Is Joseph’s Cup Also The Cup of Christ?
Greetings to all of you,
I went to feed the dogs one day, and I noticed the cup that was in the bag of dog food. God brought to mind the cup of Joseph’s that had been put in Benjamin’s sack of grain. I read Genesis chapter 30 to where Jacob got to go to Egypt. I also noticed that the money for food had been returned to the brothers both times they went to buy food and take it home.
Does Joseph’s cup have anything to do with the cup of Christ?
Thank you,
R____
Hi, R____,
Thank you for your question. You reference the story of Joseph giving his brother’s money back twice and then deliberately placing his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack and accusing His brothers of stealing his cup.
Gen 44:1 And he [Joseph] commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
Gen 44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.
Gen 44:4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
Gen 44:5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
Gen 44:6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.
Gen 44:7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
Gen 44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?
Gen 44:9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.
Gen 44:10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
Gen 44:11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
Gen 44:12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
Then you ask:
“Does Joseph’s cup have anything to do with the cup of Christ?”
Yes, indeed it does. It was through Christ’s cup that He bore the sins of the world. But Christ’s cup was not just to be drunk by Him alone. It was also to be drunk by all who come to know Christ in every succeeding generation, as Christ told James and John and as Paul tells us:
Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
The spiritual significance of Joseph and his brothers is dealt with in depth in the article entitled The Law of Moses Versus The Law of The Spirit, which I urge you to read at your earliest convenience. Here is the link to that article:
The Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit
Since we must all come to see ourselves as “chief… of sinners” we must acknowledge that drinking Christ’s cup is the reaping of what we have sown, and the burning up of all the wood, hay and stubble in our lives.
Psa 11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
Benjamin had no part in what his ten brothers did to his brother, Joseph, and in that way he typifies God’s elect, along with his brother Joseph. But since we all must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4), we must never make the mistake of thinking of ourselves only as Joseph or Benjamin, but surely never those ten ungodly brothers of Joseph who sold him into Egypt for twenty pieces of silver.
If we, as the apostle Paul did, can truly come to see ourselves as “chief… of sinners”, then we will acknowledge that “all that is in the flesh”, all the dastardly deeds of Joseph’s brothers or of all men, are also lying right there latent within our own corruptible flesh.
1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
But if God has it so written in His book, then some of us will be saviors along with Christ, and we will be “crucified together with Christ”, and we will be “dying daily” with Him, and we will be “filling up in [our] flesh that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church” just as He did. The only difference is that we are the “living sacrifice”, the “scapegoat” who along with “the Lord’s goat” must “make atonement for Israel”.
Lev 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. [Christ Himself]
Lev 16:10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. [“Present yourselves as a living sacrifice”]Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Our “living sacrifice” is also “for… the church… to make an atonement with [Christ]… Being] crucified with Christ… for His body’s sake, which is the church”.
It was Christ Himself who told us all of this when He told us:
Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Christ’s Father sent Him to die for the sins of this world, and that is what Christ has sent us to do, to “die daily” to be “crucified with [Him}”, and to “fill up in [our own] bodies, what is behind of Christ’s afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church”.
I hope this all serves to demonstrate what Joseph’s cup typifies, and that is what Christ’s cup typifies. They both typify the judgment of our flesh and the destruction of our old man, through which destruction our new man is birthed into the kingdom of God.
YbiC,
Mike
Other related posts
- Why Must Children and the Innocent Suffer? (October 25, 2011)
- What Does it Mean to Eat His Bread and Drink His Cup? (July 9, 2018)
- The Willing Way (July 22, 2009)
- The Keys To The Kingdom of Heaven - Part 11 (October 31, 2015)
- Job 27:1-10 "Till I Die I Will Not Remove Mine Integrity From Me" (September 19, 2012)
- Is Joseph's Cup Also The Cup of Christ? (September 29, 2014)
- Gospels in Harmony - Name it and Claim it (Command) vs. Ask in My Name - Mat 20:20-28, Mar 10:35-45, (February 23, 2021)
- Drink Offering (May 12, 2012)
- Did Christ Actually Drink Wine? (January 8, 2018)
- Awesome Hands - part 48: "The magicians of Egypt" (November 20, 2013)
- Awesome Hands - part 34: "Whose hand the cup is found" (July 12, 2013)