A Suffering Servant and Type of Christ

“And the LORD was with Joseph…” —Genesis 39:2

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” —Isaiah 53:3

One of the more well-known titles for the Lord Jesus Christ is “Messiah, Son of David.” Certainly, Jesus is the King of Israel in fulfillment of that prophecy. Yet, the Jews also had another name for God’s Christ: “Messiah, Son of Joseph,” a reference to the suffering servant of Genesis 37 and Isaiah 53. Joseph, the son of Jacob was, indeed, a suffering servant of God Almighty; however, his life was a prophetic foreshadow of the Christ to come.

JOSEPH’S LIFE: One Fraught with Sorrow

a. Joseph lost his mother during the birth of his younger brother (Gen 35:18-19).

b. Jacob’s special favor upon Joseph (Gen 37:3) only made Joseph’s brothers hate him all the more (Gen 37:4).

c. Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him (Gen 37:18).

d. Joseph was sold into bondage by his brothers (Gen 37:28).

e. In the house of Potiphar, Joseph was constantly tempted by a seductress (Gen 39:7).

f. Joseph was imprisoned through lies (Gen 39:12-20).

g. Joseph received only empty promises from those he helped (Gen 40:14, 

23).  Continue at Jon J. Cardwell

See Also: Nine Good Purposes in Our Suffering

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The Gospel of the Old Testament

This is the Gospel. It was preached to Adam after the fall; the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head: the first Gospel-sermon, delivered before the curse of God’s broken law had been pronounced. To Abraham it was preached in clearer terms; ” In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;” and by Moses to Israel, ” I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of the land of Egypt.” Moses was the typical deliverer. In David, Christ was exhibited still more clearly; he is the true David, the real Beloved. And indeed if Christ was not preached, then were the saints of old not saved; for the Scripture says, “there is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved.” “By the deeds of the law shall no man living be justified?” “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever;” yesterday under the law, to-day under the Gospel, and forever, the same one and only Saviour. If therefore, men under the former dispensation were saved at all, and we know assuredly they were, they must have been saved by Christ —by the Gospel. Read the rest HERE

Two Types of Religion

Genesis 4:1-8 – Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 

Many years ago, I heard a Bible teacher describe the following five contrasts between the religion of Abel and the religion of Cain. 

(1) Abel’s religion was based on divine revelation – According to Heb. 11:4, Abel’s offering was given in faith, and according to Rom. 10:17, the way faith comes is through the means of hearing the word of God.
Cain rejected divine revelation. Keep Reading>>>