Joseph's Release (part 1 of 2)

The shackles hurt his feet; his neck was placed in an iron collar, until the time of his prediction came true.  The Lord’s word proved him right. – Psalm 105:18-19  (NET)

Oftentimes, it is a relatively simple matter to find Jesus and the Gospel being spoken of in a proleptic manner in the Hebrew Scriptures  On numerous occasions, when the aforementioned Scriptures are viewed through the lends of the cross and the Christ-event, it is not at all difficult to find Jesus especially reflected in the purported accounts of the life of Joseph.  Here in the one hundred fifth Psalm, the link between Joseph and Jesus, and with it the presentation of Jesus and the message of the Gospel (Jesus is the crucified and resurrected Lord of all), seems to be one of the most explicit and direct that one will ever be able to find. 

In verses eighteen and nineteen, as the Psalmist recounts a portion of the tale of Joseph in Egypt, the reader is reminded that Joseph’s feet were in shackles, while his neck was in an iron collar.  This situation existed until he was vindicated by a prediction that he is reported to have made.  One would be hard pressed to find an analogy closer to that which would eventually be experienced by Jesus.  With these verses then, the reader is reminded of Jesus’ death, along with His being placed in a tomb, as death and the grave symbolically (and somewhat literally) take the place of the shackles and iron collar. 

As was said to have been the experience of Joseph, Jesus too was imprisoned.  This prison was a tomb.  How long did His imprisonment last?  Naturally, it is well understood that the duration of His imprisonment was three days.  On a deeper level however, one could insist that the imprisonment continued until the time of Jesus’ hopeful predictions about His Resurrection came true.  With that Resurrection, like Joseph (who experienced a veritable resurrection), He was vindicated.  To borrow the language of the Psalmist, He was proved right. 

In the verses that follow, the Psalmist provides an analysis of this release from prison.  For Joseph, it is said that “The king authorized his release” (105:20a).  Pharaoh released Joseph from his imprisonment, and the believers knows that this release by the king to be true of Jesus as well.  The Creator God---the sovereign ruler of the universe---released Jesus from the shackles of death.  Indeed, in the very first public proclamation of Jesus’ Resurrection, as recorded in the second chapter of Acts, Peter speaks about death and says that “it was not possible for Him to be held in its power” (2:24b). 

Of Joseph it is said that “the ruler of nations set him free” (105:20b).  With His being freed from death, it is more than appropriate to speak of Jesus with such words, while also finding that it is said of Joseph that Pharaoh “put him in charge of his palace, and made him manager of all his property” (105:21).  In fact, if one was to turn to the original story of Joseph, there it would be found that Joseph was made second in command over the empire of Egypt.  Only Pharaoh was greater than Joseph. 

Collapse Of The Temple (part 1)

Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!”  He pushed hard and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it.  He killed many more people in his death than he had killed during his life. – Judges 16:30  (NET)

Before famously bringing down the Philistine temple on top of him, Samson, who had been grinding in prison (Judges 16:21), was called out to entertain the assembled people.  It is said that when his enemies “really started celebrating, they said, ‘Call Samson so he can entertain us!’  So they summoned Samson from the prison and he entertained them.  They made him stand between the two pillars” (16:25).  These, presumably, were the two main pillars of the Philistine temple of their god, Dagon. 

While there, “Samson said to the young man who held his hand, ‘Position me so I can touch the pillars that support the temple.  Then I can lean on them’.” (16:26)  Standing before his enemies then, “Samson called to the Lord” and he said, “O Master, Lord, remember me!  Strengthen me just one more time, O God, so I can get swift revenge against the Philistines for my two eyes!” (16:28)  With that, it is reported that, “Samson said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines!’  He pushed hard and the temple collapsed on the rulers and all the people in it” (16:30a). 

Now, though all analogies eventually break down, one can here find an analogy between Samson and Jesus.  How so?  In His day, and though this should be taken as a loose analogy, Jesus, if He saw Himself in the role of Samson, could very well have considered the authorities that controlled the Jerusalem temple to be Philistines.  Though the temple was supposed to be the house of Israel’s God, the glory of the Creator God (the shekinah) was not recognized to be dwelling there. 

Ultimately then, it could have been appeared to be a temple that existed for the honor and power of the men who controlled it.  Sad stories such as that of the widow and her mite illustrate this quite well.  In this way, one could almost consider it to be the counterpart to the Philistine temple. 

It is well understood that part of Jesus’ message was that He was the actual Temple of Israel’s God---the place inhabited by the Spirit of the Creator God, and the place at which the realm of the Creator God overlapped with the realm of those that bore the image of the Creator God (where heaven and earth came together).  In this same vein, Jesus even spoke of Himself and His body as a Temple, saying “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again” (John 2:19). 

Indeed, it is insisted that in Jesus dwelt the glory of the covenant God of Israel (the shekinah), as is stated in the first chapter of John (1:14).  Thus, the temple that then stood in Jerusalem, with its corrupted hierarchy under which the covenant people experienced a veritable grinding for the “entertainment” and enrichment of those that sought to maintain their place and prestige, could now be considered to be illegitimate and redundant.