How is Joseph a type of Christ? Read or listen to this chapter from Enduring Trials God’s Way to see a list of ways Joseph is a type of Jesus.

Table of ContentsJoseph’s Trials Were Supremely About ChristJoseph and Jesus Were Sent by Their FathersJoseph and Jesus Sought Their BrethrenJoseph and Jesus' Brothers Rejected Them and Plotted Their DeathsReuben Tried to Deliver Joseph, Like Pilate Tried to Deliver JesusJoseph and Jesus Were Stripped of Their TunicsJoseph and Jesus Found Themselves in the PitJoseph and Jesus' Brethren Were Indifferent Toward Their SufferingJoseph and Jesus Were "Resurrected" Out of the PitJoseph and Jesus Were Sold for the Price of SlavesJoseph and Jesus Were Taken to EgyptJoseph and Jesus Were Separated from Their BrethrenJoseph and Jesus Were Filled with the SpiritJoseph and Christ Were Exalted RulersJoseph and Christ Have Every Knee Bowed to ThemPeople Look to Joseph and Christ to Be SavedJoseph and Christ Offer the "Bread of Life"The Greatest Act of Evil God Meant for GoodWalking by FaithDiscussion Questions

When Abraham “sacrificed” Isaac, it was secondarily about an earthly father sacrificing his earthly son. Primarily it foreshadowed God the Father sacrificing His Son. When Job “saved” his friends, it was secondarily about Job and his friends. Primarily it foreshadowed Jesus saving His friends. Abraham and Job’s trials were supremely about Jesus. Similarly, our trials are secondarily about us. Supremely they are about Jesus—His glorification is the primary end intended by the Lord. John 11:3–4 records:

Therefore [Lazarus’s] sisters sent to [Jesus], saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Joseph’s Trials Were Supremely About Christ

Genesis 37 records Joseph being rejected by his brothers, thrown into a pit, and then captured by Midianites, but Genesis 37:2 says, “This is the history of Jacob.”

Why would a chapter about Joseph say it is Jacob's history? Jesus came from Jacob instead of Joseph, which puts the focus on Jacob, even though Joseph is discussed. The bigger picture in Genesis 37 is Joseph gets to Egypt. Twenty years later, his family moves to Egypt. Joseph’s brothers have enough descendants to become the twelve tribes of Israel. Fast-forward fifteen hundred years, and that nation produces a Savior.

Joseph serves as a type and shadow of our Savior. Whether Joseph understood it, everything that happened to him was only secondarily about him. Supremely, Joseph's life was about Jesus.

Joseph and Jesus Were Sent by Their Fathers

Then [Joseph’s] brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. And [Jacob] said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them."So he said to him, "Here I am."Then he said to him, ‘Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.’ So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.”Genesis 37:12–14

Jacob sent Joseph to his brethren, like Jesus’ Father sent Him to His brethren, the Jews. In Matthew 15:24 Jesus said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Joseph and Jesus Sought Their Brethren

Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, "What are you seeking?"So he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks."And the man said, "They have departed from here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.Genesis 37:15–18

Notice therepetition of “seeking.” Joseph was seeking his lost brethren, revealing theheart of Christ in seeking His lost brethren: