From Prison to the Throne

Though Joseph was a slave, the Lord was with him, and everything he did prospered. He was made overseer over all the house of Potiphar, and when any of the other servants needed anything, Joseph had the key. When any were hungry, he fed them. God prospered and blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.

So it was with Jesus. Though He was stripped of His heavenly dignity and took upon Himself the form of a slave, yet He was not defeated in His circumstances. He lived with a people who were bound by the limitations of the Adamic nature, yet He had the key of blessing. Whatever their needs were, He was the answer. In spite of the fact that He walked about in the same earthly prison house of a human existence as other men, yet He ruled in the midst of His circumstances.

There was such a divine radiance about Joseph, such a godly charisma in addition to the fact that he was a handsome young man, that the evil, lustful nature of a worldly woman was attracted to him. As Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to compromise his godly standards in an act of adultery, just so Satan tempted Jesus to mix the divine life with earthly desires. Neither man would yield to the temptations, and this led to the cross for both of them.

For Jesus, it was crucifixion at Calvary and into the prison house of death. For Joseph it was the prison house of a living death with no hope of pardon or liberty. Jesus defeated death and took the keys of death and hell from Satan and stands ready to open the prison doors and set the captives free. Joseph was so blessed of God in his prison that the keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners into his hand, and whatever was done in the prison, he was the doer of it. He had the key to unlock any door, and everything he did the Lord made it to prosper. What a peace it brings when we realize that our Lord Jesus has the key to the prison house of humanity we are in; whatever happens to us comes from His hand (Romans 8:28).

Joseph, the elder brother of Benjamin, is a strong type and shadow of our elder Brother, the Lord Jesus. He came out of the prison house and on to the throne. In one bright morning, Joseph was delivered from the darkness of the cell as the prison gate was rolled back. He took his place at the right hand of Pharoah, the supreme ruler of Egypt . All power to administrate the affairs of all Egypt was put into his hands, and all things were done in his name. “Go to Joseph” said the king when anyone asked for corn, or when anything needed to be done. Genesis 41:43 said that every knee was made to bow before him. What a tremendous type he was of the greater One that was to come. For Jesus, our elder Brother, the stone rolled away from the tomb, and He ascended to take his place at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Every knee bows, every tongue confesses, and every thing is done in His great name! Faith looks beyond the circumstances.