With this in mind, Joseph was born into a family with eleven other brothers. "Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him." (Genesis 37:3-4.) (Actually, it was a tunic or under garment, a long shirt-like garment usually of linen. I believe it was not as many say or is written in Bible translations, of many colours. In any case, don't mention many colours to any unbelieving Jew. He will say: "Aha, Jesus didn't have any multi coloured coat." Unless you can answer this refer to it as a long-sleeved garment or shirt.)
Joseph was the most level-headed of the brothers. He had a good relationship with his Heavenly Daddy and with Jacob. Often He would give visions of how things would be in the future. This, of course, caused even more trouble. (Genesis 37:5.)
"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!” (Genesis 37:18-20.) So they hated him. Then they cast him into a pit. After this they sat down and had a meal! (Verse 25.) In time, however, they changed their mind again and sold him to Midianites. "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.) Consider these three verses:
1. “Now behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say: “Your close friends have set upon you and prevailed against you; Your feet have sunk in the mire, and they have turned away again.” (Jeremiah 38:22.)
2. "And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’ " (Zechariah 13:6.)
3. "And said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver." (Matthew 26:15.) Joseph is a type of Jesus Christ. Although the amount of silver is different the similarity gets the point across. He was also put in prison in Egypt for doing no wrong.
Still, God was with him in the prison. This can be seen by the fact he continued to understand fellow prisoners visions/dreams and interpret them. It happened as Joseph interpreted. "Then he restored the chief butler to his butler-ship again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them." (Genesis 40:21-22.) (Verse 23: "Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.") Joseph's time obviously wasn't yet. However, aren't these two (the butler and the baker) types of the two crucified either side of Jesus? One found salvation but the other didn't.
Later on we find Pharaoh has two dreams. The butler then "wakes up" and remembers Joseph - just as God intended. (It's also fairly apparent from the way the butler speaks that this is a different Pharaoh from the one who put him in prison and possibly the reason why God's timing was now.) The dream starts at beginning of Genesis 41. At verse 14 Joseph is called in before Pharaoh. The interpretation is thus: "Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." (Verses 29-32.) Aren't the seven years of abundance the church age? Likewise, the seven years of famine. Isn't this the Tribulation?
Let's read on. Joseph is made ruler of the land. (Verse 40:) "You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” So Joseph went out over all the land as ruler.
"Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly." (Genesis 41:47.) He's sowing the Israeli nation into the earth to bless and be blessed (in keeping with the covenant to Abraham in Genesis 12) during the church age. He has two sons by Asenath his wife given by Pharaoh during the years of plenty. (Verse 50.) "Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house.” And the name of the second he called Ephraim: “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” (Verses 51-52.) Manassah is therefore Israel. Ephraim is the Gentiles. Both go out into the church age or during the first seven years of plenty. Through this we see we are both brothers in the faith. Israel the elder. The church as the younger. Also, there's no third brother representing Islam. Or fourth representing end-time Edom. It's just two to Joseph!
He (Joseph) was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh. Another reference to Jesus.
"Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread." (Genesis 41:53-54.) Joseph ran what could be best described as a government plan for Pharaoh. He bought grain cheaply during the years of plenty then sold back at increased rates during the time of lack. There's no reference to people complaining. No one minded because they appreciated they would be dead without the wisdom of Joseph.
However, there's someone coming soon (to a world near us!) who will run his own "government plan" not so nice. We learn from later on in the Biblical story after the passing away of Israel (formerly Jacob), his brothers became scared Joseph might take revenge on them but he said: "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them." (Genesis 50:19-21.)
So they all went into the seven years of famine. A type of the Tribulation soon to come for us. Jacob's extended family have moved to the land of Goshen in Egypt. Because of the wisdom of Jesus dying for us on the Cross bringing salvation there is a future for both Jewish and Gentile believers. There's even also a land for the Jewish people during the Tribulation where they will be protected.
Look at how this plays out. Benjamin has done no wrong yet the cup is placed in his bag. Why? Because in the time of Jesus this tribe is part of the crowd along with Judah, the priests (or Levites), Samaritans (and Romans were there too) who call for Him (Jesus) to be crucified. He was guilty in the long run. But God always has a plan for mankind. In the prophet Zechariah we read: "In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves." (Zechariah 12:11-14.) Notice how it's the same group as in Jesus day? Nathan and David are both of the tribe of Judah. Shimei is Benjamin. They re all coming back to the Land in that day! It will be an interesting time coming soon. Amen.