Regarding Jesus Christ
February 14th, 2020
“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.”
(Exodus 1:8 – KJV)
As the book of Genesis came to a close we see that Joseph had become second in command over all of Egypt. Joseph, the man who had been thrown into a pit, sold as a slave, and imprisoned would now become the prime minister of the greatest nation in the world of that day. Incidentally, Joseph is a perfect type of Christ with no sin of his own having been recorded along with other unique similarities to Christ. For example, Joseph and Christ were “loved by the Father” (Gen. 37:3; Matt. 3:17), “prophesied to be rulers” (Gen. 37:11; Daniel 7:13-14), “were in Egypt” (Gen. 37:28; Matt. 2:14-15), “were sold” (Gen. 37:26-28; Matt. 26:15) “were falsely accused” (Gen. 39:11-20; Matt. 26:59-61), “were condemned to die with two others, with one receiving life” (Gen. 40:1-3, 20-22; Luke 23:32, 39-43), and “as all the brothers of Joseph bowed before him, so all will bow before Jesus Christ” (Gen. 41:43; Philippians 2:10).
How could it be that anyone in Egypt of that day would not have known Joseph, and the king in particular? The inclination here does not seem to be that the new king that arose did not know Joseph’s name, or the children of Israel. In fact I am sure that he was very much aware of them, but the indication is that the king did not “regard” Joseph, or show him favor as the former king had done. Scholars believe that when Joseph was appointed over Egypt that a foreign race known as the "Hyksos" had control over Egypt with a “natural” Egyptian coming to power after Joseph, and his generation passed away. Out of fear this new king who was believed to be a natural Egyptian would oppress the children of Israel lest they as the "Hyksos" before would rule over them. Whatever the case may be, the new king had no regard for Joseph! In a similar fashion our nation has little to no “regard” for Jesus Christ! To many He is nothing more than a curse word, or a symbol of religion. The words of the Apostle Paul in Romans reflect where we are spiritually in our nation when he said, “There is no Fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18 – KJV). Never will you find that Joseph had little regard for God, or that he did not Fear God. In fact the believer must have this same attribute even though we are surrounded by a society that constantly opposes our faith, our God, and our Bible (Gen. 42:18). As Joseph made it through because of his faith in an amazing God even so we will make it, for the Bible says, “The Angel of the Lord encamps around about them that fear Him…” (Psalms 34:7 – KJV)
John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave! A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men with you there?” Paton knew no men were present, but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station! Praise God! "There are more with us than against us, it pays to "Honor and Regard Jesus Christ"
God’s Luv & Best to you! In Christ – Clint
