317: Kevin Leadbetter - Joseph: The Rejected Becomes The Savior in Due Time

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to good Chris Selfian talks. I’m Levi. I’m Chris. I’m Jason. And I’m Brian, thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. Each week we post a talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world.

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   Then we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. And now let’s talk more about this week’s talk.

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   Welcome to the good Chris Adelphian Talks podcast. This is brother Brian. Just as a way of introduction, we have Brother Mike Livermore from Michigan as a guest host for a number of episodes coming down the pipeline. If this is something that you’re also willing to do, record your own intros and send them in with the class or series that you’re recommending. We’d love to take you up on it to get you involved. So with that, here’s Brother Mike. Hello.

4. 1:18

   My name is Mike Livermore, I’m a disciple of Christ from the state of Michigan, here to share with you a class I really enjoyed hearing at Trine or the Midwest Bible School in 2023. The teacher is Kevin Ledbetter who is an old friend of mine from Ontario who now lives in Virginia. And at Trine 2023 he gave an evening program which I believe was Thursday night, might have been Wednesday night, I forget, but it was just a one off evening program and I loved it.

5. 1:51

   It was my favorite class of the whole Bible school and I went up and I thanked Kevin immediately after the class. I love this class. The class is called Joseph. The rejected becomes the savior in due time. There’s two reasons why I love this class. The 1st is it sort of answers the question.

6. 2:13

   Have you ever been in a class where when it was over you wanted more? Where instead of the class going on for too long, instead you thought the class was too short, you didn’t even get enough. Like what you got was great, but you wanted more. He left the audience wanting more. It’s such a rare thing.

7. 2:32

   Usually, you know, people go long, but Kevin said no, less is more. And I left this class wanting even more than the already excellent spiritual meal that I got. The second reason I love this class was that I can’t believe I’ve lived my whole life and never realized the lessons or the expositional material that Kevin brought out about Joseph. That we of course know that Joseph’s a type of Christ, but we forget all of the connections sort of in the second-half of Joseph’s life to the future work of Jesus and I. It’s one of the things where you say, why did I never even think of that before?

8. 3:15

   So I learned so much. And for all of the expositional weight of this class and the lesson at the end, I still wanted more. Like it wasn’t enough. It was that good. So hopefully you agree with me. Hopefully you love this class and when it’s over ask yourself did you want 3 more minutes of Kevin maybe really hammering a lessons home? I could have taken 10-15 more minutes. I love this class so hopefully you do too. So this was Kevin Ledbetter trying 2023 called Joseph the rejected becomes the Savior in due time. Joseph is one of those stories in scriptures that really pulls us in as we read through it.

9. 3:58

   You feel his pain and anguish when he’s sold by his brethren. We feel sorry and upset when he’s for his unjust imprisonment, and yet we stand behind him when he’s lifted up into a position of authority. It’s really this great, remarkable and very emotional story, and we take a step back to consider the life of Joseph. We see that’s a witness to the power of God with the rejected Joseph who becomes the Savior of the world in the right time in God’s plan.

10. 4:41

    That the life of Joseph is presented in such a way in Scriptures that it foreshadows future events. For example, if we read through chapters 37, we read of the treatment that Joseph receives at the hand of his brethren. They mocked him, they conspired against him, they stripped him of his clothes, and they sell him to die.

11. 5:08

    And these same details are are described. Describes how the nation of Israel treated Jesus and his ministry who was hated, rejected and sentenced to death by his brethren. Like Joseph. We read chapters 40 to 41. They tell us this really dramatic way in which Joseph is brought up out of prison by being an interpreter of dreams to become second in command.

12. 5:36

    And this very illustration is applied to Christ. The apostle Paul says that when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive. And so the imagery is presented of one who opens the prisons and leads the captives to freedom. And we know as by Paul’s use of this is representative of Jesus resurrection and his ascension to sit at the right hand of God.

13. 6:02

    And so we see clearly the life of Joseph is a from chapters 37 to 41 is a pattern of the life of Jesus, pointing forward to his abuse of treatment by his brethren and his life, his condemnation to die, his resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God. Now if the first advent of Jesus is portrayed in chapters 37 to 41, what about chapters 42 to 46? Would it not stand to reason then that the second-half of the life of Joseph is a pattern of Jesus as well? Consider this remark from Logos Magazine in 1953 and speaking about Joseph as a type of Christ, the writer says it usually requires 2 characters to typify the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, David and Solomon combined prefigured the Lord as man of war and Prince of Peace.

14. 7:10

    In Joseph, we have the complete type, a man whose life foreshadowed in great detail the past and future glory of the Messiah. So only inspiration could select to record such a life, and which is a complete parable, the purpose of God in Christ. And so brother Pennington here calls Joseph the complete type, the past and future glory of the Messiah. And so it’s at this point, brothers and sisters, we’re going to consider a few details primarily from Genesis 42. Now, as we go through this chapter, think about how these details point forward to the future work of Israel’s Redeemer.

15. 7:59

    So chapter 42, just for a bit of context here, the narrative brings our attention away from Joseph in Egypt, back up into the land of Canaan, to Jacob and to his eleven sons. Now, verses one to four, Jacob and his sons realize that there is a famine in the land. Now, they do not know that’s going to last seven years and they don’t know what God’s plan is at this time. However, they do realize the seriousness of this situation. They realize it’s a matter of life and death. And so it’s at this point, if you were to go over to Acts Chapter 7 and read what Stephen has to say about this time period.

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    He says that our fathers found no sustenance in the land, indicating that the sons of Jacob went up and down the land looking for food for them and for their cattle, and they came up empty. And so at this point the Jacob turns to his sons and says, why do you look one upon another?

17. 9:03

    I don’t think this comments so much about the laziness on their part, but it is their lack of action. You see, they’ve searched the land, they came up empty, and they don’t know what to do next. And so it’s Jacob, their father, who takes command. And it’s he that directs their attention to Egypt, where there will be food for their survival.

18. 9:27

    And so he then organizes his sons to go into Egypt to buy food. However, due to issues of mistrust, he doesn’t send Benjamin with the 10. So just to summarize here, verses one to four, the brethren seek food during the time of a famine. Now verses 5 to 9, the brethren come into Egypt to buy corn and the very first thing they do as they entered in to Egypt is to bow down before this ruler in charge.

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    Now there’s two interesting things identified in this action. Firstly, from the from the perspective of the sons of Jacob from the 10 brethren, verse 8, Joseph knew them, but they did not know him, so they didn’t recognize Joseph. But you look at this situation through the eyes of Joseph as he sees his brethren come in and he sees his brethren bow down before them.

20. 10:27

    What does he see? He sees his dreams being fulfilled, and it’s declaring to him that Yahweh is at work through him to save his family. And so verses 5 to 9, we see that the brethren bow down before this unknown provider when they enter into Egypt. Now verses 9 to 38, the brethren are thou put to the test. You see Joseph, upon recognizing his brethren, he devises a way to see if they’ve changed their ways and so he accuses them of being spies in the land.

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    Now the sentence or the punishment of being spies is death. So consider the situation the brethren are in. They’re being accused of spying in a foreign land. Their life is on the line. Now look how they respond in verse 10.

22. 11:25

    They said nay, my Lord, but to buy food are thy servants of comes. They’re declaring that their purpose here is not to spy out the land. Their purpose is to buy food to provide for their families back home. But they follow this with a declaration in verse 11. They said we’re all one man’s sons and we are true men and not spies.

23. 11:47

    And so they make this declaration. We’re not spies. We’re not. We’re telling the truth because we’re true men. It’s interesting. The evidence that they that they put forth for this, the evidence they put forth that they’re not spies is that that they are sons of one man in the land of Canaan. Now how does this evidence prove their innocence? How does this evidence prove that they’re not spies to spy out the land?

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    Well, to this we would just go back to Numbers chapter 13. We remember when the children of Israel spied out the land of Canaan and what did they do? They sent one man from every tribe into the land, showing they had a confederate of people to invade. You know, in the time of Joshua, they had an army consisting of hundreds of thousands of soldiers to invade. But in the time of Jacob, when you looked at the land of Canaan, it was not united.

25. 12:44

    It was broken up into multiple tribes and small and small or or large families, one of which was the family of Jacob. And so to challenge the power of Egypt, they would have to be united. And so therefore, proof that they were not spies, that they were looking for food, was the fact that they had no Confederates, they had no help, and that they were just one family, and therefore they could not gather an army to defeat the Egyptians.

26. 13:15

    Now verses 9 to 34, we see this bit of back and forth between Joseph and his brethren over this accusation of spying. And Joseph really puts them in a corner because they have to defend themselves by saying that we’re true men and this is what Joseph is putting to the test. Now in their defense, they mentioned that they had one more brother at home with their father. Now upon hearing this, that they had one more brother at home with their father.

27. 13:46

    Joseph leverages this situation so he again, he can put their character to the test. And So what does he say? He takes them up on their story. He says fine, go fetch your brother that your words may be proved because he wants to find out if there’s any truth in them.

28. 14:07

    So Joseph, he brilliantly recreates his last interaction he had with his brothers by putting them into prison to prove their worth. Now, upon hearing Joseph’s request, look at this discussion that comes up among the brethren as they’re standing before Joseph.

29. 14:30

    They said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother. And so for the first time, Joseph hears them admit to their grievous sins. And in verse 22, he also learns that Reuben, his older brother, actually protested against his other brothers and and somewhat stood up for him and showed a little bit of care for him.

30. 14:54

    This is the first time Joseph is hearing this out of his brother’s mouth. Now, upon hearing their confession right in Reuben’s Reuben’s remarks, it resorts Joseph to tears. And we see that he’s a really emotional man. And this concept of Joseph weeping over as a brethren is a point that’s repeated multiple times in in the narrative. Now, Brother Snow in the Logos magazine points out there seven times that Joseph weeps over his brethren from the ways of when he reflection of the ways of Providence to his presence before his brethren, he’s weeping over them. Now Brother Snow continues on and he speaks about this and he first makes the point that tears show emotion. He says Joseph tears flowed from Lovejoy, sympathy, sorrow, affection, compassion and sadness. He then makes the point the tears affect us physically. He says tears relieve tension and are therefore calming in effect and they do good for they contain a bacteria fighting enzyme.

31. 16:13

    And thirdly, he says they cleanse and purify at the same time. And he finishes his remark here about the tears of Joseph. And he says it’s significant that the Hebrew word for tears or for eyes, sorry is Ian, and that there’s duty also for fountain. The eyes, of course, are the fountain of the body.

32. 16:38

    And so he he finishes remarks by connecting tears as the fountains of the body. So just to summarize these points, we see in verses 9 to 38, the brethren are put to the test. They have no Confederates. They acknowledge their sin. And Joseph’s described like a fountain who sheds tears over his brethren.

33. 16:59

    So I want to skip over a couple chapters to chapter 44 again, just very briefly. And this is where we have Judah before Joseph. Now Judah is a man whose name means praised, and he comes before Joseph really as a representative of his brethren, as the sons of Jacob. And he comes bowing before him. And the first thing again that comes out of his mouth is an acknowledgement of their sins and iniquities before God, and this unknown ruler before him.

34. 17:30

    And then verses 18 to 34, Judah makes his case before Joseph. Now consider the emphasis of the words here 44 and verse 19. Judah says, My Lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father and a brother? He said, He said, we responded, we have a father and an old man, and his father loves him, his son Benjamin. And the lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die. And so we see an emphasis in the words of Judah about their father.

35. 18:09

    And this continues on in the rest of this chapter. His father, his father, his father. And so here we have Judah as a representative of his brother. And they’ve learned how their actions have hurt their father, and they’ve changed their character because it reflects their father. There’s a change in these men as they come in to stand before Joseph in Chapter 44.

36. 18:38

    And so chapter 44, we see Judah as representative of his brethren show care for their father as they bow before this unknown provider. It affected the way they lived their lives. One last point from Genesis in Genesis chapter 45, as we we have this this really as as Joseph reveals himself to his brethren in in this really dramatic way. Consider Joseph’s words about how God worked through them. He says in verse 5, God sent me.

37. 19:13

    He says in verse 7, God sent me before you. Verse eight, it was not you that sent me, but God. And so Joseph clearly makes the point God was at work in their lives. God was at work and sending him into Egypt. Why verse 5? To preserve life. It was to preserve a posterity and to save their lives. And so Joseph, upon revealing himself to his brother, declares that God worked through them to save their house. And so he’s making the point that you can see the power of Yahweh and work in their lives.

38. 19:53

    And what does it lead to? It leads to a change of character. It reads the reconciliation and ultimately to the saving of the House of Jacob. And so last piece that we just briefly looking at in the story of Joseph, Joseph is revealed. Joseph, their brother is revealed as their Savior. Now looking at this summary, where do our minds go in scriptures to compare this, the second advent of our Lord the Prophet Zechariah?

39. 20:29

    Now you can just consider briefly the summaries of chapter 10 to 14. Now, these are not necessarily in chronological order, but when we read chapters 10 to 14, we read about the regathering and cleansing of the nation of Israel. We read about them seeking the Good Shepherd, and we read about the salvation of Jerusalem and the establishment of the Kingdom.

40. 20:50

    And in the midst of all this, Zechariah shares with us again a dramatic unfolding with the nation of Israel recognizes Jesus as their savior in a time of need. So let’s let’s start in Zechariah chapter 10. This is a prophecy about the divine deliverance and the regathering of the nation of Israel. But look how it starts. He starts off by instructing the nation to pray to their God for reign.

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    He says, ask ye of the Lord reign, ask ye. This is a prayer for help. Now notice the time frame he follows this with the specific season. That’s the season of the latter rains. Now, we don’t use the term former and latter rains here in the West, right? But we often refer to this.

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    Perhaps the the poetic verse we might be familiar with is April showers bring May flowers. Yeah. So the point is the time of latter rains is that springtime.

43. 21:58

    Think about that for a second. Zechariah is instructing the people to pray for rain when during the rainy season. What does this imply? It implies there is no rain. There’s no cloud in the sky when rain is to be expected. So we conclude then they’re experiencing what they’re experiencing, drought. This is going to lead to a famine in the land. And this is how Zechariah starts off Chapter 10. There’s a famine in the land, just like the time just before Joseph reveals himself to his brethren in the latter days. There’s a famine in the land before the nation is shown mercy, before it’s redeemed, and before it’s strengthened. If you were to follow through the chapter now worry about reign in scriptures it usually significant of blessings from God and whereas drought or famine generally represents idolatry, apostasy or falling away from God. So let’s look at chapter 10 verse 2 Zechariah explains why they’ve been experiencing drought or a famine in the land. He says for the idols have spoken vanity and the diviners have seen a lie and they have told false dreams. Who does that remind us of?

44. 23:21

    Joseph’s brethren lied to their father. They scoffed at his dreams. And so here we see again a connection between the nation of Israel in the latter days and Joseph’s brethren back in Genesis. It says they comfort in vain. What’s the That’s the words that were used of Joseph’s brethren as they were lousy comforters on the news of the death of Joseph. And then Zechariah finishes this verse off by saying, therefore they went their way as a flock.

45. 23:54

    They were troubled because there was no shepherd. And so he describes the nation as apostate and leaderless, scattered. And again we see this comparison. Zechariah indicates that Israel will be in a period of apostasy similar to the character and attitude of Joseph’s brethren. And Zechariah describes the nation as a troubled flock without a shepherd, again similar to Joseph’s brethren who are wandering the land looking for food. Verse 3 after mentioning they lacked a true shepherd, he makes this observation.

46. 24:32

    He says mine anger was kindled against the shepherds. You see, God was upset with the shepherds they put in place in the absence of the true shepherd, and these were shepherds that had no regard for the flock. Consider these comments from Zechariah. If you go over. 11 verse 5. Sorry. 11 verse 5 their own shepherds pity them not. 11 verse 16.

47. 24:56

    I will raise up a shepherd in the land which shall not visit those that be cut off. Neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that is broken, nor feed that stands still, but he shall eat the flesh of the fat and tear their claws in pieces. And so the shepherds who were set in place in the absence of our Lord, will not do their duty. And what better imagery to bring our minds back to Joseph than that of shepherds are the very occupation of Jacob and his sons.

48. 25:27

    It was his sons who led the flock from Shechem to Dothan. It was his sons that killed the lamb for their brother’s blood. False shepherds. Bad leaderships. Bad leadership reminds us of Reuben trying to take the leadership, but he failed in keeping Joseph safe. He failed in understanding the principles of atonement and reconciliation by trying to offer his sons in place of Joseph or Jesus. That was removed through this chapter in chapter 10. Just just an interesting mention here in verse 6, we’ve got mention of the House of Judah and the House of Joseph, again, linking our minds back into the time of Genesis. You go over to Chapter 11 again, just briefly. There’s another connection to the life and to the bondage of Joseph.

49. 26:20

    In this case here they’re talking about weighing the 30 pieces of silver. We know this is from Exodus chapter 21, the price of a gorge slave. But Joseph, like Jesus, was sold for money. In his case it was 20 pieces of silver.

50. 26:39

    Now, as you moved towards the climax of Zechariah’s prophecy, it surrounds the revealing of Jesus as the Savior in a time of trouble. Now having started off in a time of famine, a period of apostasy, disobedience, we find that God is working with them. He says this I will bring of the third part through the fire, and we’ll refine them as silver is refined and we’ll try them as gold is tried.

51. 27:11

    And so here we see Zechariah is making it clear God is working with with a remnant of the nation, just as he worked with Judah and his brethren. And these are those that pretty much inhabit Israel and Jerusalem at the time of the end. And it’s at this time we find that the armies of the north, they’re coming down into the land they’ve taken or about to take Jerusalem, and they’re persecuting its inhabitants in a very barbaric way.

52. 27:38

    As you read through the first few verses of Zechariah 14, we see those points come out. And as Zechariah points, it’s seemingly that the as the nation’s grasping for its last breath, the place is shaken by a great earthquake. And this is the point that we see that Jesus stands upon the Mount of Olives, which then cleaves into two, and it creates this valley that points towards Jordan.

53. 28:04

    And it provides a way for the nation to escape from the northern oppressor. And they’re going to escape down this valley into Jordan with the army on their tails. And who do they meet? It’s at this point here that we see they’re saved by Christ and the Saints. Now consider the response of the nation of Israel at this time as they meet their Savior. We just go back to Zechariah chapter 12 again. These these chapters are not in chronological order, but in Zechariah 12 and verse 10, he talks about pouring out upon the House of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem. And it says that they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only Son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first born.

54. 28:55

    And so they will finally recognize the one whom they pierced. They will mourn and be in bitterness for their disobedience, for their ignorance, and they will be surprised as their Savior turns out to be their brother. This is a highly emotional time for them as Joseph is revealed and they take responsibility. Look at this. We go to chapter 13 and verse one where the nation is now cleansed from its iniquity, and look at the imagery. Look at the wording pulled out of here, Zechariah 13, verse one.

55. 29:32

    In that day when Christ is revealed, when the nation is saved, in that day, there shall be a fountain open to the House of David and to the habitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Look at the imagery being used. It reminds us back of Joseph shedding his tears for his brethren. Here’s the time when the nation will acknowledge their sins before their Savior and God’s going to provide a way to cleanse them from their iniquity. As we continue on in chapter 13, the remnant acknowledges Jesus and there and first thing we see is a humbling of the false prophets among them.

56. 30:19

    Now look at verse 5. This is our find that the the King James. It’s a little awkward in this section. Well, we go to Zechariah 13 and verse 5. But he shall say I am no prophet. I am an husbandman for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. Now this is clearly talking about the false prophets and they’re humbled at this point. Now verse six, though, if you notice that the word one in the King James is in italics.

57. 30:49

    So you take the word one out of verse 6 and what do we have here to read without the word 1? We can see it’s the false prophets who are speaking. And so the false prophets who are speaking in verse 5. Then in verse six. And one shall say and shall say the false prophets unto him.

58. 31:06

    Well, who’s the him? Well, what’s the question? The question is, what are these wounds in thine hands? Well, this is the same question and the same evidence asked for by Thomas, Thomas the Jew before the resurrected Lord.

59. 31:27

    And so here we see this is his, the brethren surrounding Jesus. Who are you as he? They, as they start the conversation about the wounds in his hands and they start talking with Jesus, learning or start talking with their Savior and learning it was Jesus and it’s He who’s their Savior both nationally and during Armageddon.

60. 31:51

    And it’s amazing because it’s through the type of Joseph and Zechariah kind of talks about these events, but it’s through the type of Joseph that helps us understand how emotional this time will be as Jesus reveals himself to his brethren as they gather around to him. We think of the tears of Joseph as he’s surrounded by his brother to talk about these things. Now to finish off Zechariah, we come to chapter 14, your last few verses.

61. 32:23

    And in verse 16 here we see that all nations come up. This is after Armageddon, after Christ, and the Saints have set themselves up in Jerusalem and the nation’s been converted. And we have all nations coming here to worship the king. And look at look at the words that that Zechariah says. He says everyone that has left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up, yeah, to year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. So all nations coming up, just like all the nations went down into Egypt.

62. 33:00

    And it shall come to and it shall be that whosoever will not come up of all the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain, no food, just like the time of Joseph. God put those vents into place to bring them down into Egypt.

63. 33:20

    Likewise, at the time of the end, those nations who don’t come up to Jerusalem will be in a time of famine. And who’s the example that Zechariah uses? Well, in verse 18, if the family of Egypt go not up, they shall have no ring and and they shall be plagued. Verse 19, this should be the punishment of Egypt.

64. 33:40

    And so it’s interesting that Zechariah uses Egypt as a representative of rebellious nations, again bringing our minds back to the story of Joseph. So in summary, we’ve seen how the life of Joseph foreshadows the 1st and 2nd advent of Jesus Christ and with a with a specific focus on the revealing of Jesus as their savior.

65. 34:12

    Now, while Zechariah outlines these events and he helps us to understand that these things point forward, it’s the type that we see in Joseph which gives us this beautiful imagery of how emotional it will be as Jesus stands in the midst of his brethren who repent and acknowledge their God with a new heart. And we as Christadelphians, we can be there to witness this in that day.

66. 34:44

    As immortalized Saints, we know who the Redeemer is. But the challenge for us is the same challenge for the brethren of Joseph. And so we need to change our ways. We need to be true men, and we need to seek the will of our heavenly Father. And we’re going to close with the words that will be spoken by the remnant of Israel in their day of salvation.

67. 35:14

    He says in Zechariah 13, verse 9, this is talking about the redeemed who comes through. They shall call upon my name, and I will hear them, and I will say it is my people, and they shall say the Lord is my God. Thank you for listening to the good Chris Adelphian Talks podcast.

68. 35:46

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69. 36:03

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70. 36:36

    God bless and talk to you next week.