John wrote of Jesus saying, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” [2]
The word for “declared” in the original Greek of the New Testament is “εξηγησατο” from the word the verb “exégeomai” means to lead out or to unfold, often used in the context of explaining or interpreting something. From this Greek word we draw the term for interpreting Scripture, which is to exegete. Jesus is the exegete of Scripture; the explainer of it.
Let’s look at Genesis 37-38 with Messianic lenses on.
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also, he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.” [3]
Joseph is a type of Christ. Jesus is the beloved Son of God. He is the One that his brothers were jealous of and handed over to Pilate to be crucified.
“Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.” “His brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So, they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. [4]
The dream was prophetic in nature. Joseph would eventually reign over his brothers. And Jesus Messiah will eventually reign over Israel, and over the world. Those who want to be first, hate Christ because they want, as Satan does, to steal the hearts of God’s worshippers.
Later on, we find Joseph describing to a stranger his mission, “I am seeking my brothers.” [5]
Joseph’s brothers cast him into a pit to die. This is a type of the tomb of Jesus, and of His resurrection. His brothers sold him to slave traders. This was a type of Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus for the sake of financial gain. “So, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver.” [6]
“They took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, ‘We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?’” [7]
It is no coincidence that a goat was slain. Its blood symbolized Joseph. The goat is a type of Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Lamb that was slain to take away the sins of the world. [8]
Next, we have the story of God preserving the bloodline of Messiah. Judah had three sons. The first two died without children. Judah refrained from giving their widow to his third son. God’s Law for Israel was that a brother needed to impregnate his sister-in-law if his brother, her husband, died childless. This was done to preserve his brother’s family line. Judah did not give Tamar, the widow, to his third son when he was of marrying age. He said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house. [9]
What did Tamar do? She played the part of a harlot to obtain a child from Judah. She got pregnant by him, and later gave birth to twins. At first Judah was going to have Tamar executed for playing the harlot, but when he realized that the act was done with him, and that she was trying to preserve his family’s bloodline, he remarked, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he never knew her again. [10]
Tamar gave birth to twins. Perez stuck his hand out from his mother’s womb and “the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, ‘This one came out first.’ Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, ‘How did you break through? This breach be upon you!’ Therefore, his name was called Perez. Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah.” [11]
Perez was counted as the firstborn based on his hand coming forth first before his brother’s body, but his brother, Zerah, had a scarlet thread on his hand which symbolized that he would by saved by a descendant of his brother’s genealogy, namely Jesus of Nazareth.
Tamar is one of five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. “Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron…” Rahab [the former harlot], Ruth [the Moabite], the wife of Uriah [Bathsheba], and the virgin Mary are the other four. All five of these women experienced questions about their reputations, but God redeemed their lives and placed them in His Book and in the genealogy of His Son. [12]
So, you see, it is important to look for Messiah, both for your eternal salvation, and for an accurate understanding of the Scriptures.
[1] John 4:42, John 10:9, Acts 4:12
[2] John 1:18
[3] Genesis 37:3-4
[4] Genesis 37:5, 8
[5] Genesis 37:16
[6] Genesis 37:24-28
[7] Genesis 37:31-32
[8] John 1:29
[9] Genesis 38:6-11
[10] Genesis 38:12-26
[11] Genesis 38:28-30
[12] Matthew 1:3, 5-6, 16
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