Regarding Joseph’s being the sustainer of life to distribute food, the record of the Bible is marvelous. Pharaoh had two dreams, the first of cows and the second of ears of corn (Gen. 41:1-7). Both the cows and the grain are good for food, and they represent the animal life and the vegetable life. According to God’s ordination, before the fall man ate only of the vegetable life (1:29). After the fall, however, man was told to eat meat because of the need for the shedding of blood for redemption (9:3). Thus, the fallen man had to take as his supply the vegetable life and the animal life. At the Lord’s table we see the bread and the blood. The blood comes out of the Lord’s sacrificial life for redemption, and the bread comes from His regenerating life for life’s reproduction. In John 1:29 John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb.” This is the animal life for redemption. In John 12:24 the Lord compared Himself to a grain of wheat falling into the earth to reproduce by life. This is the vegetable life for regenerating. Both kinds of life are mentioned in Genesis 41.
Hence, Joseph’s becoming the One who distributed food to save the people from dying of famine typifies Christ’s being exalted by God to become the Savior who gives life to people to save them from death.
Although Joseph was rejected by his brothers, after he was released from prison and enthroned with authority in Egypt, he took as his wife Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. Joseph’s wife was a heathen, an Egyptian. This also is a type portraying how Christ, in His resurrection and exaltation after the time of His rejection by the Israelites, has acquired the Gentile church in the Gentile land.
Of his wife, Asenath, Joseph begot two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. The name Manasseh means “causing to forget.” With the birth of Manasseh Joseph forgot all his afflictions. This indicates that when the church is productive, Christ will declare that He has forgotten His afflictions. The name Ephraim means “fruitful.” Joseph not only forgot his afflictions but was also fruitful. This indicates that when we preach the gospel and produce fruit, Christ will be happy and declare, “There is no more affliction but fruitfulness.”
The Scriptures prophesy that the children of Israel will be forced to turn to Christ just as Joseph’s brothers were forced to turn to Joseph for food (Gen. 42:1-5). Zechariah 12:10 says, “They will look upon Me, whom they have pierced; and they will wail over Him with wailing as for an only son and cry bitterly over Him with bitter crying as for a firstborn son.” In Romans 11:26 Paul says, “And thus all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion; He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.’” In the future, Israel will be forced to turn to Christ.
When Joseph’s brothers turned to him, Joseph recognized them, but they did not know him (Gen. 42:8). Hence, Joseph tested them again and again (42:9-16; 44:1-13), disciplined them (42:17-24), and repeatedly showed love to them (42:25; 43:29-34). However, they did not know him and were ignorant of his love. Eventually, Joseph acknowledged his ignorant brothers (45:1-4), and his brothers also recognized him (45:15). All these things are types. Joseph’s making himself known to his brothers in his reigning is a type of Christ’s meeting with His flesh relatives, the children of Israel, when He will obtain the kingdom. At that time, the nations will gather together to besiege Jerusalem. At the very moment of peril, Christ will descend and His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split at its middle toward the east and toward the west into a very great valley. Then the persecuted Israelites will flee into the valley (Zech. 14:1-5). At that time they will lift up their heads to look and they will see the Messiah, their Deliverer, Jesus the Nazarene, whom they had pierced. Then they will repent and turn to the Lord and be saved. The Lord will send His angels to gather them together from the four winds to the good land that God gave to their forefathers (Matt. 24:30-31).
The life of Joseph signifies how Christ was exalted by God and made the Ruler and the Savior. In what he was and in his sufferings Joseph typifies Christ as the One who was beloved of God the Father, yet hated, rejected, and put to death by His brothers in the flesh. During the period of his imprisonment in the prison of death, Joseph was confined with two criminals, one of whom was restored and the other executed. This typifies Christ, who was crucified with two criminals, one of whom was saved and the other perished. Later, Joseph’s coming out of the prison of death typifies Christ’s release from death.
After Joseph was released from prison, he was immediately given authority to become the actual ruler over the whole land of Egypt. This is a type of Christ’s being exalted by God and made the Leader with authority to rule over all things. Furthermore, Joseph became one who distributed food to save people from dying of famine, typifying that after His exaltation Christ has become the Savior who gives life to people to save them from death. After he was released from prison and enthroned with authority, Joseph took Asenath, an Egyptian woman, as his wife, typifying that after His resurrection Christ has acquired the Gentile church in the Gentile land. Last, Joseph’s making himself known to his brothers in his reign is a type of Christ’s meeting with His flesh relatives, the Israelites, when He will obtain the kingdom.