Mr. Joseph has been a life-long member of Trinity Presbyterian Church, and has served first as a deacon from 1955 to 1962, then as an Elder from 1962 to 2014. In 1979 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the Church’s highest court, and served during the year 1979/80. He also served many years on the PCA’s Administration Committee, including several terms as Chairman.

William (Bill) Francis Joseph, Jr. was born in Montgomery, Alabama. June 15, 1929. Jesus came to take him home on Friday, May 20, 2022. His life was one of a faithful servant of Jesus.
John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
William (Bill) F. Joseph Jr. was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1929. He was the faithful son of William Francis Joseph and Alice Evans Pelzer Joseph. He attended Bellinger Hill Elementary, Baldwin Junior High and graduated from Lanier High School in 1947, and then attended Auburn University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture in 1952.
On August 29, 1951 he married Florence (Peggy) Charles Hall at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Montgomery. They faithfully loved and served one another for 70 years till his death.
Their family included three sons; William “Billy” Francis Joseph III (Marian), Thomas Taylor Joseph (Peggy) and Charles Kinlock Joseph (Laura); grandchildren; Camille Joseph Carroll (Grant) and William Francis Joseph IV (Kayb), Thomas Taylor Joseph, Jr. (Jennifer), Edmund William Joseph, Blake Charles Joseph, Brannon Dyar Joseph, Tyler Hall Joseph, Austin Randolph Joseph (Brook), and 11 great grandchildren.
Mr. Joseph served two years in the Army during the Korean War. He returned to Montgomery in 1954 and joined the firm of Morton & McElhaney Consulting Engineers & Architects. Mr. Joseph became a partner in the firm in 1960. He retired in 2001 from Joseph & Spain Architectural Engineering. He served many a friend in Montgomery crawling under their homes to inspect their foundations for them. He has truly seen Montgomery from a different angle.
In 1964 he was elected to the Montgomery County Commission as a Republican, serving ten consecutive terms. He has served as Chairman of the County Commission for over 30 of his 40 years. Bill retired from the County Commission in November 2004. He was challenged to serve this way by his pastor, Dr. Robert Strong.
Mr. Joseph has been a life-long member of Trinity Presbyterian Church, and has served first as a deacon from 1955 to 1962, then as an Elder from 1962 to 2014. In 1979 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the Church’s highest court, and served during the year 1979/80. He also served many years on the PCA’s Administration Committee, including several terms as Chairman.
Bill also served for many years on the Board of Directors of God World Publication (World Magazine) formerly The Presbyterian Journal.
Bill served for many years on the Alabama and Montgomery Republican Executive Committee. He is a charter member and past President of the Capital City Kiwanis Club, a past member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. He is past President of the Montgomery Symphony Board of Directors. Bill has served several terms as Chairman of the Central Alabama Aging Consortium and the Central Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission.
Bill was always a problem solver. He tried to see both or all sides of an issue or difficulty while trying to find the right or best solution. Whether a building difficulty, a political problem, church decisions or dealing with his family he was a gentle, firm and loving servant of Jesus Christ. He followed Jesus, all the way to heaven itself. But as a sinner himself, he knew that Jesus was the one alone, who was able to present him faultless before the throne of His father.
Those who preceded his homegoing include his parents William Francis Joseph and Alice Evans Pelzer Joseph, his sisters Elizabeth Pelzer Joseph Boykin (Raymond) and Alice Joseph Davis (Withers), and niece Elizabeth Crum Boykin.
Those who remain here include his wife of 70 years Florence (Peggy) Hall Joseph, sons; William “Billy” Francis Joseph III (Marian), Thomas Taylor Joseph (Peggy) and Charles Kinlock Joseph (Laura); grandchildren; Camille Joseph Carroll (Grant) and William Francis Joseph IV (Kayb), Thomas Taylor Joseph, Jr. (Jennifer), Edmund William Joseph, Blake Charles Joseph, Brannon Dyar Joseph, Tyler Hall Joseph, Austin Randolph Joseph (Brook), 11 great grandchildren, 3 nieces, 4 nephews and many cousins.
The family would also like to thank his caregivers Carol Lovejoy, Lavekia Cook and Kiwi Pettway.
The family will gather at the graveside on Wednesday May 25, 2022 at 11 AM at Greenwood Cemetery.
On Thursday, May 26, 2022 Visitation will be at Trinity Presbyterian Church 1728 South Hull Street, Montgomery, Alabama from 10:00 to 11:45 a.m. followed by a Memorial Service at 12:00 p.m., officiated by Rev. Claude McRoberts and Rev. Michael Howell.
In lieu of flowers, he would be honored to be remembered with any donations made to Montgomery Christian School (334) 386-1749, 3265 McGehee Road, Montgomery, AL 36111 or Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1728 South Hull Street Montgomery, AL 36104
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at Leak Memory Chapel for the JOSEPH family.
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Written by Vern S. Poythress |
Sunday, April 14, 2024
We should not overlook the role of Balaam’s donkey. The donkey spoke and functioned as a prophet to Balaam himself, serving to rescue him from death by avoiding the angel with his drawn sword (Num. 22:22–35). The rescue of Balaam is a type pointing us to Christ, who permanently and definitively rescues us from sin and death. This list is a beginning. By studying the Old Testament carefully, we can find many other points at which the Old Testament provides shadows and symbols pointing forward to the definitive redemption in Christ.

The Old Testament contains “types,” that is, symbolic personages and things and events that point forward to fulfillment, especially the climactic fulfillment in Christ. Some types are obvious because the New Testament talks about them at length. For example, the priesthood of Aaron and his sons, described in the Mosaic law, is fulfilled in the heavenly priesthood of Christ, according to Hebrews 5–10. The Passover feast, commemorating God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery, is fulfilled in the death of Christ, the Passover lamb: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). Christ delivered us from slavery to sin and death. The Last Supper, recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, was a Passover meal but filled with new meaning as Jesus inaugurates the “new covenant” (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). The Lord’s Supper is now the church’s commemorative feast, analogous to Israel’s annual Passover celebration.
But these obvious types are only the beginning. Many personages and events and institutions in the Old Testament have a symbolic dimension and point to Christ and his work. At the same time, they never measure up to Christ’s work, which is unique. So we may miss some of their significance if we do not notice that there is a symbolic meaning, even when there is not exact correspondence.
Here are ten lesser-known types that point forward to Jesus. Not everyone agrees—which is one reason why they are lesser known. See whether you agree that there is a symbolic aspect pointing forward to Christ.
1. Let There Be Light
God created by speaking, including the creation of light in Genesis 1:3. The individual speeches in Genesis 1 are derivative from the great, eternal speech of God mentioned in John 1:1:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1 goes on to indicate that “[a]ll things were made through him [the Word]” (verse 3), thus alluding to Genesis 1. John 1 confirms that the eternal Word, now become incarnate, was the agent of creation along with the Father and the Spirit.
Jesus also says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.” Physical light, created by God in Genesis, anticipates Jesus who is the climactic spiritual light.
2. Enoch
As for Enoch, God “took him” when he was 365 years old (Gen. 5:23–24). He did not die. His victory over death anticipates Christ’s resurrection.
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Because of Christ, that old covenant religion was cast into the deepest seas and replaced by something so much better: the fount of Living Water! Jesus’ faith unleashed His Kingdom of salvation upon the world by putting away the types and shadows that came before. That is what this verse is trying to get at and that is why its true interpretation cannot be attacked by the moths and rust of materialism.

INTRODUCTION
If you have been a Christian for any length of time you have probably heard someone say: “if you have enough faith, then you can move mountains.” This, of course, sounds pretty epic until you nearly burst a blood vessel in your forehead trying to move a small ant hill in your back yard. It is then that you realize something. Either, you don’t have enough faith to move anything or you come to see that you have misunderstood this passage and need to relearn what it means. Today, I want to help you with the latter.
Here is the text in its immediate context.
18 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered. 20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” – Matthew 21:18-22
As you can see, Jesus’ point is couched in a pretty specific context. He is teaching His disciples why and how He cursed a specific tree and rendered it barren forever. He was not vying for a regular spot on the TBN miracle hour where He teaches carnal Christians to actualize their materialistic fantasies. He was not saying: “Hey Christian, if you just believe super hard on this you can move whatever metaphorical mountain is standing in your way.”
If that were the case, we could join in with the prophets of Baal, trying to figure out which spiritual convulsion, faith cut, or liver-shiver of sincerity will get the fire to drop from heaven. If we say this prayer, sow this seed, or really really really believe, then that mountain of sickness will run away, that apex promotion will fall in my lap, and that zenith sports car I have always wanted will show up in my driveway.
Even though our flesh would certainly crave such a sensate and self-centered interpretation, this could not be further from what Jesus is actually saying. This passage, at least not directly, is not about you and the things you want! This passage is about Jesus and what He wants!
To understand all of this, let us discuss the two main ideas in the passage. What does it mean that He cursed the fig tree? And what does it mean to speak to a mountain and throw it into the sea?
CURSING FRUITLESSNESS
In Matthew 21, Jesus comes to Jerusalem, a fruitless mountain city that offered Him only leaves (Mt. 21:8). After that, He goes to the high point of the city, the temple mount, where fruit for God should have been present but all He found was rot and decay (Mt. 21:12-17). So, on the next morning, when Jesus curses a rotten tree, at the base of a mountain, because it would not bear any fruit, we should begin to pick up what Jesus is laying down.
Jerusalem is not only a city that is compared to a garden vineyard in Isaiah (Isaiah 5), but its residents are compared to various kinds of figs in Jeremiah (24). More than that, it’s temple was intentionally decorated to look like the garden of Eden (See for example 1 Kings 6:18, 29, 32, 35; 7:18-20). By these facts alone, we can see Jerusalem’s purpose was to be fruitful and to multiply good fruit for God, not the poison berries of Sodom. But, by the time Christ visits the city in Matthew 21, something had gone terribly wrong!
In Matthew 21, Jesus came to a city that no longer looked like a garden but a wilderness. He came to a temple that was no longer producing fruit for God, giving life to its people, but was withered in total corruption (Mt. 21:12-13). He came to a people that looked just like that barren fig tree rotting along the road, and by cursing that tree, He was showcasing what He was about to do to them.
Just like the withering tree, Jerusalem was about to be chopped down and thrown into the fire of God’s wrath. That is not a matter of opinion or poetic interpretation, that actually occurred 40 years later when Rome burned the city to the ground. They sieged it, they invaded it, and they turned the withered city into a pile of hot ash without a single stone left upon another (Matthew 24:1-2).
CASTING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
It is clear from the passage that the disciples were amazed at Jesus’ behavior and likely did not see the connection He was making with Jerusalem. This is not an uncommon occurrence, since the disciples misunderstand the significance and meaning of so much of what Jesus is talking about and doing in the Gospels. There are countless times His disciples are left scratching their heads in total confusion and this time is no different. So, in order to help them understand, Jesus does what He often does elsewhere; He illustrates His main point with a secondary example so that the disciples will finally get it.
Notice the example Jesus provides.
21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to THIS mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. (emphasis mine)
By sharing this example, Jesus is not taking a break from His main point in order to establish a very disconnected word of faith / prosperity theology. He is not ignoring the disciples question so that He can empower future charlatans with ammunition to abuse God’s people. Instead, it is quite clear from the context that Jesus is making His main point even stronger with a good illustration. He has showcased Jerusalem’s downfall with the image of a fig tree. Now He will talk about it in terms of a mountain.
Why?
FIRST
Because Jerusalem was literally a city on top of a mountain. It was surrounded by valleys on all sides and to get into the city you would need to go up from every direction. Furthermore, the temple was at the highest point and pinnacle of that mountain which meant that you could see it for miles and miles looming over the horizon.
Thus, as Jesus stood speaking to His disciples about the downfall of fruitless Jerusalem, that cursed mountain would have been looming largely over them. It would have been an obvious point that Jesus was making for anyone standing in that valley.  Especially to this group, whose destination was that very mountain city.
SECOND
Jesus does not promise, if you speak to “a mountain” then it will leap off the land and into the water, like Mount Everest canon-calling into the Indian Ocean”. He also does not promise if you say to “any old mountain-like problem” it will fall into a Mariana-trnech-like-hole. No! He stands at the foot of a very specific mountain that all of them were looking at, and traveling towards, and says “Even if you say to THIS mountain”. By using the near demonstrative pronoun, it could not be more clear what Jesus is referring to.
He has a very specific mountain in view that will be destroyed and tossed into the sea. That brings us to our third point.
THIRD
It is a matter of historical record that the Romans surrounded the city of Jerusalem in AD 70 and leveled its top like a blown off volcano. They built ramps up to the city, came in, and tore down every building, especially the Jewish temple and razed the city to the ground. But, not only that, they killed most of the surviving males, and they took nearly 100,000 others into slavery back to Rome. Along with the women, children, and others, they carried every item of value left in the city, placed the spoils on their ships, and cast off back to Rome. The mountain of Jerusalem had very much been cast into the sea, just as Jesus predicted.
CONCLUSION
In Matthew 21, Jesus is not speaking about the kind of name it and claim it faith that charlatans use to justify their extravagant lifestyles. He is not teaching about the kind of faith you need to have the material, emotional, mental, or relational things you want. He is talking about something infinitely better.
Standing between every Christian and their God was the apostate mountain of Jerusalem. That system of temples, priests, feasts, and sacrifices was the temporary placeholder that was meant to prepare the world for the unveiling of Christ. Now that Christ had come, it was time to put away that old mountain that has fallen into disrepair. In Matthew 21, Jesus is talking about the kind of faith that led Him to put away the old covenantal realities so that the new and better covenant would come!
When Jesus was lifted up and nailed to a mountain cross, He signaled a new era in human history. Instead of people going to Jerusalem to meet with God, now they would come to Christ (John 14:6). Instead of traveling to a distant temple, He made us into walking, talking, temples (1 Cor. 3:16). Instead of looking for fruit in the old covenant religion, He makes us bear fruit for His new covenant kingdom (Jn 15; Gal 5:22). Instead of old Jerusalem offering the starving world bitter withered leaves, He makes the New Jerusalem church to offer life-giving leaves and fruit for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:2).
Because of Christ, that old covenant religion was cast into the deepest seas and replaced by something so much better: the fount of Living Water! Jesus’ faith unleashed His Kingdom of salvation upon the world by putting away the types and shadows that came before. That is what this verse is trying to get at and that is why its true interpretation cannot be attacked by the moths and rust of materialism.
APPLICATION
When you come to a verse like this, read the context. Do not assume that it automagically applies to you in the basest sense. Do not use a verse like this to muster up big comical faith. Do not believe that God is just waiting on you to reach a certain level of sincerity before He will answer your prayers. Have faith! Pray big prayers! Yes and amen!  But, also realize that Jesus is not giving you an blank check to satisfy your carnal wishlist. He has done something infinitely better. He removed the mountain of dead religion standing between you and God and He made it possible for you to know the LORD through Him.
Enjoy that truth and leave the mountains to Jesus.
Kendall Lankford is the Lead Teaching Pastor at The Shepherd’s Church in Chelmsford, Mass. This article is used with permission.
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