Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!
Baruch
ata YHVHEloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu
eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the
blessed One for all eternity. 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.)
Isa 52:4 For thus said the Master יהוה,
“At first My people went down into Mitsrayim to sojourn there, and Ashshur oppressed
them without cause. (Heb to make a complete end of them - 2 Kings 17:6,7)
Isa 52:5 “And now, what have I here,” declares יהוה, “that My people are taken away for naught? Those who rule over
them make them wail,” declares יהוה, “and My Name is despised[a] all day
continually. Footnote: aSee Psa_74:10, Psa_74:18, Exo_20:7
and Deu_5:11.
Isa 52:6 “Therefore My people shall know My Name,
in that day, for I am the One who is speaking. See, it is I.”
Isa 52:7 How pleasant upon the mountains are the
feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings good news,
who proclaims deliverance, who says to Tsiyon, “Your Elohim reigns!”
Isa 52:8 The voice of your watchmen! They shall
lift up their voices, together they shout for joy, because eye to eye they see
the return of יהוה to Tsiyon
Zec
14:2 And I shall gather all the nations to battle against Yerushalayim.a
And the city shall be taken, the houses plundered, and the women ravished. Half
of the city shall go into exile, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut
off from the city. Footnote: a Joe_3:2, Zep_3:8, Rev_16:14.
Zec
14:3 And יהוה
shall go forth, and He shall fight against those nations, as He fights in the
day of battle.
Zec
14:4 And in that day His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which
faces Yerushalayim on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
from east to west, a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall move
toward the north and half of it toward the south.
Once again YHVH’s people will go into exile in the last
days. This is the message of our Torah portion.
Jer
30:7 Oh! For great is that day, there is none like it. And it is the time
of Ya‛aqoḇ’s distress, but he shall be saved out of it.
Jer
30:11 For I am with you,’ declares יהוה, ‘to save you. Though I make a complete
end of all nations where I
have scattered you, yet I do not make a complete end of you. But I shall
reprove you in judgment, and by no means leave you unpunished.’ Footnote: aSee Jer_46:28,
Isa_34:2, Isa_45:17, Dan_2:44, Amo_9:8, Hag_2:22.
Jer
30:12 “For thus said יהוה, ‘Your breach is incurable, your wound is grievous.
Jer
30:24 The burning displeasure of יהוה shall not turn back until He has done and
established the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you shall understand
it.[b] Footnote: bSee Jer_23:20.
Gen 42:4 But Ya‛aqoḇ did not send Yosěph’s brother
Binyamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some harm come to him.”
Gen 42:5 And the sons of Yisra’ěl went to buy grain
among those who journeyed, for the scarcity of food was in the land of
Kena‛an.
Gen 42:6 And Yosěph was the governor over the land,
he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Yosěph’s brothers
came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth.
Gen 42:7 And Yosěph saw his brothers and recognised
them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly, and said to
them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Kena‛an to buy
food.”
Gen 42:8 So Yosěph recognised his brothers, but
they did not recognise him.
Gen 42:9 And Yosěph remembered the dreams which he
had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see
the nakedness of the land!”
Gen 42:10 And they said to him, “No, my master, but
your servants have come to buy food.
Gen 42:11 “We are all one man’s sons, we are
trustworthy, your servants are not spies.”
Gen 42:12 But he said to them, “No, but you have
come to see the nakedness of the land.”
Gen 42:13 And they said, “Your servants are twelve
brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Kena‛an. And see, the youngest is
with our father today, and one is no more.”
Gen 42:14 And Yosěph said to them, “It is as I
spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’
Gen 42:15 “By this you shall be proven: By the life
of Pharaoh, you do not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes
here.
Gen 42:16 “Send one of you, and let him bring your
brother, while you are kept in prison. So let your words be proven to see
whether there is any truth in you, or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are
spies!”
Gen 42:17 And he put them all together in prison
for three days.
Gen 42:18 Now Yosĕph said to them the third day, “Do
this and live, for I fear Elohim:
Gen 42:19 “If you are trustworthy, let one of your
brothers be confined to your prison house, and you, go, bring grain for the
scarcity of food of your houses.
Gen 42:20 “And bring your youngest brother to me, and
let your words be confirmed, and you do not die.” And so they did.
Gen 42:21 And they said to each other, “Truly, we are
guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the distress of his life when he
pleaded with us, yet we did not listen, that is why this distress has come upon
us.”
Gen 42:22 And Re’uḇĕn
answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the
boy,’ and you would not listen? And see, his blood is now required of us.”
Gen 42:23
And they did not know that Yosĕph understood them, for he spoke to them
through an interpreter.
Gen 42:24
And he turned himself away from them and wept, but came back to them and
spoke to them. And he took Shimʽon from them and bound
him before their eyes.
Gen 42:25
And Yosĕph commanded and they filled their sacks with grain, also to put
back every man’s silver to his sack, and to give them food for the journey. And
thus it was done for them.
Gen 42:26 So
they loaded their donkeys with the grain and went from there.
Gen 42:27
And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the
lodging place, he saw his silver, for there it was in the mouth of his sack!
Gen 42:28
And he said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned, and there it
is, in my sack!” And their hearts sank and they were afraid, saying to each
other, “What is this that Elohim has done to us?”
Gen 42:29 So
they came to Yaʽaqoḇ their father in the
land of Kenaʽan and reported to him
all that befell them, saying,
Gen 42:30
“The man, the master of the land, spoke to us harshly, and took us for
spies of the land.
Gen 42:31
“But we said to him, ‘We are trustworthy, we are not spies.
Gen 42:32
‘We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the
youngest is today with our father in the land of Kenaʽan.’
Gen 42:33
“And the man, the master of the land, said to us, ‘By this I know that
you are trustworthy: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for
the scarcity of food of your households, and go.
Gen 42:34
‘And bring your youngest brother to me, then I know that you are not
spies, but that you are trustworthy – I give your brother to you, and you move
about in the land.’ ”
Gen 42:35
And it came to be as they emptied their sacks, that look, the bundle of
each man’s silver was in his sack! And when they and their father saw the
bundles of silver, they were afraid.
Gen 42:36
And Yaʽaqoḇ their father said to
them, “You have bereaved me – Yosĕph is no more, and Shimʽon is no more, and you
would take Binyamin! All this is against me.”
Gen 42:37 So
Re’uḇĕn spoke to his
father, saying, “Take the lives of my two sons if I do not bring him back to
you. Put him in my hands, and I myself bring him back to you.”
Gen 42:38
But he said, “My son is not going down with you, for his brother is
dead, and he is left alone. If any harm should come to him along the way in
which you go, then you would bring down my grey hair with sorrow to the grave.”
Gen 43:1 But the scarcity of food was severe in the
land.
Gen 43:2 And it came to be, when they had eaten up the
grain which they had brought from Mitsrayim, that their father said to them,
“Go back, buy us a little food.”
Gen 43:3 But Yehuḏah
spoke to him, saying, “The man vehemently warned us, saying, ‘You do not see my
face unless your brother is with you.’ ”
Gen 43:4 “If
you let our brother go with us, we go down and buy you food.
Gen 43:5 “But
if you do not let him go, we do not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You
do not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”
Gen 43:6 And
Yisra’ĕl said, “Why did you do evil to me to inform the man that you still had another
brother?”
Gen 43:7 And
they said, “The man kept asking about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your
father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we informed him
according to these words. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your
brother down’?”
Gen 43:8 And
Yehuḏah said to Yisra’ĕl
his father, “Send the boy with me, and let us arise and go, and live and not
die, both we and you and also our little ones.
Gen 43:9 “I
myself shall stand guaranty for him – from my hand you are to require him. If I
do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame
forever.
Gen 43:10
“For if we had not delayed, truly by now we could have returned this
second time.”
Gen 43:11
And their father Yisra’ĕl said to them, “If so, then do this: Take some
of the best fruit of the land in your vessels and bring a present down for the
man, a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.
Gen 43:12
“And take double silver in your hand, and take back in your hand the
silver that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. It could have been a
mistake.
Gen 43:13
“And take your brother, and arise, go back to the man.
Gen 43:14
“And Ěl Shaddai give to you compassion before the man, so that he shall
release your other brother and Binyamin. And I, if I am bereaved, I am
bereaved!”
Gen 43:15
And the men took that present and Binyamin, and they took double the
amount of silver in their hand, and arose and went down to Mitsrayim, and stood
before Yosĕph.
Gen 43:16
And Yosĕph saw Binyamin with them, and said to the one over his house,
“Bring the men home, and make a great slaughter, and prepare, for these men are
to eat with me at noon.”
Gen 43:17
And the man did as Yosĕph said, and the man brought the men into
Yosĕph’s house.
Gen 43:18 And
the men were afraid because they were brought into Yosĕph’s house. And they
said, “It is because of the silver, which was put back into our sacks the first
time, that we are brought in, to throw himself upon us and fall upon us, to
take us as slaves, our donkeys too.”
Gen 43:19 So
they came near to the man over the house of Yosĕph, and spoke to him at the
door of the house,
Gen 43:20
and said, “O my master, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,
Gen 43:21
but it came to be, when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our
sacks and saw each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack, our silver in its
weight. And we have brought it back in our hand.
Gen 43:22
“And we have brought down other silver in our hands to buy food. We do
not know who put our silver in our sacks.”
Gen 43:23
But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your Elohim and the
Elohim of your father has given you treasure in your sacks – your silver had
come to me!” And he brought Shimʽon
out to them.
The hidden meaning of
this parashah.
YHVH
is committed to restoring one family and one nation on this earth. It is
evident that He will take whatever measures are necessary to bring about the
restoration of Yisrael – the family of Yakov – see also Ezekiel 47:21-23
YHVH’s
plans are being resisted by the nations including modern Israel – the Jewish
people. Many people try to create or replace this one family YHVH has chosen –
see Ps 2
Upon
closer examination of Yakov’s family, we note somewhat dysfunctionality, yet
this is the family YHVH chose to be His model end time family. Even after the
Messianic rule when the New Yerushalayim descends from heaven, entrance can
only be gained by passing through one of the twelve gates named after the 12
sons of Yakov – see Rev 21:10-14
One
of the biggest hinderances for this family coming together is the restoration
of our complete honour and respect for YHVH, His Word and His Messengers. (Mark
12:28-32)
Mal 4:4 “Remember the Torah of Mosheh,
My servant, which I commanded him in Ḥorěḇ for all Yisra’ěl – laws and
right-rulings.
Mal 4:5 “See, I am sending you Ěliyah
the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of יהוה.
Mal 4:6 “And he shall turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with utter destruction.”[a]
Footnote: aSee also Zec_14:13.
One
of the most important keys for us to understand the Yosef narrative is the use
of the name of YHVH. YHVH is only used 8 times in the opening story of Yosef –
Ber 39:2,3,5,21,23) For the remainder of Yosef's story no mention is made of
the name of YHVH. Some commentators believe this was done to reflect the
dishonour that was brought to His Name evidenced by the disrespectful way Yakov
was treated by his sons.
The
coming exile of Yisrael in the last days will be the final opportunity for Yisrael
and all those grafted into Yisrael to bring honour to YHVH and to the leaders
He has chosen.
YHVH Will Restore Yisrael
Eze 20:33 “As I live,” declares the
Master יהוה, “do not I, with a mighty
hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, reign over
you?
Eze 20:34 “And I shall bring you out
from the peoples and gather you out of the lands where you are scattered, with
a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.
Eze 20:35 “And I shall bring you into
the wilderness of the peoples, and shall enter into judgment with you face to
face there.
Eze 20:36 “As I entered into judgment
with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Mitsrayim, so I shall enter
into judgment with you,” declares the Master יהוה.
Eze 20:37 “And I shall make you pass
under the rod, and shall bring you into the bond of the covenant,
Eze 20:38 and purge the rebels from
among you, and those who transgress against Me. From the land where they
sojourn I bring them out, but they shall not come into the land of Yisra’ěl.
And you shall know that I am יהוה.
Eze 20:39 “As for you, O house of Yisra’ěl,”
thus said the Master יהוה, “Go, serve each of you his idols, and afterwards, if you are
not listening to Me. But do not profane My set-apart Name any more with your
gifts and your idols.
Eze 20:40 “For on My set-apart
mountain, on the mountain height of Yisra’ěl,” declares the Master יהוה, “there all the house of
Yisra’ěl, all of them in the land, shall serve Me. There I shall accept them,
and there I shall require your offerings and the first-fruits of your
offerings, together with all your set-apart gifts.
Eze 20:41 “As a sweet fragrance I
shall accept you when I bring you out from the peoples. And I shall gather you
out of the lands where you have been scattered. And I shall be set-apart in you
before the nations.
Eze 20:42 “And you shall know that I
am יהוה, when I bring you into the
land of Yisra’ěl, into the land for which I lifted My hand in an oath to give
to your fathers.
Eze 20:43 “And there you shall
remember your ways and all your deeds with which you were defiled. And you
shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you
did.
Eze 20:44 “And you shall know that I
am יהוה, when I have dealt with you
for My Name’s sake, not according to your evil ways nor according to your
corrupt deeds, O house of Yisra’ěl,” declares the Master יהוה.’ ”
Baruch atah
YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam
nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are
you Yahveh, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of
truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you,
YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn.)
