Joseph & Jesus: The Robe Dipped in Blood
Gen. 37:31-35 Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe." He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces." Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.
Rev. 19:13 "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God."
John 5:39-40 "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
"Some ferocious animal has devoured him." Religious people like to talk about how others killed Jesus. They talk about the cruelty of the ancient Romans, or the evil religious leaders in Israel back then. Or sometimes they talk about the gross sinners around us today, saying that they are the reason Jesus had to die. But we need to look inside ourselves, and see our own sin. We ourselves are responsible for his death. It is our pride, our jealousy, and our materialism that nailed him to the cross. Our Heavenly Father is not deceived. He knows who the real "ferocious animals" are. (Matt. 7:15). They pretend to be religious but they do not really fear the Lord. They do not see their own sin; they call everyone else a sinner. We can only receive a transformed life, the new birth, when we admit that Jesus had to die for our sin, and that we have forgiveness only because of his great mercy and love for us.
The life of Joseph is prophetic; like everything else in the Old Testament, it points forward to the Lord Jesus and his Project of Salvation. That is why Jesus rebuked the religious leaders in his day; they would study the Scriptures intently, but only to glean principles and precepts for living a good religious life. They failed to see Jesus in the stories, so they failed to get LIFE from the Bible. It was just the letter for them – they thought God just wanted them to learn religious ideas from His Word. But the letter kills (2 Cor. 3:6) – it brings no spiritual life, and it turns real Christians into mere religious experts. Only the Spirit brings life, and the Spirit testifies to Jesus through every passage in the Old Testament. We have introduced this doctrine in pervious messages, however, so we shall now move along.
Joseph, like Jesus, came to his brothers with a revelation, and as happened with Jesus, they hated him for it and tried to kill him. Joseph was the favorite son of his father, just as Jesus was the Heavenly Father's "Beloved Son." Joseph was rejected by his brothers, but later was given all authority and power so that his brethren had to bow before him – as with Jesus. Joseph's life was a prophetic picture of Jesus. In this part of the story, Joseph's brothers have sold him as a slave for a few silver coins. This is prophetic of Jesus being betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (see Zech 11:12-13; Matt 27:9). They sold him to foreigners (Midianites who took him to Egypt), just as Jesus' own people rejected him so that he became the Savior for the Gentiles.
Then the brothers took Joseph's robe – a special robe his father had made for him – and dipped it in blood. This is also prophetic of the Lord Jesus, who "wears a robe dipped in Blood" in eternity (Rev. 19:3). The vision recorded in the end of the Bible, where Jesus returns on the clouds of heaven with power and glory, mentions one identifying characteristic of this "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." In this particular vision (Revelation 19:11-21), it does not use the name "Jesus." Instead he is called Faithful and True, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Word of God. It is clear that this is Jesus himself, but the names used connect him with his role or position in eternity (for example, as the "Word" or the Project of God); "Jesus" became his name when he came to earth as a man.
Gen. 37:31-35 Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe." He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces." Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.
Rev. 19:13 "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God."
John 5:39-40 "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
"Some ferocious animal has devoured him." Religious people like to talk about how others killed Jesus. They talk about the cruelty of the ancient Romans, or the evil religious leaders in Israel back then. Or sometimes they talk about the gross sinners around us today, saying that they are the reason Jesus had to die. But we need to look inside ourselves, and see our own sin. We ourselves are responsible for his death. It is our pride, our jealousy, and our materialism that nailed him to the cross. Our Heavenly Father is not deceived. He knows who the real "ferocious animals" are. (Matt. 7:15). They pretend to be religious but they do not really fear the Lord. They do not see their own sin; they call everyone else a sinner. We can only receive a transformed life, the new birth, when we admit that Jesus had to die for our sin, and that we have forgiveness only because of his great mercy and love for us.
The life of Joseph is prophetic; like everything else in the Old Testament, it points forward to the Lord Jesus and his Project of Salvation. That is why Jesus rebuked the religious leaders in his day; they would study the Scriptures intently, but only to glean principles and precepts for living a good religious life. They failed to see Jesus in the stories, so they failed to get LIFE from the Bible. It was just the letter for them – they thought God just wanted them to learn religious ideas from His Word. But the letter kills (2 Cor. 3:6) – it brings no spiritual life, and it turns real Christians into mere religious experts. Only the Spirit brings life, and the Spirit testifies to Jesus through every passage in the Old Testament. We have introduced this doctrine in pervious messages, however, so we shall now move along.
Joseph, like Jesus, came to his brothers with a revelation, and as happened with Jesus, they hated him for it and tried to kill him. Joseph was the favorite son of his father, just as Jesus was the Heavenly Father's "Beloved Son." Joseph was rejected by his brothers, but later was given all authority and power so that his brethren had to bow before him – as with Jesus. Joseph's life was a prophetic picture of Jesus. In this part of the story, Joseph's brothers have sold him as a slave for a few silver coins. This is prophetic of Jesus being betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (see Zech 11:12-13; Matt 27:9). They sold him to foreigners (Midianites who took him to Egypt), just as Jesus' own people rejected him so that he became the Savior for the Gentiles.
Then the brothers took Joseph's robe – a special robe his father had made for him – and dipped it in blood. This is also prophetic of the Lord Jesus, who "wears a robe dipped in Blood" in eternity (Rev. 19:3). The vision recorded in the end of the Bible, where Jesus returns on the clouds of heaven with power and glory, mentions one identifying characteristic of this "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." In this particular vision (Revelation 19:11-21), it does not use the name "Jesus." Instead he is called Faithful and True, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Word of God. It is clear that this is Jesus himself, but the names used connect him with his role or position in eternity (for example, as the "Word" or the Project of God); "Jesus" became his name when he came to earth as a man.
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