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January 06, 2006

Parashah 11: Vayigash (He Approached)

B’resheet (Genesis) 44:18-47:27

Joseph’s Life: Part III

• This portion begins with Y’hudah (Judah) approaching Yosef (Joseph) and asking to speak to him privately. Y’hudah had no idea that he was addressing his brother; he thought he was speaking to the Egyptian Viceroy. He had to plead for Binyamin’s (Benjamin’s) freedom for the youngest brother had been caught with Yoseph’s cup in his sack of grain.

• Y’hudah shared with passion detailing in chronological order their journey from beginning to end and how the brothers had complied with all that Yosef had asked of them. Judah then ventures into their family life focusing on Binyamin and his father’s love of him. Y’hudah’ s main thrust of his story was to tell Yosef that he himself had guaranteed Binyamin’s safety.

• Y’hudah quoted the words of his father Ya’akov toYosef. “You know that my wife bore me two sons. One of them went away from me and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since. If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.” (Genesis 44:27-29)

• “He has been torn to pieces” is a prophetic reference to the future separation of the twelve tribes of Israel. They will separate and become Two Houses - the House of Judah and the House of Israel and they will be assimilated into the nations around them. When the tribes come together (Ezekiel 37), it is imperative that Binyamin be with them. He will act as the liaison between the Two Houses.

• Jacob loved all of his children, but the children coming form Rachel had a special place in his heart. All the other sons understood this and accepted it. After this plea for mercy, in an act of self-sacrifice, Y’hudah offers his life for Binyamin’s so the boy could return to his father.

• Yosef had been slowly preparing his brothers for reunion one step at a time. Consider how Yah reveals Himself to us; a little at a time as we are able to receive and understand His nature. Yosef could no longer contain his emotions. He cried out, “ Have everyone to leave my presence!” Yah desires to reveal himself to us privately as an intimate encounter between loved ones. Our Messiah, Yeshua, represented by Yosef, also revealed himself to his brothers alone in John 20:19. “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Yeshua came and stood among them and said, “Shalom”.

• Just before Yosef shared, he wept so loudly the Egyptians heard him. “As Yeshua approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, “if you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Yeshua wept over his brothers also before His crucifixion because of their lack of understanding.

• “I am Yosef!” he cried out to his brothers. This was such a total shock to his brothers that they were unable to respond. They were already terrified at the possibility of being thrown into slavery and not this! Memories that were long buried now flooded their minds and they struggled to put all this together to be able to comprehend that this was indeed their brother Yosef standing before them. What would he do? Would he reciprocate in retaliation for their actions twenty years earlier?

• In their state of shock, not realizing it, the brothers were looking at resurrection life. Yosef was dead but now was alive! Just as Yeshua was dead to his disciples, He stood before them alive after His crucifixion. During His ministry, Yeshua took three years to prepare His disciples. From those who followed Him, He chose carefully those He knew would be reliable witnesses to His Resurrection.

• Yosef said to his brothers, “Come close to me” (Genesis 45:4). “But now in Yeshua you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Yeshua” (Ephesians 2:13). “Once you were alienated from Yahweh and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Yeshua’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:21-22).

• “I am your brother Yosef the one you sold into Egypt!” Oh, how their worst fears must have come back to them! Yosef, saw and understood their dismay and said, “do not be distressed and angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that Yahweh sent me ahead of you.” (Genesis 45:5)

• In the book of Yochanan (John) 11:49-52, Caiaphas, the high priest, said, “You people don’t know anything! You don’t see that it is better for you if one man dies on behalf of the people so that the whole nation won’t be destroyed”. Now he did not speak this way on his own initiative; rather, since he was high priest that year, he was prophesying that Yeshua was about to die on behalf of the nation and not for the nation alone, but so that He might gather into one the scattered children of Yahweh, all the tribes of Israel.

• It had been a long road for Yosef. Twenty-two years had passed since he was sold into slavery. Many thoughts must have gone through his mind. His anguish must have been very deep. He had given himself up for the deliverance of his brothers and now the time had arrived for him to reveal himself to them. Yosef was a shadow of Yeshua, who anguished in the Garden before giving himself up for our deliverance.

• Yosef had matured in the thirteen years as a slave. He had studied in the “tents” of Jacob and was familiar with Torah by the age of seventeen when he was sold. He made choices, trusted Yahweh, and walked in Torah; it saved both his life and the lives of his family. His brothers were not as familiar with Torah and their lives reflected what was in their hearts. This was the difference that brought deliverance.

• Why could his brothers not “see” him? His brothers sold him into slavery because of jealously and bitterness that had grown and blocked their hearts. Unforgiveness along with resentment, retaliation, anger, hatred, violence, and murder all had to be repented for and taken care of before they could “see” him and be restored. During this entire ordeal, the kinship between Yosef and his brothers remained, but the fellowship was severed. Now it was restored.

• As Yosef’s brothers could not see him because they had unforgiveness in their hearts, we also will miss revelations of Yeshua in the Torah if we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts towards people. Yeshua gave us His example just before he dies in Luke 23:24 when he says, “Father , forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” The level with which we forgive is the level of blessings we receive.

• Yosef was now ready for his father and the remainder of the family to come and join him in Egypt. The famine would last another five years and there would be no food for his father and brothers unless they came to live with Yosef in Egypt. Yosef revealed that they would be living in Goshen to be near him. Goshen means: to the land of lights. The Hebrew letters for Goshen are also used in the numerical form for the name: Messiah Yeshua, who is the ‘Light of the World’.

• Pharaoh offered carts for them to carry their goods down to Egypt. This was prophetic of the night of Passover when the carts were used to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. Before sending them home Yosef gave them provisions for the journey. He gave all of them new clothing but to Binyamin he gave 300 shekels of silver and five sets of clothing, a reflections of the five books in the Torah. To his father he gave ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions. Ten signified completion, and represented the future ten “lost” tribes of Jacob who would return from captivity. This, together with the grain, representing Torah, would be the confirmation to Jacob that Yosef was alive and that he had remembered the Torah his father taught him and it had born much fruit.

• Jacob at first was not sure that his son Yosef was alive, but when he saw the carts that Yosef had sent, his spirit revived and he said, “I will go and see him before I die.” Jacob left with his whole family, their livestock, and all their possessions. On the way in Beersheba he stopped and offered sacrifices to Yahweh. Yah spoke to him and told him not to be afraid to go down to Egypt for He would make Jacob into a great nation there. Yah promised to go down to Egypt with Jacob and told him that he would bring him back again.

• As soon as Yosef appeared before Jacob, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time. Yosef was now forty when he greeted his father. Forty relates to a period of trials. Forty also relates to enlarged dominion or extended rule.

• Yosef’s family was presented to Pharaoh and they were given the land of Goshen. Yosef promised them all the food they would need before he returned to serve in his position as Viceroy. Even though his family was now with him, Yosef remained faithful to do the job that Yah had commissioned him for. There were still five more years of famine ahead and lots of work to do.

• Yosef continued to guide Egypt supplying grain for money and then for land. Pharaoh owned all the land and in return for grain, Yosef had the people return one fifth while they kept four fifths of the crop. In this way the people did not starve and the land was not left destitute.

Amen!

posted by Chris Phillips, Congregational Leader  # 1/06/2006

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