NO. 71 THE PARABLE OF JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS

TEXT: THE ACTS 7: 9- 11 7 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,

10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. (KJV)

Today I would like to give a message entitled “THE PARABLR OF JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS.”

The Bible says that the people of the twelve tribes of Israel will be saved in the end time. That is written in Romans and Revelation, too, as below.

REVELATION 7: 1- 4 1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree,

2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (KJV)

Now it is the great event and the promise that these people of Israel will meet Jesus and be saved in the end time. For, though a great number of foreigners have been saved so far, the salvation has been originally given to the people of Israel as well as the law and the promise. They are the own olive tree and God has never forgotten His promise to them.

And we see the passage that tells of the beautiful story that the people of Israel will be saved in the end time. Today we are going to see that.

That is hidden in the story of parable of Joseph and his brothers.

It is the well known story that Jacob, Israel, has twelve sons. And other brothers sell Joseph to Egypt out of envy and later they meet again Joseph who is the minister of Egypt.

And Joseph is no other than the type of the Lord Jesus who is sold, is put on the cross and is met with the tribes of Israel again in the end time. When do these people of Israel meet Jesus? The Bible distinctly tells of it. It is in the tribulation age.

Let’s see the passage of the text of The Acts.

Firstly Joseph is the distinct person of the type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the son whom his father Jacob especially loves and so is the type of Jesus as the only begotten Son. And Joseph is envied by his brothers, sold for the twenty silver pieces and thrown into the pit. Moreover he is about to be killed. This is the type of Jesus who is envied by the high priests, sold for the thirty silver coins, killed and buried into the pit. Joseph becomes the minister at the age of thirty and so may be also the type of the Lord Jesus who begins His ministry at the age of thirty.

The text is the part of Stephen’s preaching. He mentions of the story of Joseph and his brothers. The Holy Spirit who has written the Bible uses very interesting word in this passage.

It is the word “patriarchs” used for the eleven brothers who sell Joseph. They are not said to be Joseph’s brothers. Patriarchs mean the chief of the each tribe of Israel. What is said here is not simply the relation between Joseph and his brothers who quarrel among themselves in the same house but is the relation between Jesus and the tribes of Israel. So the word “patriarchs” expresses the type of the twelve tribes who will meet Jesus in the latter day as they meet Joseph.

Then the text says of the time when they meet Joseph of Jacob’s dearest whom they sell. It is during the seven years dearth in Egypt.

The dearth or end time dearth in the Bible means not only the lack of food but also more basically the lack of the Word as Joel tells. And the dearth of seven years in Egypt means the great tribulation in the end time. Do pay attention to the text. It is written, “Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction.” The word “great affliction” is the same as the one “great tribulation” in other passages as below.

MATTHEW 24: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (KJV)

So what Stephen says is that the tribes of Israel will in the tribulation age meet their brother whom they have sold to Egypt, that is, the Lord Jesus.

It is important to know of the word when we read the Bible. For example if we like to read the sentences written in foreign language but do not know it, we cannot understand them. But if then we learn of them, we may understand them. For example the word train means a kind of vehicle and it is fixed all the time. In the same way the parables that are found many in the Bible have fixed meanings in principle. If we know that properly, we learn a lot of things of the Bible. But if not or careless, we will not get the points of the parables.

Now we are going to learn of the description of Joseph in Genesis based on what we have just learned.

GENESIS 37: 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. (KJV)

To cast him into some pit is the sign that Jesus is killed and buried in the pit. They say, “We will see what will become of his dreams.” Those who crucify Jesus on the cross say, “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” They have never thought that what the Lord Jesus says would be realized. But His word is fulfilled now.

GENESIS 37: 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchants; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. (KJV)

Joseph who is sold to Egypt for twenty pieces of silver is the type of Jesus who is sold for thirty coins of silver.

GENESIS 42: 2, 3 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. (KJV)

The ten brothers of Joseph go to Egypt in the famine to buy food. Here we find the division among the brothers of Joseph. It is the division between the ten brothers and another one Benjamin. I think that there comes this kind of division in the end time.

The ten tribes will be probably saved at first. Many people say that they are now in the Oriental countries such Japan. And then Benjamin, those who are in the country of Israel of Middle East at present, will be saved. Actually only two tribes of Judah and Benjamin are now there.

GENESIS 42: 20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. (KJV)

Joseph tells them to bring his own brother to him. This is very much emphasized in the story.

What does it say?

At first the ten brothers who represent the lost and unknown ten tribes will meet Joseph, that is Christ. And these ten tribes will work to save the youngest brother, Jewish who are now in Israel.

It is written in chapter 7 of Revelation that the angel who ascends from the east and has the seal of the living God will put the seal of God in their foreheads of the Israelites of a hundred and forty four thousand. I believe this means that the ten tribes will be saved in the revival from the east and the salvation will be extended to the tribe of Benjamin.

GENESIS 42: 21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. (KJV)

In the end time these obstinate Israelites will realize that because they have killed their brother, the Lord Jesus, they go through many sufferings.

GENESIS 43: 34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him. (KJV)

The portion and the blessing that Benjamin, the Jews now in the Middle East, receive from the Lord in the end time will be five times more than those of other brothers. And they will drink and be merry in the wine of the Holy Spirit.

GENESIS 44: 1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. (KJV)

The food is the bread of life. The whole world will enter the tribulation age but they will be supplied with the bread of life.

GENESIS 44: 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. (KJV)

The cup is the vessel and they will become the vessels of the Lord.

GENESIS 44: 16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. (KJV)

They say that they become Joseph’s servants. That is, they will become the servants, the slaves, of Christ like Paul.

GENESIS 45: 4, 5 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

5 Now therefore be not grieved, not angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. (KJV)

They will meet Christ for the first time in the end time famine, the tribulation age.

GENESIS 45: 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. (KJV)

The Israelites will be saved at the second year of the seven years tribulation.

GENESIS 45: 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (KJV)

God’s plan is to preserve the posterity in Israel.

GNESIS 45: 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. (KJV)

All of these plans are in the hand of God.

Let’s do His will all the more in the end time.

End.