1. LOVED AND HATED Genesis 37: 1-11

Back to Joseph

To all who love our Lord Jesus Christ there is an abiding charm in the histories of the Old Testament saints, for therein can be traced bright unfoldings of the glories and excellencies of Christ. Such foreshadowings of things to come are doubtless hidden to the natural man, but plainly discerned by those who, through the Spirit, seek "in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."

Of all Old Testament histories none presents a richer or more distinct picture of Christ than the touching story of Joseph. Other lives may give in greater detail personal experiences and human failure, teaching many a wholesome lesson; but as the story of Joseph is unfolded we feel that the Spirit of God keeps in view the display of the glory of Christ, and all that pertains to the weakness and failure of a man of like passions with ourselves has little or no place. And yet, however rich the picture, we soon recognize that the life of no single saint could adequately set forth the fullness of Christ. In common with Joseph, other saints of God, as Isaac in his day, and David and Solomon in a later day, have their tale to tell concerning the glories of Christ. Moreover, there is no mere repetition, each has some special glory to disclose. Isaac tells of the sufferings and affections of Christ whereby He gains His bride; David of His sufferings and victories whereby He gains His kingdom; Joseph of His suffering and supremacy by which He administers His kingdom. Solomon takes us a step further and unfolds the glories of His kingdom when He is supreme.

HIS SERVICE

The story opens with Joseph, as a lad of seventeen, feeding the flock with his brethren and "doing service" with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah. He who will yet be supreme must first be a servant. The place of supremacy is only reached by the path of service, according to the word of the Lord: "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (Matt. 20: 26, 27). In this the Lord Himself is the perfect example of His own teaching, for He can say, "I am among you as He that serveth" (Luke 22: 27). And because He "took upon Him the form of a servant . . . and became obedient unto . . . the Cross.... God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name." Thus at once in this history we see that shadowing forth of One that is greater than Joseph.

HIS SHEPHERDING

But there are other ways in which the opening history of Joseph will speak of Christ. Like Moses and David in a later date, Joseph is a leader of sheep before he becomes a leader of men. For forty years Moses must be content to lead a flock of sheep at the back of the desert before he becomes the leader of God's people through the desert. And of David, is it not written that Jehovah "chose . . . His servant and took him from the sheepfolds . . . He brought him to feed Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance" (Ps. 78: 70, 71)? Thus not only in the fact of service but in the manner of service these saints of old prefigure the great Shepherd of the sheep.

HIS SEPARATION

Service with his brethren, however, does not necessarily imply fellowship with their evil. As the obedient servant he is very near them; as a man of integrity he is entirely apart from them. His service brought him into the company of others, his character made him a man apart from others, his very presence exposing their wickedness, so that he can but bring to his father "their evil report." And thus it was with Christ the perfect Saviour; His grace brought Him very near to us in all our need, His holiness kept Him entirely apart from all our sin. Our desperate needs, and His infinite grace, made Him a Servant moving amidst the needy crowds, and yet our sin and His holiness made Him a lonely Stranger in the land. As the perfect Servant He was accessible to all, as a holy Man He was apart from all. His service of love took Him into many a needy home, His holiness left Him without a home.

HIS SUPERIORITY

If, however, the character of Joseph set him apart from his brethren, the love of his father gave him a distinguished place above his brethren, for we read "Israel loved Joseph more than all his children." Moreover Israel bears witness to this place of distinction by clothing Joseph with a coat of many colours — a public testimony to the delight of the father in his son. At once our thoughts travel from Joseph to Christ and the unique place He had in the Father's affections, and the Father's pleasure in bearing witness to His delight in His Son. The very chapter that tells us, "God so loved the world," also tells us that "the Father loveth the Son." A measure is given to the love of God for the world, infinite though it be, but no measure is, or can be, given for the Father's love to the Son. The announcement stands in all its majestic dignity. "The Father loveth the Son," and faith delights to accept it. But if the Father can furnish no measure for this love, He can bear witness to His love for the Son. Joseph's coat of many colours, the public testimony of his father's love, has its bright counterpart in the opened heavens of the New Testament.

Never are the heavens opened apart from Christ, and when opened they always bear some fresh witness to the Father's delight in the all-varied graces of the Son. No sooner has Christ taken His place on earth as the Servant of Jehovah than at once "the heavens were opened unto Him" that the host of heaven might look down on a Man on earth of whom the Father can say: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3: 16, 17). A little later and again the heavens are opened, that a man on earth may look up and bear witness to "the Son of Man" in heaven (Acts 7: 55, 56). Again, the day is not far distant when the heavens will be opened to let the Son of Man come forth in glory as the victorious "King of kings, and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19: 11-16). Having come forth as King of kings the heavens will again be opened that ascending and descending angels may bear witness to the Son of Man reigning in glory on the earth (John 1: 51). On these bright occasions we see our Lord Jesus invested with the coat of many colours. In other words, we see in the opened heavens the Father's delight in Christ as His beloved Son in humiliation as the Son of Man in heavenly glory, and as the King of kings and Lord of lords, coming forth to reign on the earth as Son of Man in supreme power and glory.

HIS SUPREMACY

Furthermore, the One who is loved by the Father, and marked out as the special object of His delight, is the One who is destined to universal supremacy. This great truth is brought before us in Joseph's dreams, both setting before us the supremacy of Joseph. One dream might have sufficed to foretell the glories of Joseph, but would be wholly inadequate to shadow forth the glories of Christ. For His supremacy will have a twofold character. He will yet be supreme on earth, and many passages tell of this earthly glory. The dream of the sheaves making obeisance to Joseph's sheaf may well speak of this excellent supremacy over all the earth which Christ is destined to wield. Yet this first dream fails to set forth the supremacy of Christ in all its vast extent, for He is destined not only to be supreme on earth, but to hold universal sway over heaven and earth. The Father according to His good pleasure, has purposed in the fullness of times to head up, "all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth" (Eph. 1: 9, 10). And this second dream speaks of this heavenly supremacy by presenting heavenly bodies — the sun, the moon, and the stars, making obeisance to Joseph. The two dreams thus set forth the supremacy of Christ over things on earth and things in heaven to the remotest bounds of the created universe.

HIS SUFFERINGS

Thus the Spirit of God delights to exalt Christ by Presenting His universal supremacy as the leading thought in the history of Joseph even though it is the path of suffering by which the place of pre-eminence Is reached. There are the graces and excellencies of character that the sufferings call forth, as well as the heartlessness of His own and the evil and indifference of the world.

HATED

If Joseph has a unique place in his father's affections, and if he is destined in the counsels of God to the place of supremacy, he will, in the meantime, have to face the hatred of his brethren. This must be so if, in any measure, his story is to shadow forth that far greater hatred which Christ was called to endure at the hands of men. The One whom God has destined to the place of universal dominion is the only one that is hated by every natural heart. Why does the natural heart bear such hatred to Christ? Was there any cause of hatred in Him? Surely not, for in Christ there was an entire absence of the cruelty and violence, the lust and covetousness, the pride and arrogance, the meanness and selfishness, which in other men give such occasion for hatred. In Him there was everything to call forth love. While others went about doing evil, He "went about doing good" (Acts 10: 38). Man's mouth may be full of cursing and bitterness, but at least man must bear witness to "the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth" (Luke 4: 22), and the officers who were sent to take Him said, "Never man spake like this man" (John 7: 46).

HATED BECAUSE THEY WERE EVIL

And yet in spite of His acts of love, and His words of grace, they rewarded Him evil for good, and hatred for His love (Ps. 109: 5). Truly He could say, "They hated me without a cause." Alas! plenty of cause of hatred, but no cause in Him. No cause in man to call forth Christ's love, and no cause in Christ to call forth man's hatred. But why should the evil heart of man hate the One whose whole life was spent in showing love to man? Let Joseph's history supply the answer. Why was Joseph hated by his brethren? Was he not in their company as one that served? Truly, but they were evil and hence, however desirable his service might be, his presence exposed their evil, and called forth their hatred. And for a like cause, and in far deeper measure, the world hated Christ, as He could say, "Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil" (John 7: 7).

HATED BECAUSE THEY WERE ENVIOUS

There were other causes for the hatred of Joseph's brethren. When they "saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him." And so with Christ confessing His unique place with the Father, He can say, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5: 17). Immediately the hatred of the Jews is called forth and "they sought the more to kill Him," and at once the Lord declares that "the Father loveth the on, and sheweth Him all things." The Beloved of he Father is hated by man.

HATED BECAUSE OF HIS DREAMS

Further, the dreams that speak of Joseph's future supremacy are a fresh motive for the envy and hatred of the brethren. He had been a witness against them of their evil, now he is a witness to them of his future glory. They will have neither one nor the other. Even so when the Lord witnessed against the evil of the world, and bore witness to His coming glories, like Joseph, He drew upon Himself the hatred of the world. Before the assembled leaders of Jerusalem the Lord speaks of His coming glories: "Hereafter," He can say, "shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power," a confession that is followed by a furious outburst of hatred, priests and elders uniting to spit in the face of the Son of God.

HATED BECAUSE OF HIS WORDS

Lastly, the brethren of Joseph hated him for his words. As we read: "They hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words." Nor was it otherwise with the Lord. Men heard the words of Him that spake as never man spake, and some believed, but "many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye Him?" The hatred could not be hid. So too Christ is still the object of a hatred that men cannot conceal, try as they will. A constant stream of abuse of His Name, denial of His Person, and refusal of His work, issues from apostate pulpits, and an infidel press, often masquerading under the cloak of religion. It is still His professed brethren that cannot speak peaceably of Him. But let us never forget that behind all the "hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" there are the "ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed." The evil lives of Joseph's brethren were behind the hatred in their hearts, and the evil words of their lips. It is so today, the ungodly deeds in men's lives lead to the 'hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 15).

But who Thy path of service,
Thy steps removed from ill,
Thy patient love to serve us,
With human tongue can tell?
Midst sin, and all corruption,
Where hatred did abound,
Thy path of true perfection
Was light on all around.
In scorn, neglect, reviling,
Thy patient grace stood fast;
Man's malice unavailing
To move Thy heart to haste.
O'er all Thy perfect goodness
Rose blessedly divine;
Poor hearts oppressed with sadness,
Found ever rest in Thine.
Love, that made Thee a Mourner
In this sad world of woe,
Made wretched man a scorner
Of grace — that brought Thee low.
Still, in Thee, love's sweet savour
Shone forth in every deed;
And showed God's loving favour
To every soul in need.
J. N. D.