Gen 46:28 And he sent Yehuḏah before him to
Yosĕph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of
Goshen.
Gen 46:29
And Yosĕph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his
father Yisra’ĕl. And he appeared to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his
neck a long time.
Gen 46:30
And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your
face, that you are still alive.”
It
seems a little unusual that Yakov would first go to Goshen before first
stopping over to meet with his son Yosef whom he had not seen in about 22
years.
The
Hebrew meaning of the word “Goshen” S1657 is “drawing near”- also associated
with the name of this parashah “va yigash” or “and he drew near” we could
assume that a time was needed for this long overdue family reunion.
Could this possibly be a pattern for an end-
time remnant of the house of Yakov, “drawing nearer” to one another for a long
overdue forever family reunion between the tribes of Yisrael and the Messiah?
This
coming together again will in all likelihood be an intense spiritual awakening
and an intense emotional experience. Will Yahudah take the initiative again?
How will Yosef respond? See Yesh 40
Isa 40:1 “Comfort, comfort My people!” says your
Elohim.
Isa 40:2 “Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim, and cry
out to her, that her hard service is completed, that her crookedness is
pardoned, that she has received from the hand of יהוה double for all
her sins.”
Isa 40:3 The voice
of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of יהוה; make straight in the desert a highway for
our Elohim.
Isa 40:10 See, the Master יהוה comes with a
strong hand, and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him, and His
recompense before Him.
Isa 40:11 He feeds
His flock like a shepherd, He gathers the lambs with His arm, and carries them
in His bosom, gently leading those who are with young.
Torah Portion
Gen 46:31
And Yosĕph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I am
going up to inform Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my
father’s house, who were in the land of Kenaʽan,
have come to me.
Gen 46:32
‘And the men are shepherds, that they have been men of livestock, and
they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have.’
Gen 46:33
“And it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your
occupation?’
Gen 46:34 that
you shall say, ‘Your servants have been men of livestock from our youth even
till now, both we and also our fathers,’ so that you dwell in the land of
Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Mitsrites.”
There seems to be a deeper spiritual
application as to why shepherds were an abomination to Mitsrites (Egyptians).
The very Heart of YHVH is revealed through
the image of a Good Shepherd.
Psa 100:3 Know that יהוה, He is Elohim;
He has made us, and we are His – His people and the sheep of His pasture.
The religious spirit still hates
shepherds! Why?
True shepherds (leaders) laid down their
lives for the flock. False shepherds (leaders) exploit the flock for their own
selfish purposes. True shepherds by their actions expose the ulterior motives
of false leaders and shepherds. This is the difference between the true
descendants of Yakov and Esav. The descendants of Yakov looked after sheep and
studied Torah. The descendants of Esav controlled and manipulated people so
that they could build cities and increase their power and influence.
Joh 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
lays down His life for the sheep.
Joh 10:12 “But the hireling, and not being a shepherd,
one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and
flees. And the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.
Joh 10:13 “Now the hireling flees because he is a
hireling and is not concerned about the sheep.
Joh 10:14 “I am the good shepherd.1 And I
know Mine, and Mine know Me, Footnote: 1Ezek. 34:11-12, Heb. 13:20,
1 Peter 2:25, 1 Peter 5:4.
Joh 10:15 even as the Father knows Me, and I know the
Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.
Joh 10:16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this
fold – I have to bring them as well, and they shall hear My voice, and there
shall be one flock, one shepherd.1 Footnote: 1Ezek.
34:23, Ezek. 37:24.
Joh 10:17 “Because of this the Father loves Me, because
I lay down My life, in order to receive it again.
Eze 34:1 And the word of יהוה came to me,
saying,
Eze 34:2 “Son of
man, prophesy against the shepherds of Yisra’ĕl, prophesy and say to them,
‘Thus said the Master יהוה to the
shepherds, “Woe to the shepherds1 of Yisra’ĕl who have been feeding
themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? Footnote: 1See
Jer. 10:21.
Eze 34:3 “You eat
the fat and you put on the wool. You slaughter the fatlings – you do not feed
the flock.
Eze 34:4 “You have
not strengthened the weak, nor have you healed the sick, nor bound up the
broken, nor brought back the straying, nor sought what was lost; but you have
ruled them with might and harshness.
The true shepherd disciplines his sheep.
It is believed that in ancient eastern
times when a sheep kept on wandering from the flock and leading the others
astray that the shepherd would break this wayward sheep’s leg. He would then
carry the injured sheep on his shoulders until the broken leg had healed.
When the scripture says that YHVH
disciplines His children it uses the same word for when Yahshua was flogged by
his captors.
Heb 12:5 And you have forgotten the appeal which
speaks to you as to sons, “My son, do not despise the discipline of יהוה, nor faint
when you are reproved by Him,
Heb 12:6 for whom יהוה loves, He disciplines, and flogs every son
whom He receives.”1 Footnote: 1Prov. 3:11-12.
Heb 12:7 If you
endure discipline, Elohim is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom a
father does not discipline?
Heb 12:8 But if
you are without discipline, of which all have become sharers, then you are
illegitimate and not sons.
Joh 19:1 Then, therefore, Pilate took יהושע and flogged Him.
Joh 19:2 And the
soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and they put a
purple robe on Him,
Same Greek word used Strongs 3146 –
“mastegoi” or flogged.
Most leaders don’t have the courage to
truly discipline and lead YHVH’s people the way the scriptures teach.
Ps 23:4 …. Your rod and
Your staff, they comfort me.
The true
shepherd will go to great extremes to protect the sheep.
1Sa 17:34 Then Dawiḏ
said to Sha’ul, “Your servant has been tending sheep for his father, and when a
lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
1Sa 17:35 I
went out after it and smote it, and rescued it from its mouth. And when it rose
against me, I caught it by its beard, and smote it and killed it.
1Sa 17:36
“Your servant has smitten both lion and bear. And this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing he has reproached the armies of
the living Elohim.
Gen 47:1 Then Yosĕph went and spoke to Pharaoh, and
said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that
they possess, have come from the land of Kenaʽan. And see, they are
in the land of Goshen.”
Gen 47:2 And
he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
Gen 47:3 And
Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to
Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”
Gen 47:4 And
they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because there is no
pasture for your servant’s flocks, for the scarcity of food is severe in the
land of Kenaʽan. And now, please
let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
Gen 47:5 And
Pharaoh spoke to Yosĕph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to
you.
Gen 47:6
“The land of Mitsrayim is before you. Settle your father and brothers in
the best of the land, let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of
capable men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”
Gen 47:7 And
Yosĕph brought in his father Yaʽaqoḇ and set him before
Pharaoh. And Yaʽaqoḇ blessed Pharaoh.
Gen 47:8 And
Pharaoh said to Yaʽaqoḇ, “How old are you?”
Gen 47:9 And
Yaʽaqoḇ said to Pharaoh, “The
days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred and thirty years. Few and
evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the
days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
Gen 47:10
And Yaʽaqoḇ blessed Pharaoh, and
went out from before Pharaoh.
Heb 7:7 And it is beyond all
dispute that the lesser is blessed by the better.
Gen 47:11 So
Yosĕph settled his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the
land of Mitsrayim, in the best of the land, in the land of Raʽmeses, as Pharaoh had
commanded.
Gen 47:12
And Yosĕph provided his father, and his brothers, and all his father’s
household with bread for the mouth of the little ones.
Gen 47:13
Now there was no bread in all the land, because the scarcity of food was
very severe, and the land of Mitsrayim and all the land of Kenaʽan became exhausted
from the scarcity of food.
Gen 47:14
And Yosĕph gathered up all the silver that was found in the land of
Mitsrayim and in the land of Kenaʽan,
for the grain which they bought. And Yosĕph brought the silver into Pharaoh’s
house.
Gen 47:15
And when the silver was all spent in the land of Mitsrayim and in the
land of Kenaʽan, all the Mitsrites
came to Yosĕph and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your
presence? For the silver is gone!”
Gen 47:16
And Yosĕph said, “Give your livestock, and I give you bread for your
livestock, if the silver is gone.”
Gen 47:17 So
they brought their livestock to Yosĕph, and Yosĕph gave them bread in exchange
for the horses, and for the flocks they owned, and for the herds they owned,
and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their
livestock that year.
Gen 47:18
And when that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to
him, “We do not hide from my master that our silver is all spent, and my master
also has the livestock we owned. There has not any been left before my master
but our bodies and our lands.
Gen 47:19
“Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and
our land for bread, and let us and our land be servants of Pharaoh. And give us
seed, and let us live and not die, and let the land not lie waste.”
Gen 47:20
And Yosĕph bought the entire land of Mitsrayim for Pharaoh, because
every man of the Mitsrites sold his field, because the scarcity of food was
severe upon them. And the land came to be Pharaoh’s.
Gen 47:21
And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of
the borders of Mitsrayim to the other end.
These are also
possibly point to prophetic events that speak of the drastic measures YHVH will
go to in the last days to bring His sheep together once again – see Rev 13
Gen 47:22
Only the ground of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had
portions allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their portions which Pharaoh
gave them. Therefore they did not sell their ground.
Gen 47:23
And Yosĕph said to the people, “Look, I have bought you and your land
today for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
Gen 47:24
“And it shall be that in the harvest you shall give one-fifth to
Pharaoh. And four-fifths is your own, as seed for the field and for your food,
for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
Gen 47:25
And they said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find favour in the eyes
of my master, and we shall become Pharaoh’s servants.”
Gen 47:26
And Yosĕph made it a law over the land of Mitsrayim to this day, that
Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the ground of the priests only, which
did not become Pharaoh’s.
Gen 47:27
And Yisra’ĕl dwelt in the land of Mitsrayim, in the land of Goshen. And
they had possessions there and bore fruit and increased exceedingly.
Gen 47:28
And Yaʽaqoḇ lived in the land of
Mitsrayim seventeen years. So the length of Yaʽaqoḇ’s life was one
hundred and forty-seven years.
Gen 47:29
And the time for Yisra’ĕl to die drew near, and he called his son Yosĕph
and said to him, “Now if I have found favour in your eyes, please put your hand
under my thigh, and show kindness and truth to me. Please do not bury me in
Mitsrayim,
Gen 47:30
but I shall lie with my fathers, and you shall take me up out of
Mitsrayim and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I do as you have
said.”
Gen 47:31
And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him, and Yisra’ĕl bowed
himself on the head of the bed.