A Portrait of the Messiah

You don't have to study the Bible long before you begin to realize that many things in the New Testament are hidden below the surface of the Old. Many New Testament characters and events are foreshadowed or paralleled in the Old Testament, which is just one way the Bible amply displays its incredible elegance of design. As the old adage goes:

The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.

As you study both the Old and New Testaments, you also begin to realize that everything invariably revolves around and comes back to Jesus—which should surprise no one, because Jesus Himself said as much:

It is pretty much all about Jesus. The Messiah, the Son of God, sent into the world to redeem sinful men to a holy God. Although there is a long list of characters and events in the Old Testament that foreshadow the person and work of Jesus Christ, few paint a clearer, more richly detailed portrait of the Messiah than a man we read about in the book of Genesis named Joseph.

Lives in parallel

Joseph—son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, and great-grandson of Abraham—is easily one of the clearest foreshadowings of Christ in the entire Old Testament, and there are over 100 parallels between the two. In this article, I have tried to narrow it down to the following Top 20 list to give you a taste of some of the ways in which the events in the life of Joseph paint a portrait of the Messiah who would come nearly two thousand years later.

1. Both were born under unusual or miraculous circumstances.

Jacob (Joseph's father) loved Rachel, and agreed to work for her father Laban for seven years for her hand in marriage. When the time came, however, Laban pulled a bait-and-switch on Jacob, deceiving him into marrying Rachel's older sister Leah. But Jacob's love for Rachel was such that he willingly agreed to work for an additional seven years for the right to marry her as well. Unfortunately, unlike her older sister Leah, Rachel turned out to be barren.

Although Jacob had six sons and one daughter with Leah, then two sons with Rachel's handmaid Bilhah, then two more sons with Leah's handmaid Zilpah, Rachel was devastated by the fact that she was unable to give Jacob any children. Although she was getting older, she prayed that God would allow her to conceive, and God answered her prayers:

She named her first son Joseph, and later she had a second son, Benjamin, giving Jacob a total of 12 sons. But Jacob favored his two youngest sons Joseph and Benjamin—especially Joseph—because they were the sons of his old age and his only two sons with Rachel, who had finally given birth after the normal child-bearing age.

Jesus was born to Mary while she was still a virgin engaged to be married:

2. Both were their father's most beloved sons.

God changed Jacob's name to Israel, and young Joseph was the son dearest to his heart, being the long-awaited first son of his beloved Rachel:

Jacob had 12 sons, God only one—but He felt the same way about His Son. When Jesus was ready to begin His public ministry, He went to His cousin John the Baptist to be baptized in the Jordan River, and His Father made His feelings known in regard to His only Son:

3. Both were hated without cause.

The above mentioned "coat of many colors" is an example of how Jacob favored and lavished attention on his young son, and as you can imagine, this caused his older brothers to hate him and regard him as a spoiled brat.

Then Joseph started having dreams of his family bowing down to him, and this just stoked the flames of his brothers' hatred even more.

Jesus was hated intensely by the religious leaders of Israel with a similar bitter jealousy, because His words had power people had never heard:

Jesus taught as one with genuine spiritual authority, unlike the legalistic, rule-spouting scribes and Pharisees, and the religious leaders hated Him for it. Not only that, but Jesus seldom missed on opportunity to expose them to the people as the hard-hearted hypocrites they had become.

There were also many who may not have actually hated Jesus per se, but they certainly didn't believe in Him or take Him seriously. In fact, even his natural brothers—other sons of Mary and Joseph born after Jesus—didn't believe in Him (John 7:5). In fact, they thought He had lost His mind (Mark 3:21). There's no indication that any of His own siblings truly believed He was the Messiah until they saw Him face to face after the Resurrection.

4. Both had brothers who rejected their God-ordained right to rule.

When Joseph told his brothers of his dream that they would one day bow their knee to him, they rebuked him, and hated him even more.

In Luke 19:11–27, Jesus tells the Parable of the Minas, and in it He reveals how Israel would regard His effort to establish the promised kingdom He had come to offer them:

Sure enough. Israel as a nation utterly rejected Jesus' right to sit on the Throne of David and rule Israel in the kingdom God had promised them, having Jesus crucified instead. Their rejection of their promised Messiah led to Israel's being set aside temporarily so the Church could be grafted into the New Covenant through faith in Christ.

5. Both had brothers who plotted to kill them.

The turning point in Joseph's life came when he was only 17 years old. His 10 older brothers were all off tending sheep in a nearby region, and Jacob decided to send Joseph to find them and check to see how things were going. When Joseph's brothers saw him coming in the distance, however, they quickly hatched a plot to kill him.

Jesus was sent to the "lost sheep of Israel," his Jewish brothers after the flesh. But the hearts of their religious leaders had become hardened, and Jesus excoriated them everywhere He went for three-and-a-half years, so during His ministry there were certainly those who wanted to see Him dead. Things came to a head in Jerusalem during the last week of Jesus' earthly life, however, as the chief priests and the scribes conspired to have Him arrested and executed by the Romans.

6. Both were stripped of their robes.

When Joseph's brothers cast him into the pit, they also stripped him of the multi-colored robe his father had given him:

Throughout the Bible, clothing symbolizes someone's righteousness, for better or worse. Joseph's exquisite (and no doubt expensive) tunic was one thing that made him the object of his brothers' hatred and jealousy—and they made it a point to strip it from him before throwing him into the pit. They smeared goat's blood on it, and when they returned home they showed it to their father and allowed the inconsolable old man to believe that his beloved son had been killed by a wild beast.

An eye for detail: Notice that in Genesis 37 it never actually says they tore the garment, which would seem like a logical thing to do if you wanted to deceive someone into believing the person wearing it had been killed by a wild beast. This parallels John 19:24, which says the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus did not tear His robe because it was a seamless garment of high quality, and instead fulfilled Scripture (Ps. 22:18) by gambling for it.

After Jesus was taken into custody and falsely tried and convicted, the Roman soldiers had quite a time with Him.

They stripped Him of His garment, and placed a scarlet robe on Him, a color suitable for royalty. But the fun was just getting started.

The idea of Jesus being divested of His robe can be interpreted on another level. According to Scripture, Jesus existed from eternity past as the second Person of a triune God, aka God the Son. When He agreed with the Father to be born into the world as a man and inhabit a body of flesh, He temporarily stepped out of heaven and effectively took off the "robe" of His divine power in order to live on earth as one of us.

Scripture makes it clear that Jesus had the spiritual power and authority to put a stop to what was happening to Him at any time. For example, the night He was arrested, there was a brief scuffle between the Roman soldiers and Peter (one of the few who didn't beat feet at the first sign of trouble):

Jesus obeyed His Father so that His Word would be fulfilled and the plan of redemption would be a fait accompli. Jesus knew that everything that was happening to Him was the Father's perfect will, and so He obediently allowed things to play out to their preordained conclusion.

7. Both were cast into a pit, and were raised out of it alive.

One brother, Reuben, talked the others out of actually killing Joseph, and suggested they just throw him into a pit (actually a cistern, which in this case was dry). Later, another brother (Judah) also argued against the idea of killing him and came up with the idea of selling Joseph to a passing band of merchants headed towards Egypt. So, they brought Joseph out of the pit alive and sold him into slavery.

Jesus was cast into the pit, figuratively speaking, when He was crucified, and was dead for three days and three nights. But at the crack of dawn that Sunday morning when a small group of women showed up at the tomb where Jesus had been buried to deal with His body, they were in for a shock. They were confronted by two angels and one very empty tomb:

He may have been dead while He was in the pit, but He was undeniably raised out of it alive!

8. Both were sold for the price of a slave.

Note in no. 7 that Joseph was sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver.

Jesus, on the other hand, was sold out for 30 pieces of silver.

The Jewish religious leaders enlisted the aid of Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' 12 disciples, who agreed to use a kiss of greeting to identify Jesus to a detail of Roman soldiers that the Jewish leaders would arrange to come to arrest Him late at night.

But why 20 for Joseph and 30 for Jesus?

This actually bugged me for a while. I mean, with all the parallels, why the different amounts? I've heard people come up with some lame ideas, like it was due to inflation, or because Jesus was just worth more, etc. But I just knew there had to be a sound biblical reason for it, and indeed there is.

The Law of Moses stipulates that the monetary value of a male servant between the ages of 5 and 20 was 20 pieces of silver. Joseph was 17 at the time, so this is the price that applied to him.

But it also states that if you are responsible for the death of a man's servant, you had to compensate him with 30 pieces of silver.

That's it—Joseph lived, Jesus died. It's 20 pieces of silver for a servant who is alive, but 30 pieces of silver for a servant who has been slain.

The Pharisees and the chief priests may have been murderously evil, but they knew the Mosaic Law.

9. Both had brothers who were shocked to find the pit empty.

In point no. 7, we saw that Reuben didn't want to kill Joseph, but merely throw him into the pit. His actual intention was to come back to the pit later, presumably when the other brothers weren't around, and release Joseph so he could return to his father unharmed.

But things didn't go according to plan—by the time Reuben got back to the pit, it was too late:

The pit was empty. The deed was done.

When the women showed up at the tomb early Sunday morning, they were told by an angel that Jesus was not there—He had risen from the grave. The women ran to tell the disciples:

The pit was empty. The deed was done.

First to believe: Notice it's John, who typifies the Church in many ways, who is the first to actually believe that Jesus had been resurrected, even though it was Peter who entered the tomb first to examine the evidence.

10. Both were tempted to sin, but did not yield to it.

In Egypt, Joseph found himself working for Potiphar, Pharaoh's captain of the guard. Joseph proved himself to be honest, trustworthy, and highly capable in all things, and Potiphar trusted him with everything he had.

It seems, however, that our young Joseph was quite the hunk and Potiphar's lonely wife put the moves on him:

Joseph spurned her advances to avoid sleeping with his master's wife, and I love this: Notice the reason. It wasn't because he was afraid he'd get caught and get in trouble. It wasn't to protect his reputation. It wasn't because he wasn't attracted to her. It was for one reason alone—and not only that, but he wasn't shy about telling her straight to her face:

I will not sin against my God.

Jesus had no sin nature because He had no earthly father, but He was still tempted like everyone else while He inhabited a body of flesh and lived among us. Yet He remained sinless, and was thus qualified to take the punishment for our sin. That's what made Jesus the perfect sacrifice, the only sacrifice that would satisfy the Father's perfect justice on our behalf.

11. Both were falsely accused.

Recall in point no. 10 how Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph. Well, this went on for many days, and Joseph steadfastly refused to yield to the temptation to sleep with her. Finally, Potiphar's wife got a little aggressive, and grabbed his robe and literally tried to pull him into bed with her. Joseph was determined to not sin against God, however, and ran out of the house leaving her with his robe in her hand.

Stinging with humiliation, she showed his robe to her husband when he got home and claimed that Joseph had tried to rape her:

That tore it for Potiphar. That Hebrew slave—the "loyal" servant he thought he could trust—had crossed the line, and in a rage Potiphar had an innocent Joseph unjustly thrown into prison.

The night Jesus was arrested, He was put through a series of illegal trials, both at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders and the Romans. They could find no substantive charge against Him, and even prodding and possibly even bribing people into giving false testimony against Jesus didn't work, because all they did was contradict each other:

Of course, that didn't stop them from reaching the predetermined verdict. They were determined to find Jesus guilty of blasphemy no matter what, an offense punishable by death.

Blasphemy—claiming to be God in the flesh. That's exactly what Jesus did, too. Only in His case it wasn't blasphemy—it was the truth.

12. Both were placed with two criminals—one who was freed and one who was condemned.

While Joseph was in prison, Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and his chief baker fell out of favor for whatever reason and were locked up along with Joseph. One night they both had dreams, and Joseph asked them to tell him their dreams so God could give him the interpretation.

Joseph interpreted the cupbearer's dream to mean that he would be set free in three days, and interpreted the baker's dream to mean that he would be hung in three days:

Jesus, on the other hand, was crucified between two thieves, which in and of itself is a fulfillment of prophecy:

One thief hurled insults and accusations at Jesus from the cross. The other thief, however, rebuked the first, acknowledging his sin and expressing his belief in Jesus as the Messiah:

The first thief died in his sins—the second thief was freed spiritually by his faith in Christ.

I'm always amazed by Christians who talk about how the thief on the cross is minimal in some way, as if their salvation were somehow superior.

They act as if the thief on the cross served as an example of the absolute bare minimum of what it takes to avoid hell, while real salvation (like theirs) requires higher standards of moral behavior from a person.

If that's what you think,
then listen up, and listen good.

The thief on the cross did the following:

1. He repented. That is, he changed his mind about the fact that he was a sinner, and acknowledged himself as such (we [I] receive the due reward for our [my] deeds).

2. He believed that Jesus was who He said He was: the Son of God, and as such, was able to save him from the penalty for his sins. Believing that, he asked in faith for the Lord to save him (Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom). And note that since Jesus was being crucified, that meant the thief believed the Lord would be resurrected from the dead.

Did I miss anything? And since these two things essentially go hand in hand (realizing you're a sinner in need of a Savior is part and parcel of asking in faith for Jesus to be that Savior), you could legitimately reduce it down to the fact that the thief on the cross did one simple thing:

He believed the gospel.

If you believe the gospel, you're saved. If you believe something different, you're not. I can't say it any more plainly.

A perfect model: The thief on the cross didn't sneak in the back door of heaven. He's not some lowlife scumbag who just barely made it by the skin of his teeth, unlike all of us slick, modern Christians today with our stadium-sized megachurches and our high-octane worship services. He's not an example of minimal salvation—there's no such thing. He's an example of perfect salvation—the only kind there is.

We're all sinners saved by grace through faith—or not.

We're all the thief on the cross—one or the other.

Which one are you?

13. Both were highly exalted after their suffering.

Recall in the previous point that Pharaoh's chief cupbearer was restored to his position, according to Joseph's interpretation of his dream. Before the cupbearer left, Joseph asked him to put in a good word for him to Pharaoh, in the hopes that he might be released as well. Unfortunately, it seems the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph, who continued to languish in prison.

One night, Pharaoh had two troubling dreams—both with the same strange theme—and none of his magicians or wisemen could interpret them. Finally the cupbearer spoke up and told Pharaoh about the young Hebrew who had correctly interpreted his and the baker's dreams.

Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and Joseph made it clear right off the bat that it was God who would give the interpretation, not him. Pharaoh recounted the dreams, and Joseph told him that both dreams meant the same thing: that God was about to send a seven-year period of abundance, followed by seven years of severe famine. Joseph advised Pharaoh to find a capable, trustworthy individual to wisely manage the nation's food supplies, and store food in various locations during the good years so that there would be plenty of food to get them through the seven years of famine.

Pharaoh was so impressed that the search for his new manager didn't take very long: He immediately appointed Joseph to the position, effectively putting him in charge of the affairs of the country.

Forty days after He was resurrected, Jesus ascended back to heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is our High Priest, and makes intercession for us to the Father (Heb. 7:25). After the Rapture, however, His role as our High Priest will be fulfilled, and He will prepare to assume the Throne of David in the Millennial Kingdom after the Tribulation.

14. All are commanded to bow before both.

Pharaoh gave Joseph a position second only to his own, and decreed that all would bow to Joseph and obey his commands.

After Jesus obeyed His Father to the point of going to the cross to redeem the earth and all those who would believe, God honored His Son and said that all would bow before Him and all would confess that Jesus is Lord:

Notice in the above passage of Scripture that it doesn't say every believer's knee will bow and every believer's tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord—it says every knee and every tongue.

And if anyone has any doubt about that interpretation, the phrase "those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth" makes it crystal clear: That effectively includes every single person who ever lived.

It's a sobering thought to realize that even if you never repent and believe in faith that Jesus died for your sins at any time during your earthly life, the time will come when your knee will bow and your tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, whether you like it or not.

15. Both were 30 years old when they began their life's mission.

Joseph was 17 when he was sold into slavery, but it wasn't until he was 30 years old that he was finally elevated to his position of authority over the affairs of Egypt in preparation for saving his family, and preserving the messianic line that would come through it.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a village in northern Israel about 15 miles east of Haifa, and was also about 30 when He began His public ministry:

16. Both take a Gentile bride.

When Joseph was elevated to his position over all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh, he was given a new Egyptian name and a new Egyptian wife:

Of course, the primarily Gentile Church is the bride of Christ.

Not only that, but Jesus will take His bride to be with Him at the Rapture, and all Scriptural arrows point to this occurring before the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week, or the Tribulation.

17. Neither one was recognized by his brothers.

Joseph's brothers never knew what became of their obnoxious little brother; but years later when the famine began, they went to Egypt to buy food—and ended up fulfilling Joseph's prophetic dream by bowing before him:

You can hardly fault Joseph's brothers for failing to recognize him: Joseph was only 17 when they sold him into slavery, and now he was at least 37 or 38, and had adopted Egyptian styles and mannerisms.

But two thousand years later, the Jews had no such excuses—Jesus fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy concerning the First Advent, and they refused to accept Him.

Most Jews, especially the religious leaders, did not recognize the fact that Jesus had irrefutably fulfilled Scripture as the promised Messiah, and refused to believe Jesus was who He said He was:

They simply refused to believe. Period.

18. Both allow their brothers to suffer a period of tribulation before finally revealing themselves to them.

In point no. 13, we saw how Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dreams to mean there would be seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, and was made governor of Egypt. Joseph ordered food to be stored during the seven good years; then, when the famine started, people came from all over the region to Egypt to buy food.

Including Joseph's brothers from Canaan.

On their first trip to Egypt to buy food during the famine (possibly during its first year), Joseph's 10 brothers left Benjamin behind with their father Jacob, who feared for his son's safety after losing Joseph. When they stood before Joseph, they didn't recognize him (they hadn't seen him in 22 years); however, Joseph recognized them, and the wheels began turning. He began to formulate a plan to put the screws to his brothers, in a manner of speaking, in order to bring them to a place of repentance.

Joseph concealed his identity and spoke harshly to them, accusing them of being spies and demanding to know all about their family. They told him they were honest men, 10 sons of the same father, and that their youngest brother was at home in Canaan, while another brother (Joseph) was dead.

Joseph said that to prove they were not spies, they would have to produce the little brother they had mentioned. He said they would all be detained while one brother went back to fetch Benjamin, and then he threw them into prison to let them stew for awhile.

After three days, Joseph decided to keep just one brother (Simeon) in custody and allow the others to leave. Simeon would serve as a guarantee of their return, and Joseph warned them they would not see his face again unless they brought Benjamin. As Simeon was bound before their eyes, Joseph overheard them talking among themselves, expressing remorse for what they had done to Joseph and acknowledging that God was punishing them for their mistreatment of him.

Joseph saw their remorse—his plan was working.

As they headed out, little did they know that Joseph had secretly arranged to have their grain money placed back into their sacks. They discovered this on the way home, and it sent them into a panic. Here they were, trying to prove they were honest men, and now they were terrified that Joseph would not only think they were spies, but thieves as well.

When they got home they told their father all that had happened, and a distraught Jacob bewailed the fact that he had already lost one son, another was locked up in Egypt, and now they wanted to take Benjamin! Jacob refused to allow them to take his youngest son, so Simeon remained in Egypt for the time being.

But the famine was relentless, and it wasn't long before another food run was needed. Finally, Jacob had no choice but to let them take Benjamin with them to Egypt, since they explained to their father that otherwise Joseph wouldn't even see them. Besides, Jacob knew if they didn't go, they'd all die of starvation anyway. Judah offered himself as security for Benjamin, telling his father that he would bear the full blame if anything happened to him. They also took double the money so they could return the money that had mysteriously appeared in their sacks the first time, plus money to buy more food.

When they got to Egypt and Joseph saw Benjamin, he pretended to be satisfied that they were not spies, and ordered a lavish feast to be prepared and invited them all to dine with him in his home. He released Simeon, and they all enjoyed a festive meal with the brother they still didn't recognize.

Afterwards, the 11 brothers loaded up to return to Canaan; but once again Joseph secretly ordered his steward to replace their money into their sacks, only this time he also had the steward place his silver cup into Benjamin's sack. Then, before the brothers had traveled very far, Joseph sent his men to catch up with them and confront them over the missing cup.

The brothers were nonplussed, and certain there had been some mistake. They confidently replied that if the cup were found in any of their sacks, that brother would die and the rest would be Joseph's slaves. Joseph's men said that whoever had the cup would be taken as a slave, and the others would be free to go. A search of each man's sack commenced, starting from the oldest to the youngest, and finally the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

Now the brothers were frantic, and hurried back to speak to Joseph—and he was waiting for them. It was Judah who pleaded with Joseph to release Benjamin, claiming the grief would kill his father. Finally, he begged Joseph to take him as a slave instead, and release his brother. Although he never actually admitted to Joseph what the brothers had done to him, his actions spoke louder than any words. The one who had sold Joseph into slavery was now prepared to sacrifice himself in order to save his youngest brother.

That was the moment Joseph had been waiting for—true repentance, and at that point Joseph could no longer contain himself. Weeping openly, he finally revealed himself to his stunned brothers—the brothers who had sold him into slavery over 20 years earlier. After an emotional reunion, Joseph told them to go to Canaan and bring their entire extended family down to Egypt to live.

It's noteworthy that it was Judah who was willing to sacrifice himself to save his brother, because it was Judah's line that would give birth to the Messiah—the one who would sacrifice Himself to save us all.

So Joseph really put his brothers through the wringer, but it was to bring them to a point of repentance so he could reveal himself to them.

Similarly, God is going to put the Jews through the Tribulation, and it will be a time of judgment and persecution like nothing the world has ever seen:

And it will serve a similar purpose: to bring the Jewish remnant to a place of repentance so they are prepared to receive their Messiah Jesus Christ:

19. Both forgave those who wronged them.

In spite of what they had done to him, Joseph harbored no animosity toward his brothers because he recognized that it was the hand of God that had been guiding events the entire time.

While Jesus was on the cross, He also forgave those who had crucified Him:

Jesus knew they were carrying out the will of the Father, and had no clue as to the import of their actions.

20. The suffering of both provided a means of salvation for the world.

After Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up in a position of authority, his prudent management saved Egypt as well as the surrounding countries from starvation during the seven years of severe famine.

The whole point of Jesus' death and resurrection was to provide a means of salvation for all of mankind:

• Joseph died a figurative death to save the Jewish race from physical death.
• Jesus died a physical death to save the human race from spiritual death.

He's waiting

This list of 20 parallels between the lives of Joseph and Jesus is the tip of the iceberg—there are loads of others, some of which are as stunning as they are subtle. But this is sufficient to illustrate how the Old Testament story of Joseph paints a richly detailed portrait of Jesus.

Jesus Christ, the Messiah...

• Who was sent by His Father to His brothers.
• Who was subjected to suffering and rejection.
• Who was highly exalted and given great authority.
• Whose suffering provided the means of salvation for the world.

Jesus Christ, the Messiah—both concealed and revealed in His Word, and waiting to be revealed to each one of us personally through the eyes of faith.

So open your eyes. Open His Word.

He's there, waiting for you.

Greg Lauer — DEC '14

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