As far as history relates, Joseph was almost faultless; and although his persecutors did not know what they did, it was God’s Purpose that through him, his whole family should be saved. Jesus, who was perfectly sinless, was sacrificed to the end that “Whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. (Jn. 3:16). Joseph told his brethren: “God did send me before you to preserve life” (Gen. 45:5); and similarly, Jesus told His disciples: “I go to prepare a place for you ... that where I am, ye may be also”. (Jn. 14:5).

Joseph was sent down to Egypt for his own, and his family’s good. Of Jesus, it was said: “Out of Egypt have I called My Son.” Joseph foreshadowed Israel (the nation), in that he was sent forth into the world (Egypt), to act as a means of salvation in time of great tribulation (7 years of famine); and to set up a government system which would save the people, and bring them directly under the rule of the King (Pharaoh). Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphnath-paaneah, signifies “Preserver of the Age”, or “Saviour of the World”.

British-Israel teaches that the work of modern Israel is to prepare for the Kingdom of God on earth; “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33); and for the King (Jesus Christ) who, we believe, will very soon, in the Day of Tribulation, return to reign over us in power and great glory.

Both Joseph and Jesus were about 30 years of age, when they began their ministry; and both had to overcome great temptation.

Joseph had very great power throughout the whole of Egypt. He first took over the people’s money, then their cattle, their land, and finally their labour and their allegiance; so that it could have been said of the King of Egypt, at that time, that the people were wholly his; and so we hope soon to surrender our all to Jesus Christ, to do with as He will, when He reigns supreme as King over all the world; with His Throne at Jerusalem, and the whole world doing Him homage, and acknowledging Him Lord of All.

Foreshadowed by Joseph, we believe that Israel will, one day, as God’s Chosen People (Nation), be acknowledged throughout the world as: “the head and not the tail” (Deut. 28:13); and as the Bride of the Coming King. “Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens, their nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces toward the earth ...” (Isa. 49:22-23).

Joseph’s life was one of service, as was that of his great Prototype, who said to His disciples: “Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister ...” (Matt. 20:26-28). Israel, too, was to serve, and be a blessing to all mankind; and this she has been doing in her blind, unknowing way, simply because she is Israel, and because service for others is bred into her bone. Britain and America have long led the world in service for all who are in need. What would they not be able to accomplish, were they to know and acknowledge their Identity, and their Duty to God?

Compare Joseph’s whole life with the picture the Prophet Isaiah has given us of the future Israel, serving her Lord, at her very best. “But thou, O Israel, My Servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend ... I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a Covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house”. Not only Joseph may be seen there in type, but Jesus Christ, and even Israel as she is today, in her unseeing way.

Study these Types and Antitypes for yourself, and you will find many more similarities and lessons for today. The story of Joseph carries much for our instruction, and above all it carries a message of Hope. The Bible contains the Will and Purpose of God, and it is our privilege, as well as our duty, to search it out, and to spread its wisdom far and wide. We are His Witnesses, and our work is to “lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of Thy people Israel."