O.T. Shepherds, 3of6

~ Joseph: An Exalted Shepherd ~

Series Prologue  ~  There are at least five Old Testament shepherds who were clear “types” of Jesus Christ—our shepherd.  A type is like a faint image or shadow of the true item.  In each of these cases we can see parallels to our Great Shepherd. 

Sample Scripture  ~  “Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers.  And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age.  Also he made him a tunic of many colors.  But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.  Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more” (Genesis 37:2-5).

“So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.  …  And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.”  Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.  And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem?  Come, I will send you to them.’  So he said to him, ‘Here I am.’  Then he said to him, ‘Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.’  So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.  Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field.  And the man asked him, saying, ‘What are you seeking?’  So he said, ‘I am seeking my brothers.  Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.’  And the man said, ‘They have departed from here, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.”’  So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.  Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.  Then they said to one another, ‘Look, this dreamer is coming!  Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, “Some wild beast has devoured him.”  We shall see what will become of his dreams!’  But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, ‘Let us not kill him.’  And Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him’ — that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.  So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.  Then they took him and cast him into a pit.  And the pit was empty; there was no water in it” (Genesis 37:8b, 11-24).

“Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.  And they took Joseph to Egypt” (Genesis 37:28).         

“So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread.  Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.’  The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians.  And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.  So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands” (Genesis 41:55-57). 

Hints Of The Coming Messiah  ~  Joseph is the exalted shepherd who in spite of being rejected by his own brethren would become the savior of all mankind. 

Joseph was hated by his own brethren.

Joseph was thought to have been killed.

Joseph was banished to a far country.

Joseph was eventually exalted to the throne.

He obtained a Gentile bride.
Joseph redeemed his own brethren who had betrayed him. 

Comment  ~  It is an rewarding effort to read the story of Joseph (Genesis 30:24—50:26) and make a list of parallels between Joseph and Jesus Christ. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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