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The work of the house of Joseph, part 18

The work of Joseph is to do things on earth that agree with and reflect the will of heaven. It is to bring heaven to earth, and this work finds its apex with the coming of Christ Himself.

His first coming laid the foundations for this. His Virgin birth established the pattern to show us all how to become the sons of God. Everything He did brought another piece of the Kingdom to the earth. He was both the Messiah ben David and the Messiah ben Joseph, setting the pattern for us to follow in the time of His second coming.

He paid the penalty for sin and redeemed the world by His death and resurrection. His ascension to the throne in heaven came after living an ascended life, wherein He did all things on earth from the legal position of authority that He would claim when He actually ascended.

Overwhelming Conquerors

These things were patterns for us as well, for we are called to live the ascended life in our lifetime even before we are enthroned (Daniel 7:9, 27; Revelation 20:4, 6). Ephesians 2:6 says,

⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Life is not a series of losses until we finally win at the last minute. Romans 8:37 says,

³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

Martyrs are not mere casualties of war. Martyrs are participants in the sufferings of Christ, whose death on the cross was a great victory for those who have eyes to see. In Revelation 6:9-11 the souls under the altar cry out for justice, but they are treated as sacrificed lambs whose blood has been poured out under the altar in heaven.

They are the body of Christ which was broken to feed the multitude, following the example of the Head who died on the cross. He who was born in Bethlehem, the House of Bread, and placed in a manger to feed the world was not only proclaiming His own ministry but also the work that His body was called to do.

This is celebrated every time people partake of communion, whether they are aware of it or not. When we believe the gospel, the good news (basar), we eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood, and we become what we eat. Paul explained this law of unity in 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17,

¹⁶ Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

The “bread” of communion represents “we who are many.” The bread is not only Jesus’ body but the body of Christ as a whole. Having partaken of His flesh, we are “one body” and “one bread.” Therefore, the souls under the altar were conquerors as well, for they gave their lives for the sake of the gospel, the good news, the flesh of Christ.

The Nature of Divine Vengeance

When they asked, “How long, O Lord, holy and true will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 6:10), they were not desiring to slaughter those who had unjustly killed them. Neither were they asking for vengeance as the word is defined by carnal minds. God’s vengeance is to overcome evil with good, Paul says in Romans 12:19-21,

¹⁹ Never take your own [carnal] revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Many believers have misunderstood this, thinking that they are called to do good to their enemies, knowing that God will do evil to them later. No, we are to follow God’s definition of “revenge” and “vengeance.” The “wrath” of God is His passion (literally, heat). Passion can be expressed in many ways, such as anger, jealousy, or love.

Many serve the Angry God, rather than the God of Love, and their carnal minds think of Him as a loving God who nonetheless will torture sinners forever in a burning fire. They do not understand that God’s actions must be consistent with His character. He must be true to Himself. All of His judgments spring from his Love and will restore sinners in the end—even if by means of judgment.

To heap burning coals on the head of one’s enemy is not to be taken literally. It was a Hebrew metaphor that described neighbors who often did not like each other. If one’s fire went out on the hearth, one might go to the neighbor and ask for a few live coals with which to start a new fire. The neighbor should not be stingy but should take a whole jar of hot coals, put it on his neighbor’s head, and send him away with warm feelings.

That is how God’s vengeance is defined, Paul says, and so that is our example to follow. The burning coals were not meant to burn the neighbor but to bless him. The neighbor’s bad attitude is thus overcome with a good deed.

With that in mind, we see that the souls under the altar were not hoping that God would slaughter those who had martyred them. Instead, they longed for the day that God would overcome evil with good, so that these evil men would be saved.

The bowls of wine which we poured out from 2000-2006 represented different aspects of divine judgment for the purpose of saving the world. That is why water was poured out along with the wine. The priests in the temple in Jerusalem poured out water with the wine as well, though it is doubtful that they fully understood the significance of what they were doing.

The Day of Vengeance

In Luke 4:18, 19 Jesus defined His own ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1, 2. In doing so, He ended it by saying, “to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord,” deliberately omitted the final phrases, “and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” Most people understand that the favorable year of the Lord is the Year of Jubilee, where all debts were cancelled, prisoners and slaves were set free to return to their own family and inheritance. However, not many really understand “the day of vengeance,” because they fail to connect it to the final phrase, “to comfort all who mourn.”

Vengeance is naqam; comfort is nacham. The words sound very similar, and the prophets often uses homonyms to compare or contrast two ideas. In this case, God takes vengeance (naqam) by overcoming evil with good—that is, by sending forth the Comforter (nacham) to cause men to repent and return to God.

So Jesus said in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Divine vengeance is designed to bring repentance (i.e., mourning), so that the people can then be comforted by the Comforter (i.e., filled with the Holy Spirit).

When Jesus was asked to speak in the synagogue at Nazareth, His hometown, He quoted Isaiah 61:1, 2 but left out their favorite part about “the day of vengeance.” Nazareth was an outpost of radical settlers on a ridge in Samaria. The town had a bad reputation for radicalism, especially among the people of Cana, which was located just five miles north of Nazareth.

So when Philip told Nathanael about Jesus of Nazareth, the response was, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Nathanael was from Cana (John 21:2).

Jesus told the Nazarene people what they needed to hear, and it made them so angry that they tried to throw Jesus off the ridge (Luke 4:29). He did not talk about “the day of vengeance,” because the people were too carnally minded to know God’s true definition of the term. If He had read this, the people probably would have shouted and put their fists into the air.

Instead, Jesus reminded these radical settlers that in the days of Elijah, the prophet provided for a widow in Phoenicia while the Israelites suffered drought and famine. Likewise, Elisha healed the Syrian of his leprosy, rather than lepers in Israel. This is what stirred up the hornet’s nest and turned the religious zealots into an angry mob. That was the point where He moved his mother to Capernaum (Luke 4:31), where the people were friendlier.

Today we often see the same Nazarene attitude among religious people who do not know the love of God and do not know the nature of divine vengeance. But when we were led to pour out water from the right hand of mercy along with wine from the left hand of judgment, it signified merciful judgment. The judgment was directed at the oppressive system, rather than at the people who were being held in bondage by that system.

Joseph’s Vengeance

The Joseph calling was best expressed in the story of Joseph himself. He had been kidnapped and sold to slave traders on their way to Egypt (Genesis 37:28). Years later, Joseph’s brothers were afraid that Joseph would take revenge upon them. Genesis 50:15-21 tells the story:

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father charged before he died, saying, ¹⁷ ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.” And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Joseph wept because his brothers did not really know him. Neither did they really know the God of Israel. They worshiped an Angry God, not a God of love. Joseph was a type of Christ in His second coming. Hence, his brothers were a type of Church today, people who worship the true God but do not really know His heart of love and forgiveness.

¹⁸ Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. ²¹ So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted [nacham] them and spoke kindly to them.

This is what defined Christ’s ministry as seen in Isaiah 61 and Luke 4. The day of vengeance is illustrated by Joseph’s treatment of his brothers who had kidnapped him and had sold him into slavery. Both of these crimes carry the death penalty in the law of God, and Joseph had every right to put them to death. But the law of victims rights also applied here. Joseph was the victim, and therefore, he also had the right to forgive.

Joseph overcame evil with good, knowing that the divine plan had brought good out of evil.

This really defines the work and ministry of the house of Joseph, both then and now. While the work of Judah (David) was a death-and-resurrection work to bring justification to sinners, the work of Joseph was to bring reconciliation to enemies. Both are expressions of the love of God in Romans 5:8, 9, 10.