<p>7:13 <i>And at t<em>he second time- </em></i>The Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth is hard to explicitly prove from the Old Testament, without recourse to typology. Even Isaiah 53 describes the sufferings of Hezekiah, who was typical of Jesus. Thus Stephen&rsquo;s defence of his belief in the Messiahship of Jesus rests largely on typology &ndash; e.g. the fact that Joseph/Jesus was rejected by his brethren at first (Acts 7:13).</p><p><em>Joseph was made known to his brothers- </em>Quoting Gen. 45:1 LXX.</p><p><em>And Joseph's race became manifest to Pharaoh</em>- Joseph had first been introduced to Pharaoh as a Hebrew (Gen. 41:12). But what the term &quot;Hebrew&quot; meant to Egyptians isn't clear; it could mean just 'one from beyond'. The &quot;race&quot; of Joseph presumably refers to the fact he was one of Jacob's sons; and the Jacob family had already become famous as far as Egypt. Yet Joseph had concealed his connection to that family. It may have partly been because of shame at their behaviour, and their disadvertisment for all the Godly principles which Joseph believed in. Or it may be that because God had performed a psychological miracle on Joseph in making him 'forget his father's house' (Gen. 41:51), he simply did not identify himself as from the Jacob family. Stephen may be making the point that when Joseph, like the Lord Jesus, was recognized by his brethren, he was at the same time recognized by the Gentile world likewise for who he really was. And the same will be true at the latter day repentance of Israel; Rom. 11:15 comes to mind: &quot;For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?&quot;.</p><p>Perhaps this continues Stephen's theme of demonstrating that the fathers of Israel were themselves weak in faith. Two of the greatest types of the Lord's mediatory work are Esther and Joseph. Esther was perhaps ashamed to reveal that she was a Jewess because of her people's behaviour, but given their desperate need she did reveal it in order to plead with the King for their salvation. And only when Joseph really had to use his influence to save his brethren did &ldquo;Joseph's race become manifest unto Pharaoh&quot; (Acts 7:13 RV). Does the Lord experience the same sort of embarrassment mixed with an urgent sense of our desperation, in His present mediation for us?</p>