ALL SCRIPTURES POINT TO JESUS (PART XII)

“Humiliation of Joseph & Jesus”

By Akin Ojumu

Anonymity is my natural proclivity. My comfort zone is invisibility and obscurity. Unlike a lot of people who derive great pleasure and fulfillment in visibility and prominence, being seen, being heard, and being known, make me queasy and uneasy. 

Whenever I find myself in the midst of a crowd, especially a crowd of people I don't consider close friends, I feel unsettled, and panic attacks set in. The feeling I get in such circumstances is the same feeling a fish gets when it’s out of water.

I say all that so that the readers of my writings would understand that I find no pleasure pushing out these commentaries. Putting myself out there, by way of my writings, is, to me, tooth extraction without local anesthesia. For me to publicly and openly express my views on sensitive and controversial subjects, like religious doctrines and politics, like I do in my essays, is completely out of character. This is especially true owing to the fact that I tend to find myself standing athwart popular opinions. And since my viewpoints typically go against the grain, they are often met with scorn and derision.

Trust me, if I didn’t think the topics I write about are matters of life and death, I would never have put myself in a vulnerable position of being a target of all sorts of criticisms. Even though this is the last thing I wanted to do with my life, there’s too much at stake to be concerned about my feelings getting hurt. 

Considering the level of deception in the Church and the multitudes whose faith is being shipwrecked, there’s too much at stake for me to be worried about my bruised ego. Given the barrage of false teachings and erroneous doctrines that have been unleashed on the Body of Christ by impostors and charlatans, it’s incumbent on every true Believer to confront this evil. The consequences of staying silent are simply too grave.

Having said all that, let’s get back to why we are here, i.e., the exploration of the life of Joseph in order to draw out the various parallels between him and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Connections 29

Joseph endured humiliation. He was sold into slavery, falsely accused, and then imprisoned. All this can be interpreted as Joseph being dead. And when Joseph was released from prison, freed from slavery, and elevated to the position of the second in command, we can say that he was quickened from the dead. 

In a sense, Joseph was dead in sin but was made alive again when he was redeemed from slavery and made the most powerful man in the land of Egypt following the hanging on the tree of the Chief Baker and the restoration of the Chief Cupbearer.

What this points to is the quickening of the dead sinner from the death brought about by sin. The dead sinner is quickened and made alive again through the work of Christ. By being hung on a tree, the Lord Jesus redeemed dead sinners from the prison of sin.

Genesis 40:19-22

“In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head – from you! – and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you…On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants….But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.”

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”

Connection 30

When Joseph rose from the dead, i.e., released from slavery and imprisonment, he was glorified, honored, and exalted to sit at the right hand of Pharaoh as the second in command in Egypt. 

Similarly, the risen Christ was glorified and honored, He ascended to Heaven and exalted to sit at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

Genesis 41:40-44

“You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

Hebrews 1:3-4

“After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

Philippians 2:9-11

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

To be continued.