The Rejected Ruler
Introduction
A few weeks ago I said that Christ is the center of history. All of history focuses around the Savior of the world. And all of the Bible focuses around the Savior of the World. We often mistakenly think that only the New Testament tells us about Christ. But as we have already seen in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jesus is all over the pages of the Old Testament as well. And one of the most amazing stories that reveals the coming Christ to us is the story of Joseph.
Now I will have to admit there is no verses in the New Testament comparing the story of Jesus to the story of Joseph. But once you open your eyes to finding Jesus in the Old Testament, it is hard to miss the fact that Jesus’ life is foreshadowed in the life of Joseph. Which is not hard to believe since the name Joseph is Hebrew for Jesus.
Joseph, as we shall see, is a deliverer for his family, as Jesus is the deliverer for all mankind. And as I studied the life of Joseph in preparation for this message I was amazed at how Joseph’s life predicted the life and ministry of Christ.
I. Destined for Greatness.
First, Joseph was a man who was destined for greatness. If you remember from last week, Jacob had two wives—Racheal and Leah. Racheal was Jacob’s favorite, but she was unable to have children for many years. But God finally blessed Racheal with a baby boy, Joseph. Because Joseph was the first born of his favorite wife, Joseph quickly became Jacob’s favorite son. And Jacob made no secret to this fact.
Genesis 37:2-4 (NLT)
This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half-brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.
Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.
Joseph was the younger, favorite, who received special gifts, and tattled on his brothers to earn his father’s favor. That was probably reason enough for Joseph’s brothers to hate him, but that isn’t the only reason that his brothers hated Joseph.
Genesis 37:5-8 (NLT)
One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. “Listen to this dream,” he said. “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”
His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.
Joseph proclaimed that he would one day rule over his own family. And his family didn’t like that idea very much. They hated him because of the predictions that he was destined for greatness.
Jesus was also hated because of the predictions that he was destined for greatness. At His birth, the wise men proclaimed that Jesus was to be the King of the Jews. That sparked such hatred from Herod that he ordered his soldiers to go to Bethlehem and kill all the children two years old and younger in an effort to destroy this future king before he had a chance to rise to greatness.
At another point Jesus was visiting a synagogue and read a well-known prophecy about the Messiah found in Isaiah chapter 61 that says:
Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)
The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.
Then Jesus said of Himself:
Luke 4:21 (NLT)
The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!
Jesus, like Joseph, boldly proclaimed that He was destined for greatness. He was the Messiah that they had all been waiting for. He was the one come to set them free from slavery to sin and death. And how did the people respond to this bold statement? They drug Jesus to the edge of a cliff and tried to throw Him to his death. And ultimately they killed Jesus for claiming to be the Son of God.
Matthew 26:63-66 (NLT)
Then the high priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy.
What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they shouted. “He deserves to die!”
Jesus deserved to die, according to the Jewish leaders, because He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus deserved to die because they were jealous of the greatness that He would one day achieve. And Joseph’s brothers tried to do the same to him because of the prophecy that he would one day rule over his family.
Genesis 37:18-20 (NLT)
When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
They had decided to kill Joseph, but later decided that they would benefit more by selling Joseph into slavery rather than killing him.
Genesis 37:26-27 (NLT)
Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? His blood would just give us a guilty conscience. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed.
So Joseph, destined to be “king” over his family, is persecuted, thrown in a pit and sold into slavery. Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, is persecuted, hung, on a cross and buried in a pit. Do you see the similarities between these two Joseph’s? Do you see the similarities between these two deliverers?
II. The Deliverers Tempted.
But that isn’t the end of the similarities between these two. Both were also tempted before they could go on to greatness. Jesus, you might remember, was tempted by the devil after he was baptized.
Matthew 4:1 (NLT)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.
Jesus was tempted three times by the devil, but stood up against those temptations. As the book of Hebrews says:
Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Jesus was tested and remained pure. Jesus was tested before He was crowned king. Joseph was also tested before he achieved greatness.
Genesis 39:2-4 (NLT)
The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized that the LORD was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned.
Genesis 39:6-8 (NLT)
So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat! Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.
But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household.”
Joseph was tempted by his master’s wife, but he said no. Eventually she would cause Joseph a lot of trouble. She grew tired of Joseph refusing her advances and claimed that Joseph had tried to rape her. Joseph would end up spending some time in prison due to her lies. But the point is that Joseph, like Jesus, stood up to the temptations and remained faithful.
III. Final Victory.
Joseph went through a lot of trials on his road to greatness, but God was with Joseph every step of the way.
Genesis 39:21 (NLT)
But the LORD was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the LORD made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden.
Then through a series of events Joseph is taken from prison to the throne room of the Pharaoh of Egypt. There he interprets one of Pharaoh’s dreams warning of a severe famine that was coming. Pharaoh is so impressed with Joseph that he puts Joseph in charge of the preparations for this coming famine.
Genesis 41:41-43 (NLT)
Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck. Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt.
Years later when Joseph’s family was in great need, they came to Egypt to buy food to see them through the famine. And at that time Joseph’s dream of greatness is fulfilled.
Genesis 42:3 (NLT)
So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain.
Genesis 42:6 (NLT)
Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground.
Just as Joseph’s dream predicted decades before, Joseph’s brothers bowed down to him. Joseph had become their king. Even though his brothers had plotted against him, he had become their ruler.
Joseph and Jesus’ stories are the same. Even though Jesus’ enemies killed him and buried him, they could not keep Jesus from victory.
Philippians 2:8-11 (NKJV)
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. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
One day all mankind will bend a knee to Jesus. Those of us who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior have already willingly bent our knees to Jesus as our King and Savior. But the day will come, before the great judgment of God, when even the enemies of Christ will be forced to bend their knees to the ruler of the universe.
Conclusion
Now let me spend just a minute apply this to our lives. After going through all the trials…after being thrown in a pit…after being sold into slavery…after spending years in prison…Joseph said to his brothers.
Genesis 45:4-5, 7-8 (NLT)
I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives…God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
Joseph demonstrates the truth that greatness comes at a cost. Jesus also demonstrates this fact. Jesus was destined to become the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but first He had to go through the cross. Do you think it is any different for us?
Mark 10:29-30 (NLT)
I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.
Jesus tells us that we are destined for greatness. We are destined to rule with Him during the 1000-year reign of Christ. We are destined to become citizens of heaven. We are destined to eternal life and there to receive family and lands and houses a hundred times greater than anything we could earn for ourselves in this world. But in this life we will face trouble. We will face persecution. We will face hatred because we refuse to live by the world’s standards. We will face sickness, cancer, and more. But the God will see us through.
We will face temptations. We will be tempted by greed, sex, and power. We will be tempted to be selfishness and pride. But God will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can stand up to. So let me give you the same encouragement that Paul gave the early Christians in the book of Acts.
Acts 14:22 (NLT)
They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.
We are going to go through many hardships before we enter the kingdom of God. We are going to go through many trials and temptations before we receive our crown. But it is worth it. Never give up. Hold fast to Christ. Christ will give you the strength you need to overcome the troubles of this world. As Paul said in the letter to Hebrews.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Are your eyes on Jesus?
