There are things I come across in the Bible which confirm beyond any doubt that this is the inspired Word of God because there are things which I’m not sure a forger or inventor of fairy tales would include in a made-up account. One of them is this reaction by Joseph’s brothers upon their father’s death. If you’ve never been personally through it, then give praise to God, because whereas conventional wisdom might predict that such things bring a family closer together, the reality is that it often brings pressure on existing cracks to the point of breaking everything wide open.
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To a Christian it seems fairly obvious that many of Israel’s blessings upon Judah are speaking to the work of the Messiah to come through him. But a fair question can be asked if this isn’t something that only Christians read into the text. In others words, how do we know that these verses contain numerous allusions to the work of the Messiah? First and foremost because of other Scripture which confirms and elaborates on many of these things, but also because of extra-biblical Jewish writings. In other words, when we examine the commentary of Hebrew scholars themselves in their most revered writings, it’s actually Jews themselves who confirm that the things written here apply to the Messiah!
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“Beersheba” — “the well of the oath”, has quite a history. It’s where Abraham sealed a covenant of mutual assistance with Abimelech, where Hagar encountered God and learned of His promises for her while fleeing from Sarah, where God confirmed His covenant with Isaac, and it will be the future scene of a famous spiritual encounter between a fleeing Elijah and God. :”(1 Kings 19:1-8)”: It’s a place associated with personal commitment to God especially by those who seem to be fleeing away or pursuing personal interests as was the case of Jacob, who was on his way out of the land of Canaan in pursuit of what appeared to be the answer to his current problems in Egypt.
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Joseph is what theologians call a “type” of Christ, meaning that whenever we study Joseph the Holy Spirit is teaching us something about the Messiah. The events and actions which Joseph literally and historically did prefigure or foreshadow somehow actual events and actions the Messiah will Himself engage. (A list of at least 30 of these parallel traits between Joseph and Jesus can be downloaded here.) Nearly all of the things associated with Joseph are fulfilled at Christ’s First Coming — nearly; a few are still outstanding. And we see one of the outstanding ones in chapters 43-45 of Genesis, that His brothers don’t recognize Joaseph at his first coming, but only at his second.
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It’s been at least twenty-five years, perhaps more, since Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and allowed their father to believe he’d been killed by a wild animal. And during that entire time they were waiting, so to speak, for the other sandal to drop. They knew there was going to come a time that they would be held accountable for what they’d done and now they were sure this was it. And it was all topped off with Reuben’s big “I told you so”. They were sure of two things: they’d committed sin and there would be a penalty for it.
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Names are very important in the Bible, nearly always revealing some kind of additional insight into what is going on whether it’s a name of a person, place, or thing. And the way biblical figures go about naming their children in particular reveals even more of what is transpiring within them spiritually and emotionally. Joseph basically names his children “forgetfulness” and “fruitfulness” to reveal the healing process that’s taken place addressing the injustices experienced and how God has used them to provide something greater.
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There have been those who, without my prior inquiry have volunteered what they believed was a personal message for me from God. Rather than desiring to hold me accountable specifically to the standards of God’s Word, they seemed eager to establish some kind of dominance over me by presenting “new” information they received supernaturally through a dream or a “word”. So of course I find it interesting that Pharaoh was seeking an answer to begin with and Joseph was not predisposed to jump in and share what he felt it all meant. It highlights that the difference between a true and false messenger of God is whether they’re more concerned for their personal position or God’s.
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