“I found Jesus! I found Him!” I told Wendel while I danced a little hip-hoppity jig around the kitchen.
He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. His expression said, “And…?”
“I found Him in the prison in Egypt!”
“What??” He asked. A look of confusion crossed his face.
“Jesus said that the entire Bible is written about Him. I was reading about Joseph, and asked the Lord to show me how Joe’s story was about Him. He did!” I said, and continued to dance.
I love to “dig for treasure” in the Word. The only treasure worth finding is Jesus, so that’s who I look for. I’ve found Him in many of the Old Testament stories. This delights me more than finding gold. Gold can be spent, and then will be gone. A Bible treasure is mine forever!
Chuck Missler first clued me into this, and I’m so thankful. One of the things he (and some others) said is that Joseph’s life was a “type” of Christ in over 100 ways. Not wanting to take their word for it, I got out my Bible and began to make my way through Joseph’s life. Here are a few things I saw as I studied:
Beloved son
Despised and rejected
Seamless robe
Homeless
Put in the ground and left for dead
Falsely accused
I worked through the details until I came to Joseph’s stay in prison. Two of his cell mates had dreams. One was the cupbearer and the other the baker. The next morning, Joseph noticed that they looked sad and asked, “What’s up?”
“We each had a strange dream last night. There’s no one to tell us what they mean.”
Joseph said, “Hey, God interprets dreams. Tell me what your dreams were. He’ll explain it to me so I can tell you.”
The cup bearer went first. His was a dream about a grapevine, the fruit pressed and put into Pharaoh’s cup. After this, the cup bearer put the cup into Pharaoh’s hands.
Joseph gave the interpretation immediately: “Good news! In three days you go back to work.”
The baker stood by, and listened to the interaction. The interpretation given to the other fellow encouraged him to share his dream next.
His dream was about bread in a basket on his head for Pharaoh. Birds came and ate the bread out of the topmost basket.
With a grimace, Joe said, “Wow. Sucks to be you! In three days, you’ll be dead; afterward, the birds will eat the flesh off your bones.”
The interpretations were accurate, and all took place as Joseph had declared.
Here’s the thing. In this story we have three players: Joseph, the cup bearer, and the baker. Let’s look at the last two.
A cup bearer would taste food and drink given to Pharaoh to ensure that it was not poisoned. He served the ruler. We get a clue about what he gave to Pharaoh by his title: cup bearer. The beverage in the cup was most likely wine.
The baker – no brainer here – baked bread.
Hmm. Wine and bread…remind you of anything?
Here’s where it gets interesting.
The baker was killed…Jesus’ body was broken for us.
The cup bearer was reinstated…because He lives, we have eternal life.
Like I said, this kind of treasure doesn’t “spend,” but it sure warms my heart. The more I read the stories of the Bible in search of Jesus, the more I realize the entire book is tightly woven. When I take into account the various writers, their professions, and the time span in which the Bible was written, I am in awe of the God of the Bible. Every detail bears significance and fits into the whole of the 40 books written by 66 authors over the span of a few thousand years.
The Bible itself is a miracle when viewed in this light!
Does this seem contrived to you? If a fore-shadow (type) of Jesus were found in only one story, perhaps I would agree; but try it for yourself. Choose any story from the Bible. Ask the Lord to show you what it tells about Jesus. Then wait, expecting to receive.
You never know where you’ll find Jesus!