Brother Bob was referring to a comment from our study of the precious stones of the Bible. (Click on the blue letters to see the short study.)

B'Ann and I chose to call our on-line ministry DOWEKNOW because we are often reminded that we are human vessels and that humans are far from perfect. The nucleus of our website came by revelation, but the greater portion came from studying to show ourselves approved unto God. We studied the Word trusting the Holy Spirit to teach us truth and doing our best to compare spiritual with spiritual. However, we are aware that none of us live in a vacuum and that we are all exposed to many sayings that are supposedly "in the Bible"–but aren't. Consequently, if we aren't careful, we can all find ourselves studying the Bible to "prove" something that isn't so! In short, we are always open to correction when correction is needed.

As you've noted, Benjamin means "son of the right hand" and Joseph means "the Lord will add a son." When we consider that Jesus sits at the Father's right hand and that the Gentiles become God's children through exercising faith in the "death, burial, and resurrection" of Christ and consequently being "born again," surely this qualifies both of them as "types of Christ."

And speaking of the "right hand," let's consider the following Scripture.

Gen. 48:
8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?
9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased * him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

In this passage, we see that under God's unction, Joseph's father did not hold to the customs and regulations that God had laid down for the Israelites. This makes sense when we consider that God knows the end from the beginning; and that He knew Ephraim would be more inclined to do God's will than his older brother. My point here is that in our studies, we need to be careful when we try to apply the customs and regulations given to Israel. In other words, we should try to always be consciously aware that we must depend upon the Spirit of God to give us understanding of the Word of God–not just our logic! Likewise, we should also be careful how we apply the "types" in the Bible; for everything in a person's life does not qualify them as a type–but only those particular things fulfilled by the antitype. In the instance of Rachel, for example, she typifies the New Testament Church, the beloved Bride of Christ. Her death, however, has no meaning typically–only the death of Christ has significance to the Church and to our studies.

At this point, I have to lean toward our comments in the study; however, we invite any of you who feel you have insight on what Brother Bob has commented on to send us your comments and we will duly consider them. Certainly, we all have much more to glean from God's Holy Word and we should always search for the truth.

This searching should not lead us away from the Cause of Christ, which is Salvation through His death on the Cross. My prayer is that Christ Jesus can/will use all of us in His search for the lost. Maranatha!

Keep looking up–He's coming soon!

Don

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