Joseph the Righteous Setting Forth the Work of Christ during the Tribulation Period

In our previous studies of Joseph, the righteous, we have seen how he set forth the work of Christ in His first coming, and also the work of Christ during this age of Grace. We have seen many interesting analogies between the lives of Joseph and the Messiah.

This Beloved of his father (Gen. 37:3) and hated by his brethren (Gen. 37:4-11) is twice spoken of as being "separate" from his brethren. In Genesis 49:26, Jacob so designates him. In Deuteronomy 33:16 Moses quotes the words of Jacob. How true is this also of the Lord Jesus, "separate from sinners."

We shall now look at Joseph, the Righteous, setting forth the work of Christ during the "Tribulation period." We shall use this term to designate that period of earthly history between the Rapture of the Believers and the Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven; or the period that immediately follows this Grace age at the end of which the Church, the Body of Christ (Col. 1:18) is caught up to be with the Lord (I Thess. 4:16-17).

This is the period of unequaled trial, sorrow, and suffering as is seen in the Word. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be" (Matt. 24:21). This is a period of spiritual darkness and open wickedness. "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation" (II Peter 3:3, 4). It is the night of the world (John 9:4; Luke 17:34). But the Church, which is not of the night (I Thess. 5:4, 5), will escape it, by the Rapture, and stand before the Son of Man. As Luke 21:36 says, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." The children of Israel are scattered, but Zechariah tells us that a third part of them will be brought through it (Zech. 13:9); and Matthew gives us our Lord's words that "for the elects' sake" the days of this culminating tribulation shall be shortened (Matt. 24:22) by the revelation of Christ (II Thess. 1:7; 2:8). From Isaiah, chapters 24 to 28, an idea may be gained of the character of this period.

The children of the old man (Israel) were dispersed, removed from their own land to Egypt. "And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharoah had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him" (Gen. 46:5 7). The children of Israel will be dispersed. "Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations" (Amos 9:8-9). "And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again" (Zech. 10:9). These predictions were fulfilled in each instance, and suffering and tribulation were surely experienced.

With the Israelites, this was a time of great famine. "The famine was sore in the land" (Gen. 43:1); "And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands' (Gen. 41:57). So Israel is in the midst of need as well as all lands. Israel and his children must turn from the usual source of their supply, their homeland, to the resources of a great Benefactor. The tribulation period shall be a time of great famine. "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places" (Matt. 24:7). That the Lord was speaking of the tribulation period in this twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew cannot be doubted, for in verse 29 He says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, . . . . and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven." This has not yet taken place, so is yet to come to pass. The Lord Jesus Christ, the great Benefactor will be the Deliverer.

Joseph provided food for the children of Israel in the midst of the famine without cost. "Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus he did unto them" (Gen. 42:25). The Lord will provide for the people of Israel in the midst of the tribulation period. "And the woman (which is Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days" (Rev. 12:6). We are told also that God has shortened those days. He is the One who watches over them. "Except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matt. 24:22), and God keens watch above His own. As Joseph proved to be a great deliverer, a greater than Joseph will do His Office work effectively — the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Joseph has in store ample provisions for the needs of both Jew and Gentile. "When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do" (Gen. 4 1:55) . "And all the countries (Gentile and Jew came into Egypt . . . . because the famine was so sore in all lands" (Gen. 41:57). Christ has ample supply for the needs of His people during the tribulation period. "The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days" (Rev. 12:6). Their daily provision is provided by God. He "neither slumbers nor sleeps." We may become impatient and question and wonder. But God "never is before His time and never is behind."

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant Mercy hath begotten us unto a living hope by fee resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (I Pet. 1:3), to an eternal inheritance, reserved for us, who are kept by the power of God unto His own good time (See I Peter 1:4-5).