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No.33.
Joseph---The Dominion Promised and Postponed
(Gen. 37: - 39:).
pp. 109 - 114
We have seen in earlier studies that the first section of Genesis which deals with the
RACE is bounded by two typical figures, Adam and Noah. We see also that the
second section which deals with the NATION is bounded by two typical figures,
Abraham and Joseph.
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 N.T., 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' (Rom. 5: 14). The last is Joseph, to whom is `added' his brother Benjamin,
the son of the right hand equally a figure of the same blessed One. Adam's story is of
terrible failure involving all his seed in ruin. Joseph's story is one of suffering as a path
to 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 forfeit 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 in 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