Joseph — Type of Messiah, Mirror of Israel

A New Kind of Hero

The Torah portion of Miketz continues one of the most important stories in the whole five books of Moses — the story of Joseph. In this Torah portion, the projector light is fully focused on Joseph, a clear antihero who takes center stage from now to the end of the book of Genesis.

There is an additional character in this story that is mentioned very little, but He is the main actor, mover and shaker — the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. "Elohim" — "God" — is mentioned only 13 times in this text and the proper name of God "The Tetragrammaton" (the four letters) is not mentioned at all. Eleven of these places that "Elohim" is mentioned are in the mouth of Joseph himself. Twice Pharaoh acknowledges that Joseph is speaking and doing God's will and receiving revelation from God.

Jacob/Israel — Why He Loved Joseph More

Let's rewind for a moment to last week's portion and explore the reason why his brothers hated Joseph. This will help us understand not only the beginning of this story better but also its progression and its end. The Reason for this hatred in fact was because of Jacob. Note that it does not say Jacob loved Joseph more than his other brothers, but it says, "Israel loved Joseph more than all his children." This use of "Israel" in a context of a chapter that is telling the history of Jacob is of great significance. When the Word of God uses "Jacob", it refers to Jacob's old nature, who was a kind of a shifty character. "Israel" is the name that God gave to Jacob after contending with the angel at the river Jabbok. The Jacob that loved Joseph more than his other sons was not the shifty character that took the inheritance from his brother Esau, but the Jacob who contended with God and came out winning the blessing and the change of name from Jacob to Israel. This is the right Jacob/Israel who loves Joseph more.

Jacob has the gift of prophecy. We see this in the end of the book of Genesis in Jacob's blessing of his sons. Jacob predicts the future of the tribes and points out from which tribe the Savior will come, and many more predictions for each tribe. Jacob's prophetic gift is the explanation of why Jacob loved Joseph more than all his brothers. Jacob saw Joseph's character and how Joseph will eventually save his brothers and the family from disaster. Even though Jacob's love for Joseph would be eventually proven and justified, the hate that the brothers developed against their younger brother was also predictable, and it played a part in the ultimate salvation of all the Abrahamic family, and the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham and the salvation of the world.

Joseph as Messiah — What Judaism Says

In Judaism, Joseph is a type of a Messiah, and is attributed Messianic characteristics: He is despised and rejected by his brothers. He is delivered to the Gentiles. His brothers first want to kill him. Joseph rises to greatness and honor among the Gentiles. Joseph is considered a savior among the Egyptians (Gentiles). His brothers are afraid of Joseph, and suspect that he wants to harm them. Joseph showed mercy and forgiveness to his brothers who sold him to the Gentiles. Joseph saves his brothers and his family from the hunger in the land of Canaan.

This is the reason why, in rabbinical tradition, Joseph is considered a Messiah who dies and saves. Here is a Talmudic text (Sukkah 52a) that describes the death of the Messianic Joseph — not the historical Joseph from Egypt, but the Messiah son of Joseph:

These Rabbis acknowledge that Zechariah 12:10,11 is talking about the Messiah. This is of great significance, since in polemic discussions this is denied. The Joseph Messiah dies to deliver mankind from the Evil Inclination — the human force that leads to sin. The idea that there is a Messiah who dies to deliver humanity from sin is also normally denied by Jewish polemicists. Here you have a clear and present answer.

The Story of Joseph and the Story of Yeshua

Yeshua Himself is like Joseph, motivated by God's promises to the nation of Israel, even a long time before Yeshua saw the light of day outside of His mother's womb. Like Joseph, Yeshua is despised and rejected by man, by His own brothers, except Jacob ("James" in English), who becomes Yeshua's ambassador after the crucifixion and resurrection and ascension of Yeshua back to the Father. The story of Joseph, the son of Jacob, and the story of Yeshua, the son of Joseph, interweave with each other in so many ways that they become almost mirror images of each other.

The same is true with Yeshua, our Lord and Messiah: Where we stand today is not the end of the story. The cross is not the end of the story. The resurrection of Yeshua from the grave is not the end of the story. The end of the story has not yet happened. Yeshua is now in Heaven, seated in glory at the right hand of the Almighty God of Israel, like Joseph was in Egypt, serving as the prime minister/ right hand of Pharao.

When Yeshua returns to Jerusalem in glory, every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that He is the King of Glory, and He will reveal Himself to His brothers saying: "It is me, Yeshua, your brother"