Coincidence? Not on your life!
10/13/2018 5:50:19 PM
This is amazing! Joseph, a type of Jesus


Coincidence?  Not on your life.
 
 
podcast: http://www.pastorwoman.com/podcasts/c0f7d33c-8360-4c64-8a79-a2925bea2088.m4a
 
 
He had me at twenty pieces of silver.  That's when I first had this niggling sensation at the corners of my mind . . . a sense of 'hey, does this remind you of anyone else?'   Reminded me of Another who was sold for 30 pieces of silver ... Another who was betrayed by one so close to him. 
 
Was Joseph a patriarch or a prophet?  The answer is 'yes...both,' and is quite interesting.  While he was one of the patriarchs of the Jewish people, his life served as a sort of foreshadowing or picture of the Messiah to come, also from the line of Abraham.
 
Oh, I have loved getting to know the man, Joseph, in our last days!  What a stalwart in the faith - staying true to God in spite of disappointment, in spite of being sold into slavery--separated from his family and the land of his birth.  Joseph remained faithful in the face of great temptation, false accusation, wrongful imprisonment - all the while wondering, 'So God . . . about those dreams you gave me?  What in the world is going on?'
 
To put a wrap on our look at Joseph's life, consider with me the brilliance of God.  In imparting his story to men to record in the written pages of millennia past and future ~ the whole thing holding together in the Word of God we hold in our hands, similarities emerge between the lives of Joseph and Jesus.
 
Take a look with me at these remarkable parallels, and where found in Scripture: 
   
Parallel                     Joseph                               Jesus
Beloved of his father  Now Israel loved Joseph more        'This is My beloved Son, in          
                                      than all his children. Genesis 37.3a  whom I am well pleased.'
                              Matthew 3.17b
Envied and hated      When his brothers saw that their      He knew that the chief priests 
without a cause          father loved him more than all his     handed Him over because of 
                                      brothers, they hated him...              envy Mk 15.10; "They hated Me 
                                                Genesis 37.4                        without a cause." John 15.25b 
 
He foretold that        "Then behold, my sheaf arose          Jesus said to him, "It is as you      one day he would       and also stood upright; and           said. Nevertheless... you will see              
rule                         indeed your sheaves stood a          the Son of Man sitting at the 
                                     around and bowed down to my        right hand of the Mighty One..." 
                                  sheaf."  Genesis 37.7                       Matthew 26.64
 
Stripped of his         They stripped Joseph of his              They stripped him. Matthew                        
 Clothing                 multi-colored coat Genesis 37.23b       27.28a
                                               
Stayed strong in       Joseph resisted temptation by         In all points tempted as we are 
face of temptation     Potiphar's wife. Gen. 39.7-12               yet without sin.  Hebrews 4.15b
 
Mentioned earlier, both Joseph and Jesus were betrayed by 'a brother' for silver.
 
All these things the pair held in common . . . coincidence?  Sure, if you also believe that the dozens of Messianic prophecies Jesus Christ of Nazareth fulfilled were also coincidental!  No, no. 'Twas the invisible hand of God . . . providence.
 
Here's the thing: when Joseph suffered, God was with him, and he was still at work.
While Joseph waited for God to fulfill his purposes in him, God was with him and always working.
When Joseph stepped into his destiny, 
     he could turn around and see the hand of God 
          ever present, patiently, sovereignly at work.
 
Same with you.  Even when you think God has forgotten, he has not.
                       Even when you feel alone, he is with you.
                       Even when you do not feel lovable, he loves you.
 
Here's what God says to you, wherever you find yourself just now . . .
          I know the plans that I have for you... 
             They are plans for peace and not disaster, 
                plans to give you a future filled with hope.  Jeremiah 29.11, GW
 
No coincidence there,
      Christine