We'll continue our study. Started
a new study last week on the life of Joseph. The life of Joseph. And we'll see as we go through
this study that in various situations Joseph was a type of Christ in
many situations. Now as I bought forth last week,
like all types There's a breakdown. Joseph was a sinner just like
you and I, but the Lord Jesus Christ is a perfect, spotless,
sinless man. He's fully God and fully man.
He's perfect and without sin. And in the book of Genesis we
see multiple pictures and types of Christ brought forth. Adam
typified Christ as our covenant head before he fell. He's the
federal head of all humans. And Abel showed forth the death
of Christ as our sacrifice and offering the proper sacrifice
with the shedding of blood. His was accepted and his brother
Cain's was rejected because it was due to his own works. Noah
also represented Christ in the saving of his household. Abraham
and Isaac portrayed the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
on Mount Moriah, Melchizedek revealed Christ as our great
high priest, Isaac pictured Christ the promised seed in whom all
the nations of the earth are blessed, and Jacob saw Christ
as a ladder, which represents the only mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus. So we're looking to the life
of Joseph, and as we go through this study, we'll see, again,
that he is a type and a picture of Christ. Now, let us always
remember, too, that as we read these scriptures, that unfolding
before us is the eternal purpose of God unfolding before us. We may not always understand
the situations. Well, we have the blessing of
being able to know what happens, but think of Joseph. He did not
always understand what was happening, just like us in our lives, but
yet God's eternal purpose was being worked out for his good
and for God's glory. And this is true of all those
who are called in Christ Jesus, for all those who are called
according to what? His purpose. His purpose. So let's read verses
1 to 11 in Genesis 37. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein
his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. These are
the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was
feeding the flock with his brethren. And the lad was with the sons
of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilphah, his father's wife and
his father's wives. And Joseph bought unto his father
their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more
than all his children because he was the son of his old age.
And he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren
saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they
hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph
dreamed a dream and told it to his brethren, and they hated
him yet the more. And he said unto them, here I
pray you, this dream which I have dreamed, for behold, we are binding
sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood
upright, and behold, your sheaf stood round about and made absence
to my sheaf. And his brethren said to them,
shalt thou reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion
over us? And they hated him yet the more
for his dreams and for his words. He dreamed yet another dream
and told it to his brethren and said, Behold, I have dreamed
a dream more. Behold, the sun and the moon
and the eleven stars made absence to me. And he told it to his
father and to his brethren, and his father rebuked him and said
unto him, what is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall
I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow ourselves
to thee, to the earth? And his brethren envied him,
but his father observed the same. Now we see here in verses one
to two that Joseph and his brothers were shepherds, and they were
tending their father's flock. And something the brothers did.
was evil, but Joseph was not involved. And then he went and
reported it to his father. Let's look at verses 1 and 2.
And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger in
the land of Canaan. These are the generations of
Jacob, Joseph being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock
and his brethren. And the lad was with the sons
of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilphah, his father's wives.
And Joseph bought unto their father unto his father their
evil report. Now take note, Joseph's name,
he was actually given two names, Joseph from his father, and we
know Zaphnath-Paneah from Pharaoh, which is over in Genesis 41-45,
when Pharaoh made him Lord over all of Egypt. Well, our Lord
had two names given to him, his divine name and a human name.
His divine name is Christ, which means anointed of God. anointed
of God. His human name, which is Jesus,
means Savior. Savior. These two names are given
to him because he is both the Son of God and the Son of Man.
Now we know that in Adam we all fell. We all fell. But we see
in the two names given to Joseph that Christ is pictured as well.
We see in his names he's a type of the Savior. The name Joseph
means adding, adding. Well, we lost everything in Adam,
didn't we? We lost everything in Adam. And
now we're born dead in trespasses and sins. But Christ is our second
Adam, who is the adder of all that was lost in Adam. He's the
restorer of all that was lost in Adam. And Christ is the one
who brings us from death to life. It's all Christ. And it is he
who adds to heaven the sons of God. It's he who does that. Because all who are redeemed
of the Lord are born again. And what happens when we die?
We're taken to heaven. We're taken to heaven by the
Lord Jesus Christ. And why did he come into this
world? Well, he came into this world to save his people from
their sins, didn't he? And he accomplished that. He
lived the perfect righteous life in our place, and he died upon
the cursed tree as our substitute, and he alone is our savior. He alone. Now Joseph's second
name, which was given to him, was Zaphnath-Paniah. And you know what it means? It
means treasury of glorious rest. treasury of glorious rest. Oh,
my. Who do we find rest in? Only
in Christ. Only in Christ do we find rest.
So just as Joseph was also the governor over Egypt and all who
wanted food came to him. Our great savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is the bread of life for his people. And it is He
who is the great provider for His people, isn't it? And we
find rest in He who has the treasury of all rest, eh? The Lord Jesus
Christ. Do you know that in Christ all
that a sinner needs is found? Everything that we as sinners
need is found in Christ. He's our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He's everything. He's everything
to us. All spiritual blessings are found
in him. And take note that Joseph was also a shepherd. We see in
the text that he was feeding the flock. He was feeding the
flock. Again, we have another picture
of Christ, who is what? The great shepherd of our souls,
the great shepherd of his people. Psalm 23 brings that out very
clearly, doesn't it? Let's turn there. I know you
all know it, and we all know it. We've heard it since we were
kids. Oh, for God's people, it means so much more, doesn't it?
He's the great shepherd. He's the one who feeds the flock.
He's the one who tends the flock. He's the one who cares for the
flock. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is. Jehovah is my shepherd. I shall
not want. All that a sinner needs is found
in Christ. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. That's the green pastures of
His Word, beloved. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. What do we find in Christ? Peace
and rest. Peace and rest. He restoreth my soul, where born
again by the Holy Spirit of God. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for His name's sake. Well, we're clothed in
this perfect spotless righteousness, and He leads us, doesn't He?
Scripture says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
and we're only good in Christ. He leads me in the path of righteousness
for His namesake, according to His plan and purpose. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and this
life is the valley of the shadow of death, beloved. We have trials
and tribulations in this world, and death Death has no sting
for the believer anymore. No sting. Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
For thou art with me. The Lord is with me. He's my
shepherd. Jehovah's my shepherd. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of vying enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Again, we're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And does not our cup
overflow in spiritual blessings, beloved? Oh my. Surely goodness and mercy. One
preacher said, these are the sheep dogs of God. Keep us going. Keep us in line. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Goodness and mercy.
Oh, we've received both in Christ, haven't we? Both of them in Christ. So this figure of our great Savior
as the shepherd of his people brings forth that he is ever
watchful over his people. Oh, he loves his people. He watches
over them. Brings forth his patience in
the fact that he protects us. And we see here in our text the
shadow and Joseph feeding the flock. Who feeds us as believers? The great shepherd. The great
shepherd of our souls speaks not only of the earthly ministry
of our Lord, who was sent unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel, and who spent himself in tending the needs of others
and giving his life for his people, but it speaks also of how he
continually feeds us through his word. And as the great shepherd, in
glory he's ever watchful over his people. And again, he feeds
us in the green pastures of his words. Let's go back to Genesis
chapter 37, look at verse two. These are the generations of
Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was feeding the flock with
his brethren. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and
with the sons of Zilphah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought
unto his father their evil report. We'll see all through this study
that Joseph has a right spirit within him. And in this section
in verse two, he's grieved in his spirit by evil, which his
brothers had done. Now, it's not indicated what
they did, just that they did something that was evil, something
that was evil. And Joseph gives an account of
what they did to his father. Now, if you have brothers and
sisters, you've experienced, you probably experienced when
your sibling will tell your parents when you've done something wrong. And it usually does not go over
well with your parents. It didn't with mine. And I didn't
like it when my brothers said something to me about me to my
parents, but as the youngest, I had developed the fine art
of just yelling, Mom, as the youngest. My brothers would get
yelled at, even if they did nothing wrong. And of course, it didn't
go over too well with my brothers. And I was usually the recipients
of a few quick shots from them, if they could catch me. Usually
I took off before that, knowing I'd be giggling away, taking
off, because knowing that knowing what was coming if they caught
me, but they sure didn't appreciate it when I did that. And even
when it was justified, they really didn't appreciate it. And I know
it's so for you all. We all know what that's like.
Some of us have been on the receiving end of that, and some of us have
been on the giving end of that. But Joseph, Joseph had a right
spirit about him. And so he goes and he tells his
father about the evil deed, not necessarily to get his brothers
in trouble, just to do what's right. To do what's right. And again, that wouldn't have
went over well with the brothers. Wouldn't have went over well
with them at all. But Joseph loved righteousness. He loved
righteousness and hated evil. And then again, in that respect,
he typified our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 9 says
this about our Lord. Now Israel, or it says, thou
hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Our Lord loves
righteousness and he hates iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
So the Father has anointed the Lord Jesus Christ with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows. He's showed favor to Christ in
his human form. Now let's look at verse three.
It says, now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because
he was the son of his old age and he made a coat of many, many
colors. I named this message loved by
the father because of this one verse right here, loved by the
father. Look at this. Now Israel loved
Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his
old age and he made him a coat of many colors. Now we know that
Joseph was the firstborn of Jacob's wife, Rachel. And we see here
in scripture that Israel, Jacob, loved Joseph more than all his
children because he was the son of his old age. Turn, if you
would, to Genesis chapter 30. We'll read verses 22 to 24. And
the scripture declares this in verse
22 to 24. And God remembered Rachel, and
God hearkened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived and
bare a son and said, God hath taken away my reproach. And she
called his name Joseph and said, the Lord shall add to me another
son. Again, I mentioned earlier that
Joseph manifested the right spirit before his father. And listen
to what John Gill brings forth about verse three there. It's one of the reasons why Jacob
loved Joseph more than others. Though Joseph was a child in
years, he was old in wisdom and knowledge. In all probability,
Joseph spent more time with his father than his brothers did.
Being an old man, Jacob would need someone to lean on as he
walked from place to place, sometimes to minister to his needs. And
as one wisely stated, it is a custom with the old man to take one
of their little children in this culture. It was a custom with
an old man to take one of their little children to be with them
continually and attend upon them and minister to them and lean
upon their arm. And such as one was called the
son of their old age, which is what Joseph is called in our
text here, because he ministered to them. in their old age. Let's look
at verse three again and we see that Jacob loved Joseph above
all his children. Now Israel loved Joseph more
than all his children because he was the son of his old age.
And he made him a coat of many colors. Take note of the words
before us. We see that Israel loved Joseph
more than all his brethren. And how Jacob, Israel, Jacob,
loved Joseph, how he loved him. We see here proclaimed in this
verse. And we see here also how he's distinguished from his brethren,
don't we? We see here how he's distinguished
from among his brethren by his father giving him a coat of many
colors. We also see later in the life
of Joseph that Jacob's inconsolable grief when he believed that Joseph
had been destroyed by beasts because he loved him. And what love is also manifest
that we'll see later on in the fact that Jacob made a long journey
to Egypt just to look upon his son's face again when he found
out he was alive. And all these things tell us
of a great, deep love that Israel, Jacob, had for Joseph. Now think,
beloved of God, of the father's love for his only begotten son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Marvel at how Joseph was the object of Jacob's
love, Israel, because he was a child of Israel's old age. Turn, if you would, to Proverbs
chapter 8. And again, what a picture of the love that God the Father
has for the Son of God. He was daily the Father's delight
and glory in eternity. He was daily the Father's delight. Look at this in Proverbs chapter
8 verse 22. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of His way. before his works of old." Look at that. Proverbs 8.22,
the Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways before
his works of old. Well, this is speaking of the
Father with the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, we know.
Then I was, look at verse 30. Then I was by him as one brought
up with him, and I was daily his delight. Daily. Rejoice in
always before Him. Now God the Son was not born
in time, beloved. He is the second person of the
Trinity. He is eternally the begotten
Son of God, the eternal Father, very God of very God, equal with
the Father. He's totally equal with the Father,
as well as equal with the Holy Spirit. The three are one. Turn,
if you would, to John chapter 1, where we see this is so plainly
brought forth. And we know the Word of God was made flesh. The Word of God was made flesh. Look at how clearly this is brought
forth that the Word was with the Father in eternity. John 1, 1 to 3. In the beginning
was the Word. That's the one we read of, who
was daily the Father's delight. And the Word was with God. We
saw that, daily His delight. And the Word was what? Was God.
Now, the Jehovah Witnesses, they do gymnastics over the Greek,
and the Greek, and they put was a God. No, it's called logos.
It's he's God. He's God. He's the word of God.
There's no way that you can put a God in there. He's God. Was God. Period. End of story. Look at this. The same was in
the beginning with God. We read about that in Proverbs
chapter 8, didn't we? We just read about that. All
things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything
made that was made. Well, He's the Creator. And then
look at verse 14. Look at this. And the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. The mystery of the incarnation. And dwelt among us. We beheld
His glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Again, the Lord Jesus Christ
is God incarnate in the flesh. And in him is all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. So marvel at the love of Jacob
for Joseph. This is a picture of God's love
for his only begotten son. It's a picture of God's love
for his only begotten son and how sweetly it is illustrated
here before us in this text. We know the Son of God became
incarnate. He was going about his public
ministry, and the heavens were opened. And what happened when
the heavens were opened? The voice of the Father was heard
saying what? This is my beloved Son. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I'm well pleased. And near the end of the ministry
of our Savior, we again see the Father's voice or hear the Father's
voice again at the Mount of Transfiguration saying, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him. So the Father's
love for the Son is so obvious all through scripture. It's a
great love. It's an everlasting love. And then in John 10, 17, our
Lord says this, therefore doth my Father love me because I lay
down my life that I might take it again. Oh, His Father, what
great love the Father has for the Lord Jesus Christ. In the God, the Father also manifested
His great love that He had for the Lord Jesus Christ by raising
Him from the grave, beloved, by raising Him from the grave
and exalting Him on high when He had finished the work which
the Father gave Him to do. And what was that work? To redeem
us from our sins. Scripture declares, wherefore,
God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name. God did this. So God the Father
has highly exalted his blessed son. He's now seated at the right
hand of glory, interceding for his people. And each believer
can say, for me, he's doing that for me. Oh, what great love the
Father has for the Son. Let's go back to our text there
in verse 3. And we see that Israel, Jacob, made Joseph a coat of
many colors. Now Israel loved Joseph more
than all his children, because he was the son of his old age.
And he made him a coat of many colors. Now some believe that
this was a long coat that reached down to Joseph's ankles, with
sleeves that reached all the way to the palms of his hands.
Nevertheless, either way, it was a coat. It was a coat. with
different pieces of various colors. Listen to what John Gill brings
forth about this. This might be an emblem of the
various virtues which early appeared in Joseph, or rather of the several
graces of the Spirit of God implanted in him, and of the raiment of
needlework, the righteousness of Christ, which he was clothed. in his various providence, which
Jacob, under the spirit of prophecy, foresaw he, Joseph, would be
attended with. And note the father, Israel,
Jacob, made the coat for Joseph. And here we have a picture of
the believer clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ.
And distinguished from their brethren in the flesh, think
of this. I have two other brothers. Nephews and nieces, as far as
I know, I'm the only one who has been saved in my family. And God has clothed me in his
son's righteousness. Think of that in your life as
a believer. God clothed you in the righteousness
of Christ. He's distinguished you from your
brother. And it's God who's done this. It's all the work of God. And
it's He who clothed us in that righteousness, isn't it? He did
it all. The Father clothes us in Christ's
righteousness, which we desperately need to be in the presence of
God. We could not be in the presence of God without the wedding garment. the pure, spotless righteousness
of Christ. Now, we cannot manufacture a
righteousness which would make us fit to be in God's presence,
can we? No, no one can. That's why we
must be clothed in Christ's righteousness. We must be. And each believer
is. How this is brought forth in
the scripture that says, for he hath made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Again, our, our sins are imputed to Christ and the
father clothes us in the perfect righteousness of Christ. It's
wondrous. It's absolutely wondrous beloved.
And the righteousness of Christ is a robe, which our heavenly
father prepares for his people. And it's given to us freely according
to the will of God, isn't it? It's given to us freely according
to the will of God, by the grace of God, through Christ alone.
And it's Christ who's brought out this perfect robe of righteousness
for his people. This is called the garment of
salvation. The garment of salvation, that we are wrapped in, that
we're clothed in. Look at verse four and it says,
and when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than
all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably
unto him. We see Joseph was distinguished
from his brethren by the love of Israel. Beloved, we are distinguished
from our brethren by the grace and love of God and the mercy
of God in and through Christ. We see here that Joseph was distinguished
from his brethren in the love that Israel had for Joseph, and
the fact that he gave him a coat of many colors. And think of
how that would distinguish him even more from his brethren. And if he
wore that, they'd see him in that coat knowing that was given
to him by our father. How come we don't have one? And so, verse four exposes the
wicked hearts of his brethren and their hatred for Joseph by
their attitude toward him and by the way they spoke of him.
Now think of how our Lord came to this earth. Why? To redeem
us from our sins. And think of how he was despised
and rejected by man. a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And even when we were dead in
trespasses and sins, even when we despised our Lord, when we
were in that situation, if not by words, then by our actions.
Right? But now, what a great change
has been wrought in us. We're born again to the Holy
Spirit of God. And now we love Him. And now we're clothed in
His perfect spotless righteousness. All because of what Christ has
done for us. All because He died on Calvary's
cross in our place. All because He shed His blood
to purchase our eternal souls. Now we love Him who is the Great
Shepherd of our souls. We love He who is called the
Lord our righteousness. That's what He's called, isn't
He? Lord, our righteousness. He's our Savior. He's our Redeemer. And He's our King. And God's
people say, praise His mighty name. Heavenly Father, we thank
You again for allowing us to look into Thy Word. And oh, what
a picture what Joseph is of Thee, Lord Jesus. And we see in this
portion here what a picture he is of every believer being clothed
in that. the special coat of many colors.
What a picture of the righteousness of Christ and how it is you,
Father, who bestows that upon we who are your people. Glory
to you, Lord. Honor and praise to thy name.
In Jesus' name, amen. AHH! D'OH!