Seeing Christ in the Life of Joseph: Giver of Life

Death is the ultimate problem every person faces. In essence, death is not annihilation, but a permanent separation. When a person dies physically, they don’t cease to exist; instead, their soul separates both from their body and from this world (Matthew 10:28; Hebrews 9:27). They dwell in the spiritual realm where they await the final resurrection which God will bring to pass when He comes for the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).

The real problem occurs when a person dies in their sin; they are also doomed to be eternally separated from God’s benevolent presence and suffer eternally under His punishment for their sin (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9). When a person goes to Hell, they enter their eternal death. The question every sinner needs to ask is, who can give life to the spiritually dead sinner?

This series will end by focusing on Joseph as the giver of life. We have already discussed the picture of the resurrection in Joseph’s life and considered its significance, as it pointed to the One Who would personally conquer sin and death. From there, the discussion naturally concludes not only with the personal conquest of death, but with the blessing of life given to all to who seek after it.

Joseph: The Giver of Life

The creation account recorded in the beginning of Genesis is filled with optimistic beauty, majesty, and mystery. In the very first verse the reader is immediately put face to face with God, “In the beginning God….” (Genesis 1:1). The text does not concern itself with arguing for God’s existence. There’s no crafty polemic to persuade the reader the God of the Bible is real. Scripture simply states the eternal truth. God is. He did not come from anywhere. No one or nothing created Him. God is eternal, and the fullness of life is found in Him alone.

Because He is the God of life, it’s no surprise He created the earth for life. Not only did God fill the earth with life, but He also provided the means necessary for life to flourish, including an abundance of food. When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, He told Adam, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).

Here we see God express His love and compassion toward Adam. He told Adam he could eat freely from any tree in the garden, except one. God showered Adam with an abundance of blessing and food. When God created the heavens and the earth, the world was a breathtaking paradise. However, after the Fall and the flood, the picture drastically changes.

When we come to the world-wide famine recorded in Joseph’s story, the whole earth has become a desolate place where all life struggles to survive (Genesis 41:53-57). Notice the complete reversal. In the beginning of Genesis, God placed humanity in paradise. Anywhere Adam and Eve turned, there was food and provision for life. There was only one place where they would find death: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Joseph’s account toward the end of Genesis, when God brings the famine, we see a completely different picture of the world. The entire world is deprived of food, and everywhere a person looks there is nothing but death.

Now, there is only one place to find life, and that’s through Joseph in Egypt. In a very real sense, God made Joseph the savior of the world because he alone could provide food to survive the famine.

Throughout Scripture, God continually demonstrates His unique ability to deliver from death. Whether it was war, extreme exposure in the wilderness, plagues, diseases, or even the inability to bear children, God demonstrates His power to save from death. In Joseph’s case, the looming threat of death came through famine. The Lord brought Joseph through a life of suffering and placed him in the only position to grant deliverance from death by providing bread for all who came to him (Genesis 45:4-8).

The most climactic point of Joseph’s deliverance revolves around his brothers, who betrayed him and sold him into slavery. When they come to Joseph, seeking food because of the famine, the text abounds with tension. It’s one thing for Joseph to deliver the Egyptians and others who didn’t wrong him personally, but how would he respond to his brothers who were so hateful toward him? When Joseph’s brothers come to him for food, their lives are in his hands; he has the power of life and death and will decide if they live or die.

The saga with Joseph’s brothers coming down to Egypt unfolds over the course of three journeys. On the first trip, Jacob sends his ten older sons down to Egypt for food, and withholds the youngest, Benjamin, for fear anything should happen to him. Benjamin was Joseph’s only full brother. Both Joseph and Benjamin were the only two born by Rachel, the wife Jacob loved most.

When Joseph’s ten (half) brothers make the first trip down to Egypt for food, they don’t recognize Joseph because his appearance was so dramatically changed, being dressed in royal Egyptian attire (Genesis 42:8). This first trip was full of tension, and Joseph treated his brothers harshly, accused them of being spies, and put them in prison for three days (Genesis 42:9-17). When Joseph released his brothers from prison, He sent them away with food, but told them to come back with Benjamin. To ensure his brothers came back and bring Benjamin, Joseph kept the one brother Simeon imprisoned until they returned (Genesis 42:18-28).

When the food ran out from the first trip, Joseph’s brothers were forced to come back to Egypt for more food. To Jacob’s dismay, they brought Benjamin because their lives depended on it (Genesis 43:1-15). That time, Joseph’s heart softened toward his brothers on account of Benjamin. Eventually, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and dealt kindly with them (Genesis 45:1-15). They were then sent to bring their father and the rest of his household down to Egypt, where they then settle in the land of Goshen so they could survive the famine (Genesis 47:1-6).

When it came to Joseph’s brothers, we see life given in the context of grace. It would have been easy for Joseph to refuse his brother’s request for food, but instead he showed them mercy. He recognized God’s hand in his life (Genesis 45:5-8) and also recognized that God alone reserves the right to judge sinners (Genesis 50:19-20). In Joseph, we are given a beautiful picture of life given in a context of grace to those who did not deserve it. This ultimately points us to Jesus Christ.