Christ in Joseph - Rejected by his brethren
"And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams." (Genesis 37:19.20)
Joseph had come seeking their welfare, yet even as he approached, they conspired against him (Gen 37:18). Even as our Lord Jesus "came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11), throughout His public ministry His own people plotted against Him (Matt. 12:14; 26:3-4).
His brethren spoke slanderously of Joseph, "Behold this dreamer", refusing to believe his words and acknowledge his claims. In wilful resistance they plotted to kill him saying, "we shall see what will become of his dreams" (Gen. 37:19-20). How this mirrors Israel's response to the Lord Jesus as revealed in the Parable of the Vineyard (Luke 20:9-16): "But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours". Similarly, in the Parable of the Pounds despite His manifest deity, they say, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14).
In Joseph's case, there did however seem to be certain workings of conscience in Rueben; his purpose was to bring Joseph to his father again (Gen. 37.22). He represents those, like Joseph of Arimathaea, who did not consent to the counsel of the Sanhedrin, and Nicodemus the erstwhile secret disciple who attempted to speak in favour of the Lord and prevent His death.
Joseph was stripped of his coat (Gen. 37:23), just as later our blessed Lord would be dishonoured and disrobed by cruel men (Matt. 27:27-28,35). They then threw Joseph into a pit, and sat down to eat bread. "They were not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph" (Amos 6:6). They showed indifference to him (Gen 42:41), just as Jeremiah would prophetically describe the indifference shown to Another at a later date, His haunting words ringing out, "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me" (Lam. 1:12-13). Apart from Genesis 42:41, there is no record of anything Joseph said during this ordeal; it would seem that like our Lord "when he was reviled, he reviled not again" (1 Pet. 2:23), "and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7). Such restraint is unusual in this world. Christ showed it in abundance.
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