Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.
This is the final parashah of Bereshiet – ‘’Va yechi’’
– “and he lived” the sages taught that this final parashah of Bereshiet served
as a transition for the next book of the Torah – Shemot – “Names” -Yakov and
his sons died in Mitzraim, yet we know
that there future generations would live to re -enter the land of Yisrael. This
is the ‘’Kibbutz Galuyot’’ of the ‘’Amidah’’ – the prayer for the ingathering
of the exiles. See Zech 14
‘’Sound the
great shofar for our freedom, and raise a standard to gather our exiles [from
both houses of Israel], and gather us [in Messiah Yeshua] from the four corners
of the earth.’’
בנימין – Benyamin – Son of My Right
Hand – Yahshua is seated at the Right Hand of YHVH (Rom 8:34). We may soon
witness how ferocious our Messiah is when He returns for His people. Rev 2:27 and he shall shepherd them(the nations) with a rod of iron, as the potter’s vessels shall be
broken to pieces, Psa_2:9
Gen 49:27 “Binyamin
is a wolf that tears, in the morning he eats prey, and at night he divides the
spoil.”
Gen 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Yisra’ĕl, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them, he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
Let us consider again the prophetic blessings that will come to the world in the last days through the sons of Yakov.
Initially these words of Yakov don’t appear as blessings. However Yakov is speaking the truth. Truth always brings blessings to YHVH’s people.
The Call to Scriptural Sexuality:
Gen 49:3
“Re’uḇĕn, you are my first-born, my power and the beginning of my
strength, the excellency of exaltation and the excellency of power.
Gen 49:4 “Boiling (Heb ‘’pachas’’ unbridled licence) like water, you do not excel,(Heb -‘’al yathar’’ you will not have excess) because you went up to your father’s bed, then you defiled it – he went up to my couch.
In the last days, those who can hear the call for
the ‘’family reunion’’, will hear the call to a Torah sexuality.
Before the Messiah returns there will be a return of Scriptural sexual values, during the millennium Yisrael will set the standard for all human sexual conduct. Serious consequences will come upon anyone who violates YHVH’s laws regarding this issue.
The Call to live in Messianic Peace – The
Prince of Peace.
Gen 49:5
“Shimʽon and Lĕwi are brothers, their weapons are implements of
violence.
Gen 49:6
“Let my being not enter their council, let my esteem not be united to
their assembly; because they slew a man in their displeasure, and they lamed an
ox in pleasure.
Gen 49:7
“Cursed be their displeasure for it is fierce, and their wrath for it is
cruel! I divide them in Yaʽaqoḇ and scatter them in Yisra’ĕl.
The called out remnant will know that only Messiah can bring everlasting peace to mankind without the help of man’s ‘’implements’’ of war.
The Call to Obey Righteous Leadership:
Gen 49:8
“You, Yehuḏah, your brothers praise you; your hand is on the neck of
your enemies; your father’s children bow down before you.
Gen 49:9
“Yehuḏah is a lion’s cub; from the prey you have gone up, my son! He
bowed down, he crouched like a lion. And like a lion, who does rouse him?
Gen 49:10
“The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehuḏah, nor a Lawgiver from
between his feet, until Shiloh (to him whom it belongs) comes, and to Him is
the obedience of peoples.
Gen 49:11
“Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice
vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes.
Gen 49:12
“His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
Zec_9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Tsiyon! Shout, O daughter of Yerushalayim! See, your Sovereign is coming to
you, He is righteous and endowed with deliverance, humble and riding on a
donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.b Footnote: b Mat_21:5, Joh_12:15.
The sceptre shall not depart from Yehudah. The use of the word “until” could also mean “including” and therefore when Messiah comes Yehudah keeps its position of leadership under the leadership of Messiah. In contrast to this imagery of a lion the Torah goes on to describe a donkey. The sages knew this referred to the coming of Messiah on a donkey. Today we know that this is true of Messiah’s first coming.
The Call to Prosperous Business Enterprise:
Gen 49:13 “Zeḇulun dwells at the seashore, he is for a haven for ships, and his border is unto Tsiḏon.
The Call to become Bond Servants:
Gen 49:14
“Yissasḵar is a strong donkey lying down between two burdens,
Gen 49:15 and he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, and he inclined his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a subject to slave labour.
The Call to Protect:
Gen 49:16
“Dan rightly rules his people as one of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl.
Gen 49:17
“Dan is a serpent by the way, an adder by the path, that bites the
horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward.
Gen 49:18 “I have waited for your deliverance, O יהוה! (For your yeshua I long – first time word yeshua or salvation is used)
The Call to Warn
all of Israel’s Enemies that whatever is taken from Israel will be returned:
Gen 49:19 “Gaḏ, a raiding band raids him, but he raids its heel.
The Call to Enjoy abundant
Blessings:
Gen 49:20 “Bread from Ashĕr is rich, and he gives delicacies of a sovereign.
The Call to
Artistic Expression:
Gen 49:21 “Naphtali is a deer let loose, he gives words of elegance. (Mt 4:15 most of Yahshua’s teaching took place here)
The Call to
Fruitfulness:
Gen 49:22 “Yosĕph is an offshoot of a fruit-bearing
tree, an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree by a fountain, his branches run over
a wall. (Wall symbolic of separation between Jew and gentile)
Gen 49:23 “And the archers have bitterly grieved him,
shot at him and hated him.
Gen 49:24 “But his bow remained in strength, and the
arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Yaʽaqoḇ –
from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Yisra’ĕl –
Gen 49:25 from the Ěl of your father who helps you, and
by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings
of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
Gen 49:26 “The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the limit of the everlasting hills. They are on the head of Yosĕph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers. (6x blessings is used because these blessings flow out)
The Call of the
Coming Messiah who will destroy all Yisrael’s Enemies:
Gen 49:27 “Binyamin is a wolf that tears, in the morning he eats prey, and at night he divides the spoil.”
Gen 49:29
And he commanded them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my
people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the
Ḥittite,
Gen
49:30 in the cave that is in the field
of Maḵpĕlah, which is before
Mamrĕ in the land of Kenaʽan, which Aḇraham bought with the
field of Ephron the Ḥittite as a possession
for a burial site.
Gen
49:31 There they buried Aḇraham and Sarah his
wife, there they buried Yitsḥaq and Riḇqah his wife, and
there I buried Lĕ’ah –
Gen
49:32 the field purchased, and the cave
which is in it, from the sons of Ḥĕth.”
Gen
49:33 And when Yaʽaqoḇ ended commanding his
sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered
to his people.
Gen 50:1 And Yosĕph fell on his father’s face, and
wept over him, and kissed him.
Gen 50:2
And Yosĕph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So
the physicians embalmed Yisra’ĕl.
Gen 50:3
And forty days were completed for him, for so are completed the days of
embalming. And the Mitsrites wept for him seventy days.
Gen 50:4
And when the days of weeping for him were past, Yosĕph spoke to the household
of Pharaoh, saying, “If, now, I have found favour in your eyes, please speak in
the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,
Gen 50:5
‘My father made me swear, saying, “See, I am dying, bury me in my grave
which I dug for myself in the land of Kenaʽan.”
And now, please let me go up and bury my father, and return.’ ”
Gen
50:6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury
your father, as he made you swear.”
Gen
50:7 And Yosĕph went up to bury his
father. And with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his
house, and all the elders of the land of Mitsrayim,
Gen
50:8 and all the house of Yosĕph, and
his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, and their flocks,
and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen
50:9 And there went up with him both
chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great company.
Gen
50:10 And they came to the
threshing-floor of Ataḏ, which is beyond the
Yardĕn, and they lamented there with a great and very heavy lamentation. And he
observed seven days of mourning for his father.
Gen
50:11 And when the inhabitants of the
land, the Kenaʽanites, saw the
mourning at the threshing-floor of Ataḏ,
they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Mitsrites.” That is why its
name was called Aḇĕl Mitsrayim, which is
beyond the Yardĕn.
Gen
50:12 And his sons did to him as he had
commanded them,
Gen
50:13 for his sons brought him to the
land of Kenaʽan, and buried him in
the cave of the field of Maḵpĕlah, before Mamrĕ,
which Aḇraham bought with the
field from Ephron the Ḥittite as property for
a burial site.
Gen
50:14 And after he had buried his
father, Yosĕph returned to Mitsrayim, he and his brothers and all who went up
with him to bury his father.
Gen
50:15 And when Yosĕph’s brothers saw
that their father was dead, they said, “What if Yosĕph hates us, and pays us
back all the evil which we did to him?” (While the father lived they felt safe)
Gen
50:16 And they sent word to Yosĕph,
saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying,
Gen
50:17 ‘This is what you are to say to
Yosĕph, “I beg you, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their
sin, for they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of
the servants of the Elohim of your father.” And Yosĕph wept when they spoke to
him.
Gen
50:18 And his brothers also went and fell
down before his face, and they said, “See, we are your servants.”
Gen
50:19 And Yosĕph said to them, “Do not
fear, for am I in the place (‘’tachat’’ or under) of Elohim?
Gen
50:20 “And you, you intended evil
against me, but Elohim intended it for good, in order to do it as it is this
day, to keep a great many people alive.
Gen
50:21 “And now, do not fear, I provide
for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Gen
50:22 And Yosĕph dwelt in Mitsrayim, he
and his father’s household. And Yosĕph lived one hundred and ten years.
Gen
50:23 And Yosĕph saw Ephrayim’s children
to the third generation. The children of Maḵir,
son of Menashsheh, were also brought up on Yosĕph’s knees.
Gen
50:24 And Yosĕph said to his brothers,
“I am dying, but Elohim shall certainly visit you and bring you out of this
land to the land of which He swore to Aḇraham,
to Yitsḥaq, and to Yaʽaqoḇ.”
Gen
50:25 And Yosĕph made the children of
Yisra’ĕl swear, saying, “Elohim shall certainly visit you, and you shall bring
up my bones from here.”
Gen
50:26 And Yosĕph died, being one hundred
and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in
Mitsrayim.
Yasher
56:33
And Pharaoh commanded that it should be proclaimed throughout Egypt, saying,
Whoever goes not up with Joseph and his brethren to the land of Canaan to bury
Jacob, shall die.
34
And all Egypt heard of Pharaoh’s proclamation, and they all rose up together,
and all the servants of Pharaoh, and the elders of his house, and all the
elders of the land of Egypt went up with Joseph, and all the officers and
nobles of Pharaoh went up as the servants of Joseph, and they went to bury
Jacob in the land of Canaan.
35
And Jacob’s sons carried the bier upon which he lay; according to all that
their father commanded them, so did his sons unto him.
36
And the bier was of pure gold, and it was inlaid round about with onyx stones
and bdellium; and the covering of the bier was gold woven work, joined with
threads, and over them were hooks of onyx stones and bdellium.
37
And Joseph placed upon the head of his father Jacob a large golden crown, and
he put a golden scepter in his hand, and they surrounded the bier as was the
custom of kings during their lives.
38
And all the troops of Egypt went before him in this array, at first, all the
mighty men of Pharaoh and the mighty men of Joseph, and after them the rest of
the inhabitants of Egypt, and they were all girded with swords and equipped
with coats of mail, and the trappings of war were upon them.
39
And all the weepers and mourners went at a distance opposite to the bier, going
and weeping and lamenting, and the rest of the people went after the bier.
40
And Joseph and his household went together near the bier barefooted and
weeping, and the rest of Joseph’s servants went around him; each man had his
ornaments upon him, and they were all armed with their weapons of war.
But
when Esau heard that Jacob’s sons were coming to bury him in the cave of
Machpelah, which their Fathers were buried in, Esau and his sons stood against
them. The battle that follows helps us understand great enmity between Jacob’s
sons (the men of the spirit) and Esau’s sons (the men of the flesh). Here is
how the battle begins.
Yasher
56:49 And Joseph and his brethren brought their father Jacob from that place,
and they went to Hebron to bury Jacob in the cave by his fathers.
50
And they came unto Kireath-arba, to the cave, and as they came Esau stood
with his sons against Joseph and his brethren as a hindrance in the cave,
saying, “Jacob shall not be buried therein, for it belongs to us and to our
father.”
Yasher
56:60 And when Esau saw that Naphtali had gone to fetch the records, he and his
sons increased their resistance against the cave, and Esau and all his people
rose up against Joseph and his brethren to battle.
61
And all Jacob’s sons and the people of Egypt fought with Esau and his men,
and Esau’s sons and his people were smitten before Jacob’s sons,
and Jacob’s sons slew of Esau’s people forty men.
64
And he asked, saying, Why do you not bury the dead, and what is this great
consternation? And they answered him the words of Esau and his sons;
and he ran to Esau in the midst of the battle, and he slew Esau with a
sword, and he cut off his head, and it sprang to a distance, and Esau fell
amongst the people of the battle.
65
And when Chushim did this thing Jacob’s sons prevailed over Esau’s sons,
and Jacob’s sons buried their father Jacob by force in the cave, and
Esau’s sons beheld it.
Possibly
the largest recorded burial in history – why would this be so significant?
Would
Yakov’s death mean the death of the ‘’patriachy’’ would we have to wait until
the last days before the ‘’patriachy’’ would be restored?
Jer 31:8 “See, I am bringing them from the
land of the north, and shall gather them from the ends of the earth, among them
the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labour, together – a
great assembly returning here.
Jer 31:9 “With weeping they shall come, and
with their prayers I bring them. I shall make them walk by rivers of
waters, in a straight way in which they do not stumble. For I shall be a Father
to Yisra’ěl, and Ephrayim – he is My first-born.
Jer 31:10 “Hear the word of יהוה, O
nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered
Yisra’ěl gathers him, and shall guard him as a shepherd his flock.’
Jer 31:17 “And there is expectancy for your
latter end,” declares יהוה, “and your children shall return to their own country.
Jer 31:18 “I have clearly heard Ephrayim
lamenting, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, like an untrained calf.
Turn me back, and I shall turn back, for You are יהוה my Elohim.
Jer 31:19 For after my turning back, I
repented. And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh. I was
ashamed, even humiliated, for I bore the reproach of my youth.’
Jer 31:20 “Is Ephrayim a precious son to Me,
a child of delights? For though I spoke against him, I still remembered him.
That is why My affections were deeply moved for him. I have great compassion
for him,” declares יהוה.
Jer 31:31 “See, the days are coming,”
declares יהוה, “when I
shall make a renewed covenant with the house of Yisra’ěl and with the house of
Yehuḏah,a Footnote: a Heb_8:8-12, Heb_10:16-17.
Jer 31:32 not like the covenant I made with
their fathers in the day when I strengthenedb their hand to bring them out of
the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to
them,” declares יהוה. Footnote: bCommonly understood as “take hold of.”
Jer 31:33 “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ěl after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.