“And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.” Acts 7:9,10.
Stephen, in preaching his final message before his hearers stoned him to death, showed how those of his generation were of the same spirit of anti-Christ as Joseph’s brethren who hated him without a cause. How many messages have you heard from the story of Joseph through the years? How many of them were merely to teach morals of how to endure affliction, or show love to those who hate you? While these all may be true and important, yet, Stephen shows that this was a precursor to the affliction and hatred that our LORD Jesus would endure at the hands of the Jews.
What was the cause of Joseph’s brothers hatred of him, and what are the parallels that we find with the LORD Jesus, and the contradiction of sinners that he endured?
His brethren hated him because he was beloved of his father. Genesis 37:3- “And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.” Jesus Christ is the Beloved Son of God; in whom the Father is well pleased, Matthew 3:17. Self-righteous works religionists hate the honor that God the Father has purposed for His Son, and would rather die in their sin than bow to Him whom the Father has sent.
His brethren further demonstrated their hatred in not believing him. When Joseph revealed to his brethren the dream that God gave him of ruling over them, and their sheaves doing obeisance to him, they answered him, “Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words,” Genesis 37:8. The same was said of the LORD Jesus Christ, having been sent unto his own, and their answer was, “But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.” Luke 19:14. Such is our nature in the depravity of our flesh. We prefer to continue in condemnation than to bow to Him whom the Father has sent to work out the salvation of His people. Yet, while our representatives cried, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him,’ the LORD purposed that through the contradiction of sinners against Himself, He would accomplish the salvation of His people, Acts 2:23. Joseph, in type, was delivered into slavery, but did not die at their hands. Yet his brethren did conspire to put him to death, such was their disdain for him. They also conspired to put our LORD Jesus to death, and delivered Him up to die. Yet, those who plotted His death, while accomplishing their will, fulfilled God the Father’s will. Through His death, God the Father justified once for all that people He purposed to save from eternity, and saved them there and then, in one time and one place, by His death, Romans 5:9-11.
Ultimately, Joseph’s brethren were brought to him, and he revealed to them that their hatred, God had purposed for good and they were saved alive, Genesis 50:20. So, our LORD Jesus, died, rose again and ascended on high, and now by His Spirit, is calling to Himself each one for whom He paid the debt. By His Grace He turns their hatred into love for Him, 1 John 4:19. Such is His work of unmerited but effectual grace, John 6:37.
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