In Genesis 43, Yosef (Joseph) hosted a large banquet for his brothers and household staff. At the time of the account in Genesis 44, Yosef was still hidden from his brothers. He is the second in command of Mitsraim (Egypt), one of the world’s most powerful nations of the period. This account of the actions of Pharaoh and Yosef is a parable of what the Father and the Son planned to do to and through a group of believers in God, a group called Israel.
The account of Yosef and his once-estranged brothers reaches a crescendo in Genesis 43, as those 10 return to Mistraim (Egypt) with Ben-Yamin (Benjamin), Yosef’s younger brother. There are a number of parallels between Yosef’s life and that of Yeshua the Messiah in this part of the account.
When the brothers of Yosef (Joseph) came to Mitsraim (Egypt), even the second time, they did not recognize him at all. He was concealed from them behind a new name, Zaphenath-paneakh, and new appearance, shaved and in garb of his office.
Similarly, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah is known as Jesus Christ the Church-maker in the Gentile world, and He is hidden from the rest of the descendants of Israel.
Messianic figures in the Bible aren’t one-to-one representations of the Messiah, but the messianic figures of the pharaoh of Mitsraim (Egypt) and Yosef (Joseph) do give us a glimpse of the relationship between the Father and the Messiah.
This isn’t a Bible passage one might want to read to young children, but it is recorded for a profound reason. It gives us another insight into the character of Yehudah (Judah), and the symbols point to King David and the Messiah.
This passage is the pinnacle of Solomon as a messianic figure. In the first part of the chapter, we are introduced to the Queen of Sheba. She had heard of Solomon’s wisdom and recognized a supernatural source of Solomon’s wisdom.
Then the passage shifts to talk of silver. The people of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) didn’t find any value for silver because symbolically they already were living in the messianic reign, but those in the nations, such as Egypt, symbolically were still longing for the word of God. They were longing for God’s teaching and counsel, just as the Queen of Sheba sought out Solomon’s.
Most of this account is God’s ordered sacrifice of Yitskhak (Isaac). This is a disturbing command until we see that the point was to show Abraham’s deep trust in God’s promises and power to resurrect as well as to show how heart-wrenching a future act against God’s “one and only son” would be.