Sovereignty of God in the Patterns of the Torah

Sovereignty of God in the Symbols and Patterns of the Torah. 

Unbalanced View: One Truth, Sovereignty of God without Free Will

A distorted understanding of God’s sovereignty portrays it as absolute determinism, where God micromanages every event and outcome, leading to a flawed theodicy that attributes evil, sickness, sin, and disasters directly to God’s active causation. This view mistakenly implies that God is the author of evil, undermining the biblical distinction between His permissive will (allowing evil for purposes like human freedom) and His decretive will (what He directly ordains for good).

Balanced View: Two Truths, Sovereignty, and Free Will both Exist

God’s sovereignty means that He reigns supreme over all creation, ensuring that His eternal purposes and redemptive plan are ultimately fulfilled without fail. He accomplishes this not by overriding human responsibility, free will, or directly causing evil, but by providentially working His plan despite human errors, sinful choices, chaotic circumstances, and the presence of evil—turning them toward His greater good, as seen in passages like Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28.

We are going to discover the repeating patterns of the Torah that are salvific. We will discover that the Bible is made up of nearly 800 true stories and 100’s of parables, but all telling the same story. The Bible consists of 66 separate books (39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament), written by about 35 different people over 1,500 years. TheKing James Version (KJV) is generally cited as having approximately 783,137.  That’s nearly a thousand stories, over one thousand five hundred years, from 66 books written with more than ¾ of a million words. All while repeating the same story of hope and God in missional redemption over and over again. You won’t see it unless you know to look for it. But once you begin to see it, you cannot unsee it! 

Take, for instance, the Creation to Garden story compared to Noah and the Flood:

1. In the creation narrative of Genesis 1:2, the earth is (formless and void), and darkness covered the face of the deep (chaos)- Tohu va-bohu 

   1. Water symbolized chaos and death to the Jewish people, but God uses water to preach cleansing and life. 

      1. The Spirit hovers over the face of the water 

      2. There is light, and it is separated from the darkness

      3. Echo of the place of worship: Garden planted in Eden – Temple place of worship A.N.E

         1. Eden, place of the Dominion Mandate and Commission, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the Earth.”

      4. Echo of fruit: Man sins and eats its fruit.

         1. Man takes the fruit 

         2. Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

      5. Echo of a curse: There is a curse on the Earth

      6. Echo of Shame and Guilt: Man is naked and ashamed 

      7. Echo of Redemption and Covenant – Blood Covenant

         1. God is in mission to seek and save man that is lost.

         2. God makes atonement and covers man – 

         3. First death occurs: An animal is slain, innocent blood.

            1. Adam (930) and Eve die physicall in Day One of God’s 7,000-year plan. (2 Peter 3:8)

         4. Covenant is made through the shedding of blood.

      8. Echo of Generational Blessings: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen 3:15, NIV)

2. In the story of the Flood, the Earth is covered in water.

   • Echoes of God’s Redemption in the Ark – God says, “come inside,” not “go inside”.

     1. Noah, family, and the animals enter the ark and are attoned for (at one with God and covered)

     2. Noah’s work was over, and now he could rest. Jesus also invites us to come to Him, where we can find rest (Matthew 11:28). 

        1. The choice is ours: Do we go to Him and be saved, or do we run from Him and be condemned?

     3. Ark is made of wood – Cross

     4. There is only one door – I am the door

     5. God closes the door – Only God knows when his judgement begins. 

     6. God’s judgment rained down, but those in Christ then rose up.

   • Echos of the Spirit: The releasing of the ravens and then later doves, echoes the hovering Spirit (Rauh) is represented in creation. 

     1. The water is again separated from the dry land.

   • Echoes of Covenant. Covenant God then made a covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the world with water (Genesis 9:8-11). ( RAINBOW AT THE THRONE OF JESUS REVELATION 4:3 – around not half. 

   • Echoes of Eden, Place of Worship: Noah builds an altar on a mountain and worships – think back to the Garden in Eden  – Eden is a mountain, and the garden is a temple for worship. (Ezekiel 28:13-14)

   • Echos of Generational Blessing: God repeats His command, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth.”

   • Echos of Sin and Fruit: Noah plants a vineyard and ingests fruit ( like Adam) and drinks from the fruit he planted. 

   • Echos of guilt and shame: As a result, Noah is naked, and there is shame 

     1. There is a curse – Prophecy over Ham’s son Cannan 

     2. What happened here? 

        1. Many views …paternal incest, castration (midrash)

        2. The first view is the sin of voyeurism and verbal dishonor, open shame. 

        3. One scholarly view is based on grammatical research of the text, which explains why Cannan receives the curse, and by proxy, this punishes Ham. 

        4. As Dr. Michael Heiser states, “In the Old Testament, Semitic, patriarchal culture, the nakedness of a man was defined as the woman who belongs to him. So that’s why Leviticus has this wording. To us, it sounds very confusing, but if you understand the idiom, it’s not.”

           1. Example of an idiom: “ The issue of immigration is a ‘hot potato’. You can study all the immigration law and information you want about immigration, but you are never going to find the words ‘hot’ and ‘potato’ explained. 

     3. Let’s just back up a little bit. Listen to the “uncovering nakedness” terminology in Leviticus 18:6. This is a section of Leviticus in which we have a holiness code on sexual morality or immorality. 

     4. Let’s start in Leviticus 6:6: “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. 7You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.” 

     5. What this phrase means (to uncover the nakedness of your father), it actually means, “don’t mess with his wife.” 

        1. v7 “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother.” 

        2. In the Old Testament, a Semitic patriarchal culture, the nakedness of a man was defined as the woman who belonged to him. So that’s why Leviticus has this wording. To us, it sounds very confusing, but if you understand the idiom, it’s not. 

     6. Dr. Michael Heiser writes, “By cursing Canaan, Noah telegraphed to everyone that Canaan would not become the inheritor of family leadership. He was excluded because his birth was illegitimate and the result of Ham’s attempt to usurp his own position as leader of the family.”

     7. This happens in other places in Genesis; consider the story of Lot. Concerned for their father having descendants, one evening, Lot’s eldest daughter gets Lot drunk and has sex with him without his knowledge. The following night, the younger daughter does the same. They both become pregnant; the older daughter gives birth to Moab, while the younger daughter gives birth to Ammon.

   • Echos of a Covering: Noah’s nakedness (both of them?) is covered.

     1. Their backwards approach types the idea of turning away from sin while extending mercy, much like Christ’s followers are called to forgive and restore.

     2. Jesus’s blood covers forever and walks backwards to our birth to inherit sin. We are covered, attoned for until the glorification of those saved. 

        1. Saints clothed in white. (Rev. 7:14)

   • Echos of a Curse: Canaan is cursed, in light of usurping Noah’s patriarchal line, or in light of revealing his father’s shame.  

     • The Atonement/Covering: Shem and Japheth took a garment, walking backward to avoid seeing their father’s nakedness and paerhps mother’s, and covered their father’s nakedness (them)

     • Symbolism: Similar to God clothing Adam and Eve with skins in Eden, this act of covering signifies mercy, reversing the shame of the sin.

   • Echoes of Knowledge of Good and Evil: There is a story of knowledge increasing, and it presents a problem.

     • Based on the Masoretic text genealogies in Genesis, Noah was alive during the construction of the Tower of Babel.

     • Noah lived for 350 years after the flood, dying at 950 years old. While the Babel event occurred roughly 100–300 years after the flood, Noah likely did not participate in the rebellion.

3. Genesis ends with the story of Jospeh which sees the same repeated pattern, but this time the pattern is defeated in Joseph!

   1. Joseph is stripped of His covering and clothing by his brothers, left for dead. 

      1. Generational echo: Joseph has his garment torn from him by Potiphar’s wife, who seeks to sleep with him. 

         1. This is another example of a generational attack on God’s promises to bring about a chosen people that will introduce the Messiah to the world. 

• Joseph’s sons in the Old Testament were Manasseh (firstborn) and Ephraim. They did become tribes because their grandfather Jacob adopted them as his own, 

• We are adopted by God: Adoption by Jacob: Before his death, Jacob declared that Ephraim and Manasseh would be treated as his own, similar to Reuben and Simeon, effectively promoting them to direct heirs.

• The Two Tribes: The Tribe of Ephraim and the Tribe of Manasseh each received territory in the Promised Land.

  • Both Jews and Gentiles receive the promise of God. 

2. Garment Echo: Joseph is attend for and covered by God –  Pharaoh gives him fine linen/robes (Gen 41:42), symbolizing God’s covering and reversal of shame.

2. Echo of Water and Chaos: – Nile dries. The famine was caused by low, irregular Nile floods for seven years, likely due to reduced rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands.

   1. There is the potential for death in the whole region, and people will die if God’s word is not heard through His Evangelist Joseph. – Mirrors preaching the gospel to all creation, baptizing, teaching them to obey all I command. 

3. Be fruitful and multiply: Joseph: No direct command, but fulfillment! In Egypt (exile/chaos), Joseph’s family “were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly” (Gen 47:27)

   1. Echoes the Gospel preached by the church to the salvation of the world. 

   2. Jospeh is called by Pharoah In Genesis 41:45, the Egyptian name Zaphenath-Paneah ( upon promoting him, meaning “savior of the world”

4. Ephraim and Manasseh’s adoption “grafts” them directly into Israel’s root, prophetic of how Gentiles (like their Egyptian mother) are incorporated into God’s people. 

   1. This foreshadows the gospel’s universal reach: the Messiah crushes the serpent not just for Israel but for all nations blessed through Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:16).

5. Sovereignty of God: In essence, Manasseh and Ephraim represent God’s sovereign orchestration—turning Joseph’s suffering into salvation, multiplying the covenant community, and advancing the promise of a victorious seed. 

6. Echo of Redemption; Symbolic Names and Themes: Joseph names his firstborn Manasseh (“causing to forget”) because God helped him forget his past hardships, and the second Ephraim (“fruitful”) because God made him prosperous in affliction (Genesis 41:51–52). 

7. These reflect redemption: forgetting pain leads to fruitfulness, mirroring how God’s plan transforms curse (from Eden’s fall) into blessing.

Overall Theological Thread

These stories form a pattern in Genesis:

• Human failure/sin exposes shame/chaos. 

  • But God is still sovereign and in control! 

• Judgment follows (1.Curse over the Earth, 2. or flood, 3. or famine).

  • God’s Nature is revealed: (Justice)

  • And God remains in control 

• God provides a covering 

  • God’s nature is revealed: (Grace), preserves a remnant, and restarts fruitfulness (blessing mandate).

  • And God remains sovereign in control. 

• Faithful figures (Noah as the new Adam; Joseph as the wise preserver) point forward to ultimate redemption.

  • Proving that God is always in control! 

In Christian reading, this foreshadows Christ: 

• He covers our shame (nakedness) with His righteousness, 

• Passes through chaos/judgment (cross as “flood” of wrath), 

• And brings true fruitfulness/multiplication (new creation, Great Commission echoing “be fruitful”).

These parallels show Genesis isn’t random—

1. It’s a unified story of God’s grace 

2. This grace is given amid repeated human failure, 

3. Ultimately, building toward redemption.

Why These Parallels Matter

• Sovereign Reversal of Evil — Joseph’s famous line (Gen 50:20) mirrors the cross: human evil (betrayal, crucifixion) used by God for ultimate good (salvation of many).

• Humiliation → Exaltation — Joseph’s arc (rejected slave → exalted ruler) foreshadows Christ’s (Phil 2:5–11: humbled to death → exalted Lord).

• Savior to Gentiles and Israel — Joseph saves Egypt (Gentiles) and his family (Israel); Jesus saves the world, uniting Jew and Gentile.

While some lists claim 60–100+ parallels (some stronger than others), the core pattern—beloved son rejected, suffers unjustly, exalted to save many—is unmistakable and fits the Bible’s progressive revelation of the Messiah.

This typology shows Genesis 37–50 as a profound preview of the gospel: 

1. Suffering precedes glory, 

2. Rejection leads to redemption, 

3. And God’s purposes prevail.

Additional information and Study Handouts: 

1. The Protoevangelium (First Gospel) – Genesis 3:15

This is the clearest and most famous foreshadowing of Christ in the entire chapter. After the serpent (identified as Satan in Revelation 12:9; 20:2) deceives Eve and leads to the Fall, God curses the serpent and declares:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen 3:15, NIV)

• The “seed/offspring” (Hebrew: zera’) of the woman → Foreshadows Jesus, born of a woman (Gal 4:4) without a human father (virgin birth). This singular “he” (masculine pronoun in many translations) emphasizes an individual descendant who will defeat the serpent.

• Crushing the serpent’s head → A fatal, decisive blow (Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and Satan through the cross and resurrection; Rom 16:20; Heb 2:14; 1 John 3:8).

• Striking the heel → A temporary, non-fatal wound (Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, orchestrated by Satan but ultimately defeated; Col 2:15).

• This verse is called the protoevangelium (“first gospel”) because it’s the earliest hint of redemption through a coming Savior. Early church fathers like Irenaeus and Justin Martyr saw it as pointing directly to Christ defeating Satan.

2. The Animal Sacrifice and Covering of Nakedness – Genesis 3:21

After Adam and Eve sin, they become aware of their nakedness (shame/exposure) and try to cover themselves with fig leaves (inadequate human effort). God responds:

“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (Gen 3:21)

• The first death in Scripture → An innocent animal dies to provide skins (implied sacrifice). This foreshadows Jesus as the innocent Lamb whose death covers sin (John 1:29; Rev 5:6–12).

• God provides the covering → Not Adam/Eve’s works (fig leaves), but God’s gracious provision. This shadows Christ’s righteousness imputed to believers, clothing us and removing shame (Isa 61:10; Rom 3:21–26; Gal 3:27; Rev 3:18; 19:8).

• The shedding of blood for covering points to atonement: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22).

3. The Tree of Life (and Access Denied) – Genesis 3:22–24

God expels Adam and Eve from the garden to prevent them from eating from the Tree of Life and living forever in a fallen state. Cherubim and a flaming sword guard the way.

• Tree of Life → Symbolizes eternal life in God’s presence. Access is lost due to sin but promised restoration through Christ (Rev 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19—”the tree of life” in the new Eden/new creation).

• Christ as the way to life → Jesus is the true Tree of Life—He gives eternal life (John 6:35, 51; 10:10; 14:6—”I am the way… no one comes to the Father except through me”). The guarded way foreshadows that only through Christ’s sacrifice can we regain access to eternal life (Heb 10:19–20).

• Some interpreters see the cross as the new “tree” (Acts 5:30; Gal 3:13) that restores what was lost in Eden.

4. Thorns and the Curse on the Ground – Genesis 3:17–18

The ground is cursed to produce “thorns and thistles,” making toil painful.

• Thorns → Symbol of the curse. Jesus wears a crown of thorns (Matt 27:29), bearing the curse on our behalf (Gal 3:13—”Christ redeemed us from the curse… becoming a curse for us”).

• Jesus reverses the curse: He toils perfectly, bears the thorns, and brings a new creation where the curse is lifted (Rev 22:3—”No longer will there be any curse”).

5. Adam as a Type/Shadow (Reversed in Christ)

Adam is explicitly called a “type” of Christ in Romans 5:14. In Genesis 3:

• Adam’s one act of disobedience brings sin/death to all.

• Jesus (the “last Adam,” 1 Cor 15:45) obeys perfectly, bringing righteousness/life to many (Rom 5:18–19).

• Eve’s role (mother of all living, Gen 3:20) foreshadows Mary as mother of the Redeemer (some traditions see the “woman” in Gen 3:15 as pointing to Mary).

Summary Table of Key Types/Shadows

These types show that even in humanity’s darkest moment (the Fall), God embedded hints of redemption. The gospel isn’t a New Testament “add-on”—it’s woven into the fabric of creation and the Fall itself. Early Christians (e.g., Justin Martyr, Irenaeus) and many theologians since have seen Genesis 3 as the Bible’s first announcement of the Savior.

Jesus in the story of Noah and the Flood 

1. Noah as a Type of Christ (the Righteous Deliverer)

Noah is explicitly seen as a type or foreshadowing of Christ in several ways:

• Noah’s righteousness and obedience (Gen 6:9—”Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God”) prefigure Christ’s perfect righteousness and obedience. Noah’s faithfulness secures salvation for his household (his family enters the ark because of him). Similarly, Christ’s perfect obedience (even to death on the cross, Phil 2:8; Heb 5:8–9) secures salvation for His people (Rom 5:19—”by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”).

• Noah acts as a second Adam figure: He receives the creation mandate renewed (“be fruitful and multiply,” Gen 9:1, echoing Gen 1:28) and steps into a “new creation” post-flood. Jesus is the true last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), bringing a lasting new creation (2 Cor 5:17).

• Noah’s name means “rest” or “comfort” (Gen 5:29—”This one will comfort us concerning our work… because of the ground which the Lord has cursed”). He brings temporary rest/relief from the curse. Christ brings ultimate rest for souls (Matt 11:28–30—”Come to Me… and I will give you rest”).

2. The Ark as a Type of Christ (or Salvation in Christ)

The ark is the central symbol of deliverance from judgment, often seen as a type of Jesus Himself (the means of salvation) or union with Christ:

• One door (Gen 6:16—”Put the door of the ark in its side”) → Only one way into safety. This shadows Jesus as the only door to salvation (John 10:9—”I am the door; if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved”; Acts 4:12—”there is no other name… by which we must be saved”).

• Pitch (bitumen) for sealing (Gen 6:14—”cover it inside and out with pitch”) → The Hebrew word for pitch (kopher) relates to atonement/covering. It seals the ark against judgment waters, foreshadowing Christ’s blood as the atoning seal that protects from wrath (Eph 1:7; Rom 5:9).

• Wood of the ark → Made from trees (living things that “die” to build it), pointing to the wood of the cross (Jesus’ death provides salvation).

• Only one ark → Salvation is exclusive—no other vessel saves. Christ is the sole ark of refuge from God’s judgment (Heb 11:7—Noah’s faith condemns the world but saves his household).

• The ark saves through water/judgment → Those inside are preserved while the world perishes (Gen 7:21–23). This prefigures baptism as a type of salvation: passing through waters of judgment into new life (1 Pet 3:20–21—”eight persons were saved through water. Baptism… now saves you… through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”).

3. The Flood as a Type of Judgment and Baptism

The flood itself is a typological event representing both judgment on sin and the means of salvation:

• Waters of judgment destroy the wicked world (Gen 7:21–23) but preserve the righteous remnant inside the ark. This shadows Christ’s death: He bears God’s wrath (judgment) so believers pass through it safely into new life.

• The flood as baptism (explicit in 1 Pet 3:20–21) → Just as the flood washed away corruption and brought a new beginning (Gen 8:1), baptism symbolizes dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ (Rom 6:3–4). The ark (Christ) carries believers through the “waters” of judgment.

• New creation post-flood → Dry land reappears; God blesses Noah with a covenant (rainbow sign, Gen 9:8–17—no more total flood). This foreshadows Christ’s resurrection, inaugurating the true new creation (Rev 21–22—no more curse, new heavens/earth).

4. The Dove and Olive Branch – Genesis 8:8–12

Noah sends out a dove that returns with an olive leaf (sign of new life/peace after judgment).

• This foreshadows the Holy Spirit (often symbolized as a dove, Matt 3:16) bringing peace and new life after Christ’s work. The dove finds no rest outside the ark but returns with evidence of renewal—pointing to the Spirit’s work in believers.

Summary Table of Key Typology

These types show the flood as a profound preview of the gospel: universal judgment on sin, but gracious salvation for those who take refuge in God’s provided means (the ark/Christ). The New Testament explicitly connects it to baptism and Christ’s resurrection (1 Pet 3:21).

Jesus in the Story of Joseph

The story of Joseph in Genesis 37–50 is one of the richest sources of types (persons/events foreshadowing greater realities) and shadows (imperfect previews) of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. While the New Testament does not explicitly call Joseph a “type” of Christ (unlike Adam in Romans 5:14 or Noah in 1 Peter 3:20–21), the parallels are numerous, intentional, and widely recognized in biblical theology. Joseph’s life—marked by rejection, suffering, unjust condemnation, exaltation, and salvation for many—mirrors Christ’s humiliation, death, resurrection, and saving work.

These parallels show God’s sovereign pattern: evil intentions turned to good for redemption (Gen 50:20—”You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive”). This echoes the cross (Acts 2:23–24; Rom 8:28).

Key Typology of Jesus in Joseph’s Story