Joseph's Land

So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there. (John 4:5-6)

I have read these verses over and over for maybe a week or two now and wondered if there was anything significant about them. But each time I just couldn't seem to see anything about the connection with Jacob and Joseph that seem relevant. So I thought that it must just be an item of detail given for those in that day who knew the terrain better than we do now to help them locate where this story took place.

But as I suspected, everything written in the Bible is usually significant and is often overlooked because of our own filters, not because it lacks content. The Bible is like strong, condensed, potent nutrition that simply needs re-hydration by the Holy Spirit to bring it back into vivid reality and make it life-giving. In discovering some of these more hidden insights I realize that many will think it is stretching things to see so much in so few words. But I remind myself that this is a dialogue between my heart and God, not a discourse that I must defend before a skeptical intellectual panel of critics.

So it is to my delight that I felt an impression this morning to dwell on these words about Jacob and Joseph to see what God might show me relevant to Jesus. As I think back over the stories of Jacob and Joseph and look at the cross-references that these verses have in my Bible, I am reminded that Joseph was one of the prominent figures in the Old Testament representing Jesus. His life in many ways reflected the spirit and character of Jesus and his experiences and relationships were symbolic in many ways of the life of Christ.

Even more significantly I remember one of the principles of inductive study, looking for connecting words and phrases within a passage. Suddenly out jumps strong links with the words of Jesus to Nicodemus earlier just a few verses. God sent His only begotten Son into this world to save the world, not to condemn it. And while Jacob did not knowingly send his son Joseph into Egypt in the same way, God had arranged circumstances so that even through the betrayal of brothers (Jesus was betrayed by one of His brethren) ultimately his mission became that of saving his whole family from a severe famine.

I also think about the fact that God the Father gave this world, this plot of earth to Jesus through His death on the cross thus taking back sovereign rights over this planet away from Satan in a similar way that Jacob gave Joseph sovereignty over this parcel of ground in the land of Canaan. What is even more compelling is that found in this parcel of ground is a well put there by the father of Joseph from which the surrounding residents could find life-giving water to fill their needs. And likewise Jesus came to help people in this very same place to discover the even more important Fountain of life-giving water in the gift of Himself revealed to this most privileged but unlikely woman.

Many, if not all of the stories of the Bible represent God's dealings and relationship with this world. But at the same time all of those stories in various ways are imperfect illustrations of the real truth about how God feels about us or relates to us. God is so much better than any illustration other than those revealed by Jesus Himself. But still, in most of these stories if we are willing to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal hidden truths to us our hearts will be warmed and our minds energized by the unlimited insights and instructions and parallels that will be shown to us in our process of transformation.

So, this reference to the land belonging to Joseph is much more than just a technical detail helping to locate the context of the story physically. It also helps to orient a person to locate where they fit into the story themselves at the heart level. If I allow Him to, God will show me even more clearly why He sent His Son to this world, this plot of ground that He gave to His Son, and how there is a well available for me to find real, life-giving water. If I will recognize my own deep thirst and need for real water, the even more amazing promise that comes later in this story is that Jesus can make even me a spring of water to bring hope and life to those around me as they see Jesus dwelling in my own heart.

The more that happens in my life the closer my own experience will parallel the intense activity and enthusiasm of this woman when she became an unabashed missionary to her own village just a few minutes after her dramatic encounter with the true lover of her soul, the seventh man in her life.