JOSEPH #18 | JOSEPH AND CHRIST #7 | ENDTIME SIGNIFICANCE#2
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3614
JOSEPH #18
JOSEPH AND CHRIST #7
ENDTIME SIGNIFICANCE#2
The one person who foreshadowed Jesus the most was Joseph, the son of Jacob.
Joseph stands out as a type of Christ even as an example for the End Times.
Joseph’s sons (Manasseh and Ephraim) come through his Gentile wife (an Egyptian) and are given full tribal status with the other tribes of Israel.
Likewise, Gentiles who believe in Jesus as their Messiah are considered full members of God’s people.
This is important in tandem with Paul's teachings about Gentiles being the branches of a wild olive tree grafted into the original olive tree that denoted Israel.
In Romans 11:17 (NLT) we read: "But some of these branches from Abraham's tree--some of the people of Israel--have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God's special olive tree."
Paul is describing an apparently common practice of olive tree farming. To mingle plants, caretakers can transplant branches from one tree to another.
Paul's take on the practice seems unusual, however. It was unlikely that a farmer would graft a wild olive branch onto a cultivated olive tree. However, that may well be Paul's point. God's choice to graft the "wild" and unspiritual Gentile people onto the tree of God's grace to the Israelites also seems unlikely. And yet, this is exactly what God has done.
But why does God do something so unlikely?
Romans 11:11–24 describes why God has hardened Israel in her unbelief in Christ. It is to make room on God's figurative olive tree for the Gentile Christians. The old branches of unbelieving Jews have been broken off for now, and the new branches have been grafted into the root.
In turn, the salvation of so many Gentiles will provoke Israel to jealousy, drawing her back to God through faith in Christ when He removes the hardening of her unbelief.
When that happens, after enough Gentiles have believed, the old branches of Jewish believers will be grafted back into the tree.
And this is what we perceive is happening now.
Although Jews who believe in Jesus (called Messianic Jews ) are small in number - estimated to be about 10 thousand in Israel - we can pray in faith that God will grant the increase in prophetic fulfillment in the days to come.
