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“JOSEPH: Victim to Victor”

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There are many similarities between the Biblical accounts of Joseph and Jesus (222 direct similarities, 19 indirect similarities, and 6 major contrasts).

 

Joseph’s life illustrates many important life principles for us today.

 

No matter what your past, like Joseph you can accomplish great things for God in the future. You too can choose to use your past tribulations for future triumphs.

 

The author follows Joseph’s life chronologically through the Bible and shows similarities with the life of Jesus.

 

Written in short segments, this book can be a valuable devotional for busy lifestyles.

 

Guidelines are provided for a fast read, a moderate read, and a slow read.

 

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“JOSEPH: Victim to Victor”

eBook ISBN: 979-8224095773 ~ ASIN: B0D1RCQF5X

Print ISBN: 979-8224601868 ~ about 726 pages

International Award-Winning Author

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

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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Lemons into Lemonade

~ The Christian View of Trials ~

This is a Guest Blog by Chris Goppert which appeared in the U.K. publication The Voice where it was entitled “Drawing Strength from the Right Sources: Suffering for the Child of God Benefits the Soul.” It contains thought-provoking truth: 

Suffering that does not result from discipline for a known sin can be profitable for the believer and glorify­ing to God.

·         Joseph in Prison ~ “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).

·         Hezekiah's Illness ~ “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In Your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; You have put all my sins behind your back” (Isaiah 38:17).

·         Paul's “Thorn in the Flesh” ~ “To keep me from becoming conceited... there was given me a thorn in my flesh... to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7).

·         Paul's Imprisonment ~ “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel” (Philippians 1:12-14).

·         The Man Born Blind ~ “‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life’” (John 9:1-3).

Trials allow maturity to develop fully—“Perseverance must finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4).

For forty-nine years Charles Simeon served as the minister of Trinity Church in Cambridge, England. A friend once asked Simeon how he endured opposition to his ministry. Pastor Simeon replied: “My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ's sake. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs. Let us rejoice in the re­membrance that our holy Head has summoned all His suffering and triumphed over death. Let us follow Him patiently, we shall soon be partakers of His vic­tory.” (see also 2 Corinthians 1:7)

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Shepherds – Types of Christ

~ 5 Old Testament Shepherds ~

A Biblical “type” is like a word picture. It is a “foreshadowing” or image of something which is yet to come (Colossians 2:17). There are a number of shepherds in the Old Testament which the Holy Spirit uses as types of the coming Good Shepherd. Here are five examples:

Abel was a sacrificing shepherd, who gave his life and shed his blood at the hands of his own brother. Abel was rejected by his brother and put to death. This resulted in his brother Cain being banished from the land and becoming a wanderer. But God in grace supernaturally preserved him against his enemies. In the rejection of Abel, we see a type of the Lord Jesus. His death was also at the hands of His brethren, who were then scattered around the earth, but God has preserved them for centuries.

Jacob was a toiling shepherd, who left his father’s house to dwell in a distant land. He fled from the wrath of his brother. Because of the hated of his brother, he was driven into exile where he married and then returned to claim his possession.

Joseph was an exalted shepherd, who was rejected by his brethren – yet he became the savior of men. His brethren thought they had killed him. He was exiled to a distant land where he was exalted to the throne. There he obtained a bride, and later he returned to redeem his brethren who had sold him.

Moses was a delivering shepherd. He also was rejected the first time by his brethren, banished into a distant land where he found a Gentile bride before returning and being accepted by his own at his second coming.

David was a royal shepherd who reigned. David was anointed king, but rejected by his own. He was forced to flee into the land of the Philistines, where he received a Gentile bride. He returned after the death of Saul, to be accepted and acclaimed by his own nation.

In each of these Old Testament personalities we plainly see the record of the One who was rejected by His own the first time He came. While in rejection Jesus Christ is assembling His Gentile bride (the Church). When the Church (universal) is complete, He will return and be accepted by His own people (Israel), and He will set up the glorious millennial Kingdom.