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.
Gen 37:23 So
it came to be, when Yosĕph had come to his brothers, that