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 Mitzrayim, yet we know that their future generations
would live to re-enter the land of Yisrael – Kibbutz Galuyot – Amidah –
ingathering of exiles.
It would be a few centuries before Yisrael returned
once again to the Promised Land. Many would have died while waiting to return.
This final portion although it gives the details of the deaths of Yakov and
Yosef reminds us of the many descendants would come from them. It reminds us that
there will be a resurrection after death.
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.
When we read what
Yakov had to say to some of his sons, it doesn’t sound like he was blessing
them. Yakov understood the redemptive value even of their failures and short
comings – see also the address of Yakov the brother of Yahshua to the 12
tribes.
Jas (James which
should actually be transliterated as Yakov) 1:1 Yaʽaqoḇ, a servant of Elohim
and of the Master יהושע Messiah, to
the twelve tribes who are in the dispersion: Greetings.
Jas 1:2 My
brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
Jas 1:3 knowing
that the proving of your belief works endurance.
Jas 1:4 And let
endurance have a perfect work, so that you be perfect and complete, lacking in
naught.
The individual and
collective failure of the sons of Yakov and their descendants will have great
redemptive value in the last days.
Rom 11:15 For if their casting away is the restoration
to favour of the world, what is their acceptance but life from the dead?
Joh 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes
in Me, the works that I do he shall do also. And greater works than
these he shall do, because I go to My Father.
Joh 14:13 “And whatever you ask in My Name, that I
shall do, in order that the Father might be esteemed in the Son.
Joh 14:14 “If you ask whatever in My Name, I shall do
it.
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.
Joh 14:16 “And I shall ask the Father, and He shall
give you another Helper, to stay with you forever –
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of the Truth, whom the world is
unable to receive, because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him,
for He stays with you and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 “I shall not leave you orphans – I am coming
to you.
Joh 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My
word and believes in Him who sent Me possesses everlasting life, and does not
come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
Joh 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Elohim.
And those having heard shall live.
Joh 5:26 “For as the Father possesses life in Himself,
so He gave also to the Son to possess life in Himself,
Joh 5:27 and He has given Him authority also to do
judgment, because He is the Son of Aḏam.
Joh 5:28 “Do
not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the tombs
shall hear His voice,
Joh 5:29 and
shall come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and
those who have practised evil matters, to a resurrection of judgment.
Joh 5:30 “Of
Myself I am unable to do any matter. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment
is righteous, because I do not seek My own desire, but the desire of the Father
who sent Me.
Mat 22:31 “And concerning the resurrection of the dead,
have you not read what was spoken to you by Elohim, saying,
Mat 22:32 ‘I am the Elohim of Aḇraham, and the Elohim
of Yitsḥaq, and the Elohim of
Yaʽaqoḇ’? Elohim is not the
Elohim of the dead, but of the living.”
1Co 15:13 And if there is no resurrection of the dead,
then Messiah has not been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Messiah has not been raised, then our
proclaiming is empty, and your belief also empty,
1Co 15:15 and we are also found false witnesses of
Elohim, because we have witnessed of Elohim that He raised up Messiah, whom He
did not raise up, if then the dead are not raised.
1Co 15:17 And if Messiah has not been raised, your
belief is to no purpose, you are still in your sins!
1Co 15:18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in
Messiah have perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have expectation in
Messiah, we are of all men the most wretched.
1Co 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from the
dead, and has become the first-fruit of those having fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For since death is through a man,
resurrection of the dead is also through a Man.
1Co 15:22 For as all die in Aḏam, so also all shall
be made alive in Messiah .
When you believe that death is final, you lack motivation and accomplish
very little of eternal value in this present life.
Resurrection means: This is not allowed to carry on it must stop! It
cannot just be business as usual. The best is yet to come.
A special kind of living first requires a special kind of dying
Joh 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain
of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it
bears much fruit.
Joh 12:25 “He who loves his life shall lose it, and he
who hates his life in this world shall preserve it for everlasting life.
The issue of the resurrection was such an important issue for Yakov that
he made Yosef perform the “yarek” oath before he died.
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.
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 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. `
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?”
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 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.
Question: "What is the first resurrection? What is the second resurrection?"
Answer: Daniel 12:2 summarizes the two very different fates facing mankind:
Dan 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
The apostolic scriptures also confirm this reality:
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones – and they sat on them, and
judgment was given to them – and the lives of those who had been beheaded
because of the witness they bore to יהושע and because of
the Word of Elohim, and who did not worship the beast, nor his image, and did
not receive his mark upon their foreheads or upon their hands. And they lived
and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years
Rev 20:5 (and the
rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended) –
this is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed
and set-apart is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second
death possesses no authority over these, but they shall be priests of Elohim
and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Php 3:10 to know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death,
Php 3:11 if somehow I might attain to the resurrection
from the dead.
Php 3:12 Not that I have already received, or already
been perfected, but I press on, to lay hold of that for which Messiah יהושע has also laid
hold of me.
Php 3:13 Brothers,
I do not count myself to have laid hold of it yet, but only this: forgetting
what is behind and reaching out for what lies ahead,
Php 3:14 I press
on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of Elohim in Messiah יהושע.
Shaul understood this.
Php 3:10 to know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death,
Php 3:11 if somehow I might attain to the resurrection
from the dead.
Php 3:12 Not that I have already received, or already
been perfected, but I press on, to lay hold of that for which Messiah יהושע has also laid
hold of me.
Php 3:13 Brothers,
I do not count myself to have laid hold of it yet, but only this: forgetting
what is behind and reaching out for what lies ahead,
Php 3:14 I press
on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of Elohim in Messiah יהושע.
“Chazak Chazak V’Nitchazek”