Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years. Seventeen of these years he lived in Canaan; for ten years he was a servant of Potiphar; three years were spent in prison; for eighty years he ruled all the lands of Egypt. The number one hundred and ten is the tenfold power of eleven, the master number of attainment. He arrived at its high status after seventeen years of preparation, ten of service, three of trial, and eighty years of fruitful work for humanity. World service followed his years in prison, the time when, in terms of soul experience, every external aid is withdrawn leaving only inner resources of the spirit to be drawn upon. If these be uncovered and developed, as they were in Joseph's case, new power is available wherewith to minister to the needs of the world.
Joseph typifies the man in whom the higher Christed mind has become operative under the guidance of the Sagittarian Hierarchy, the Lords of Mind. He has entered into a superior condition and assures his brethren that God will surely visit them and bring them out of this land (material mindedness) into the land (Christed mind) which He sware to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The Bible gives its deepest message in symbols. The same truth is presented in many ways, under different figures and allegories. It is as though it were written in many languages so that if a reader should fail to get its meaning in one tongue, he may, perchance, grasp it in another.
An illustration of this is the symbolical use it makes of the man Joseph and of the city of Zion. Both are representative of various phases through which humanity passes in its struggle toward the light. Both are symbols of Initiation. When these facts are recognized, it is not surprising that there should be so many similar references to the two. Some of these parallels have been cataloged in the follow ing passages taken from the Talmud, a holy book of the Hebrews:
Israel loved Joseph — Genesis 37
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion — Psalms 47
Joseph's brothers hated him.
My heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest, it crieth out
against me, therefore I hate it — Jeremiah 12
Joseph speaks of making sheaves.
There are sheaves in connection with Zion — Psalms 104
Joseph dreamed.
When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like
them that dream — Psalms 124
Joseph was asked, "Wilt thou rule over us?"
Say unto God Zion they God ruleth — Isaiah 52
Joseph was asked if his father and mother would prostrate
themselves before him.
They shall bow down to thee with their faces toward the
earth — Isaiah 52
Joseph's brothers were jealous.
Thus said the Lord of Hosts. I was jealous for Zion with a
great jealousy — Zechariah 8
Joseph went to inquire about the peace of his brothers.
Zion went to seek the peace of the city where she is captive
— Jeremiah 29
Joseph's brothers saw him from a distance.
The same is said about Zion — Psalms 83
Joseph was stripped of his coat of many colors.
Concerning Zion the prophet says: "They shall strip me of thy
clothes — Ezekiel 4
Joseph was put into a pit.
They have put me alive into a dungeon — Lamentations 5
Joseph was pulled up from the pit.
Jeremiah, in connection with his prophecy about Zion, was put in a dungeon and drawn up therefrom — Jeremiah 38
Lamentations were raised about Joseph.
And in that day did the Lord call for weeping and mourning — Isaiah 22
In the case of Joseph consolation was rejected.
Labor not to comfort me — Isaiah 22
Joseph was sold. The children of Judea and Jerusalem have you sold unto the Grecians — Joel 3
Joseph is described as handsome.
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is mount
Zion — Psalms 48
Joseph was the greatest in his master's house.
The glory of the latter house shall be greater than the
former — Haggai 2
The Lord was with Joseph.
Now mine eyes shall be open and mine ears attend unto the
prayers that are made in this place — II Chronicles 7
Grace and loving kindness was shown to Joseph.
Concerning Zion, God says: "I remember the kindness of
thy youth, the love of thy espousal." — Jeremiah 2
Joseph was rendered presentable by changing his clothes.
When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the
daughters of Zion — Jeremiah 3
Joseph was met by an angel.
Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the
way — Malachi 3
— Corinne Heline
