Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #40 in Genesis 37.   We will read Genesis 37:27-28:

Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

We have been looking at the spiritual meaning of Joseph being thrown into the pit.  We have seen that Joseph is a type of Christ, and the pit in which there was no water is a spiritual picture of “hell,” or the grave.  Christ came and died for His people.  He went to the cross, demonstrating the atonement that was made at the foundation of the world.  We understand those spiritual pictures, but what are we going to do with this next spiritual picture of Judah and the children of Israel (Joseph’s brethren), as Judah said, “What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh.”  And then it said, “And his brethren were content.”

Then in our verse, there came Midianite merchantmen (who are also referred to as Ishmeelites), and Joseph’s brethren drew and lifted him up out of the pit, and they sold him for twenty pieces of silver.  Then this caravan brought Joseph down into Egypt, and it says in Genesis 37:36:

And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

But here is our problem.  Joseph was in the pit, and we have seen that the pit identifies with “hell.”  Judah and the children of Israel sold Joseph, a type of Christ, to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver.  Then after they purchased him, they then brought him into Egypt and sold him again.  What are we to understand about this?  How are we to understand these things spiritually? 

Let us look at it from the angle of Joseph, as Joseph is a picture of Christ in “hell.”  So are we now to understand that the children of Israel “sold” Christ in hell to the Ishmeelites, and they purchased him in “hell,” and they drew him and lifted him up out of the pit?  Is that like lifting Christ up out of hell?  And now they own him.  They have bought Christ.  And that all seems backwards compared to everything we know about the Gospel.  We do not buy Christ, but Christ has bought us.  That is the example in 1Corinthians 6:19-20:

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

If we are truly born again, we have been bought with a price, and that price was the price of Christ’s blood, or His life.  Therefore we are owned by God.  It is not the other way around.  It is not that we have bought Christ, and we own Him.  But that is exactly as it appears in this historical event if we continue to carry the spiritual picture further after Joseph has been bought, and now the Ishmeelites own him.  Since they owned him, they could do with him what they wanted, and they, in turn, sold him to Potiphar, and then Potiphar owned him.

Again, you can see the dilemma.  How can we solve this?  Are we to start another spiritual picture in which Joseph is not a picture of Christ, but he is a picture of something else?  No.  Joseph continues to be a picture of Christ, but there is another element to that picture that is necessary for us to understand, and that is that Joseph is a picture of Christ, on the one hand, but becomes a picture of who Christ represents, on the other hand.  For example, if we go to the New Testament, we will see really two parts of this picture.  One thing to remember is that each one of us is part of the body of Christ.  We read about that in 1Corinthians 12.  You can read the whole chapter that really speaks to this, and it will give a greater impression, but I am just going to read 1Corinthians 12:27:

Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

All those who become saved are part of the overall body of Christ, and that is God’s point throughout the whole chapter in 1Corinthians 12.  We have to keep that in mind, but let us not allow that truth to take away from the reality that it is still Christ’s body.  To be part of the body of Christ means that we are part of Him.  It is His body, and that is why Joseph continues to be a picture of Christ.  Even though the elect come into view, it remains Christ, and He is the primary focus, as is true of the whole Bible.

The second thing we must keep in mind is found in 2Corinthians 11:4:

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Here, there are references to “another Jesus,” and “another spirit,” and “another gospel,” and they are all synonyms.  Once we realize that, we can understand what God is saying in Matthew 24 when He makes this statement in Matthew 24:23-24:

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

There shall arise “false Christs.”  Who among God’s elect would be fooled by that?  It there were a man out there that grew a long beard and hair because he had been unduly influenced by images of Jesus…and of course those images are not Christ because no one knows what He looked like.  And God makes a definite point in the Bible of not describing Jesus’ physical presence because He knew that people would make illustrations, drawings, and images of Him.  And Jesus is God, and God says that we are not to make images of God.  That did not stop artists from making their renderings of images of Christ.

But even if someone came and claimed to be Jesus, God’s elect would know immediately that this man is crazy if he really believes that to be true, and this man is a charlatan.  That would not come close to deceiving God’s elect, but there are “false gospels” that try to be ever-so-close to the truth, but they make a “little twist” here or there.  They are much more dangerous than some lunatic who thinks he is Jesus.  So there would arise “false gospels,” and that is what is meant by “false Christs,”  and “false prophets,” would go hand in hand with “false gospels.” 

This is what we must realize as we think of Joseph as a type of Christ.  Joseph can be a picture of the body of Christ, and what can come into view is the idea of a “false Christ.”  We will get into that, but just keep this Scripture in mind from 2Corinthians 11:4 about “another Christ,” “another spirit,” and “another gospel.”

Let us go back to Genesis 37:28:

Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen…

And the Ishmeelites were merchantmen as well, and they are the ones to whom Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver.  In making the purchase, the Ishmeelites were merchantmen.  Everyone in this caravan were a mixed group of Midianites and Ishmeelites, and they were all merchantmen.  And the Bible tells us that God likens the Gospel to “merchandise,” and the one who deals in the Gospel, including God Himself, to a merchantman.  We know that from Isaiah 55:1-3:

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

You see, God is the One who is the merchantman.  He is beckoning the passersby just like a merchantman on the street: “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.”  He is beckoning mankind to look at His merchandise, and to come and buy, and yet it is all freely given: “…come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”  That is the merchandise of God, the true Gospel of the Bible, and this is what is in view in the parable in Matthew 25 about the ten virgins who were awakened by the cry that the bridegroom cometh.  They all went to light their lamps, but only the wise virgins had oil, but the five foolish virgins had no oil.  And in this parable the lamp is a picture of the Word of God: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

In order to light the Word of God and in order for the Word of God to be illuminated to our understanding, there needs to be “oil” in the lamp.  That is, the “oil” represents the Holy Spirit.  If you have the Holy Spirit, which is only possible if God has saved you, then you will be able to light your lamp.  The Bible will shine forth, and as you read, its truth will be revealed to you, as we read in Matthew 24.  In the context of the Great Tribulation, it says in Matthew 24:15: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”   How can you read if you cannot see?  The only way to see in the “night” and darkness of this world is to light the lamp, and the only way to light the lamp is to have the “oil” to do so.  And if you are able to light the lamp, then God has saved you, and you have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, then you will be one that readeth and understandeth.  Let him who reads understand what it means that the “abomination of desolation” is standing in the “holy place.”  And then there was the command, “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains,” and only those who had “oil” in their lamps had the Word of God illuminated to their understanding. 

That is why the prophet Daniel said he was told to “shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”  And then at the time of the end, who would understand?  The wise would understand because they alone had the “oil.”  They alone had the Spirit of God within.  But then it went on to say in Daniel 12:10: “…and none of the wicked shall understand.”  Why would they not understand?  It was because they were foolish in the sense that they had no “oil,” or no Spirit of Christ within, as Christ is the essence of wisdom.  They heard the cry, “The bridegroom cometh!”  They heard that May 21, 2011 was Judgment Day.  They heard that God had begun the process of judgment on the house of God, the corporate church, and that they must flee the churches because the church age was over.  But their response was, “Where do you see that in the Bible?  Where do you see that?  I do not see that.  You who are making these claims, show me!”  That is what is going on in Matthew 25:8:

And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

That is, they were saying, “We have failed to light our lamps in order to see what you are saying.”  Then it says in Matthew 25:9:

But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

In other words, the elect are saying, “We cannot give the Holy Spirit to you so you can see.”  It is not possible.  That is not how God has designed His Gospel.  The indwelling Spirit only allows the individual who possesses Him in order to see.  You must go to Him that “buys and sells,” who is God Himself.  It says, “Go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves,” and the plural pronoun “they” is used because God is a Triune God.  The only way to have done that was to come boldly to the throne of grace in the “proper season” of the day of salvation, and to cry out, “O, Lord, have mercy!  Have mercy upon me.  Grant me your Spirit.  Grant me your salvation.”  And if God were merciful in granting that request of salvation, the Spirit would have been delivered to that sinner, and the sinner would then have “oil” for his lamp, and he would light it and see.  The wise will understand.  And he would have gone running out of the midst of the churches, and he would have tried to take his family with him, if possible. 

But that is how it works.  God Himself is a merchantman, but the people of God, including the professed Christians, are also likened to merchantmen in the Bible.  We read in Proverbs 21 concerning the virtuous woman who is a picture of God’s elect, in particular.  It says in Proverbs 31:14:

She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

Then it says in Proverbs 31:18:

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

The “virtuous woman” is like the merchants’ ships.  We talked about the ships of Tarshish, and how they would go out and come back with merchandise from the nations.  They would come to Tyre which was on the outskirts of the northern part of Israel, a port of entry into the nation of Israel, representing the kingdom of God, and they would return with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks, things that are pointing to people coming into the kingdom of God.  The “virtuous woman’s” merchandise is good.  God is pictured in Isaiah 55 as One who says, “Come, ye, buy,” and then He got right into the Gospel when He said, “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”  That is only possible through (effectual) hearing the Word of God: “For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” 

This is the merchandise of God.  It is His Word, and He merchandises the Gospel by sending it into the world through His people, and we became merchants, and our merchandise was the true Gospel of the Bible.  The “virtuous woman” had good merchandise because she is picturing those who are faithful in handling the Word of God, those that are faithful caretakers of the Word of God.   But there were also “false merchantmen” who ruined and perverted and destroyed the goodness of their merchandise by turning the true Gospel into “another gospel,” and that is what we will see in the spiritual meaning regarding what is going on in Genesis 37.  We will look at that when we get together in our next Bible study.