Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu
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.)
Gen 37:1 And Yaʽaqoḇ dwelt in the land of
his father’s sojourning’s, in the land of Kenaʽan.
The root of the Hebrew word
used in this week’s parasha is “yashav” this word is often found in the Torah
and can be defined as to “sit, settle or reside” in the land of his father’s
sojourning’s. The implication is a settling in a place that is not a permanent
home.
Heb 11:13 In belief all these died, not having received the
promises,[a] but seeing them from a distance, welcomed and
embraced them, and confessed that they were aliens and strangers on the earth.
Footnote: aSee Heb_11:39.
Heb 11:14 For those who speak this way make it clear that they
seek a fatherland. Heb 11:15 And yet, if they had indeed kept
remembering that place from which they had come out, they would have had
the chance to return. Heb 11:16 But now they long for a better place,
that is, a heavenly. Therefore Elohim is not ashamed to be called their Elohim,
for He has prepared a city for them.
Gen 37:2
This is the genealogy(Heb – toldot) of Yaʽaqoḇ. Yosĕph, being
seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his
brothers. And the
young man was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons
of Zilpah, his
father’s wives. And Yosĕph brought an evil report
of them to his father.
It
speaks of the “toldot” or genealogy of Yakov but then it goes on to tell the
story of Yosef. Why? Because Yosef’s life is an amazing prophetic fulfillment
of how the Messiah would accomplish the gathering of the 12 tribes of Yisrael
to settle or “va yashev” in the land of Yisrael one day, again for 1000 years.
“ And Yosĕph brought an
evil report of them to his father.”
In this context we believe evil or “ra-a” does not mean “lashon ha ra –
a” or gossip, but Yosef was speaking the truth about their actions. Yahshua
said some pretty harsh but true things of the people of his generation-Mat
23:33 “Serpents, brood of adders! How
would you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Gen 37:5 And
Yosĕph dreamed a dream, and told it to his brothers. So
they hated him even more. Gen 37:6 And he said to them, “Please listen
to this dream which I have dreamed: Gen 37:7
“See, we were binding
sheaves in the midst of the field, and see, my
sheaf rose up and also
stood up. And see, your sheaves stood all around
and bowed down to my
sheaf.” Gen 37:8
And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign
over us? Shall you indeed rule over us?” So they
hated him even more for
his dreams and for his words. Gen 37:9 And he dreamed still another
dream and related it to his brothers, and said,
“See, I have dreamed
another dream, and see, the sun and the moon and
the eleven stars
bowed down to me.”
The
two dreams in this aliyah speak of Yahshua’s first coming and His
second
coming.
The “sheaves” speak of
Messiah’s first earthly coming.
The “sun moon and stars'' speak
of Messiah’s second coming.
ו וַיֹּאמֶר,
אֲלֵיהֶם: שִׁמְעוּ-נָא, הַחֲלוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר חָלָמְתִּי
In the dream concerning the
“sheaves” they could “Hear, if you please...” (vs 6). In the dream of the “sun
moon and stars” twice in vs 9 we find
the words “behold” ie this time there would not be much choice in the
matter. Phil 2:10 says every knee will
bow …..at the name of Yahshua.
In the dream of the
“sheaves” hatred is mentioned before and after; in the dream of the “sun moon
and stars” hatred is not mentioned before or after.
In the dream of the
“sheaves” his brothers bow down to his sheaf but not to Yosef. In the dream of
the “sun moon and stars” the sun moon and stars bow down to Yosef (Messiah)
The Hebrew word for
“sheaves” is Strongs 485 “alumah” vs 7. This word is related to Strongs 481
“alam” which means to be “dumb” and is found in Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, but He
did not open His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before its shearers is silent,(alam) but He did not open His mouth.
Gen 37:10 And he related it to his father and his
brothers. And his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that
you have dreamed? Shall we, your mother and I and your brothers, indeed come to
bow down to the earth before you?” Gen 37:11
And his brothers envied him, but his father guarded the word. Gen 37:12 And his brothers went to feed their father’s
flock in Sheḵem. Gen 37:13 And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Are not your
brothers feeding the flock in Sheḵem?
Come, I send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.” ( 78 km journey) Gen
37:14 And he said to him, “Please go and
see if it is well with your brothers and well with the sheep, and bring back
word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Ḥeḇron, and he went to
Sheḵem.
The Torah is concealing a mystery in vs 14 because Hebron is not in a
valley but on a hill. Why would the Torah deliberately make this kind of error?
Maybe the Torah wants
us to see that there also a hidden message concerning the flock in Shechem that
was eventually found in Dothan.
Is it possible that
Shechem or “shoulder” was the place where we were meant to bear the yoke of the
Torah – see Matt 11:28-30. Yahshua was most probably referring to the yoke of
the Torah as this was the customary of expressing our duty towards the studying
and living of Torah.
“Dothan” S1886 -
the place of two wells or the place of the double law
(Aramaic). This could refer to the apostasy that takes
hold of YHVH’s
called out ones when they leave the One law of the
Torah and seek to
establish their own or an additional law. This has
sadly happened
amongst many Jews and Gentiles.
Gen 37:15
And a certain man found him, and see, he was wandering in
the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What do
you seek?” Gen
37:16 And he
said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please inform me where
they are feeding their sheep.” Gen 37:17 And the man said, “They have
left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go towards
Dothan.’ ” So Yosĕph
went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. Gen
37:18 And they
saw him from a distance, and before he came near
them, they plotted
against him, to kill him. Gen 37:19
And they said to each other, “See,
this master of dreams is coming! Gen 37:20 “Now, then, come and let us
now kill him and throw him into some pit, and shall
say, ‘Some wild beast
has devoured him.’ Let us then see what comes of his
dreams!” Gen
37:21 But
Re’uḇĕn heard and rescued
him from their hands, and said,
“Let us not take his life.” Gen 37:22 And Re’uḇĕn
said to them, “Shed no
blood. Throw him into this pit which is in the
wilderness, and do not lay a
hand on him” – in order to rescue him out of their
hands, and
bring him back to his father.
When the great
Shepherd of the sheep (Yahshua) came to
seek and save the lost
sheep of the house of Yisrael, his
brothers also plotted
to kill him.
they stripped Yosĕph of his robe, the long robe which
was on him.
Gen 37:24
And they took him and threw him into a pit. And the pit was
empty, there was no water in it. Gen 37:25 And they sat down to eat a
meal. And they liftedtheir eyes and looked and saw
a company of
Yishmaʽĕlites,
coming from Gilʽaḏ with their camels,
bearing spices, and
balm, and myrrh, going to take them down to
Mitsrayim. Gen 37:26
And Yehuḏah
said to his brothers, “What would we gain if we kill our
brother and conceal his blood? Gen 37:27 “Come and let us
sell him to the Yishmaʽĕlites, and let not
our hand be upon him, for he is
our brother, our flesh.” And his brothers listened.
Gen 37:28 And men,
Miḏyanite traders passed
by, so they pulled Yosĕph up and lifted him out
of the pit, and sold him to the Yishmaʽĕlites for twenty
pieces of silver.
And they took Yosĕph to Mitsrayim.
Gen 37:29
And Re’uḇĕn returned to the
pit, and see, Yosĕph
was not in the pit. And he tore his garments. Gen
37:30 And
he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is
gone! And I,
where am I to go?” Gen 37:31 So they took Yosĕph’s robe,
killed a male goat, and dipped the robe in the
blood, Gen 37:32
and sent the long robe and brought it to their father
and said,
“We have found this. Please look, is it the robe of
your son or
not?” In Hebrew “Haker na” means
“please identify” we hear
these
words again in chapter 38:25 Gen 37:33 And he recognised
it and said, “It is my son’s robe. An evil beast
has devoured him.
Yosĕph is torn, torn to pieces.” Gen 37:34 And Yaʽaqoḇ tore his
garments, and put sackcloth on his waist, and
mourned for his
son many days. Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters
arose to comfort him, but he refused to be
comforted, and he
said, “Now let me go down into the grave to my son
in mourning.”
So his father wept for him. Gen 37:36 And the Miḏanites
had sold him in
Mitsrayim to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and
captain of the
guard.
YOSEPH
& YESHUA: MESSIANIC PARALLELS
*Shepherd * Mediator *Beloved of the Father
*Raised
with sons of "weakness" * A son of wisdom * (Firstborn)
*Hatred without a cause (sinat chinam) *
Physical & Spiritual rule
*
Sent by the Father *Arrived in “the field” *“My brothers do I seek”
*Found them in “double law” (legalism) *They
conspired to kill him
*Was stripped of his garment - (lots cast?) *Was
placed in the ground
*Betrayed by “Judas”... *...for silver *Came
forth from the ground
*Went among the Gentiles (the “slaughterers”)
*Garment
was dipped in blood... (Rev 19:13)
*...and
presented to the Father
The Sages claim that this world is not the place where the righteous can
expect tranquility. There is too much to accomplish and too few capable of
doing it. Knowing that the righteous are more than willing to sacrifice of bit
of temporary peace for the sake of eternal salvation for their offspring.
2Co 4:11 For we, the
living, are always delivered to death for the sake of יהושע, that the life of יהושע might also be manifested in our mortal
flesh, 2Co 4:12 so that death indeed is working in us, but the life
in you. 2Co 4:13 But having the same spirit of belief, according to what
has been written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” Psa_116:10 we also believe,
therefore we also speak,
2Co 4:14 knowing that
He who raised up the Master יהושע shall also
raise us up through יהושע, and shall
present us with you.
2Co 4:15 For all this
is for your sake, so that favour, having spread through the many, would cause
thanksgiving to overflow, unto the esteem of Elohim.
2Co 4:16 Therefore we
do not lose heart, but even if our outward man is perishing, the inward man is
being renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17 For this
slight momentary pressure is working for us a far more exceeding and
everlasting weight of esteem.
2Co 4:18 We are not
looking on what is seen, but on what is not seen. For what is seen passes away,
but what is not seen is everlasting.c Footnote: cSee 2Co_5:7, Rom_8:24,
Heb_11:1 and Heb_11:13.
1Co 10:11 And all
these came upon them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on
whom the ends of the ages have come, 1Co 10:12 so that he who thinks
he stands, let him take heed lest he fall.
1Co 10:13 No trial
has overtaken you except such as is common to man, and Elohim is trustworthy,
who shall not allow you to be tried beyond what you are able, but with the
trial shall also make the way of escape, enabling you to bear it.
Jubilees 34: 12 And the sons of Yacob slaughtered a kid, and
dipped the coat of Yoseph in the blood, and sent it to Yacob their father on
the tenth of the seventh month.
13 And he mourned all that
night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish
with mourning for his death, and he said: 'An evil beast has devoured Yoseph';
and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were
grieving and mourning with him all that day.
14 And his sons and his
daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son.
15 And on that day Bilhah
heard that Yoseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living
in Qafratef, and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Yoseph had perished.
16 And there came these
three mournings upon Yisrael in one month. And they buried Bilhah over against
the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also his daughter, they buried there.
17 And he mourned for
Yoseph one year, and did not cease, for he said 'Let me go down to the grave
mourning for my son'.
18 For this reason it is
ordained for the children of Yisrael that they should afflict themselves on the
tenth of the seventh month -on the day that the news which made him weep for
Yoseph came to Yacob his father- that they should make atonement for themselves
thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for
their sins; for they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Yoseph
his son.
19 And this day has been
ordained that they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their
transgressions and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves
on that day once a year.
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.)