gideon, and Abdon);
• Samuel, last judge before the kingdom period, was also from Joseph’s descendants;
• Later, when the Davidic kingdom split into two parts, Judah with Ephraim represented God’s people.
Yet all these were far from being rulers over the whole world. The messianic undertones in Joseph’s blessing will ultimately be fulfilled by the eschatological Joseph, the promised Seed, the coming Messiah who will truly rule all nations.
The covenant name of God, Yahweh, occurs in the Joseph narratives in Genesis 39:5 and 21 and 49:18. Moreover, Joseph’s successes in Potiphar’s household made plain that the Lord God of Israel was with him, for “The Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph” (39:5, NIV). This was a partial fulfillment of Abraham’s divine promise that: “‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’” (12:3, NIV). Joseph became one of the channels of divine blessing. He himself came to recognize that his suffering brought about salvific blessings, which he described to his brothers (45:5–7): “‘But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.’”
Despite the severe suffering Joseph endured, he realized that God had sent him on a divine mission: “‘to preserve. . . a remnant’” and “‘to save your lives by a great deliverance’” (Gen 45:7; NIV). He nobly disrupted the sinful cycle of hatred, revenge, and retaliation that erupted after the Fall in Eden, instead graciously perceiving a wider meaning in what had happened: “‘God sent me ahead of you’” (45:5). Though wrongly treated, he realized that his life had the purpose of saving others. He had been a divine gift to a leading foreign power, revealing God’s benevolent purposes toward those outside Abraham’s seed. Joseph’s role as a savior from starvation is a type of the salvation of nations that the Abrahamic promises spoke of, along with the salvific “bread of life” promised by Jesus—for many peoples benefitted from Abraham’s divine promise of blessing.
Joseph also lived the ideal life span of 110 years. This also adds to the high esteem the Genesis narratives give him. He lived to see his offspring down to the “third generation,” his great-grandchildren. Such long life was considered a precious gift from God (Ps. 128:6; Job 42:16).
He obviously was aware of the covenant promises, for drawing near to the end of his life, he predicted the Israelites’ return to the promised land. He thereby made request for his final internment. His identity and that of his two sons was linked to the divine covenant—not merely to their high Egyptian position. Although Joseph would not live to participate in the return, he confidently declared that the Lord will “‘bring you up’” (Gen. 50:24) This phrase became the customary phrase to describe the redemption of God’s people out of Egypt (1 Samuel 12:6; 2 Kings 17:36; Jer. 16:14, 15).
Joseph’s last words also anticipate the Book of Exodus, the final word of Genesis being Egypt. Slavery will happen under Egyptian rule (Ex. 1:8). However, the narrator included Joseph’s positive belief in the future: The covenant family will survive the tragic ordeal and return to the land that God promised Abraham (Gen. 15:16).
Another oft-repeated Old Testament phrase, “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (and its variations) occurs here for the first time. This naming of the three patriarchs also connects Genesis with Yahweh’s later dialogue with Moses, commissioning him to fulfill what Joseph predicted (Ex. 3:6, 15, 16; 33:1). The Joseph narratives inevitably point toward the future.
This blog will continue in Part 4.