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Fundamentals of Dispensational Truth.
#37. Joseph--The Dominion Promised and Postponed.
pp. 5 - 7
Passing over the chapter that is devoted to the generations of Esau we open at
Gen. 37: and read:--
"And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph . . . . ."
Jacob's generations are not written as from Padan-aram and the house of Laban, but
from Canaan, the land of pilgrimage. Jacob uses this word "stranger" in 47: 9, when
he speaks of the years of his "pilgrimage". The pilgrim character of the family of faith is
a very "fundamental of dispensational truth". All the exhortations to leave the world and
its ways, which so characterize the writings of the New Testament, emphasize this truth.
The second item of importance in this statement of the generations of Jacob is the fact
that it is practically the life story of Joseph. We do not read, "These are the generations
of Jacob. Reuben . . . . . ," but "Joseph". The other sons are referred to as "his brethren".
Joseph is pre-eminently the great type of Christ in Genesis, and this again leads us to
another great fundamental of all truth; whether doctrinal or dispensational Christ is all.
The first great type of Christ in Genesis is Adam, "who was a figure of Him that was to
come". The last is Joseph, equally a figure of the same blessed one. Adam's story is one
of awful failure involving all his seed in ruin. Joseph's story is one of suffering as a path
of glory with the object that he may "preserve life".
It may be interesting to note the complete little picture that Genesis presents in the
seven great types of Christ that it contains:--
A
| ADAM.--Sin forfeits life.
B | ABEL.--The accepted offering.
C | SETH.--Substitution.
D | NOAH.--Atonement ("pitch").
C | ISAAC.--Substitution.
B | JUDAH.--Suretyship.
A | JOSEPH.--Sufferings lead to preservation of life.
The record on Gen. 37: does not say, "Now Jacob loved Joseph", but "Israel
loved Joseph". Israel, the prince with God, loved Joseph more than all his children.
Joseph's position in the family is indicated by the "coat of many colours", which his
father made for him. The marginal alternative of the A.V., "pieces", is to be rejected.
The same word is used in Judges 5: 30 where it refers to "divers colours of needlework".
The embroidered garments of Aaron--the blue, the purple and the scarlet, were symbols
of the priestly office. Joseph was the heir and the priest of the family. When Rebekah
prepared Jacob to deceive Isaac and to seek the birthright, she took "raiment of desires".