Gen. 41:44
“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” God had one grand purpose in view and that was to exalt the one who had been rejected. As a result of the transformation from prisoner to prince entire nations were to benefit, and amazing events would take place, but these were all incidental to, and the result of, Joseph’s ascendency. He remains the central theme through all these passing scenes.
The place of Joseph’s promotion to honor was not among his own people, but among the Gentiles. His brethren in the land of Canaan had completely cut themselves off from him and knew nothing of his elevation; furthermore, they were entirely disinterested as well. The ignorance of Joseph’s brethren regarding his circumstances is not without significance for it further attaches Joseph to the reader’s heart and affections, being as he is, the ever-refreshing type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Every event that transpired in Joseph’s history brings to mind things that later were to be manifest in Christ, the true Joseph. When addressing the Jews at Pentecost, the Apostle Peter said: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it... Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2: 22-24,36.
The Jews, continuing to refuse Christ as their Messiah, received a solemn message from Paul and Barnabas: “It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us... And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord.” Acts 13:46-48.
The nation of Israel, while continuing to profess allegiance to God and maintaining some of the outward form and observances of the law of Moses, nevertheless has cast out God’s Son and has fallen outside the benefits and blessings of His death. There they must remain until a future day when they shall repent and the Lord will restore His alienated people. However, there are some among them who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, and have been set free from the blindness that has overtaken their nation.
ML 06/04/1967