Joseph, Jesus and the Church
What do Joseph, Jesus, and the Church have in common?
Just as Joseph was sold to Egypt and eventually saved his Jewish brothers from famine, so Jesus was sold so to speak, to the gentiles.
One day Jesus will reveal his Jewish identity to his brothers the Jews, and will deliver them. His Jewish brothers will mourn and repent for rejecting him and sending him away and they will prostrate at his feet, with their eyes opened at last.
Genesis 45:4-7
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close
to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am
your brother Joseph, the one you sold into
Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do
not be angry with yourselves for selling me
here, because it was to save lives that God sent
me ahead of you. For two years now there has
been famine in the land, and for the next five
years there will be no plowing and reaping. But
God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a
remnant on earth and to save your lives by a
great deliverance”.
Genesis 45:14-15
Then he threw his arms around his brother
Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced
him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers
and wept over them.
Zechariah 12:10-14
"And I will pour out on the house of David and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace
and supplication. They will look on me, the one
they have pierced, and they will mourn for him
as one mourns for an only child, and grieve
bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn.
That day the weeping in Jerusalem
will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon
in the plain of Megiddo.
12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself,
with their wives by themselves:
the clan of the house of David and their wives,
the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,
13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives,
the clan of Shimei and their wives,
14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives.
However, the manner God has chosen to reveal Jesus to Israel is through the one new man. Joseph is actually a typology of Christ, but also Christ is made manifest through the church. Because in the new covenant, the one new man is both Christ and the church. In order for you to understand this concept better I would like to quote an excerpt from “The Corporate Christ” by Watchman Nee: “ Ephesians 3:4-6 Paul speaks of his understanding of the mystery of Christ. This mystery was not made known to the sons of men in other generations. The men of old did not know of the mystery that God spoke through Paul, which involves the Jews and Gentiles becoming one new man in Christ Jesus. This is the corporate Christ, which is the church.[...] Since the nature of the new man—the church—is Christ, we can say that the church is Christ. In the New Testament, there are two ways to look at Christ. On the one hand, He is Jesus Christ the Nazarene—this is the individual Christ. On the other hand, He is Christ plus the church—the corporate Christ. First Corinthians 12:12 refers to the second aspect when it says, “All the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Anything apart from Christ is not the church. There is only one thing in a Christian that forms a part of the church—Christ. The church is the corporate Christ. In the church, there is only Christ. During the bread-breaking meeting, the portion that we break off from the whole still signifies the Body of Christ, the church. The church is not what is added to Christ but what issues out from Christ.”
Understanding the concept of the one new man we can understand that the way God has chosen to reveal his Son to Israel in the time of the end is through the body of Christ. And that is why we need to reach the stature and the fullness of Christ. So he can be manifested through us to his people Israel. Because only when the fullness of the Gentiles has come, all Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:25).
According to Romans 11:11-12, it was because of Israel’s transgression, that salvation has come to us, the Gentiles. But the purpose of this all is to make Israel envious. And if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, their full inclusion will bring riches to the world. Because when Israel turns to God and recognizes that Jesus is their Messiah, “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. Because this is his covenant with them when he takes away their sins.” (Romans 11:26)
Therefore if we long for Jesus to return, we must understand that he won’t come back unless Israel confesses that he is the blessed one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 23:37-39
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets
and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
and you were not willing.
38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
And for that reason the church is being “sent ahead” like Joseph, to embody Christ and present salvation to Jesus’ brothers. Therefore our mandate in this hour is to bring the good news of salvation to Israel. Isaiah 40 says that we are called to comfort his people, and speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand, double for all her sins. And with the same spirit of John the Baptist, we are being sent to Israel as a voice of one calling: In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:1-3) But we can only make a highway for our God by presenting the good news to his chosen people.
Like Joseph, God is “sending us ahead” to be a help to Israel in their coming time of trouble. He is sending us ahead to manifest Jesus through our love for them. Like Joseph, he has given us all the provision and the spiritual riches of Christ to feed them heavenly manna in times of famine. He is sending us ahead to prepare a table for Israel to nourish them, while they find refuge in the wilderness for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Revelation 12:6
Then the woman fled into the wilderness,
where she has a place prepared by God,
that they should feed her there
one thousand two hundred and sixty days.