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. Amein.
Gen 39:1 And Yosĕph had been taken down to Mitsrayim. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, a Mitsrite, bought him from the Yishmaʽĕlites who had taken him down there.
Last week Yehudah was
brought down (Heb ‘’yered’’) This week Yosef is brought down (Heb ‘’Yered’’) Midrash
on the differences between their two lives. In the last days a remnant of both
houses will rise to usher in the coming and redemption of Messiah.
Yosef embodies Messianic life. Yet this
Messianic life was placed in subjection to an impotent master – man made
religion. This impotent master(church) has had great power and has executed
millions and millions of people throughout the ages. It appears that our
idolatry has placed us under the power of this false religion to this day.
‘’Potiphar’’ means
‘’belonging to the sun’’ – to this day most Christians ‘’belong’’ to ‘’Sunday
worship’’
‘’Sun-day worship is
the setting aside of the first day of the week for the worship of the sun
deity, known in Babylon as Tammuz, in Persia as Mithras, in Greece as Helios
and in Rome as Sol Invictus, the "unconquerable sun". Sun worship
originated in Babylon with the Bible character known as Nimrod setting himself
up as a "mighty one" in the earth by subjugating the population of
that time to his authority and control (Genesis 10:8-12). Pagan sources name
his wife as Semiramis who became identified as the Queen of heaven. Jewish
historical sources state that he was killed by one of the patriarchs because of
the evil he was bringing into the earth.
After his death, Semiramis his wife, became pregnant and bore a son
which was claimed to be of divine origin, having been conceived from the now
risen "Nimrod". Nimrod/Tammuz and his mother-wife, Semiramis, founded
the great pagan religions centred around this counterfeit representation of the
messianic hope of mankind. "Sun worship was the earliest idolatry."
-Fausset Bible Dictionary , p. 666’’
Gen 39:2 And it came to be that יהוה was with Yosĕph, and he became a prosperous man, and was in the
house of his master the Mitsrite. In YHVH’s
favour many believers in Yahshua have been blessed and have become prosperous
in the house of sun worship. Act 17:30 “Truly, then, having overlooked these times of
ignorance, Elohim now commands all men everywhere to repent…. “
Yosef was a
slave, yet he prospered and managed his master’s household. This teaches us
that one’s circumstances do not determine one’s success in life.
The Almighty
One’s Name ‘YHVH’ is used 8 times in this portion. The only time in the entire Yosef
story – Why? – It’s all about YHVH our Heavenly Father. Eight is the number of perfections. YHVH will
do a perfect work in each of us whom He has called, regardless of our
circumstance, and He does it however and wherever He pleases, even in the ‘’church’’
However the time will come when He calls you out of ‘’Egypt’’- out of the
church. (Rev 18:4)
Gen
39:3 And his master saw that יהוה was with him and that יהוה made all he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen
39:4 So Yosĕph found favour in his eyes,
and served him, and he appointed him over his house, and gave into his hand all
that he had.
Gen
39:5 And it came to be, from the time
that he appointed him over his house and all that he had, that יהוה blessed the Mitsrite’s house
for Yosĕph’s sake. And the blessing of יהוה
was on all that he had in the house and in the field.
Gen 39:6 And he left in Yosĕph’s hand all that he had, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. And Yosĕph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen 39:7 And after these events it came to be that his master’s wife lifted up her eyes to Yosĕph and said, “Lie with me.” (Commentators believe Potiphars wife was sexually frustrated because her husband was castrated – many believers feel spiritually and emotionally ‘castrated’ because of the Roman idolatrous origins of the Christian faith. Until this day all RCC priests are called to the life of eunuchs.)
Gen
39:8 But he refused and said to his
master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and
he has given into my hand all that he has.
Gen
39:9 “No one is greater in this house
than I, and he has not withheld whatever from me but you, because you are his
wife. And how shall I do this great evil and sin against Elohim?”
Gen
39:10 And it came to be, as she spoke to
Yosĕph day by day, that he did not listen to her, to lie with her, to be with
her.
Gen
39:11 And it came to be on a certain
day, when Yosĕph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the
house was inside,
Gen
39:12 that she caught him by his
garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled
and ran outside.
Gen
39:13 And it came to be, when she saw
that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside,
Gen
39:14 that she called to the men of her
house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Heḇrew to
mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
Gen
39:15 “And it came to be, when he heard
that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and
fled and went outside.”
Gen 39:16 And she kept his garment with her until his master came home.
We too stripped our Messiah of his garment and hung him naked on an execution beam.
Gen
39:17 And she spoke to him these same
words, saying, “The Heḇrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me, to
mock me,
Gen
39:18 so it came to be, as I lifted my
voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”
Gen
39:19 And it came to be, when his master
heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me
according to these words,” that his displeasure burned.
Gen 39:20 Then Yosĕph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the sovereign’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
It is worth noting that Yosef’s master could have had him immediately executed. Instead, he personally escorts Yosef to the prison. The midrash says that Potiphar suspected that his wife was living an adulterous lifestyle.
Gen
39:21 But יהוה
was with Yosĕph and extended kindness to him, and He gave him favour in the
eyes of the prison warden.
Gen
39:22 And the prison warden gave into
the hand of Yosĕph all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was
done there was his doing.
Gen 39:23 The prison warden did not look into any point that was under Yosĕph’s hand, because יהוה was with him. And whatever he did, יהוה made it prosper.
You cannot put
this messianic spirit in prison – you cannot kill this spirit, it will rise
again – you cannot hide this spirit - you can only restrict its movement for a
while – a messianic spirit is free even when in prison or bound. A Messianic
spirit will willingly submit itself to abuse and confinement, knowing that even
these are working out a higher purpose to the esteem of the Father.
Finally, it
is noteworthy that the word ‘’prison’’ (Heb ‘’beit ha sohar’’) is used only 8
times in the Torah (and all Hebrew scriptures)– all of them in parashat ‘’Va
Yeshev’’vs 20 twice; vs 21,22 (twice),23 and 40:3 and 40:5.
It is
important for us to remind ourselves that in the Hebrew culture there was no penal
system of imprisonment as a form of punishment. If you were found guilty of a
capital offence (adultery murder, kidnapping) who were put to death by the
mouth of two or three witnesses. In the case of accidental homicide, a person
could flee to a city of refuge. In cases where some form of loss had occurred –
restitution was required.
So why do
we find the Hebrew words for prison (‘’beit ha sohar’’) only 8 times in this
parashah (va ye shev) and nowhere else in scripture?
Maybe
because people were not meant to be imprisoned. Maybe this Torah portion addresses
the issue of Messiah in Yosef and that as Yosef paid the penalty for his wicked
brothers so, Messiah pays the penalty for our wickedness and waywardness. Man
was not destined to spend his life in a prison.
What about
the afterlife?
This
deliverance is offered to all those who are willing to accept Messiah’s forgiveness
for all transgression and unrighteousness.
Isa 56:1 Thus said יהוה, “Guard right-ruling, and do righteousness, for near is My deliverance to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Isa 56:2 “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who becomes strong in it, guarding the Sabbath lest he profane it, and guarding his hand from doing any evil. Isa 56:3 “And let not the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to יהוה speak, saying, ‘יהוה has certainly separated me from His people,’ nor let the eunuch say, ‘Look I am a dry tree.’ ” Isa 56:4 For thus said יהוה, “To the eunuchs who guard My Sabbaths, and have chosen what pleases Me, and are holding onto My covenant: Isa 56:5 to them I shall give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters – I give them an everlasting name that is not cut off. Isa 56:6 “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to יהוה, to serve Him, and to love the Name of יהוה, to be His servants, all who guard the Sabbath, and not profane it, and are holding onto My covenant – Isa 56:7 them I shall bring to My set-apart mountain, and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their ascending offerings and their slaughterings are accepted on My slaughter-place, for My house is called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” Isa 56:8 The Master יהוה, who gathers the outcasts of Yisra’ěl, declares, “I gather still others to him besides those who are gathered to him.”
Isa 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom was the arm of יהוה revealed? Isa 53:2 For He grew up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or splendour that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him – Isa 53:3 despised and rejected by men, a man of pains and knowing sickness. And as one from whom the face is hidden, being despised, and we did not consider Him. Isa 53:4 Truly, He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Yet we reckoned Him smitten·, stricken by Elohim, and afflicted. Isa 53:5 But He was pierced(Heb – wounded) for our transgressions, He was crushed for our crookednesses. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, went astray, each one of us has turned to his own way. And יהוה has laid on Him the crookedness of us all. 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, but He did not open His mouth. Isa 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment. And as for His generation, who considered that He shall be cut off from the land of the living? For the transgression of My people He was stricken. Isa 53:9 And He was appointed a burial-site with the wrong, and with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was deceit in His mouth.[a] Footnote: a 1Pe_2:22. Isa 53:10 But יהוה was pleased to crush Him, He laid sickness on Him, that when He made Himself an offering for guilt, He would see a seed, He would prolong His days and the pleasure of יהוה prosper in His hand. Isa 53:11 He would see the result of the suffering of His life and be satisfied. Through His knowledge My righteous Servant makes many righteous, and He bears their crookedness’s. Isa 53:12 Therefore I give Him a portion among the great, and He divides the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His being unto death, and He was counted with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Blessed are you YHVH 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