A Son Sent
View daily reading plan: Genesis 37.12-13
Need for fresh pasture took the brothers to Shechem, a place where they had been responsible for a subtle massacre (Gen 34). Jacob was concerned for their welfare and so Joseph was sent , a father sending a son (Gen 37.13). Once more we cannot miss the foreshadowing of Christ, the One Who described Himself as “him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world” (Jn 10.36). Joseph’s new name in Egypt declared him to be “the saviour of the world” (Gen 41.45). One reason for which “the Father sent the Son” was to be “the Saviour of the world” (1 Jn 4.14).
“Here am I”; Joseph’s submission again points to the willingness of the Saviour. As He came into the world He declared, “I come…to do thy will, O God” (Heb 10.5-7). Joseph knew the character and cruelty of the brothers to whom he was sent, and in greater measure the Saviour knew that when He came to “his own” He would experience a chilly, hostile reception; “his own received him not” (Jn 1.11).
Joseph was sent “out of the vale of Hebron” (Gen 37.14). “Hebron” carries the thought of “fellowship”, so he was going from a place of intimate fellowship with his father. Similarly, the Lord Jesus left a sphere where He had shared eternal glory with the Father and had enjoyed the eternal affection of the Father (Jn 17.5, 24). In a sense He is always “in the bosom of the Father” (Jn 1.18), but in moving from heaven to earth He was exchanging affection for animosity, adoration for aggression and riches for poverty (2 Cor 8.9); figuratively He left the vale of Hebron.
Monday, 29 January, 2024