Gen 37:1-36
37:1-36 {p} Joseph’s advancement and enslavement
Joseph’s first dream comes to pass, as we find out in the next chapters. His second dream, however, does not seem to come to pass, because there is no record of Jacob or Rachel, who has of course passed away, bowing down to Joseph, even when Jacob came to him in Egypt. But this prophetic dream will indeed come to pass, when we consider that the fathers, mothers, and children of Israel will indeed come to bow down – to the Messiah as King. This is our first clue that Scripture gives us, that the life of Joseph, like Isaac, is a type of Messiah in Torah.
Gen 38:1-30
38:1-30 {s} Judah departed from his brothers among Canaanites
Tamar’s death seemed certain, but then she was released from her sentence of death. This is the Messiah sign of resurrection life, and when we find it in Torah, Moses is writing about Messiah (Joh 5:46). Tamar was delivered from death when it was discovered she possessed the pledge Judah had given her. We have also been given a pledge by Messiah Yeshua, Judah’s seed: the Holy Spirit:
In [Christ] you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. Eph 1:13-14
Gen 39:1-23
39:1-23 {p} Joseph departed from his brothers among Egyptians
There is an extraordinary number of threes in these chapters concerning the life of Joseph: he was made overseer three times (for his father, for Potiphar, and for the keeper of the prison); he was cast down three times (into a pit, into slavery, and into prison). We saw in chapter 37 that Joseph is a prophetic type of Messiah. Three is a sign of Messiah in Torah, that a passage is prophesying of Messiah. The prophecy of Messiah, is that just as Joseph was preeminent yet cast down, so also was Messiah:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Phi 2:5-8
Gen 40:1-23
40:1-23 {p} Joseph in prison
There are more threes as signs of Messiah in chapter 40. In the chief butler’s dream, the vine had three branches which budded, and Joseph’s interpretation was that the three branches meant three days. On the third day, Pharaoh will raise him up out of the prison house and restore his former life to him. Besides the sign of three, this is also the sign of resurrection and life. Being cast into slavery or being cast into prison is a Torah metaphor for death, for it ends the life previously known. So the chief butler’s previous life was ended when he was cast into prison, but on the third day (according to the interpretation) he would be raised up and his life would be restored to him.
In the chief baker’s dream, he had three baskets on his head, and Joseph’s interpretation was that the three baskets also meant three days. But on the third day, the chief baker would be lifted out of the prison house and executed for his crime. I think the point is not so much that the chief baker’s outcome was different from the chief butler’s, but that two prisoners, two dreams, and two interpretations are a witness from God that the dreams and interpretations are from Him, for every fact is established on the testimony of two witnesses (Gen 41:32, Deu 19:15, Mat 18:16).
GENESIS 37:1-40:23 ANNUAL VAYESHEV “AND HE DWELT” OUTLINE | GENESIS INDEX OF STUDIES
THE LAW OF LOVE: THE GOSPEL OF GRACE REVEALED IN THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
Leave a Reply