Pointing to Jesus (Genesis 37)

Summary:

Genesis 37 introduces Joseph, the favored son of Jacob (Israel), who receives a multicolored coat from his father, inciting jealousy among his brothers. 

Joseph shares two prophetic dreams: one where his brothers’ sheaves of grain bow to his, and another where the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow to him, further fueling their hatred. 

While tending flocks near Dothan, the brothers plot to kill him but instead strip him of his coat, throw him into a pit (at Reuben’s suggestion to spare his life), and then sell him for twenty pieces of silver to passing Ishmaelite/Midianite traders who take him to Egypt.

To deceive Jacob, they dip the coat in goat’s blood and present it as evidence of Joseph’s death by a wild animal, leading Jacob to mourn deeply.

Pointing to Jesus:

Joseph emerges as a profound type of Christ, embodying the sovereign election and providential suffering ordained by God for redemptive purposes. 

Betrayed and sold by his own brothers for silver—mirroring Judas’s betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces (Matthew 26:15)—Joseph is stripped, cast into a pit (symbolizing death), and exalted in Egypt to save lives amid famine. 

This shadows humanity’s depravity in rejecting God’s chosen one, yet highlights divine predestination: as Joseph’s ordeal fulfills God’s plan to preserve the covenant line (Genesis 50:20), so Christ’s humiliation, crucifixion, and resurrection—foreordained before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:4-5)—secures salvation for the elect, turning evil intent into eternal good through sovereign grace.

Reflection:

This typology encourages Christians to trust God’s unchanging sovereignty amid personal betrayals or trials, recognizing that suffering often serves His redemptive purposes, refining faith and conforming believers to Christ’s image (Romans 8:28-29). 

It calls us to forgive as Joseph did, extend grace to the undeserving, and live with hope in our union with the exalted Savior, whose victory assures that no hardship can separate us from His electing love or ultimate deliverance.