This week’s
Torah Portion:
Psa 119:29 Remove from me the way of falsehood, And
favour me with Your Torah.
Psa 119:34 Make(cause) me understand, that I might
observe(preserve) Your Torah, And guard it with all my heart.
Gen 41:38-57
And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Could we
find another like him, a man in whom is the Spirit of Elohim?” Then Pharaoh
said to Yosĕph, “Since Elohim has shown you all this, there is no one as
discerning and wise as you. “Be over my house, you yourself, and at your mouth
all my people shall kiss – only in the throne I am greater than you.” And
Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Mitsrayim.” And
Pharaoh took his seal-ring off his hand and put it on Yosĕph’s hand. And he
dressed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And
he had him ride in the second chariot which he had. And they cried out before
him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Mitsrayim. And Pharaoh
said to Yosĕph, “I am Pharaoh, and without a word from you let no man
lift his hand or foot in all the land of Mitsrayim.” And Pharaoh called
Yosĕph’s name Zaphnath-Paʽnĕaḥ. And he gave him as a
wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. And Yosĕph went out
over all the land of Mitsrayim. Now Yosĕph was thirty years old when he stood
before Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim. And Yosĕph went out from the presence of
Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Mitsrayim. And in the seven years
of plenty the ground brought forth generously. And he gathered all the food of
the seven years which were in the land of Mitsrayim, and laid up the food in
the cities. He laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded
them. Thus Yosĕph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he
ceased counting, for it was without number. And to Yosĕph were born two sons
before the years of scarcity of food came, whom Asenath, the daughter of
Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. And Yosĕph called the name of the
first-born Menashsheh, “For Elohim has made me forget all my toil and all my
father’s house.” And the name of the second he called Ephrayim, “For Elohim has
caused me to bear fruit in the land of my affliction.” And the seven years of
plenty which were in the land of Mitsrayim came to an end, and the seven years
of scarcity of food began to come, as Yosĕph had said. And the scarcity of food
was in all lands, but in all the land of Mitsrayim there was bread. But when
all the land of Mitsrayim hungered, and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread,
Pharaoh said to all the Mitsrites, “Go to Yosĕph, do whatever he says to you.” And
the scarcity of food was over all the face of the earth, and Yosĕph opened all
the storehouses and sold to the Mitsrites. And the scarcity of food was severe
in the land of Mitsrayim. And all the earth came to Yosĕph in Mitsrayim to buy
grain, because the scarcity of food was severe in all the earth.
Gen
42:1-17 And when Yaʽaqoḇ saw that there was
grain in Mitsrayim, Yaʽaqoḇ said to his sons, “Why
do you look at each other?” And he said,
“See, I have heard that there is grain in Mitsrayim. Go down to that place and
buy for us there, and let us live and not die.” And Yosĕph’s ten brothers went
down to buy grain in Mitsrayim. But Yaʽaqoḇ did not send Yosĕph’s
brother Binyamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some harm come to him.” And
the sons of Yisra’ĕl went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the
scarcity of food was in the land of Kenaʽan.
And Yosĕph was the governor over the land, he was the one who sold to all the
people of the land. And Yosĕph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with
their faces to the earth. And Yosĕph saw his brothers and recognised them, but
he acted as a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly, and said to them,
“Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Kenaʽan to buy food.” So
Yosĕph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him. And Yosĕph
remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You
are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!” And they said to
him, “No, my master, but your servants have come to buy food. “We are all one man’s sons, we are
trustworthy, your servants are not spies.” But he said to them, “No, but you
have come to see the nakedness of the land.” And they said, “Your servants are
twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Kenaʽan. And see, the
youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.” And Yosĕph said to
them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’ “By this you shall be proven: By the life of
Pharaoh, you do not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. “Send one of you, and let him bring your
brother, while you are kept in prison. So let your words be proven to see
whether there is any truth in you, or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are
spies!” And he put them all together in prison for three days.
Midrash:
Read Gen 32 Vs 38,39
Isa
11:2 The Spirit of יהוה shall rest upon Him – the Spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of יהוה, and
shall make(cause) Him breathe in the fear of יהוה. And He shall not judge by the sight of His
eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears.
ג וַהֲרִיחוֹ, בְּיִרְאַת
יְהוָה
Lit – his scent(harihacho - 7306) is the fear of YHVH. The word “breathe” is
not used in the text. However the prophet seems to suggest that the evidence we
have been in the presence of the Messiah is that we “breathe” in the scent or
fragrance of the fear of YHVH. How many today can witness to this?
2Co 2:15-16 Because we are to Elohim the fragrance of
Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To
the one we are the smell of death to death, and to the other the fragrance of
life to life. And who is competent for these? Hebrew word for “fear” can mean
both terror or reverence.
Vs 40 - וְעַל-פִּיךָ יִשַּׁק כָּל-עַמִּי
“upon
your mouth he will kiss all my people”
Psa 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be enraged, And you
perish in the way, For soon His wrath is to be kindled. Blessed are all those
taking refuge in Him.
Read Gen 42 Vs 41,42,43 and midrash
Php 2:8-11 And
having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient
unto death, death even of a stake. Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him
and given Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of יהושע every knee
should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the
earth, and every tongue should confess that יהושע Messiah is
Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father.
Mat 28:16-20 And the eleven taught ones went away into
Galil, to the mountain which יהושע had appointed
for them. And when they saw Him, they bowed to Him, but some doubted. And יהושע came up and spoke to them, saying, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Therefore, go and make
taught ones of all the nations, immersing them in the Name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Set-apart Spirit, teaching them to guard all that I have
commanded you. And see, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Amĕn.
Gen 42 Vs 44 adds
“word” in the translation. The Hebrew word “uvileadeicha” means “apart from
you” – Pharoah is stating that because Yosef exists people can exist also.
1Co 8:6 for us there is one Elohim,1 the
Father, from whom all came and for whom we live, and one Master יהושע Messiah,
through whom all came and through whom we live.
Col 1:9-20 That is also why we, from the day we heard,
have not ceased praying for you, and asking that you be filled with the
knowledge of His desire in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, to walk
worthily of the Master, pleasing all, bearing fruit in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of Elohim, being empowered with all power,
according to the might of His esteem, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving
thanks to the Father who has made us fit to share in the inheritance of the
set-apart ones in the light, who has delivered us from the authority of
darkness1 and transferred us into the reign of the Son of His love,
Footnote: 1Lk. 11:35, John 8:12, John 12:46-50, Acts 26:18, Eph.
5:8. in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, who
is the likeness of the invisible Elohim, the first-born of all creation.1
Footnote: 1Heb. 1:6, Rev. 3:14. Because in Him were created all that
are in the heavens and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or rulerships or principalities or authorities – all have been created
through Him and for Him. And He is before all, and in Him all hold together. And
He is the Head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the first-born
from the dead, that He might become the One who is first in all. Because in Him
all the completeness was well pleased to dwell, and through Him to completely
restore to favour all unto Himself, whether on earth or in the heavens, having
made peace through the blood of His stake.
Gen
42 Vs 45 – Strongs 6847 BDB - Zaphnath-paaneah = “treasury of the esteemed
rest” According to Rashi the name means “revealer of hidden things”
Asenath (Yosef’s wife’s name) – “Modern scholarship says her name derives from the Egyptian godess "she who belongs to (the goddess) ''Neith'', and that her name may be phonetically transliterated from Egyptian hieroglyphs”
Neith - Neith was a goddess of war and of hunting and had as her symbol, two arrows crossed over a shield. As a deity, Neith is normally shown carrying the war scepter (symbol of rule and power) and the ankh (symbol of life).
An “ankh” is a cross with a loop – see - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neith
This is perhaps one of the greatest demonstrations of YHVH’s mercy towards mankind. YHVH allows for 2000 years His only brought forth son who would show a lost humanity a way back to Himself to be in the form of an Egyptian married to a pagan wife.
The church has experienced this favour from YHVH for the past 2000 years. Perhaps the “fullness of the gentiles” points to the end of this age and a beginning of the age to come.
Rom 11:25 For I do not wish you to be ignorant of this
secret, brothers, lest you should be wise in your own estimation, that
hardening in part has come over Yisra’ĕl, until the completeness of the
gentiles1 has come in. Footnote: 1Gen. 48:19.
Read Gen 42 Vs 46 and midrash
Luk 3:23 And when יהושע Himself began,
He was about thirty years of age, being, as reckoned by law…. Num 4:23
Gen 41:50 -52 And to Yosĕph were born two sons
before the years of scarcity of food came, whom Asenath, the daughter of
Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. And Yosĕph called the name of the
first-born Menashsheh, “For Elohim has made me forget all my toil and all my
father’s house.” And the name of the second he called Ephrayim, “For Elohim has
caused me to bear fruit in the land of my affliction.”
During the time of famine two
sons are born. Perhaps this is a prophetic calling of a remnant of gentiles who
have forgotten their pagan roots and become fruitful in the keeping of YHVH’s
covenant – His Torah.
Gen
42:1-2 And when Yaʽaqoḇ saw that there was
grain in Mitsrayim, Yaʽaqoḇ said to his sons, “Why
do you look at each other?” And he said, “See, I have heard that there is grain
in Mitsrayim. Go down to that place and buy for us there, and let us live and
not die.”
Note there was no seed in Yisrael, they had to go
to Mitsrayim/Egypt for the seed. The prophet Amos speaks of an end time famine
in the land of Yisrael – read the whole chapter 8 to get the correct context.
Amo 8:11-12 “See, days are coming,” declares the Master יהוה, “that I shall
send a hunger in the land, not a hunger for bread, nor a thirst for water, but
for hearing the Words of יהוה. “And they shall wander from sea to sea, and
from north to east – they shall diligently search, seeking the Word of יהוה, but they shall not find it1.
Footnote: 1Jer. 5:13, Hos. 8:12, Ezek. 34:3-10.
Luk 15:17,18 “But having come to himself, he said, ‘How
many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I am
perishing with hunger! ‘Having risen, I shall go to my father and say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against the heaven, and before you,