Perry Stone - The Joseph Code
Summary:
The preacher teaches from Caesarea about the «Joseph Code,» revealing hidden prophetic parallels in the story of Joseph that foreshadow the rapture, the tribulation, and Israel’s national salvation. Drawing from Genesis and Acts 7, he shows Joseph as a type of Christ—rejected by his brothers, exalted to save the world during famine—pointing to Christ’s return, the removal of believers (rapture), and the future redemption of Israel when the veil is lifted. The five-fold order of events ties the seven-year famine to the seven-year tribulation, with Gentiles grafted in until the fullness comes, leading to Israel’s eyes being opened.
Welcome from Caesarea
I want to welcome the worldwide viewing audience of the Manna-Fest telecast. Today, we are doing a full taping for the first time with our main tour group here in Caesarea. We have never taped in this location.
We have a theater here, Roman ruins dating back to the time of Christ, and the time of the Apostle Paul. Paul came here when he stood trial in the book of Acts, and Agrippa said, «Oh, almost you persuaded me to be a Christian.»
But what I want to teach today has nothing to do with Caesarea. Isn’t that great? We come here, and I’m going to teach on this place.
Introducing the Joseph Code
What I’m going to teach on is the Joseph Code. I’m going to show you something intriguing that I discovered in the Bible several months ago that deals with the rapture of the tribulation and the salvation of Israel concealed in the story of Joseph.
We will begin by reading a scripture found in Acts 7:1-14.
Now there came a dearth, and that’s a word for famine, all over the land of Egypt and Canaan, causing great affliction. Our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. At the second time, Joseph was made known to his brethren, and Joseph’s kindred was made known to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob to him and all of his kindred, three score and fifteen souls.
Bible Codes and Prophetic Parallels
In the late 1980s, I was in the rabbi’s tunnel with a Jewish rabbi that was connected to the Western Wall. He began to share with me something called the Bible codes. He said, «They have found coded messages in the Bible. When you take the Hebrew scripture and skip every so many letters, it begins to spell words.»
He said, «This is going to change the world’s understanding, not only of how the Bible has a revelation within the scripture, but there are coded messages within it.»
Of course, many years later, a man named Rosen wrote a book called The Bible Codes that became very well known. Having said that, I have discovered that the real codes in the Bible are actually concealed in the stories themselves without the necessity of going to the Hebrew language and trying to skip letters.
What we’re going to show you today is the greatness of God and how God conceals his revelation and his truth inside the scripture.
Now, one of the most amazing things is what I call prophetic parallels. In the case of the story of Joseph, Joseph is an exact picture of Jesus.
Joseph as a Type of Christ
I want to give you a list to show you. Now, I’m not going to read out all the scriptures; they’ll come on the screen hopefully, but I’m going to show you how Joseph and Jesus are parallel in Genesis and the four gospels. Here we go.
Number one, both were loved by their father. Number two, both served as shepherds for their father’s sheep. Number three, both were sent by their father to their brethren, their family. Both were despised by their brethren. Both had their brothers. Both had their brethren set a plot to kill them. Both were tempted. Remember, Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife; with Jesus, he was tempted in all points as you and I.
Both were taken to Egypt. Both had their robes taken from them. And here’s a continuation of Joseph being a picture of Christ as well. Both were sold for silver. Both were bound in chains. Both were falsely accused. Isn’t this amazing? Both were placed in prison. Both were in prison with two men; one was saved and the other was not. Remember, one escaped and lived while the other died, right? Well, the same thing happened with the thief; one received eternal life while the other did not.
All right? Both were exalted after great suffering. Both forgave those who sinned against them. Here’s something else interesting: both were considered dead but found alive. Hallelujah. Joseph’s father thought that he had died. He believed he was alive for many, many years. In fact, he believed he was alive for 22 years. I studied that and added it up. They believed that Jesus was dead, but he was later found alive.
Another example is this: both of them, Joseph and Christ, provided bread to save their family and their brethren. Joseph did it during a seven-year famine, but Jesus did it because he said, «I am the bread come down from heaven.» So, these are amazing parallels.
The Two Sons: Manasseh and Ephraim
Now, we get into another aspect of this story that’s very interesting, and it has to do with the two sons that Joseph had. Now, no one knew this until Joseph’s family and his father Jacob came down to Egypt. Jacob had no idea that Joseph had two sons, which were his grandsons.
Here’s what your Bible says; we’re going to go to Genesis 41:51–52 to show you this. There was a son by the name of Manasseh, or Manasha, as they say in Hebrew, and Ephraim, or Ephraim, as we say. So, Manasseh and Ephraim.
This is what Joseph said about his two sons. He said about Manasseh, «God has made me to forget my toil or my suffering that was in my father’s house.» Then he says about Ephraim, because the name Ephraim means to be fruitful, «God has made me fruitful in the land of affliction.»
So, there are two keys here about these two sons that Joseph has in Egypt. One means being able to forget the past. Stay with me now because we’re going somewhere, and the other means to be fruitful once you have forgotten your past.
Now, in line with that, Jesus is called in Isaiah 53:5 prophetically a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.
Now, we look at Jesus and we see the sorrow and the pain that he went through at the crucifixion and also with his beating. But then in Hebrews 12:2, it gives us this great picture of what happened at the end when it was all over: Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Gentiles Grafted In
Now, here we go. This is where it gets exciting because we’re talking about the Joseph Code. So, everybody that’s here with me—kind of, we call this not live, but it will be taped—are you all with me? All right, follow me carefully.
Joseph was a Jew, but his sons were born to a gentile woman. Now, stay with me because this is interesting, and this is what it’s a picture of. It’s a picture of Christ, who was a Jewish man grafting in the Gentiles into the new covenant.
Everybody got that? All right, now check this out. Joseph, who was a Jew, takes these sons born to a gentile woman, brings them in, and he says one means to forget the past, and the other means to be fruitful after forgetting my past.
What does that represent? It represents when Gentiles enter into the new covenant through Jesus Christ. Two things happen: the covenant is introduced to you, and you are forgiven of your sins and can forget your past. But wait a minute, it doesn’t end there.
As you keep following our heavenly Joseph, who is Christ, guess what happens? You become fruitful. We are living in the land of affliction. We’re living in a world system that is definitely oppressive, depressive, and sinful. But God makes us fruitful in the land of affliction, just like he did with the sons of Joseph.
Now, the third thing I want to say, and I love this part, is that even though Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are born to a gentile wife—remember, she’s from Egypt—even though they are born that way, when Jacob, the father, saw the two sons, he brought them into the family inheritance. Ephraim and Manasseh became part of that.
As a result, when the children of Israel inherited the promised land, Ephraim and Manasseh were given territory as though they belonged to the family. So when the Lord Jesus, our heavenly Joseph, brings us Gentiles into the covenant, he first forgives us of our sins and then he begins to make us fruitful. But that’s not the end of it; he gives us a heavenly inheritance because the Spirit of God has not even been revealed. The Bible says what God has prepared for those who really love him.
The Five-Fold Order of Events
Now, the story gets interesting because I’m going to talk about prophetic things that are concealed in the story. There are five things that I want to tell you. I call it the five-fold order of events.
Number one, the earth will be in a crisis in the last days (Luke 17:26–30), similar to the days of Lot and the days of Noah.
The second thing I want to tell you is this: there will be an emphasis on Israel and the Jews based on Romans chapter 11 in the last days.
The third thing is this: there will be a removal of saints at some point to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).
Number four, the Jews will eventually see Christ as their true Messiah (Zechariah 12:10).
Then the Messiah will spare Israel during a seven-year tribulation (Revelation 7:1-14).
Joseph as Savior of the World
Joseph was a Hebrew who became the savior of the world. Remember, the famine was global; it wasn’t just in Egypt and in the promised land. He’s a savior who became a savior for the entire world.
This is interesting because Joseph, in fact, came out of a pit and out of a prison to save the world. Jesus died on a cross. The Bible says he went to the bosom of the earth, was put in a tomb, but came out of the pit and the tomb to become the savior of the world.
Can you all see how this is parallel? Now, Joseph is also called Zephnath-Paneah, and the scholars say that Zephnath-Paneah may refer to saving the world or being the savior of the world.
When Christ was named, our English translation says Jesus; the Hebrew name is Yeshua, meaning God is salvation or God is our salvation. So we see the parallels there.
Joseph is a Jew, don’t miss this, saving gentile nations because not only did Canaan land or his brethren come to him, but also when the brethren came to him in the land of Egypt, he saved not only them but the gentile nations around him who came to Egypt for corn.
Why is that important? Because Christ did not come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but the Bible indicates that he came not only for that but would be a light to the Gentiles.
So Jesus not only came for Israel and his people, but he came for the gentile nations as well. See, all of this is parallel in this story.
In fact, we discovered that the nations now come to the church when they need deliverance and help. I want to say something about America. Boy, it’s an imperfect nation, but who comes to the rescue of most nations when there’s a disaster?
When the tsunami hit Indonesia, it was America that came through, along with other nations, of course, but we spearheaded that. When there are earthquakes, we spearhead that. The nations look to us, and we are, despite what some people say, a Christian nation; we were based on the Bible and the founding fathers were predominantly believers.
So whoever claims we’re not must have gone to the wrong university or something due to being taught by the wrong professor.
So here we go. Israel came with the gentile nations to get deliverance there.
The First and Second Visits
I need to go through this very quickly because it gets essential.
During the first visit, when Joseph’s Jewish brethren came to Egypt, they got food. Now pay attention, but they never knew who Joseph was because he was concealing his identity. Watch this: making them blind to where they couldn’t see him. Are y’all going to get this in a minute?
So Christ comes to his own, his own brethren, and his own brethren reject him, just as Joseph was rejected. So what does Paul say? Paul said, «Now God has put veils up. He’s put blinders up where God’s, Christ’s own people cannot see who he is.» It’s a picture of Joseph.
But see, Jesus or Joseph is still providing food. He is still restoring the nation again. He is still restoring the city of Jerusalem as the capital. God is allowing the Jewish people to come back to this land based on Old Testament prophecies, even though they quite don’t understand who Jesus is.
So the brethren come; they get fed; they get provision; they get what they need. They go back to the promised land, not knowing who he is.
They come back the second time, and if you read the story, that’s when Joseph put the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. Remember that?
Now this is cool because silver represents redemption. So now Joseph is saying, «Okay guys, the first time you came, you didn’t even know who I was. The first time I came, you didn’t know who I was, but there’s going to be another visitation. And in the second visitation, when you come to visit me, I’m going to put a silver cup in your sack.» Silver represents redemption.
Benjamin means the son of my right hand, and Jesus is called the Son of God who sits at the right hand of God. So when Jesus gets ready to return the second time, he’s coming to bring Israel’s redemption because the Apostle Paul said, «All Israel shall be saved.» And that’s going to happen when Jesus comes back.
Somebody needs to just praise the Lord right now. That might be a good place to praise the Lord.
The Seven-Year Famine and Tribulation
Here’s what’s interesting: the patterns continue. The famine that lasted in the land lasted for how many years? Does anybody remember? Seven years. How long is the tribulation going to last in the last days? Seven years.
Here we go. Here’s another parallel. The famine was seven years; the tribulation is going to be seven years based on Daniel 9:27.
The famine was because there was no food in the land. In Revelation chapter 6, the horsemen show you that there will be a famine in the land. The people will die because of famine; food will be rationed just like it was during the time of Egypt.
See, this story conceals all these things. During the seven-year tribulation, the world will do one of two things. People will either die in the tribulation, just as in Joseph’s day, they did during the time of famine, or people will look to the Savior, who is Christ, during the tribulation. They may have to die as martyrs, but they’ll be spared and be able to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years during what is called the millennial reign.
Now, Israel, just like Joseph’s brethren, were concealed. Their eyes were veiled to where they did not know who Joseph was; they didn’t recognize him. Likewise, according to the Apostle Paul, those natural Jewish people do not always understand Yeshua. Sometimes you explain it to them, and they still can’t see.
But I want to tell you, Romans 11 says that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. What does that mean? It means that there is a time coming when God is going to open the understanding of the Hebrew people, where the veil will be removed and they’ll be able to believe with all of their hearts who the Messiah actually is.
Dispersions and Harsh Treatment
Now, Israel as a nation has been dispersed two times. They were dispersed during the time of the Babylonian captivity and during the time of the Roman invasion. They have been dispersed at two different times.
Now, watch this. They had to leave the land of Canaan and go to Babylon and return.
They had to leave the land of Canaan to go to Egypt for food and then to come back. They were exiled in Babylon for 70 years. Check this out. In 70 AD, the same number, 70, they were dispersed to the nations of the world for over 1,900 years.
The Bible says this: when the brethren first came to him, Joseph knew who they were, but they did not know him. They were treated harshly. That’s what your Bible says. The Hebrew people throughout the world have been treated very harshly.
They were treated harshly in the Holocaust. They were treated harshly when they tried to return to the land, and when the British tried to block the ships that were coming in. They have been treated harshly throughout their history. Some people in the world today still believe that the problems of the world are caused by Jewish people, and they still try to teach that, whether it’s in a mosque or a university somewhere.
But stay with me very carefully because I want to show you what’s about to happen. When Joseph’s silver cup, representing redemption, was placed in the sack and they called all of them back, that was when Joseph revealed who he was to his brethren. He revealed who he was.
Check this out very carefully. God has visited them the first time through Christ, but they were blinded. But the second time he visits them, their eyes are going to be opened, and redemption will come to them. Praise God—I feel this in my spirit.
In Genesis 45:1, it says, «Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all of them that stood by him. And he cried, 'Cause every man to go from me.'» And there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known to his brethren.
The point I wish to make is that Christ is going to make himself known not only to the Jewish people but to people of the world.
The Olive Tree and Grafting
Romans 11 says it this way, and I’m going to teach this very quickly. Paul says there are two trees. If we go back to Isaiah, they’re olive trees. One tree is a natural tree, and one is a grafted tree. The natural olive tree is Israel, and the tree with grafts put in it is the Gentiles.
Now, in the Galilee, the wild tree is called by Paul the wild olive tree. In Jerusalem, believe it or not, are the natural trees. I’m talking literally in the natural. When an old tree in Jerusalem is about to die, you will see some real old ones later in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Here’s what they do: they make a cut and take a branch from a wild tree, a wild tree. They graft it in and seal it up. Guess how long it takes to see if that branch will live or die? Three days. Jesus was in the ground for three days. The wild branches have such nourishment that they start feeding that tree.
The root, of course, is there, but the tree starts living again. Now, Paul said this: «Now you Gentiles are the wild branches, and you’ve been grafted into the tree of Israel through the Abrahamic covenant, through the law of God, and now through the covenant of Jesus Christ, the New Covenant, New Testament.»
He said, «But if you, ” he said, „the reason you got in is because Israel fell into unbelief.“ He said, „But you Gentiles better be careful because if God starts seeing you fall into unbelief, he is very easily able to pull out your branch, listen, and regraft the natural branch into the tree.“
All right, everybody ready? Paul said, „Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in.“
If you read the New Testament, when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, it’s done through the preaching of the gospel.
When the preaching of the gospel has gone to the nations of the world, then the end comes.
So, I’m going to ask you a question: if this is the tree of Israel, and Israel is the root—what Paul said is the natural tree—all of us wild Gentiles have been grafted in.
Now, when the world of Gentiles goes into unbelief—when America no longer repents, when Canadians no longer repent, when Latin American people no longer repent—the Bible says in Revelation, there’ll come a time when men no longer repent. They do their thing; they don’t care.
How are the wild branches plucked out? And how are the other branches, which are the natural branches, put in? I’m going to suggest to you it’s called the rapture because the branches on the tree are believing branches.
But the way you get a transfer with those believing branches being plucked so the natural branches can come back in, as Romans chapter 11 says, has to be when the believing branches are taken out.
So here’s the key that people don’t think about. When the world gets to the point where they’ve heard the gospel but they start rejecting it—that they’ve heard it, they don’t believe it: they’ve heard it, and they don’t want to believe it—that’s when the end really comes, and God says, „All right, I’m calling my people up. The fullness of the Gentiles has happened. The gospel has been preached around the world.“
The shout goes right there, somebody; the shout goes right there. Hallelujah.
Closing Thoughts
Now, it’s amazing to me that the Old Testament stories conceal these things. We’ve been preaching in Israel. You’re going to watch Manifest; we’ve been doing some preaching on types and shadows throughout the trip. You’re going to be seeing those programs if you haven’t already.
So I want you to keep watching the program. And as always, we have a new offer every six to eight weeks that we make available. You help keep the program on the air when you purchase this offer, and you send in offerings to help us.
So here’s our offer. By the way, I have some great things coming up this year that I want to show you. So don’t go anywhere as we come to you from Israel, the land of God.