The Strike that Heals | Israel's Deliverance Depicted in Joseph

“I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you. For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

                                                                                          Genesis 45:4b-8 (emphasis mine)

But Joseph replied, “Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people. Therefore do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So Joseph reassured his brothers and spoke kindly to them.

                                                                                          Genesis 50:19-21(emphasis mine)

This week, Christians everywhere are remembering and celebrating the sinless God-Man who came to earth to defeat the powers of death and evil, and to be killed and raised from the dead so that the lives of many could be saved and bring glory to YHWH-God forever. More to the point of this article, we are celebrating the Son whom God willed to strike in order that he might save many lives and heal them of an incurable disease called sin.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;  he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt,  he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

                                                                        Isaiah 53:10 (emphasis mine)

We gratefully celebrate Jesus’ work on the cross, the outpouring of God’s Spirit, and our pre-enrollment as citizens of the coming kingdom. But, while we celebrate, we must ask ourselves if we are cognizant of the fact that his work isn’t finished yet. Can we see the overwhelming evidence that his kingdom has not yet been fully established on the earth? And, more specific to this article, can we discern that God’s mysterious practice of “striking the beloved to heal” is still being exerted to accomplish his purposes?

Jesus’ death and resurrection wasn’t the climax at the end of the kingdom story; It was the apex at the center of the kingdom story.

I have an unshakable image in my mind of late, of a Jewish man standing in front of a narrow, 2,000-year-old gate—the “way” into eternal life with YHWH-God, made available by the death and resurrection of the prophesied Suffering Servant, the Jewish Messiah.

In my mind’s eye, the Jewish man falls on his face in front of the gate, seeming to have missed his opportunity to pass through it. Behind him, a remnant of Jews from every generation and a long line of Gentiles (non-Jews) form a line and walk over the man’s back, like a bridge, to go through the gate. When the last of them have gone through, the man gets up, bloody and bruised, and passes through the gate last of all.

The picture is ultra-simplistic, with the Jewish man representing Israel (Jesus’ Jewish family-nation, the chosen bearers of God’s covenant promises) standing at the newly opened “way” into the sanctuary of God, the Most Holy Place, that Jesus tore open with the offering of his sinless blood for the sins of humanity.

Jesus came first to the lost sheep of Israel,[1] to provide the way for their transition out from under the covenant of the law (Moses) that could not save lives due to human sin; into the new (perfect) covenant of the promise (to Abraham) through faith in Jesus, as sons and daughters made spiritually alive.[2] 

The fact that the family-nation of Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah in his earthly lifetime and since has resulted in tremendous consequences for Israel, and tremendous benefit for Gentiles, as promised.[3] Some 2,000 years have passed and millions of eternal lives have been saved, both before and after Jesus’ time.[4] But what of Israel? Is their centuries-long experience of murderous abuse and oppression at the hands of Gentiles (in God’s name, no less) a sign of God’s permanent rejection of them? Or is it the evidence of God’s patterned practice of striking his beloved in order to heal?

And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life... And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.

                                                                                          Genesis 45:5, 7-8a (emphasis mine)

The biblical evidence for Israel’s permanent status as God’s chosen people is prolific throughout the Scriptural record (particularly in comparison to the scant, metaphorically-forced evidence to the contrary). The full depth and meaning of God’s love and plan for Israel, as described in Scripture, would take an eternal lifetime to plumb.

On the other hand, even the familiar Bible stories we tell our children and remember with fondness give ready evidence of God’s love and plans for Israel and the Jews. The story of Joseph, Abraham’s great-grandson is, in my opinion, one of the most clear picture-presentations of the kingdom story that includes Israel’s final outcome (Genesis 37-50).

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Do read for yourselves in Scripture (Genesis 37-50), but for the less familiar, here is a summary. The story of Joseph is a foreshadowing of future Jesus. See how many more reflections you can see in your own reading than are noted here. Keep in mind that, while the story is written in a linear manner, the prophetic foreshadowings it reflects are more comparable to droplets of rain landing here and there in a body of water, creating rings of revelation that cross over one another while collectively telling a much larger story that is undeniably recognizable in Jesus’ life, death, and soon-coming return:

Joseph is the favored near-youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob/Israel. Israel demonstrates his preference for this son by making Joseph a “many-colored robe,” symbolizing high or royal status.[5] Because Joseph is loved by Israel more than his ten older brothers and gives bad reports to their father about them, his older brothers hate him with an unrelenting vengeance.[6] (Benjamin, the youngest, enters the story later).

The brothers’ jealousy and fury is stoked to a murderous level after Joseph tells them about two dreams he has had. In the first dream, he and his brothers are binding sheaves in the field, when their sheaves gather around and bow down to Joseph’s sheaf.[7] In the second dream, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow down to him, suggesting that his whole family would be included in an act of deference.[8]

By providential circumstances, Joseph is sent by his father to check on his brothers who are tending the sheep some distance from home.[9] As he approaches, his robe (a symbol of royalty hung on the shoulders of one of the “least” of the brothers) is visible to them from afar.[10] The brothers strip him of his robe and throw him into a pit with plans to murder him.[11] But he doesn’t stay there, because Judah (patriarch of Jesus’ tribal line) arranges for Joseph to be sold, lifted out of the pit, and taken to Egypt.[12] Judah doesn’t realize that God is using him to send Joseph ahead of his family to save them from a great famine that will bring the death of many peoples apart from divine intervention.[13]

Joseph is torn from his father, sold into slavery in Egypt, and his many-colored robe is soaked in blood to convince his father that he was attacked by a wild animal.[14] Joseph puts on the garment of a servant-slave but God blesses everything he does, Joseph serves as a household servant/administrator to the Pharaoh’s captain of the guard,[15] then is falsely accused and sent to prison under Pharaoh’s palace as an innocent man.[16] Now divinely situated, Joseph interprets the dreams of two criminals (one acquitted, the other condemned),[17] which sets the stage for him to be called two full years later to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, and be returned to freedom and elevated to royal status.[18]

After interpreting God’s warning to Pharaoh (of seven years of plenty to be followed by seven years of severe famine), Joseph is elevated to the highest position in Egypt next to Pharaoh himself. He is dressed in garments of fine linen, given a signet ring (used to exercise authority on the king’s behalf), paraded and bowed down to by Pharaoh’s subjects, and commissioned to carry out his proposed “salvation” plan.[19]

Joseph gathers all of the grain grown in Egypt during the years of plenty and sells it to the starving people during the years of famine, until their resources are spent and they are left to sell all their land, and finally themselves, to Pharaoh.[20] Many lives are saved, and the people remain in service to Pharaoh and bring one fifth of their crops to him in tribute each year thereafter.[21]And they are thankful that Joseph saved their lives.

This is a beautiful foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, who would take off his heavenly robes and come to earth to put on the garment (body) of a lowly slave; suffer unjustly and be rejected by his brothers; allow himself to be sold, killed, and put into “the pit” in order to set into motion the divine plan to save many from death.[22] Raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of his Father in heaven, we have observed the confirmation of Jesus’ identity and anointing in his life, death, and resurrection. But we are yet to see him return in his royal body and robes, signet ring on his finger, to take his place as priest-king over the royal subjects for the glory of his Father.[23]

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It is a rather long story, I know, but did you notice the gap in my telling of it? What happened to Israel and his twelve sons? What about the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel? I confess, I skipped over their climactic scenes in order to go back and look more closely at them.

The reflections and foreshadowings in Joseph’s story are prolific and impossible to treat with due honor here.  But there are some key parallels between Joseph and Jesus and their respective siblings that are invaluable in this discussion. In the re-engagement process between Joseph and his brothers (between their 1st encounter with their unrecognized brother in Egypt to their 2^nd encounter and recognition of him as the brother they’d sold), I see at least four relevant gems.

First, there is Joseph’s measured plan for testing his brothers that moves them toward confession of their crimes against God and against him.

On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”

...Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. He said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

                                                                        Genesis 42:18-22, 26-28 (emphasis mine)

“Now therefore, as soon as I [Judah] come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”

                                                                        Genesis 44: 30-34 (emphasis mine)

The full picture is a graduated dawning on the brothers of their grievous wrongs of the past coming to confront them. The result is Judah’s conviction and repentance that allows the brothers to recognize their lost brother. I believe this is a reflection of the change that will come to Jesus’ brothers and sisters, the Jews, when they come face-to-face with him again.

Second, there is the depth of Joseph’s long-suffering pain over the betrayal of his brothers.

And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. And he turned away from them and wept.

                                                                        Genesis 42:22-24a (emphasis mine)

When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

Joseph hurried out because he was moved to tears for his brother, and he went to a private room to weep. Then he washed his face and came back out.

                                                                        Genesis 43:29-30a (emphasis mine)

In keeping with the foreshadowing nature of Joseph’s story, I believe this is a reflection of the real pain of betrayal and loss, born of love, that Jesus feels for his Jewish brothers.

Third, equally visceral is Joseph’s overwhelming joy over his brothers’ contrition and change of heart that led Judah to sacrifice himself to protect Benjamin and his aging, grieving father.

Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence...

Is this not the overwhelming joy that will cause Jesus to weep and shout so that the world hears it, for the return of his prodigal Jewish siblings when he returns?

Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

                                                                                          Genesis 45:1-3, 9-15

There is so much packed into this encounter! If Joseph, the foreshadowing figure of Jesus, is depicted sheltering, providing, and caring for the family of Israel with great joy in a time of great trouble and hardship, should we not take this part of the foreshadowing to heart as well?

Fourth, Joseph’s forgiveness toward his brothers and inclusion of his family in the deliverance of many peoples from catastrophic death is undeniably prophetic.

So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8So it was not you who sent me here, but God. 

                                                                                          Genesis 45:4-8a

After all is said and done, Joseph forgives his brothers for their violent betrayal of him and takes them into his care and protection, blessing them with every blessing and giving them the best of the land on which to raise their families and pasture their livestock. I am convinced that Jesus will do the same.

You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father [Israel] of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”

Finally, why does all of this matter to us, the non-Jewish sons and daughters of Abraham? It matters deeply, I assure you. There is right now a war being waged in/upon the Western Gentile Church over the identity and destiny of Israel and the Jews. Indeed, it has been raging for nearly 2,000 years, but is escalating now to an unprecedented level. It is not just a war against Israel and the Jews. It is a war for our hearts. It is a testing of our hearts.

We have a God-ordained role to play in God’s plan to deliver Israel out of the great time of trouble that is coming for her—the final strike that will heal her.[24] But considering the storm of venomous antisemitic lies currently (seemingly successfully) penetrating the Church, will we recognize the role we are to play?

If we are the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus in the world, then we are also the hands, feet, and voice of Joseph to the Jews. 

Are we ready to make, and be, a place of shelter and provision for the Jews when their time of trouble comes upon them and their strength and resources run out?[25] Are we willing to be the “sheep” that visit, comfort, shelter, feed, and clothe the “least of Jesus’ brothers” in their time of need?[26] Are we reflecting the image of Jesus (or Joseph) in ways that will help them to come to the recognition of their Messiah according to God’s timing?[27] Will we weep and share in the overwhelming joy when they do come to recognize him and bow down in humility and contrition?

This is the test that is coming to us, to see what is in our hearts. Fill up your lamps with the oil of the Word and the Spirit, dear family! The days are darkening but the Light in us is greater than the darkness around us.

Maranatha.

 A special thank-you to my friend, Benne, for sharing with me the work of Elhanan ben-Avraham, Mashiach ben-Yoseph. It will take a lifetime to reach the bottom of Yoseph's story.

All Scripture references from Biblehub.com: The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers.

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

[1] Romans 1:16; Matthew 15:24

[2] Romans 8:1-16; Galatians 3

[3] Genesis 12:1-3

[4] Romans 3:25-26

[5] Hebrews 1:1-4

[6] Matthew 23

[7] Genesis 45:4-7

[8] Revelation 12:1-6

[9] Luke 20:9-18

[10] John 1:1-34

[11] Mark 15:16-20; Revelation 19:11-13

[12] Acts 2:22-28

[13] Psalm 68:18; Ephesians 4:8

[14] Matthew 27:27-31

[15] Hebrews 2:5-9

[16] Isaiah 53:7-9

[17] Luke 23:32-43

[18] Philippians 2:5-8

[19] Philippians 2:8-9

[20] I believe there is a reflection here of the Church acting as the hands and feet of Jesus, preparing to serve and “save many” in a coming time of trouble.

[21] Isaiah 63:1-7

[22] It is not possible to include the overflowing abundance of symbolism, reflections, and allusions to Jesus and his life and work on earth, reflected in Joseph’s story. I encourage the reader to take time to soak in the pages of Genesis 37-50 for deeper appreciation of them.

[23] Hebrews 7; Revelation 19:11-16

[24] Ezekiel 38-39

[25] Daniel 12:1; Revelation 12:14

[26] Matthew 25:31-46

[27] Romans 11:11-16