Vayigash - ויגש :
"And he came near" Root in Hebrew is “nagash” and speaks of intimacy.
Prophetic Message of Vayigash.
There is a prophetic context
for this week’s Torah portion. Last week the title of the portion was “Miketz”
which means “at the end” this week’s portion is titled “ Vayigash” which means
“and he drew near”; the following Torah
portion (12) is titled “va yechi” which is the last portion of Beresheet and it
means “ and he lived”. So we can say “at the end Yahudah will draw near and he
(we) will live”
Isa 46:9
“Remember the former events of old, for I am Ěl, and there is no
one else – Elohim, and there is no one like Me,
Isa 46:10 declaring the end from the beginning,
and from of old that which has not yet been done, saying, ‘My counsel
does stand, and all My delight I do,’
Torah Readings:
- 44:18-30
- 44:31
– 45:7
- 45:8-18
- 45:19-27
- 45:28
– 46:27
- 46:28
– 47:10
- 47:11-24
- Maftir:
47:25-27
Haftarah :
Ezekiel 37:15-28
When this prophecy comes true
great light will be shed upon many of our unanswered questions.
Haftarah
- Eze 37:16 “And you, son of man, take a
stick for yourself and write on it, ‘For Yehuḏah and for the children of Yisra’ĕl, his
companions.’ – .(chavero” –k&q*-see
explanation below * for k&q) Then take another
stick and write on it, ‘For Yosĕph, the stick of Ephrayim, and for all the
house of Yisra’ĕl, his companions.’ .(“chavero” –k&q*)
Eze
37:17 “Then bring them together for
yourself into one stick, and they shall become one in your hand.
Eze
37:18 “And when the children of your
people speak to you, saying, ‘Won’t you show us what you mean by these?’
Eze
37:19 say to them, ‘Thus said the Master
יהוה, “See, I am
taking the stick of Yosĕph, which is in the hand of Ephrayim, and the tribes of
Yisra’ĕl, his companions.(“chavero”
–k&q*) And I shall give them unto him, with the stick of Yehuḏah, and make
them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.” ’
Eze 37:20 “And the sticks on which you write shall be
in your hand before their eyes.
Eze 37:21 “And speak to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am taking the children of Yisra’ĕl from among the
gentiles, wherever they have gone, and shall gather them from all around, and I
shall bring them into their land.
Eze 37:22 “And I shall make them one nation in the
land, on the mountains of Yisra’ĕl. And one sovereign shall be sovereign over
them all, and let them no longer be two nations, and let them no longer be
divided into two reigns.
Eze 37:23 “And they shall no longer defile themselves
with their idols, nor with their disgusting matters, nor with any of
their transgressions. And I shall save them from all their dwelling places in
which they have sinned, and I shall cleanse them. And they shall be My people,
and I be their Elohim,
Eze 37:24 while Dawiḏ My servant is sovereign over
them. And they shall all have one shepherd and walk in My right-rulings and
guard My laws, and shall do them.
Eze 37:25 “And
they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Yaʽaqoḇ My servant, where
your fathers dwelt. And they shall dwell in it, they and their children and
their children’s children, forever, and My servant Dawiḏ be their prince
forever.
*In the Hebrew Masoretic text occasional changes are made in the text.
These changes are indicated by a letter “k”or “Q” in the margin of the text.
The “K” stands for “ketiv” which means that which was originally written. The
“Q” stands for “quere” and means the way which the text is now read and
understood.
I believe the above changes of
text are objectionable. The original written text says “his companion” in the
singular and the text was changed to the plural “his companions.”(chaveraiv)
I believe the implications of
this change are significant. We better understand this implication if we take
the analogy Paul uses in Romans chapter 11 concerning the natural branches and
the wild branches that have been grafted into an already established root
system.
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off,
and you,(second person singular)
being a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among them,(plural) and came to
share the root and fatness of the olive tree,
Rom 11:18 do not boast against the branches. And if you
boast, remember: you do not bear the root, but the root bears
you!
Rom 11:19 You shall say then, “The branches were broken
off that I might be grafted in.”
Rom 11:20 Good! By unbelief they were broken off, and you (second person singular) stand by
belief(the faith). Do not be arrogant, but fear(verb).
Rom 11:21 For if Elohim did not spare the natural
branches, He might not spare you(singular)
either.
Rom 11:22 See then the kindness and sharpness of
Elohim: on those who fell sharpness, but toward you kindness, if you continue
in His kindness, otherwise you(singular)
also shall be cut(verb) off.
Rom 11:23 And they also, if they do not continue in
unbelief, shall be grafted in, for Elohim is able to graft them in again.
Rom 11:24 For if you(singular)
were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted
contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these who are
the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
Rom 11:25 For I do not wish you(plural) to be ignorant of this secret, brothers, lest you(plural) 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.
Note how Paul
addresses the “branches” as singular and warns them finally in the plural.
We must note
that it is not the Messianic movement or any other group or movement that will
be grafted in, it will be individuals that have forsaken their identity to take
on their new identity. The only reference we have to this identity comes from
Israel and the Jews, even though many of them have strayed from the Torah.
I believe the
Messianic movement is in danger of assuming a self- importance “outside of our
Hebrew family” that will bring about their exclusion and not inclusion into
Yisrael.
I am not trying
to diminish the importance of belonging to a group. The scripture warns us
about been lone rangers – Heb 10:25 not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging, and so much more as you see the Day coming near.
Ultimately our
group identity is going to be with a restored Yisrael.
When we are “born
again” we are born again to be grafted into a new family – not the church but into
restored Yisrael. What tree have you been grated into? The Christmas tree or
the ‘Olive tree’ of Rom 11!
Aliyah Rishon 44:18-30
Yasher chp 54 – gives some interesting background
information not found in the Torah.
Note now the use of the word “father” in the following verses.
Gen 44:18 And Yehuḏah came near to him and said, “O my master, please
let your servant speak a word in my master’s hearing, and do not let your
displeasure burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.
Gen 44:19
“My master asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’
Gen 44:20
“And we said to my master, ‘We have a
father, an old man, and a young child of his old age, and his
brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’
Gen 44:21
“And you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, and let me set my
eyes on him.’
Gen 44:22
“And we said to my master, ‘The boy is not able to leave his father, for if he leaves his father, his father shall die.’
Gen 44:23
“But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down
with you, you do not see my face again.’
Gen 44:24
“And it came to be, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of
my master.
Gen 44:25
“And our father said, ‘Go
back and buy us a little food.’
Gen 44:26
“But we said, ‘We are not able to go down. If our youngest brother is
with us, then we shall go down, for we are not able to see the man’s face
unless our youngest brother is with us.’
Gen 44:27
“Then your servant my father
said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons,
Gen 44:28
and the one went out from me, and I said, “Truly, he is torn, torn to
pieces!” And I have not seen him since.
I believe Yakov had a
suspicion that his sons were not telling him the truth.
Gen 44:29
‘And if you take this one from me too, and harm comes to him, you shall
bring down my grey hair with evil to the grave.’
Gen 44:30
“And now, if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us – since his own life is bound up
in his life – (10 times father is
mentioned)
Aliyah Sheni 44:31-45:7
Gen 44:31 then it shall be, when he sees that the boy
is not with us, that he shall die. So your servants shall bring down the grey
hair of your servant our father with
evil to the grave.
Gen 44:32 “For your servant went guaranty for the boy
to my father, saying, ‘If I do not
bring him back to you, then I shall be a sinner before my father forever.’
Gen 44:33 “And now, please let your servant remain
instead of the boy as a slave to my master, and let the boy go up with his
brothers.
Gen 44:34 “For how do I go up to my father if the boy is not with me, lest
I see the evil that would come upon my father?”
This was the last
straw that broke the camel’s back. (approx. 22 references to “father” in chp 44,45)
Yosef now knows that Yahudah has experienced a full
repentance, BECAUSE OF HOW THE FATHER WAS GRIEVED IN ALL THESE MATTERS.
Gen 45:1 And
Yosĕph was unable to restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he
called out, “Have everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while
Yosĕph made himself known to his brothers.
Gen 45:2 And he wept aloud, and the Mitsrites and the
house of Pharaoh heard it.
Gen 45:3 And Yosĕph said to his brothers, “I am Yosĕph, is my father still alive?”
But his brothers were unable to answer him, for they trembled before him.
Commentary by
Chaftez Chaim on vs 3 - Art Scroll
Chumash.
When Yosef said : “I am Yosef” Elohims’s master plan became clear to the
brothers. They had no more questions. Everything that had happened in the past
22 years fell into perspective. So too, will it be in the time to come when
Elohim will reveal himself and announce, “ I am Ha Shem”. The veil will be
lifted from our eyes and we will comprehend everything that transpired through
history.
Gen 45:4 Then Yosĕph said to his
brothers, “Please come near to me.” And when they came near, he said, “I am
Yosĕph your brother, whom you sold into Mitsrayim.
Gen 45:5 “And now, do not be
grieved nor displeased with yourselves because you sold me here, for Elohim
sent me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 “For two years now the
scarcity of food has been in the land, and there are still five years in which
there is neither ploughing nor harvesting.
Gen 45:7 “And Elohim sent me
before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to give life to you
by a great escape.
This could be a prophetic indication that a remnant will return to their
Jewish brother during the great tribulation.
Rev 3:7
“And to the messenger of the assembly in Philadelphia write, ‘He who is
set-apart, He who is true, He who has the key of Dawiḏ, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts
and no one opens, says this:
Rev
3:8 “I know your works – see, I have set
before you an open door, and no one is able to shut it – that you have little
power, yet have guarded My Word, and have not denied My Name.
Rev
3:9 “See, I am giving up those of the
congregation of Satan, who say they are Yehuḏim and are not, but lie. See, I
am making them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved
you.
Rev
3:10 “Because you have guarded My Word
of endurance, I also shall guard you from the hour of trial which shall come
upon all the world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
Rev
3:11 “See, I am coming speedily! Hold what
you have that no one take your crown.
Rev
3:12 “He who overcomes, I shall make him
a supporting post in the Dwelling Place of My Elohim, and he shall by no means
go out. And I shall write on him the Name of My Elohim and the name of the city
of My Elohim, the renewed Yerushalayim, which comes down out of the heaven from
My Elohim, and My renewed Name.
Aliyah Shlishi 45:8 – 18
Gen 45:8 “So then, you did not send me here, but
Elohim. And He has set me for a father to Pharaoh, and master of all his house,
and a ruler throughout all the land of Mitsrayim.
Gen 45:9 “Hurry and go up to my father, and say to
him, ‘Thus says your son Yosĕph, “Elohim has made me master of all Mitsrayim.
Come down to me, do not delay.
Gen 45:10 “And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen,
and be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks
and your herds, and all that you have.
Gen 45:11 “And I shall provide for you there, lest you
and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty, because five years
of scarcity of food are still to come.” ’
Gen 45:12 “And look, your eyes and the eyes of my
brother Binyamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
Gen 45:13 “And you shall inform my father of all my
esteem in Mitsrayim, and of all that you have seen. And you shall hurry and
bring my father down here.”
Gen 45:14 And he fell on his
brother Binyamin’s neck and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck.
Gen 45:15 And he kissed all his
brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers spoke with him.
Gen 45:16 And the report of it
was heard by the house of Pharaoh, saying, “The brothers of Yosĕph have come.”
And it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.
Gen 45:17 And Pharaoh said to
Yosĕph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your beasts and go, enter the
land of Kenaʽan,
Gen
45:18 and take your father and your households
and come to me, and I give you the best of the land of Mitsrayim, and you eat
the fat of the land.
I believe it is
possible in the end times that the world system will accept a returning to
Israel of those who believe and hear the calling to return to the land. This
may however be short lived when the anti messiah begins to act like Antiochus
Ephiphanes – the abomination of desolation.
Aliyah
Reviee 45:19-27
Gen 45:19 ‘And you, you have been commanded, do this:
Take wagons out of the land of Mitsrayim for your little ones and your wives.
And you shall bring your father, and come.
Gen 45:20 ‘And do not be concerned about your goods,
for the best of all the land of Mitsrayim is yours.’ ”
Gen 45:21 And the sons of Yisra’ĕl did so. And Yosĕph
gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them food
for the journey.
Gen 45:22 He gave to all of them, to each man, changes
of garments, but to Binyamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five
changes of garments.
Gen 45:23 And he sent to his father this: ten donkeys
loaded with the best of Mitsrayim, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain,
and bread, and food for his father for the journey.
Gen 45:24 So he sent his brothers
away, and they left. And he said to them, “Do not quarrel along the way.”
Gen 45:25 And they went up out of Mitsrayim, and came
to the land of Kenaʽan
to Yaʽaqoḇ their father.
Gen 45:26
And they told him, saying, “Yosĕph is still alive, and he is governor
over all the land of Mitsrayim.” And Yaʽaqoḇ’s heart ceased, for he did not
believe them.
Gen 45:27
But when they spoke to him all the words which Yosĕph had spoken to
them, and when he saw the wagons which Yosĕph had sent to transport him, the
spirit of Yaʽaqoḇ their father revived.
See Yasher 54 how the
daughter of Asher ministered to Yakov in prophetic song preparing him for the
return of his son.
Aliyah Chamishi 45:28-46:27
Gen 45:28 And Yisra’ĕl said, “Enough! My son Yosĕph is
still alive. Let me go and see him before I die.”
Gen 46:1 And Yisra’ĕl set out with all that he had,
and came to Be’ĕrsheḇa,
and brought offerings to the Elohim of his father Yitsḥaq.
Gen 46:2 And
Elohim spoke to Yisra’ĕl in the visions of the night, and said, “Yaʽaqoḇ,
Yaʽaqoḇ!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Gen 46:3 And
He said, “I am the Ěl, Elohim of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to
Mitsrayim, for I shall make you there into a great nation.
Gen 46:4 “I
Myself am going down with you to Mitsrayim and I Myself shall certainly bring
you up again. And let Yosĕph put his hand on your eyes.”
Come and see how
beloved are Israel in the sight of G-d! To every place to which they were
exiled, the Divine Presence went with them. They were exiled to Egypt and the
Divine Presence was with them; they were exiled to Babylon, and the Divine
Presence was with them; and when they will be redeemed in the future, the
Divine Presence will be with them. (Talmud, Megillah 29a)
Gen 46:5 And
Yaʽaqoḇ rose up from Be’ĕrsheḇa. And the sons of Yisra’ĕl brought their father
Yaʽaqoḇ, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh
had sent to transport him.
Gen 46:6 And
they took their livestock and their property which they had acquired in the
land of Kenaʽan, and came into Mitsrayim, Yaʽaqoḇ and all his seed with him.
Gen 46:7 His
sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his
seed he brought with him to Mitsrayim.
Gen 46:8 And
these were the names of the children of Yisra’ĕl, Yaʽaqoḇ and his sons, who
came into Mitsrayim: Re’uḇĕn was Yaʽaqoḇ’s first-born.
Gen 46:9 And
the sons of Re’uḇĕn: Ḥanoḵ, and Pallu, and Ḥetsron, and Karmi.
Gen 46:10
And the sons of Shimʽon: Yemu’ĕl, and Yamin, and Ohaḏ, and Yaḵin, and
Tsoḥar, and Sha’ul, son of a Kenaʽanite woman.
Gen 46:11
And the sons of Lĕwi: Gĕreshon, Qehath, and Merari.
Gen 46:12
And the sons of Yehuḏah: Ěr, and Onan, and Shĕlah, and Perets, and
Zeraḥ – but Ěr and Onan died in the land of Kenaʽan. And the sons of Perets
were Ḥetsron and Ḥamul.
Gen 46:13
And the sons of Yissasḵar: Tola, and Puwʽah, and Yoḇ, and Shimron.
Gen 46:14
And the sons of Zeḇulun: Sereḏ, and Ělon, and Yaḥle’ĕl.
Gen 46:15
These were the sons of Lĕ’ah, whom she bore to Yaʽaqoḇ in Paddan Aram,
with his daughter Dinah. All the beings, his sons and his daughters, were
thirty-three.
Gen 46:16
And the sons of Gaḏ: Tsiphyon and Ḥaggi, Shuni and Etsbon, Ěri and
Aroḏi, and Arĕli.
Gen 46:17
And the sons of Ashĕr: Yimnah, and Yishwah, and Yishwi, and Beriʽah, and
Seraḥ, their sister. And the sons of Beriʽah: Ḥeḇer and Malki’ĕl.
Gen 46:18
These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laḇan gave to Lĕ’ah his daughter.
And these she bore to Yaʽaqoḇ: sixteen beings.
Gen 46:19
The sons of Raḥĕl, Yaʽaqoḇ’s wife: Yosĕph and Binyamin.
Gen 46:20
And to Yosĕph in the land of Mitsrayim were born Menashsheh and
Ephrayim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
Gen 46:21
And the sons of Binyamin: Belah, and Beḵer, and Ashbĕl, Gĕra and
Naʽaman, Ěḥi and Rosh, Muppim and Ḥuppim, and Ard.
When Benyamin was
brought before Yoseph, Yoseph questioned him: "Have you a brother?"
"I had a brother,
but I do not know where he has gone."
"Have you a
wife?"
"I have a wife
and ten sons."
"What are their
names?"
"I named them all
after my brother," said Benjamin. "Bela -- he was swallowed up
from me; Becher -- he was his mother's firstborn; Ashbel -- he
was taken away captive; Gera -- he became a stranger in a strange
country; Naaman -- his deeds were seemly and pleasant; Achi -- he
was my brother; Rosh -- he was my superior; Muppim -- he was
exceedingly beautiful; Chuppim -- I did not see his chupah
(marriage canopy) and he did not see mine; Ard -- he was like a
rose-bloom."
(Midrash Rabbah)
Gen 46:22
These were the sons of Raḥĕl who were born to Yaʽaqoḇ: fourteen beings
in all.
Gen 46:23
And the son of Dan: Ḥushim.
Gen 46:24
And the sons of Naphtali: Yaḥtse’ĕl, and Guni, and Yĕtser, and Shillĕm.
Gen 46:25
These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laḇan gave to Raḥĕl his daughter,
and she bore these to Yaʽaqoḇ: seven beings in all.
Gen 46:26
All the beings who went with Yaʽaqoḇ to Mitsrayim, who came from his
body, besides Yaʽaqoḇ’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six beings in all.
Gen 46:27
And the sons of Yosĕph who were born to him in Mitsrayim were two
beings. All the beings of the house of Yaʽaqoḇ who went to Mitsrayim were
seventy.
But if you count them,
you find only sixty-nine; the seventieth is Jocheved the daughter of Levi, who
was born between the boundary walls as they entered Egypt.(Talmud, Bava Batra
123a)
Lessons from Yosef:
The wilderness test – Deut 8:2
The time test – we are called to be
patient – fruit of the spirit – Gal 5:22
The motivation test- what is your
agenda? Do you have ulterior motives?
The failure test- how do we deal with
failures and setbacks in our lives.
The self-will test- Matt 26:36-44 – “not my will but …”Symptoms
of self-will are refusal to listen to YHVH, submit to authority, receive
instruction and sacrifice for others.
The discouragement test- 1 Kings
19:1-19 – Eliyahu and Yezebel.
The misunderstanding test- story of
Yosef
The frustration test- things don’t
always work out as you planned. People disappoint you.
The servant test- willing to be a
bondservant, “putting your ear to the doorpost – Ex 21:6” Yesh 50:5
There is no avoiding these tests.
They are inevitable, continual, necessary, productive, and influential and
designed by YHVH Himself.
These tests are expounded in a book
by Michael Wiltcher – Nine tests every Christian must face.