"Joseph-like"

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend is starting out well. We've been studying the life of Joseph at church and what a blessing it's been. Probably one of my faves in the bible. I'm reading in my commentary at home also and my goodness the amount of info in it is soooo awesome! The first thing I loved that he pointed out was that Joseph aside from Daniel is the only person the Old Testament with no mention of sin and that a full one-quarter of the book of Genesis is devoted to his story (chapters 37-50) and God only uses a mere 5 words about His creation of the universe. It speaks highly of what's really important to God, and I believe that it's the character of man. Anyway, the thing about Joseph's story, and all of us who've studied it, or been taught about it at church, knows the likeness between Joseph and Jesus is remarkable. Let me point a few from the commentary:

~Joseph was hated by his brothers(Gen. 37:4)/Jesus was also (John 1:11)

~Joseph was looking for his brothers (Gen.37:15, 16)/Jesus was also seeking those who were lost (Luke 19:10)

~Joseph's coat was stripped from him (Gen.37:23)/ Jesus' robe was also stripped from Him by the Roman guards.

~Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver (Gen. 37:28/Jesus was also sold for silver.

~Joseph was taught to have been devoured by an evil beast (Gen. 37:33)/ Jesus was also thought to have been devoured on the cross for our evil sin but both come out the victor!

~Joseph imprisoned with 2 criminals, one who hears words of salvation and the other doesn't (Gen. 40:1-4)/Jesus hung on a cross between 2 thieves, one receives salvation and the other doesn't (Isa. 53:12)

~one of the 2 criminals imprisoned with Joseph was a butler who dreamt of a cup and the baker dreamt of bread/the 2 elements of communion? bread and wine.

~Joseph was made ruler over all the land of Egypt (no one could do anything without Joseph's permission) Gen. 41:43/"Without me you can do nothing" Jesus said. (John 15:5)

~Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphnath-paaneah, which means "revealer of secrets". The perfect name for one who is a preview of Jesus./for many mysteries are revealed in Him (Rom 11:25)

~Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh/Jesus was 30 years old when he began His public ministry.

~Seven years of famine would affect the land of Egypt/so the seven year tribulation will affect the entire planet.

~Joseph saved the land from famine/Jesus will save the world from tribulation!

What an awesome picture of what God can do with a person's life who is completely surrendered to Him. I love the story of Joseph because he wanted nothing more than to please God and bring Him glory and the Lord blessed an uncountable amount of people because of Joseph. It's inspiring to me to know that if I put a fraction of faith in the Lord as Joseph did, what He could do with me and through me! I hope you all are inspired by Joseph's story as much as I am and even more so by our Lord!

Blessings and Love,