Pirket Avot 5:22
He would also say: Five years is the age for the study of Scripture. Ten, for the study of Mishnah. Thirteen, for the obligation to observe the mitzvot. Fifteen, for the study of Talmud. Eighteen, for marriage. Twenty, to pursue [a livelihood]. Thirty, for strength, Forty, for understanding. Fifty, for counsel. Sixty, for sagacity. Seventy, for elderliness. Eighty, for power. Ninety, to stoop. A hundred-year-old is as one who has died and passed away and has been negated from the world.
Yosef was almost ready to take a bride. Yahshua is also almost ready to take a bride.
Today Yakov’s flock still seek to obey His commandments and study the Torah and the Second writings.
Some commentaries suggest that the title of this week’s parasha
“vayeishev”- “and he settled” is also perhaps the reason why Yakov experienced
so many trials. The fathers of our faith, they say, were not settlers but
pilgrims. Settling down can cause spiritual stagnation and prevent one from
reaching your destination.
Perhaps the title of this week’s parashah also contains a prophetic message that the descendants of
Yakov will settle down once again in the land of Yisrael for ever when the
Messiah returns.
Gen 37:1 And Yaʽaqoḇ dwelt in the land of
his father’s sojournings, in the land of Kenaʽan.
The root of the Hebrew word used in this week’s parasha is “yashav”. This
word is often found in the Torah and can be defined as to “sit, settle or
reside”
From a “Hebraic” perspective we understand that to “yashav” is a
temporary blessing, enjoyed only for short periods of time during our
pilgrimage here on earth.
We see
this was the pattern of our fathers.
Heb 11:8 By belief, Aḇraham obeyed when he was called to go out
to the place which he was about to receive as an inheritance. And he went out,
not knowing where he was going.
Heb 11:9 By
belief, he sojourned in the land of promise as a stranger, dwelling in tents
with Yitsḥaq and Yaʽaqoḇ, the heirs with him of the same promise,
Heb 11:10
for he was looking for the city having foundations, whose builder and
maker is Elohim.
Heb 11:13 In belief all these died, not having received
the promises, but seeing them from a distance, welcomed and embraced them, and
confessed that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. Footnote: 1See
v. 39.
Heb 11:14 For those who speak this way make it clear
that they seek a fatherland.
Today we understand that to be a pilgrim does not mean you have to
change your address every few months. However as “pilgrims” here on earth we
have discovered that the “scenery” of our lives can change dramatically from
time to time. In fact we know that this is the evidence that we are being led
by the Ruach of YHVH. When we have set our hearts to pilgrimage we discover
that our lives are definitely not “boring” and we learn to accept both the pain
and the joy of this journey.
Psa 84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Your
Highways are in their heart.
Psa 84:6 Passing through the valley of weeping, They
make it a fountain; The Teacher also covers it with blessings – (Hebrew …the
Moreh or former rain covers them with blessings.)
Psa 84:7 They go from strength to strength, Appearing
before Elohim in Tsiyon.
Yakov knows what it means to go through the valley of suffering
“bacah” - now he finds himself “sitting” - he is in a kind of transition. Yakov has just suffered the loss of the love
of his life – Rachel - and we know that
he is about to suffer another loss – the apparent death of his favourite son –
Yosef. This deception of his sons nearly killed Yakov. The journey almost
became totally unbearable for him. Some of you reading this know what this
means.
The sages tell us that Yaakov Avinu wanted to live in peace and
tranquillity. Hashem (‘The Name’ = YHVH) said "Is it not enough for the
righteous that they have their reward in the world-to-come - they also want to
live in this world in serenity?"
What is it that sustains one on this journey?
Passion!
The passion for truth, for His kingdom, for His Messiah, for Yerushalayim and the ultimate passion for
YHVH Himself. To love Him with all our heart, being and might.
Psalm 73:25 Whom do I have in the heavens? And I have
desired no one besides You on earth.
Every time we recite the “shema” we are expressing that the deepest
desire of our hearts is to honour YHVH and love Him in the deepest way
imaginable. We know that we are not fully capable of this but we believe that
this will one day be the ultimate all -consuming reality of our lives.
Gen 37:2
This is the genealogy(Heb – toldot) of Yaʽaqoḇ. Yosĕph, being
seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the young man
was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And
Yosĕph brought an evil report of them to his father.
It speaks of the “toldot”
or genealogy of Yakov but then it goes on to tell the story of Yosef. Why?
Because Yosef’s life is an amazing prophetic fulfillment of how the Messiah
would accomplish the gathering of the 12 tribes of Israel to settle or “va
yashev” in the land of Israel one day, again, forever. Only Messianic life
would be able to shepherd the flock of Yakov. From now on the generations of
Yakov are in the hands of Yosef. Yosef is the savior of Yakov’s offspring.
Yahshua is both Moshiach
ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dawid.
“ And Yosĕph brought an
evil report of them to his father.”
In this context we
believe evil or “ra-a” does not mean “lashon ha ra – a” or gossip, but Yosef
was speaking the truth about their actions.
Yahshua said some pretty
harsh but true things of the people of his generation.
Meet the real Yahshua
that many still hate – see Matt 23 – speaking to the religious leaders of his
day.
Mat 23:33 “Serpents, brood of adders! How would you
escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Sadly many so called
Messianics are denying Yahshua.
1Jn 2:22 Who is the liar, except
the one denying that יהושע is the Messiah? This is the anti-messiah,
the one denying the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 No one
denying the Son has the Father. The one confessing the Son has the Father as
well.
Gen 37:3 And
Yisra’ĕl loved Yosĕph more than all his children, because he was the son of his
old age. And he made him a long robe.
The issue of favoritism
evokes strong feelings of “unfairness” in us. The fact is that even YHVH seems
to show special favour to some and not to others. See Rom 9. This is not easy
to understand.
Rom 9:15 For He says to Mosheh, “I shall favour
whomever I favour, and I shall have compassion on whomever I have compassion.”
Rom 9:16 So, then, it is not of him who is wishing,
nor of him who is running, but of Elohim who shows favour.
Gen 37:4 But
when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers,
they hated him and were not able to speak peaceably to him.
Joh 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not
receive Him.
Yahshua said in Joh
15:23 “He who hates Me hates My Father
as well.
Yahshua received the same kind of treatment
from his brothers when he was here.
Joh 15:25 but...that the word
might be filled which was written in their Torah, ‘They hated Me without a
cause.’
Gen 37:5 And
Yosĕph dreamed a dream, and told it to his brothers. So they hated him even
more.
Gen 37:6 And
he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7
“See, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and see, my
sheaf rose up and also stood up. And see, your sheaves stood all around and
bowed down to my sheaf.”
Gen 37:8 And
his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Shall you indeed
rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Gen 37:9 And
he dreamed still another dream and related it to his brothers, and said, “See,
I have dreamed another dream, and see, the sun and the moon and the eleven
stars bowed down to me.”
Gen 37:10
And he related it to his father and his brothers. And his father rebuked
him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall we, your
mother and I and your brothers, indeed come to bow down to the earth before
you?”
Gen 37:11
And his brothers envied him, but his father guarded the word.
There remains a veil
over the eyes of many Jews and Gentiles as to what the Torah teaches us today.
2Co 3:14 But
their minds were hardened, for to this day, when the old (Gk – palaios or
ancient. We understand now that the ancient covenant was not done away with but
it was renewed) covenant is being read, that same veil remains, not lifted,
because in Messiah it is taken away.
2Co 3:15 But
to this day, when Mosheh is being read, a veil lies on their heart.
2Co 3:16 And
when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away.
2Co 3:17 Now
YHVH is the Spirit, and where the
Spirit of YHVH is, there is freedom.
Gen 37:12
And his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Sheḵem.
Gen 37:13
And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock
in Sheḵem? Come, I send you
to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.”
Gen 37:14
And he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers
and well with the sheep, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the
Valley of Ḥeḇron, and he went to
Sheḵem.
The Torah is
concealing a mystery in vs 14 because Hebron is not in a valley but on a hill.
Why would the Torah deliberately make this kind of error?
Maybe the Torah wants us to see that there is also
a hidden message concerning the flock in Shechem that was eventually found in
Dothan.
Is it possible that Shechem or “shoulder” was the
place where we were meant to bear the yoke of the Torah – see Matt 11:28-30.
Yahshua was most probably referring to the yoke of the Torah as this was the
customary of expressing our duty towards the studying and living of Torah.
“Dothan” S1886 -
the place of two wells or the place of the double law. This could refer
to the apostasy that takes hold of YHVH’s called out ones when they leave the
One law of the Torah and seek to establish their own or an additional law. This
has sadly happened amongst many Jews and Gentiles.
Gen 37:15
And a certain man found him, and see, he was wandering in the field. And
the man asked him, saying, “What do you seek?”
Gen 37:16
And he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please inform me where they are
feeding their sheep.”
Gen 37:17
And the man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go
towards Dothan.’ ” So Yosĕph went
after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
“Dothan” means a place
of “two wells” In Aramaic Dothan can mean “double law” The reference here is
obvious, the brother of Yosef were not in “good place” because they were not
been established in the Torah of YHVH alone, they were drinking from another
law or well as well. This is the sad state of mankind up to this day. We seek life
where no life can be found.
Gen 37:18
And they saw him from a distance, and before he came near them, they
plotted against him, to kill him.
Gen 37:19
And they said to each other, “See, this master of dreams is coming!
Gen 37:20
“Now, then, come and let us now kill him and throw him into some pit,
and shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ Let us then see what comes
of his dreams!”
Gen 37:21
But Re’uḇĕn heard and rescued
him from their hands, and said, “Let us not take his life.”
Gen 37:22
And Re’uḇĕn said to them, “Shed
no blood. Throw him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a
hand on him” – in order to rescue him out of their hands, and bring him back to
his father.
When the great
Shepherd of the sheep (Yahshua) came to seek and save the lost sheep of the
house of Yisrael, his brothers also plotted to kill him.
Gen 37:23 So
it came to be, when Yosĕph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Yosĕph
of his robe, the long robe which was on him.
Gen 37:24
And they took him and threw him into a pit. And the pit was empty, there
was no water in it.
Gen 37:25
And they sat down to eat a meal. And they lifted their eyes and looked
and saw a company of Yishmaʽĕlites, coming from
Gilʽaḏ with their camels,
bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take them down to Mitsrayim.
Gen 37:26
And Yehuḏah said to his
brothers, “What would we gain if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
Gen 37:27 “Come
and let us sell him to the Yishmaʽĕlites,
and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh.” And his
brothers listened.
Gen 37:28
And men, Miḏyanite traders passed
by, so they pulled Yosĕph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the
Yishmaʽĕlites for twenty
pieces of silver. And they took Yosĕph to Mitsrayim.
Gen 37:29
And Re’uḇĕn returned to the
pit, and see, Yosĕph was not in the pit. And he tore his garments.
Gen 37:30
And he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! And I, where
am I to go?”
Gen 37:31 So
they took Yosĕph’s robe, killed a male goat, and dipped the robe in the blood,
Gen 37:32
and sent the long robe and brought it to their father and said, “We have
found this. Please look, is it the robe of your son or not?”
Gen 37:33
And he recognised it and said, “It is my son’s robe. An evil beast has
devoured him. Yosĕph is torn, torn to pieces.”
Gen 37:34
And Yaʽaqoḇ tore his garments,
and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
Gen 37:35
And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he
refused to be comforted, and he said, “Now let me go down into the grave to my
son in mourning.” So his father wept for him.
Gen 37:36
And the Miḏanites had sold him in
Mitsrayim to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Yakov’s sons eventually learned to love their father
after many years of bringing heartache and shame to the family. It will be the
same again in the last days.
Eze 34:17 ‘And
as for you, O My flock, thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am
judging between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.
Joh 14:15 “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.1
Footnote: 1See Ex. 20:6, vv. 21&23, 1 John 5:2-3, 2 John v. 6.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of
Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love for Elohim, that we
guard His commands,1 and His commands are not heavy, Footnote: 1See
5:2, 2 John v. 6, John 14:15.
2Jn 1:6 And this is the love, that we walk according
to His commands.1 This is the command, that as you have heard from
the beginning, you should walk in it. Footnote: 1See 1 John 5:3, and
John 14:15.