Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, Creator of the universe, who desires covenantal intimacy with Your called-out ones – blessed are those whom You have called and chosen and have given a heart that longs for and sincerely seeks Your covenantal life. Please, YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our hearts and in the hearts of Your people, the family of Israel. May we and our offspring and the offspring of Your people, the house of Jacob – all of us – know Your Name and study Your Torah empowering us to sincerely love one another and to love You above all. Please uncover our eyes and open our hearts that we may carefully examine and understand the marvels and mysteries of Your Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, who has created and established Your Torah for the set apart ones of Israel – through Yahshua our Messiah - Amein.
Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt – vs 1-27
The first time YHVH explicitly promised the land of Canaan (Israel) to His people as an inheritance was given in Genesis 12:7, shortly after Abraham (then called Abram) arrived there.
Genesis 15:18-21 - During a covenant ceremony, YHVH
specifies the borders: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of
Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates,” listing the peoples whose land it
would include. This is a formal, unconditional covenant.
The full Abrahamic promise covers a vast territory
including:
·
Modern Israel + Palestinian territories
·
All of Lebanon
·
Most or all of Jordan
·
Significant parts of Syria
·
Parts of northern Saudi Arabia / Sinai
(Egypt)
·
Western Iraq (up to the Euphrates)
The promise was later confirmed to Isaac (Genesis 26:3-4)
and Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel; Genesis 28:13), and the Israelites
eventually took possession under Joshua.
Gal
3:17 Now this I say, Torah, that came four hundred and thirty years
later, does not annul a covenant previously confirmed by Elohim in Messiah, so
as to do away with the promise.
Gal
3:18 For if the inheritance is by Torah, it is no longer by promise, but
Elohim gave it to Aḇraham through a promise. Is 1:9 Rom 9:29
Gen 46:2 And Elohim spoke to Yisra’ěl in the
visions of the night, and said, “Ya‛aqoḇ,
Ya‛aqoḇ!” And he said,
“Here I am.”
Gen 46:3 And He said, “I am the Ěl, Elohim of your
father. Do not be afraid to go down to Mitsrayim, for I shall make you there
into a great nation.
Gen 46:4 “I Myself am going down with you to
Mitsrayim and I Myself shall certainly bring you up again. And let Yosěph put
his hand on your eyes.”
Gen 46:5 And Ya‛aqoḇ
rose up from Be’ěrsheḇa.
And the sons of Yisra’ěl brought their father Ya‛aqoḇ, and their little ones, and their wives, in the
wagons which Pharaoh had sent to transport him.
Gen 46:6 And they took their livestock and their
property which they had acquired in the land of Kena‛an, and came into
Mitsrayim, Ya‛aqoḇ and
all his seed with him.
Gen 46:7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters
and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Mitsrayim.
Gen 46:8 And these were the names of the children
of Yisra’ěl, Ya‛aqoḇ and
his sons, who came into Mitsrayim: Re’uḇěn
was Ya‛aqoḇ’s
first-born.
Gen 46:9 And the sons of Re’uḇěn: Ḥanoḵ,
and Pallu, and Ḥetsron,
and Karmi.
Gen 46:10 And the sons of Shim‛on: Yemu’ěl, and
Yamin, and Ohaḏ, and Yaḵin, and Tsoḥar, and Sha’ul, son of a
Kena‛anite woman.
Gen 46:11 And the sons of Lěwi: Gěrshon, Qehath,
and Merari.
Gen 46:12 And the sons of Yehuḏah: Ěr, and Onan, and Shělah,
and Perets, and Zeraḥ –
but Ěr and Onan died in the land of Kena‛an. And the sons of Perets were Ḥetsron and Ḥamul.
Gen 46:13 And the sons of Yissasḵar: Tola, and Puw‛ah, and Yoḇ, and Shimron.
Gen 46:14 And the sons of Zeḇulun: Sereḏ,
and Ělon, and Yaḥle’ěl.
Gen 46:15 These were the sons of Lě’ah, whom she
bore to Ya‛aqoḇ in Paddan
Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the beings, his sons and his daughters, were
thirty-three.
Gen 46:16 And the sons of Gaḏ: Tsiphyon and Ḥaggi,
Shuni and Etsbon, Ěri and Aroḏi,
and Arěli.
Gen 46:17 And the sons of Ashěr: Yimnah, and
Yishwah, and Yishwi, and Beri‛ah, and Seraḥ,
their sister. And the sons of Beri‛ah: Ḥeḇer and Malki’ěl.
Gen 46:18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laḇan gave to Lě’ah his daughter.
And these she bore to Ya‛aqoḇ:
sixteen beings.
Gen 46:19 The sons of Raḥěl, Ya‛aqoḇ’s
wife: Yosěph and Binyamin.
Gen 46:20 And to Yosěph in the land of Mitsrayim
were born Menashsheh and Ephrayim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah
priest of On, bore to him.
Gen 46:21 And the sons of Binyamin: Belah, and Beḵer, and Ashběl, Gěra and
Na‛aman, Ěḥi and Rosh,
Muppim and Ḥuppim, and
Ard.
Gen 46:22 These were the sons of Raḥěl who were born to Ya‛aqoḇ: fourteen beings in
all.
Gen 46:23 And the son of Dan: Ḥushim.
Gen 46:24 And the sons of Naphtali: Yaḥtse’ěl, and Guni, and Yětser,
and Shillěm.
Gen 46:25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laḇan gave to Raḥěl his daughter, and she bore
these to Ya‛aqoḇ: seven
beings in all.
Gen 46:26 All the beings who went with Ya‛aqoḇ to Mitsrayim, who came from
his body, besides Ya‛aqoḇ’s
sons’ wives, were sixty-six beings in all.
Gen 46:27 And the sons of Yosěph who were born to
him in Mitsrayim were two beings. All the beings of the house of Ya‛aqoḇ who went to Mitsrayim were
seventy.
Jacob and Joseph Reunited
Gen 46:28 And (Jacob) he sent Yehuḏah before him to Yosěph, to
point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of
Goshen.
Gen 46:30 And Yisra’ěl said to Yosěph, “Now let me
die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
Gen 46:31 And Yosěph said to his brothers and to
his father’s household, “I am going up to inform Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My
brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Kena‛an, have
come to me.
Gen 46:32 And the men are shepherds, that they have
been men of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds, and
all that they have.’
Gen 46:33 “And it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you
and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
Gen 46:34 that you shall say, ‘Your servants have
been men of livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our
fathers,’ so that you dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an
abomination to the Mitsrites.”
Gen 47:1 Then Yosěph went and spoke to Pharaoh, and
said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that
they possess, have come from the land of Kena‛an. And see, they are in the land
of Goshen.”
Gen 47:2 And he took five men from among his
brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
Gen 47:3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is
your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both
we and also our fathers.”
Gen 47:4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to
dwell in the land, because there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for
the scarcity of food is severe in the land of Kena‛an. And now, please let your
servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
Gen 47:5 And Pharaoh spoke to Yosěph, saying, “Your
father and your brothers have come to you.
Gen 47:6 “The land of Mitsrayim is before you.
Settle your father and brothers in the best of the land, let them dwell in the
land of Goshen. And if you know of capable men among them, then make them chief
herdsmen over my livestock.”
Gen 47:7 And Yosěph brought in his father Ya‛aqoḇ and set him before Pharaoh.
And Ya‛aqoḇ blessed
Pharaoh.
Gen 47:9 And Ya‛aqoḇ
said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred and
thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they
have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of
their sojournings.”
Gen 47:10 And Ya‛aqoḇ
blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh.
Gen 47:11 So Yosěph settled his father and his brothers
and gave them a possession in the land of Mitsrayim, in the best of the land,
in the land of Ra‛meses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Gen 47:12 And Yosěph provided his father, and his
brothers, and all his father’s household with bread for the mouth of the little
ones.
Gen 47:13 Now there was no bread in all the land,
because the scarcity of food was very severe, and the land of Mitsrayim and all
the land of Kena‛an became exhausted from the scarcity of food.
Gen 47:14 And Yosěph gathered up all the silver
that was found in the land of Mitsrayim and in the land of Kena‛an, for the
grain which they bought. And Yosěph brought the silver into Pharaoh’s
house.
Rev
13:17 and that no one should be able to buy or sell except he that has
the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Critics (especially in conservative and
conspiracy-oriented circles) interpret it as a soft form of technocratic
socialism or neo-feudalism, where a small elite class (governments +
corporations) controls most resources, and ordinary people have little real
ownership or privacy.’’
Gen 47:16 And Yosěph said, “Give your livestock,
and I give you bread for your livestock, if the silver is gone.”
Gen 47:17 So they brought their livestock to
Yosěph, and Yosěph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the
flocks they owned, and for the herds they owned, and for the donkeys. Thus he
fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
Gen 47:18 And when that year had ended, they came
to him the next year and said to him, “We do not hide from my master that our
silver is all spent, and my master also has the livestock we owned. There has
not been left any before my master but our bodies and our lands.
Gen 47:19 “Why should we die before your eyes, both
we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and let us and our land be
servants of Pharaoh. And give us seed, and let us live and not die, and let the
land not lie waste.”
Gen 47:20 And Yosěph bought the entire land of
Mitsrayim for Pharaoh, because every man of the Mitsrites sold his field,
because the scarcity of food was severe upon them. And the land came to be
Pharaoh’s.
Gen 47:21 And as for the people, he moved them
into the cities, from one end of the borders of Mitsrayim to the other
end.
Gen 47:24 “And it shall be that in the harvest you
shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. And four-fifths is your own, as seed for the
field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your
little ones.”
Gen 47:25 And they said, “You have saved our lives.
Let us find favour in the eyes of my master, and we shall become Pharaoh’s
servants.”
Gen 47:26 And Yosěph made it a law over the land of
Mitsrayim to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the
ground of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
Gen 47:27 And Yisra’ěl dwelt in the land of
Mitsrayim, in the land of Goshen. (the camp of the righteous) And they
had possessions there and were fruitful and increased exceedingly.
Gen 47:28 And Ya‛aqoḇ lived in the land of Mitsrayim seventeen years. So, `the length of Ya‛aqoḇ’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
It was the ancient equivalent of swearing on the Bible or
raising your right hand — a deeply personal and covenantal gesture – the promises
given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be protected and passed on from
generation to generation.
Gen 47:31 And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore
to him, and Yisra’ěl bowed himself on the head of the bed.
Leaning on his staff became a beautiful picture of
dependence on YHVH rather than on his own strength.
Additional
Commentary of a Returning Grated in Gentile Aliyah.
- Messianic
and Hebraic Roots teachers (e.g., some associated with organizations
focused on Aliyah) see the Joseph narrative as a prototype for end-time
regathering, where both Jews and grafted-in Gentiles (believers)
participate in the return to the land.
- Typological
interpreters (common in some dispensational circles) note that just as
Jacob’s family found physical salvation in Egypt under Joseph, in the last
days a remnant of Israel (and possibly Gentile believers) will find refuge
and ultimately return to the Promised Land under Messiah’s protection
(often linked to places like Petra or divine protection during the Great
Tribulation — Revelation 12).
- Some
connect this to prophecies of a second exodus (Isaiah 11:11-12,
Jeremiah 16:14-15, Micah 7:15), which is greater than the first, involving
a regathering from all nations.
Gentile Believers and Aliyah in the Last Days
- The
idea that Gentile believers (grafted into Israel - Romans 11) might
participate in a form of Aliyah (return to Israel) during the
Tribulation is promoted in certain Messianic Jewish and Christian
Zionist teachings.
- They
often cite prophecies like:
- Isaiah
49:22 -Gentiles helping carry Israel’s sons and daughters back.
- Isaiah
60–61 and Zechariah 8 - Nations coming to Israel and assisting in her
restoration.
- During
the Tribulation, many expect a massive turning of Jews to Messiah (“all
Israel will be saved” - Romans 11:26) and a regathering. Some extend this
to include Gentile believers finding refuge or playing a role in the land.
Comfort
for God's People
Isa 40:1 “Comfort, comfort My people!” says your
Elohim.
Isa 40:2 “Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim, and
cry out to her, that her hard service is completed, that her crookedness is
pardoned, that she has received from the hand of יהוה double for all her
sins.”
Isa 40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way of יהוה;
make straight in the desert a highway for our Elohim.
Isa 40:4 “Let every valley be raised, and every
mountain and hill made low. And the steep ground shall become level, and the
rough places smooth.
Isa 40:5 “And the esteem of יהוה shall be revealed,
and all flesh together shall see it. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken.”
Isa 40:27 Why do you say, O Ya‛aqoḇ, and speak, O Yisra’ěl, “My
way is hidden from יהוה,
and my rights are overlooked by my Elohim”?
Isa 40:28 Did you not know? Have you not heard? The
everlasting Elohim, יהוה,
the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His
understanding is unsearchable.
Isa 40:29 He gives power to the faint, and to those
who have no might He increases strength.
Isa 40:30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and
young men stumble and fall,
Isa 40:31 but those who wait on יהוה renew their strength,
they raise up the wing like eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and
do not faint.
Ameyn.