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Skip Heitzig: Chapter 37. Oh, we'll begin a few verses back, verse 26. So Judah said to his brothers, what profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. Like like they're being nice. And his brothers listened. Then the Midianite traders passed by, so the brothers pulled Joseph up, lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. When Jesus was on the earth, there were lots of people around him.

As his ministry of 3 and 1/2 years went on and on, it was very controversial, but nonetheless, he commanded great crowds of people who were very interested in him as we have seen on Sunday morning in John chapter 6 because of his miracles. But though he was surrounded by lots of people, the closest to him were his disciples. Just like for Joseph, the closest to him were his own brothers. Now, there were 12 of these boys, 13 if you count Benjamin. So imagining having 12 brothers around you. Jesus had 12 of his brothers, his disciples around him.

Those closest to him many times didn't understand, and one of those who were closest to him, Judas, sold Jesus into the hands of the Romans for 30 pieces of silver. It's very similar. This is 20 shekels with Jesus. It says 30 pieces. Uniquely loved by his father, hated by his brothers, sold for 20 pieces of silver. Number four. He was accused, falsely accused for crimes he did not commit. Joseph didn't do what he was accused of. As we go on later on in our story, chapter 39, he's taken to Egypt. He's in Potiphar's house. Now, I'm fast forwarding the story.

He becomes one of the servants of Mr. Potiphar, one of the princes of Egypt. He's away at the office almost every day. His wife, Mrs. Potiphar, was a very lonely, desperate housewife. Joseph was a young, handsome, single man. And you know the story already, how Mrs. Potiphar came on to Joseph. Come on, Joey baby. Nobody's looking. You and I, man, come on. And you may remember that Joseph said with integrity, look at nobody physically, humanly might be looking, but God is looking. How could I do this wickedness and sin against God? At that point, she screams, she cries out, and she accuses Joseph of being a rapist.

A false accusation which lands him a stay in the Egyptian prison. Very similar to Jesus, falsely accused for crimes he did not commit. And once again, as I mentioned, before the Sanhedrin, they had to come up with false witnesses to bring in false accusations. And you know what they said about him? They said this man perverts the nation. They said that about Jesus. This man perverts the nation and forbids people to pay taxes to Caesar. They said that because Jesus said, render under Caesar the things that are Caesar's, but render under God the things that are God's.

False accusations. Number four. Accused falsely. Number five. Joseph was providentially placed next to two other criminals. Chapter 40, when he's put in prison, it says that there were two other men, a chief butler of Egypt and the chief baker, who were placed in the same cell next to Joseph, two criminals next to Joseph during his confinement. Now, that rings a bell. That brings us to the cross whereas Isaiah predicted and as the Gospels declare, Jesus was crucified between two criminals. One on the right, the Bible says, and one on the left, Luke chapter 23. It's also interesting that when Joseph was in prison, one of those other prisoners was set free and exalted, and the other one was killed.

I find that fascinating because the two that were next to Jesus, one on the right and one on the left, one mocked Jesus, blasphemed Jesus, and died in his sin, eternally separated from God. The other humbly cried out, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said, assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Spiritually one died, spiritually one lived. There's a sixth way in which Joseph looks like Jesus. Joseph was seemingly dead to his father before he appears alive sometime later. In chapter 37, if you go down to verse 32, it says they sent the tunic.

Now, they took Joseph's favored status clothing, dipped it in animal's blood, said it was Joseph's blood. And they brought it to their father and they said, we found this, liars. Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not? Leading question. And he recognized it and said, it is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt, Joseph is torn in pieces. Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. For years, his father thought he was dead until chapter 45. When the boys come back from Egypt needing to get grain, Joseph reveals himself to them and he goes, go tell my father I'm alive.

Well, they have to because they won't be able to get their son Benjamin back unless they do it. So they come clean with dad and they say, your son Joseph lives. The Bible says, when Jacob heard that his heart stood still. It's like, he couldn't believe it. That which was dead is now alive. How could that possibly be? And it was uncovered how it could be. But Joseph was dead to his father for a period of time and then revealed to be alive. As Jesus died on the cross, was buried, rose from the dead. Peter in Acts chapter 3 says to the people gathered in Jerusalem, you killed the prince of life, but God raised him up from the dead.

The seventh way in which Joseph is like Jesus or looks like Jesus is that Joseph rightfully was in charge of everything. As the story in Genesis unfolds, he becomes the prime minister of Egypt and he's in charge of everything. He pulls the strings effectively. He works in proxy for the king of Egypt himself. He rightfully is in charge of everything. Now, there's a hint of this if you go back to chapter 37 toward the beginning. In verse 5, it says Joseph had a dream. And again, we'll cover this more in depth later. And he told it to his brothers and they hated him even more.

So he said to them, please hear this stream which I have dreamed. There we were binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose also and stood upright. Indeed, your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf. Of course, they wouldn't like to hear that dream, but that was prophetic of what would happen. He would become in charge effectively, rightfully. He became in charge of everything and everyone. If anybody in Egypt wanted to eat food or get grain, the one who was in charge of doling out the percentage of grain was Joseph.

In charge of everything. Jesus said the father has committed everything into the hands of the son. Jesus is rightfully in charge of everyone and everything as well. And as we have been studying, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. Whoever believes in me will never thirst. Joseph looks a lot like Jesus. Number eight. And finally, I'll close with number eight since it tends to be the number of new beginnings and it's probably enough times said and spent is that with Joseph everyone humbly bowed down to him. Everyone humbly bowed down to Joseph.

As the story goes on in chapter 37 of these dreams that he tells his brothers in verse nine, it says he dreamed still another dream and he told it to his brothers. Now, you'd think he'd get a clue by this time. And he said, look, I've dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bow down to me. Not just your sheaves, but 12 + 2. Now, watch. His father gets the point and will interpret the dream. So he told it to his father and his brothers. And his father rebuked him and said, what is this dream that you have dreamed?

Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you? Well, that's exactly what happened. In chapter 42 and here's the text. It says Joseph's brothers, when they saw the prime minister of Egypt, not knowing it was Joseph, bowed down to the ground with their face to the ground before Joseph. In chapter 47 and 48 when Jacob sees him, he bows down, his face down to the ground. Same language. So your brothers and I bow down? Uh-huh. All y'all are going to bow down. That's why I say Joseph looks a lot like Jesus.

Philippians 2:10 that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.

Guest (Male): You're listening to connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, the 1960s promised us an explosion of love and brotherhood, but instead, they delivered a nation in turmoil, confusion, and moral decline. Fortunately, God has the solution for our damaged families. And in Beyond the Summer of Love, Relationships in the Real World, pastor Skip Heitzig gives a biblical guide for marriage and families that can help restore relationships which have been damaged by sin. Beyond the Summer of Love is our thanks for your gift of at least $25 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resources when you give $25 or more today to help reach people around the world with the good news of Jesus through connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today 's teaching with pastor Skip.

Skip Heitzig: So Joseph looks a lot like Jesus. Now, why are we going through this and why do we actually discover this? I've only covered eight of the very many ways in which Joseph looks a lot like Jesus. Simply to show you what you find a lot in the scripture, and that is the evidence of the fingerprint, so to speak, of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Writ in the scripture itself, in the superintending of the writing of the text so that we have the very words of God given to us. The whole Bible is filled with Jesus.

The whole Bible. That 's why we study the Old Testament. I've been asked, why do you study the Old Testament and the New Testament? Why don't you just study the New Testament? Well, because Jesus said to those religious leaders of his day, search the scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life, but these are they which testify of me. But even Genesis, even Leviticus and Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, the Torah, the works of Moses, oh yes. Because you see, after Jesus rose from the dead and he was walking along the Emmaus Road and there were those two disciples who were despondent and they said, man, we can't believe what's happened.

This Jesus guy whom we believed died and he spoke something about a resurrection. I don't really know what that's about. And Jesus said, oh, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered and entered into his glory? Now, listen to this. It says, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. He went back to Genesis. He took the writings of Moses and the prophets and he showed how one typifies him and another predicts him. And this one was symbolic of him.

Wouldn't you have loved to be in on that Bible study? If ever there was a time I wish somebody would have recorded that or put it on CD or tape or even a reel to reel. It was that prophetic Bible study, post resurrection of Christ and those on the way to Emmaus. Joseph looks a lot like Jesus. Here's the follow-up question. How much do you look like Jesus? Is there a family resemblance? Can people tell that you're a child of God? All my son's life he's heard, you look like your dad. But if somebody could say, you know what, I see enough of God in you that you remind me of the heavenly father or you remind me of Jesus.

What a compliment. How much do we look like him? How much of Jesus' values do we share? I think one of the things that tethers us to those values is what we're doing tonight and what we do once a month, taking the Lord's supper. It's the foundation. It's the rudimentary foundation of our faith. His broken body, his shed blood did it all. One of the things that Jesus said about himself is I am the light of the world. I am the light of the world. But he said something else. He said, you are the light of the world.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. But he said to his disciples, you are the light of the world. How much do you reflect his light? When you have a full moon, you get a good idea of how bright the sun shines on the moon and reflects. That's just a reflection. It's not the moon's light. The moon just reflects the sunlight and comes down to us quarter million miles away at 186,000 miles per second. You're seeing the glory of the sun reflected in the moon. Can people see the glory of the risen Christ reflected in us?

Now, I'm at the communion table. You notice something um burning with wax dripping all over it. It's something special and I wanted to display it tonight. It's a menorah. It was purchased. I bought it in Jerusalem from an antiquities dealer in Jerusalem. I actually saw it two years ago and I said, well, I'll think about it. And I gave him business card and he taped it to it. And when I was in his store a couple months back, two years after that time, my card was still attached to that menorah. So I thought, okay, I should just pick it up and not dawdle anymore.

So I purchased it. But it's a special menorah for a couple of reasons. Number one is the shape. The shape of this menorah is probably almost exactly what the shape of the menorah in the temple was like that was destroyed in 70 AD. Much smaller scale. And of course, this being uh brass as opposed to gold, but the same shape. And the reason I say that is because the only known accurate relief or depiction we have of the menorah of the temple at Jesus' time is found in Rome on a relief of what's called the Arch of Titus, a triumphal arch after Titus sacked Jerusalem and brought back some of the remnants of the temple.

And shown on there are they are they are carrying with them the menorah and its shape with the three steps and the dimensions are identical to this one. It is a symbol of the modern state of Israel, but it was a symbol in the tabernacle and in the temple of the presence of God. There was only one source of light in the tabernacle in the temple and that was the menorah. And no doubt their minds went to that when Jesus said, I am the light of the world. They would have thought of the light in the most holy place.

But also it's special because it's an antique menorah. This wasn't made just within a couple of years. This was made uh over 100 or 200 years ago. It's it's from a synagogue in a very special Galilean town called Spot. Spot or transliterated into English Safed. Safed. Now, besides having a lot of other interesting things attached to that, Safed was the city at the time of Jesus that could be seen from anywhere around the ring of the shores of Galilee and on the lake because it was a city set upon a hill. And Jesus pointed to that city and said, a city that is set upon a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but they put it up to give light to all that are in the house. Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. There were no other cities that were set upon a hill and that still are in that Galilean region like Spot, that ancient town. So Jesus was probably referring to that town and that is where the menorah came from. And when I found out its history, I thought, that's so significant.

It's such a great living illustration of what the Lord wants us to be. Reflectors of his glory, of his light. Wherever we go, wherever we work, whatever family system you're in, whatever store you shop in, whatever school you go to, whatever neighborhood you live in, turn on the light from time to time. Let people know the glory of the living Christ. As we pray, I'm going to ask the communion board to come forward. Our father in heaven, we are grateful. We're grateful for the salvation that comes by grace through faith. Grace. G R A C E, God's remedy at Christ's expense.

Grace, unmerited favor. Grace, undeserved goodness to the very worst of sinners by the very best being in the universe. We thank you for salvation that it's by grace. It's not by our works. It's not by our feeling. It's not by doing wonderful deeds. It's by your grace. And Paul said, it's in this grace that we stand. And it's a very confident stand because it is by your work. It will never wane. It will never diminish. It remains constant. Lord, I pray that we will respond to your grace. And our response would be a wholehearted commitment to seeing the life of Christ so transform us that when people say see us, they would say, you remind me a lot of Jesus.

You remind me a lot of God. You must be a part of that family. You must be one of his kids. Lord, do a deep work in us whereas Jesus, the light of the world shines in us, that we would simply reflect it. We don't have to come up with any source of our own. We don't have to come up or manufacture any greatness or goodness. Just let your light shine through us. Help us to do that.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you understand and follow God's plan for your relationships. Beyond the Summer of Love, Relationships in the Real World by pastor Skip Heitzig is our thanks for your support of connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $25 or more. Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/donate. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox?

Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on connect with Skip Heitzig.

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