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(CHAPTER 44)
18. But Yehudah came very close [yigash] to him and said, "O my master, please let your servant speak a word in the ears of my master, and do not let your anger flare up against your servant, because you are just like Pharaoh himself.
Came very close: or, stepped forward. Yehudah, already taking up the scepter as the spokesman, risks his life like Hadassah (Esther) on behalf of his brother. He does not even try to explain anything about the cup, for the evidence seems to say there is no way out of this one, but recognizes it cannot hurt to ask for mercy. He appeals to the human side of this apparent magician, without regard for all the signet rings, servants, etc. He is asking him to listen as one human being to another, since this man must have had a father as well, and just might understand their plight. This section has more of the words of Yaaqov’s sons than any other, and most of them are from Yosef and Yehudah. This is very instructive for us today as Yosef seeks rapprochement with Yehudah. This man has a great measure of control over his life right now, and he is in a place that is under his jurisdiction, so he does choose his words more carefully this time. He honors what is honorable in this man, as one who is bringing provision to many. He lowers himself rather than foolishly saying, “No one will enslave us!” In spite of our democratic upbringing, it is not only allowable to see another person as higher than yourself in a given situation; it is the right thing to do. Not only his words, but also his demeanor must reflect this.
19. "My master asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or brother?'
20. "And we told my master, 'We have an aged father, and a young boy born [to him] in his old age; his brother is dead, and he alone is left [of those] belonging to his mother—and his father loves him [best].'
He is beginning to recognize that last time they gave him too much information, and now they were paying for it. They should have simply answered his questions with a “yes” or “no”—the safest, clearest, and most honest answers. The more one says, the more likely he is to let something else slip that will only make the hearer even angrier than he may already be. Dead: though this must have surprised Yosef. Once the brothers made their father believe he was dead, they had to keep up the ruse, and may have even convinced even themselves it was really true.
21. "Then you told your servants, 'Bring him down to me, and let me lay eyes on him.'
22. "But we said to my master, 'The young man cannot leave his father; for if he did leave, his father would die.'
23. "Yet you said to your servants, 'If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.'
He appeals to Yosef using Yosef’s own words, just as we can do with YHWH. It showed Yosef that he paid attention to and remembers what he had said. Listening well often allows us to see the issues that lie beneath the surface. YHWH only commands us to speak in a few instances (such as when we bring the firstfruits or when called upon to be a witness in court), but says to write, “Sh’ma (Listen!) on the very doorposts of our houses. Then when you do speak, your true wisdom will show. As a child, Yosef did not know when to keep quiet, and this made his brothers hate him. Even his father rebuked him for speaking of his dreams before the proper season. But look how different he is now. Even when he sees his dreams being fulfilled, he remains silent, and in the process he learned a lot about where their hearts now were. Waiting for the right time to speak allowed him to hear their confession without showing his hand. He was able to see things from a different point of view and saw the big picture of how YHWH had used the situation for the best, so he was not consumed by bitterness, but of course he was angry and had every right to make them sweat and squirm after all the suffering they had caused him. He needs to see if they have become the kind of people who will at least try to fix what they broke.
24. "So when we had gone back up to your servant, our father, we did indeed tell him what my master said.
25. "When our father said, 'Go back and buy us a little food',
26. "we told him, 'We can't go down there! If our youngest brother is with us, then we can go down, because we cannot appear before the man if our youngest brother is not with us!'
27. "So your servant, our father, said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two children,
Again we see that although he had four wives and thirteen children, he only counts one wife and two children as his actual family, though he has lost two out of the three.
28. "'and the one is gone from me, and I said, "He must have been torn to pieces for sure!" And I still have not seen him since.'
29. "And if you take this one from before my face too, and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to She'ol with the grief!'
30. "So now, if I come back to your servant, my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up with the lad's,
31. "when he sees that the boy is missing, he will die, and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to the grave with sorrow—
Yehudah himself had lost two sons, and could truly know how his father would feel.
32. "for your servant was also my father's guarantor for the lad; I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, I shall bear the guilt before my father forever!'
Forever: If his father died before he had occasion to make amends for this failure, there would indeed be no way to settle the matter with him.
33. "So please let your servant remain as a slave in place of the lad, and let the lad go back up with his brothers!
Yehudah has already lost two sons because he did what he wanted rather than what should have been done; he cannot afford to lose another who is under his protectorate. But all he can do is state his case. When his descendants said of Yeshua, “His blood be upon us…”, they also made it possible for many of their condemned brothers to be reunited with their Father; thankfully, he, too, forgave them for doing what had to be done “to preserve life for many…”
34. "For how could I ever go back to my father without the lad? I can't bear to see the evil that would come upon my father!"
Yehudah takes responsibility for not only Leah’s sons but Rakhel’s as well. He takes responsibility for what the father holds most precious, and this has a profound effect on Yosef. It gives him hope, for he sees that Yehudah has changed from being willing to profit from his brother's injury to being willing to give up his own freedom and inheritance to spare his brother and father their pain. Thus he earned the trust of his father and merited the scepter for the whole house of Israel, having sons like David and Yeshua, who would take responsibility for his brothers who are in captivity, as well as the sole custodianship of the Torah and the Hebrew language for centuries. This selflessness makes Yosef realize that he no longer needs to test their worthiness to know who he is. Every move he made had been to jog their memory of something they had done, and finally they got the point.
CHAPTER 45
1. Then Yosef could no longer restrain himself with all those [who were] stationed around him, so he called out, "Let every man withdraw from around me!" (Thus it was that no man stood with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers.)
This was a very emotional time in the lives of our ancestors, but Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 1:9-10 tells us that there is nothing occurring now that has not already taken place in ancient times. This is indeed taking place in our own day. As many recognize that Christianity does not line up with the very Scriptures they use, they have searched for someone who treats the text more responsibly, and Yehudah has again proven, in general, to have hearts inclined to protecting what the Father holds close to Himself. Christianity blurs the lines between Y’shua and the Father to such an extent that many focus only on the “Son”. As we hear from Yehudah, we realize that we have all but forgotten the Father and also have lost track of who we are and who we are meant to be. As Yosef heard the story from Yehudah’s perspective, the memory of his family came back to him. He had dealt with the bitterness of the bad things they had done to him, but when Yehudah, not knowing who Yosef was, said, “You are just like Pharaoh”, this pricked his heart deeply. A Hebrew telling him he was just like an Egyptian? He remembers that that is not what he was born to be. When he sees Yehudah, who clearly loves not only his father but his brother, he finally recognizes his face in the mirror.
2. Then he began to weep [so] loudly that the Egyptians heard; even Pharaoh's household heard it.
The world would in due time find out about this, but it had to be done in the proper order. They are not invited to watch, though it cannot ultimately be hidden. To everything there is a season (Qoheleth/Eccles. 3:4). One reason he closed the doors was to “reveal himself” (v. 1)—that is, to show them that he, too, was circumcised. Their minds must have been racing, trying to determine who this was. The Egyptians did not do that, and they had killed all those they had circumcised in Sh’khem. Who else would have this sign of the covenant (17:10ff) on him at that time? Was he one of Yishma’el’s descendants? Even the interpreter had also left the room. Yaaqov wept when he met Rakhel, though he waited until he had finished feeding the sheep first. (Gen. 29:10) He and Esau, his big, tough brother, wept when reunited, their emotions having been pent up for so long. (33:4) King Sha’ul (1 Shmu’el 24:16) and King David (2 Shmu’el 3:31), both great warriors, wept when it was time to weep. Sometimes weeping says what we cannot say in any other way.
3. And Yosef said to his brothers, "I am Yosef! Is my father still alive?" And his brothers were so shaken at his presence that they were unable to answer him.
Though all the brothers are together again, the first thing he asks is about the one man that must still be included for the family to be whole in every way. They had already told him that their father was alive. In the 22 years since he had seen them, he probably wondered why his father had never sent anyone to search for him, until he heard that they had said that he was dead. They have gone to great lengths to tell of what it would do to their father if Binyamin did not come back. So why did he ask if his father was still alive? He was asking a deeper question. Was Israel still alive in all of them as he clearly is in Yehudah? Do the rest of them have anything in common with him? The pope and many others claim to be heirs to Israel, but if they do not follow the Torah, there is no true relationship. His presence: the one whom they had mistreated now had power over whether they ate or not, so of course they were full of fear. Would he provide for them, as the one Yaaqov considered his firstborn, or kill them?
4. So Yosef said, "Won't you please come close to me?" So they came near. Then he said [it] again, "I am your brother Yosef— the one whom you sold into Egypt!
Because Yehudah came near first, now they all can. But then what Yosef says still brings their guilt to the fore, and they may again think they are trapped.
5. "But now, don't be distressed, and don’t reproach yourselves for having sold me here, because it was Elohim who sent me here—to preserve life--
He tries to do anything he can to ease their fears. There is something bigger at work here than themselves or himself. All that he has gone through—not just his exalted position, but the slavery and imprisonment—has been YHWH at work, for all these things befell him not for himself but for the sake of all Israel. It all took place—possibly in the only way it could--so that he could be in this position when they needed him most.
6. "because the famine has been in the midst of the land for two years, and there are still five [more] years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7. "So Elohim sent me on ahead of you to ensure a means for your survival in the Land, and to keep alive for you an extraordinary [means of] preservation.
8. "So, you see, you are not the ones who sent me here; Elohim is. And He has stationed me as a 'father' to Pharaoh, a master in all of his house, and a governor in the entire land of Egypt.
Now he is speaking like the Yosef they used to know—yet those “delusions of grandeur” have now all proven to be the truth after all! Here the term "father" is used more as a "mentor" or "counselor”.
9. "Hurry and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Yosef says: "Elohim has positioned me as master over all of Egypt. Come down to me without delay!
Even if it sounded disrespectful to his “boss”, Yosef admitted that this most advanced nation in the world at that time was still “lower” than the Land where YHWH chose to reveal Himself most fully, and not just literally so.
10. "'"And you shall live in the land of Goshen, so you can be near me—you and your sons, the sons of your sons, and your flocks and herds, and all you have!
Goshen: Egypt's best pastureland, east of the delta, but the name itself means "drawing near"! Its very name speaks of a place of togetherness. It is eastward from modern-day Zagazig, and was the nearest they could be to Israel and still be under Yosef’s protection. Yosef's capital was actually what is now Al-Lisht, west of the Nile. In the area southwest of there, now known as the Faiyum (land reclaimed from a lake by regulating the inflow of water from the Nile), there is a river known as the "Canal of Yosef" (Yusuf in Arabic).
11. "'"And I will sustain you there, for there are still five years of famine left—otherwise you will be impoverished, you and all your household, and all that belongs to you."'
I.e., "You will lose everything if you do not come out now so that you can remain strong". The remnant of the Land had to be temporarily preserved outside the Land.
12. "Now look, your eyes—along with the eyes of my brother Binyamin—see that it is my mouth speaking to you.
I.e., “Read my lips!” He has sent his interpreter away, so he must be speaking Hebrew at this point. Binyamin’s second witness seems to count as much as all of theirs collectively toward convincing Yaaqov it is true:
13. "So tell my father about all the honor given me in Egypt, and all that you've seen—but hurry and bring my father down here!"
All the honor given me: or "how much weight I carry".
14. Then he embraced his brother Binyamin and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck.
15. And he kissed all his brothers, and wept upon them—and afterwards his brothers conversed with him.
Conversed with him: freely, their fears being assuaged. Compare their inability to speak with him in 37:4, and the reconciliation seen in Yeshayahu/Isa. 11:12ff.
16. Then the report came to Pharaoh's palace: "Yosef's brothers have come!" And it was pleasing in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.
They finally learned what all of his crying was about! If Yosef had brought so much benefit, how much more would eleven more like him bring! "It was pleasing in his eyes" echoes YHWH's view of His creation (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31), and shows us what His attitude will be when all of Yeshua's brothers arrive in YHWH’s house together--it will be "life from the dead"! (Romans 11:15)
17. Then Pharaoh said to Yosef, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this: load your animals and depart for the land of Kanaan without delay,
18. "'and bring your father and your households, and come back, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the best [produce] of the land.
19. "'And you are commanded to do this! Take for yourselves wagons from the land of Egypt, to carry your little ones and your wives, then get your father and come!
That’s an order! Unlike many, he uses his authority for good. Pharaoh tells the brothers to do just what Yosef told them, only in more general terms, i.e., he did not specify which part of the land, while Yosef chose the part that meant "coming close". But he was so confident of what Pharaoh would do that he made the offer first.
20. "'And let your eyes have no concern for your equipment, for all the best of the land of Egypt is yours!'"
"Leave your property behind with no regrets, for here you will have higher-quality possessions!" The best of Egypt: If Yosef had said this, it would simply mean “there are some things you won’t need here, so do not overburden yourselves to bring all you own.” Here they would live in houses, so why bring their tents? But it is Pharaoh speaking, so they must still remember that however poor it might look on the surface, the heritage of Avraham and Yitzhaq far outweighed the best Egypt had to offer. Pharaoh wants them to adopt a completely different lifestyle, for they are shepherds, and shepherds were not liked in Egypt. The best of Egypt (including some of its people) was also brought along when the whole community left Egypt, though they were enslaved in the meantime. Thus when the Israelites left Egypt with their neighbors’ wealth (Ex. 12), it was not stolen, for Pharaoh had deeded it to them here, though much of it would have to be unraveled and re-worked, for it held many pagan aspects.
21. So the sons of Israel did so. So, with Pharaoh's "go-ahead", Yosef gave them wagons, as well as food for the journey.
"Go-ahead": literally, at his mouth. This was a lot of cargo; he was sending them with a feast every day!
22. He gave each of them suits of clothing fit for dignified men, but to Binyamin he gave 300 pieces of silver, and five changes of clothing!
Changes of clothing: something more suitable to wear before the king (Zech. 3:4; Rev. 3:5; 6:11). Fit for dignified men: Compare the Hebrew tradition of the host of a wedding feast providing garments in advance to invitees, and expecting that they be worn (Matt. 22).
23. And to his father he sent the same and more: ten donkeys bearing the delicacies of Egypt, ten female donkeys carrying grain and bread, and food for his father while on the journey.
24. And he sent his brothers off. When they left, he told them, "Don't quarrel on the way!"
He uses a bit of humor to show that he still remembered their tendencies. This both puts them at ease and challenges them to rise to a higher level. He wants them all to come back alive! He remembers what occurred last time they became so agitated. But he also realizes that they will probably now have to confess to Yaaqov what they had done to him, and he does not want them to blame one another, but accept collective responsibility as one people. This is not the time to be pointing fingers; blaming one another would only detract from accomplishing their mission.
25. So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Yaaqov in the land of Kanaan.
26. And they reported to him, "Yosef is still alive! And not only that, he's the ruler in all the land of Egypt!" But his heart froze up, because he did not believe them.
Froze up: went numb, rigid, torpid, or inert. It was as if he had a heart attack and died—ironically, not as a result of losing him but as a result of finding out he was alive! Note that they were speaking to him as Yaaqov. (Compare v. 28.) He may not have believed them, and simply shut down his response to yet another potential stressor.
27. So they told him all that Yosef had told them to say, and when he saw the wagons that Yosef had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Yaaqov revived,
The same message—that Yosef is still alive—revived our spirits as well. But what was it about the wagons that convinced him? Recall that in chapter 32 he had had a vision of Elohim’s two camps—not just his own camp, but also the camp of Israel in the wilderness generations later on their way back to this Land. The only other mention of wagons in Scripture using the same term as here is in Numbers chapter 7, in which the leaders of Israel in the wilderness brought six covered wagons with offerings for the Tabernacle. Yaaqov had seen these same wagons in his vision, and recognized them here, so he knew that their story was true.
28. And Israel said, "This is too much! [But if] my son Yosef is still alive, I must go and see him before I die!"
Too much: or, enough. Israel: he is now speaking from his "new self”. Yaaqov did not believe it, but Israel does.
CHAPTER 46
[c. year 2240 from creation; 1760 B.C.E.]
1. So Israel departed with all who belonged to him, and when he came to Be'er-Sheva, he made offerings ascend to the Elohim of his father Yitzhaq.
To Be'er-Sheva: as he neared the border, he renewed the covenants of his fathers which were made there (21:32-33; 22:19; 26:23-25) and affirmed their connection with the Land to show that their departure was only temporary. The city’s very name means “clarification of the oath”. He undoubtedly offered these animals on the altar his father had built. This was his childhood home, but he had been feeling sorry for himself for years. YHWH gives special favor to mourners, but there is a time for mourning to end. Now that he had revived, he needed to recall the path on which his fathers had set him and get back in touch with YHWH again.
2. Then Elohim spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and He said, "Yaaqov! Yaaqov!" So he answered, "Here I am!"
YHWH brings him back through familiar territory to confirm that it is the same Elohim addressing him. Why does He speak to Israel, yet call him Yaaqov? With so many descendants already, he might have been tempted, before the famine, to think the promise of inheriting the Land had been fulfilled. But there was a physical, mundane job to do first. We cannot do the Torah only spiritually; we must walk out the covenant in concrete ways.
3. And He said, "I am El, the Elohim of your fathers. Do not be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.
Be afraid: He must have had strong misgivings about leaving the land of promise again. Elohim had given it to him, and yet he had to leave it and go to a place whose rituals focused on death in order to have his son restored. His grandfather had run into trouble there, and his father had been specifically told not to go there. There was also that prophecy (15:13-14) that his descendants would become slaves in a foreign land. The last time Yaaqov had left the Land, he had been gone a very long time. That time, when he left, there were still others, his father included, who remained to “anchor” the Land as their own; this time none of their family would be left there. Why couldn’t Yosef come to him? He had been commanded to come, but by Pharaoh, not by YHWH. Now that he knew Yosef was alive, he would want nothing more than to go see him again. But he had his whole family to consider now, not just his own wishes. So he went to Be’er-Sheva, the place of clarification, to inquire of the eternal One as to whether this was the right thing. YHWH gave His overt permission to go, asking him to trust Him with the details.
4. "I Myself will go down with you into Egypt, and I will also certainly bring you [back] up, and Yosef will place his hand on your eyes.
I.e., “The one you thought was dead will outlive you and be the one to close your eyes when you die.” This was comforting. But metaphorically, "placing his hand on your eyes" could also mean that being together with the dreamer again would restore his spirit of revelation after he had “seen” very little for such a long time. When he met Yosef’s sons, the spirit of prophecy would come back to him in an even greater way. Bring you back: Thus far, only his bones have returned to the Land. But this hints at a resurrection in which he could again live there.
5. So Yaaqov set out from Be'er-Sheva, and the sons of Israel transported their father Yaaqov, and their little ones and wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6. And they took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Kanaan, and they came to Egypt—Yaaqov and all his descendants with him:
Although Pharaoh had said they would have better things in Egypt, and did not really want the Hebrews’ livestock there, no wealth, no matter how beautiful, can ever fully make up for the heritage YHWH gives Yaaqov in His own Land. Pharaoh would expect them to leave everything behind, including their lifestyle, and be honored as royalty. But these were the ways YHWH had established in their forefathers, so they refused to be fully assimilated into the Egyptian world. This same strategy is what has preserved one of our tribes—Yehudah--and made them a cohesive people for 2,000 years despite exile, and is what we celebrate at Hanukkah.
7. His sons and the sons of his sons were with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters—and all his descendants—he brought with him into the land of Egypt.
All his descendants: therefore we were included, so we too could come out of Egypt, just as we all stood at Mt. Sinai (1 Cor. 10:1). Literally, all his seed—not just his physical family, but everyone into which he had planted himself, all who had become part of what he was cultivating, who had joined his people, even if not his literal descendants.
8. Now these are the names of the children of Israel—those who came into Egypt—Yaaqov and his sons:
Yaaqov's firstborn was Re'uven,
9. And Re'uven's sons were:
Hanokh [dedicated],
Pallu [distinguished],
Hetzron [surrounded by a wall], and
Karmi [my vineyard].
10. The sons of Shim'on:
Yemu'el [Elohim's day],
Yamin [right hand],
Ohad [united],
Yachin [he will establish],
Tzochar [tawny, reddish], and
Sha'ul [requested] (the son of a Kanaanite concubine).
Kanaanite: This means there was intermarriage between the Israelites and the Kanaanites. We might ask, where else were Yaaqov’s sons to obtain their wives? But though this would be allowable, the wives would be expected to become Israelite. This woman apparently remained a pagan rather than following her husband’s Elohim.
11. The sons of Levi:
Gershon [exile or stranger],
Q'hath [assembly], and
Merari [my bitterness].
12. The sons of Yehudah:
Er [awake],
Onan [strong],
Shelah [a petition],
Paretz [breach], and
Zarach [rising].
(But Er and Onan had died in the land of Kanaan.)
Yehudah had not given Thamar to Shelah as a wife, but 1 Chronicles 4:21 lists his descendants, so he may have married an Egyptian; in any case he was still childless when they came to Egypt.
The sons of Paretz:
Hetzron [surrounded by a wall] and
Khamul [spared].
Thus apparently Yehudah already had two grandchildren by the time the family went into Egypt.
13. The children of Yissachar:
Tola [scarlet],
Puwah [splendid],
Yov [persecuted], and
Shimron [watchman].
14. The sons of Z'vulun:
Sered [fear],
Elon [mighty oak], and
Yachle'el [Elohim waits].
15. These were all the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Yaaqov in Paddan-Aram, along with his daughter Dinah [judgment]. All the persons comprising his sons and daughters through Leah numbered 33.
16. And the sons of Gad:
Tzifyon [lookout],
Chaggi [festive],
Shuni [still, at rest],
Etzbon [very willing],
Eri [alert, watchful],
Arodi [my refuge or my breaking loose], and
Ar'eli [my valiant one].
17. And the children of Asher:
Yimnah [choosing the right side],
Yishwah [he will resemble],
Yishwi [he resembles me], and
Beri'ah [a new creation], and
their sister Serach [abundance].
And the sons of Beri'ah:
Chever [comrade] and
Malchiel [Elohim is my king].
18. These were the descendants of Zilpah, whom Lavan gave to Leah his daughter, and she bore these 16 souls to Yaaqov.
19. The sons of Rakhel the wife of Yaaqov were Yosef and Binyamin.
Again, only Rakhel is called Yaaqov’s wife, just as YHWH never recognized Yishmael as fully an heir of Avraham.
20. And Menashe and Efrayim were born to Yosef in the land of Egypt, whom As'nath the daughter of Potifera priest of On, bore to him.
21. And the sons of Binyamin:
Bela [destruction],
Bekher [young camel],
Ashbel [I will flow or thinking],
Gera [a grain],
Naaman [pleasantness],
Echi [my brother],
Rosh [head],
Muppim [flights or serpents],
Chuppim [protected], and
Ard [I will subdue].
22. These were all the descendants of Rakhel which were born to Yaaqov: all the souls totalled 14.
23. And the son of Dan was Khushim [hastenings].
24. And the sons of Nafthali:
Yachtze'el [Elohim divides],
Guni [my defense],
Yitzer [one who forms], and
Shillem [recompensed].
25. These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Lavan gave to his daughter Rakhel, and she bore these to Yaaqov; all the souls numbered 7.
26. All the souls belonging to Yaaqov who came into Egypt—those who sprang from his loins, besides the wives of the sons of Yaaqov—all the souls totaled 66.
27. And the sons of Yosef who were born to him in Egypt were two; thus, all the souls belonging to the house of Yaaqov, who came into Egypt, were 70.
70: counting Yaaqov himself. Leah, though mentioned, cannot be counted, since she has already died. (49:31) 70 is the number of the nations listed in chapter 10. Deut. 32:8 correlates this number with the number of the sons of Israel, as listed here, as the factor in determining where and when their borders would be allotted. Was it to allow each nation enough room to be hospitable to Yaaqov’s seed?
28. And he sent Yehudah ahead of him to Yosef, to prepare the way to Goshen in advance; then they arrived in the region of Goshen.
Yehudah had just risked his life to save Binyamin, and this may be why Yaaqov gave him such a position of prominence. Prepare: Point out or teach. Goshen means “drawing near”—for it was the closest Yosef’s family could be to him and still raise flocks. It would also be where all Israel would regather before returning to the Land over 200 years later. In modern times, Yehudah was the first tribe to return to the Promised Land and prepare it for the return of the other tribes as well, probably because it always had to live in community throughout Europe in order to survive. So we can find our “Goshen” through studying what Yehudah teaches about community, looking to their example rather than that of, e.g., Hippie communities, which had no organization or leadership, or even Amish or Mennonite communities, which are not geared toward returning from exile. By preparing all of Egypt, Yosef indirectly made deliverance for his family possible.
29. And Yosef prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. And he presented himself before him, and he embraced him and wept on his neck for a long time.
30. Then Israel said to Yosef, "Now I can die in peace, after having seen your face, because you are still alive!"
Still alive: or "alive again"! After 22 years in a pagan setting, he still retained a strong faith in YHWH. Compare Luke 2:25-33, in which the elderly Shim'on feels ready to die once he sees the first evidence of YHWH's keeping His promise to provide consolation to the lost tribes (Yosef's own descendants). When he saw the mature face of his finest son, he saw the potential of what Israel was really meant to be all along. This seems like the perfect ending, and he wants to “quit while he is ahead”. Yet, like his father, he thinks he is dying long before his time. It may be that YHWH’s promise in verse 4 made him think he did not have long to live. But YHWH allowed him to live in this completeness for 17 more years, just as long as he had had with Yosef in his youth.
31. And Yosef said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him, 'My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Kanaan, have come to me!
32. "'But the men are feeders of flocks, for they have been men of livestock, and they have brought along their flocks and herds, and all that belongs to them.'"
33. "So when Pharaoh calls for you and says, 'What is your occupation?',
34. "you must say, 'Your servants have been men of livestock ever since our youth, both we and our fathers.' This way you may remain in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd of flocks is a disgusting thing to the Egyptians."
The Egyptians despised this occupation, probably because Kanaanite sheep-herders (the Hyksos) had enslaved them, so Yosef emphasizes their ownership of the flocks instead of the fact that they care for them. Egyptians also worshiped these animals, and had an aversion to raising them for food. Yet being herdsmen qualifies them for the best land. Up front, the Israelites clearly identify who they are. Pharaoh would be glad to treat them well because of Yosef, but Yosef tells them carefully how to word things to make sure that, rather than seeming to have much in common, they appear distasteful to the Egyptians, so that they will leave them alone and keep them separate and thus they will not be in the thick of pagan influence. This way they could for the first time develop a uniquely Israelite lifestyle with neither the idols of Kanaan nor Egypt to rub shoulders with every day.
CHAPTER 47
1. Then Yosef came in and made it known to Pharaoh, announcing, "My father and brothers, along with their flocks and herds and all that is theirs, have arrived from the land of Kanaan! And here they are in the land of Goshen!"
Yosef was told they could have the best of the land, but Yosef himself chose which part would be best for his family’s flocks as well as keeping them most separate from the influence of the Egyptians, and he presented this information to Pharaoh only after they had already moved there. This way it would be more trouble to relocate them. But he did not live right with them either, still having many duties to care for every day.
2. And he picked five men from among his brothers, and presented them before Pharaoh.
Why five? Possibly so Pharaoh would not decide to put them all to work for him from the start, but there may have been a limit on how many people could have an audience with the Pharaoh at one time. From among his brothers: literally, "from the outskirts of (or least of) his brothers". They may have thus appeared to be less of a threat to Pharaoh and he might be less likely to draft them into his army. Or he may have chosen the five mildest, knowing their tendency to argue, so that Pharaoh would not see them as likely to start fights with his own people.
3. Then Pharaoh said to [Yosef]'s brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they told him, "Your servants are feeders of flocks—both we and our ancestors."
Ancestors: Thus the task of those who are “fathers” in Israel is defined as feeding the flocks. Yosef knew Pharaoh was an astute observer of men, and knew this was what he would ask first. He knew how to find the strengths in people and put them to work in the best positions for them. But there is more to people than their jobs, and when these Israelites were asked “What do you do?”, they had a different concept than the rest of the world would. They did not think in terms of what they did as a livelihood for security. They heard, “What do you take care of?” For what a shepherd does becomes his life. Even when he sleeps, he has to be listening out for anything that might be a danger to the flock. David could not take a leave of absence without finding someone to care for his father’s sheep. If we are part of Israel, our priority is to tend, protect, and nourish YHWH’s flock in one way or another. (R. Webster)
4. And they told Pharaoh, "We have come to settle in the land, because there is no pastureland for the flocks that belong to your servant, for the famine is severe in the land of Kanaan. Therefore, please allow your servants to remain now in the land of Goshen."
Now they went beyond what Yosef had told them to say, showing where their hearts finally were. Though both Pharaoh and Yosef had invited them to come, by their own account they did not come to Egypt for their own sakes, but for their flocks first and foremost. They had livestock that they could eat, but they were more concerned that their flocks have food--a wonderful picture of the shepherd who does not use the sheep to his own advantage. (Y'chezq'El 34:2-10; Yochanan 10:11) YHWH promises that if we love and obey Him, He will provide rain in season and we will have grass for our livestock—so that we can eat and be filled. (Deut. 11:15) If the flock eats, we are filled; our own being filled depends on the whole flock being filled. The world will have feast or famine depending on what we as Israel do. (R. Webster)
5. So the Pharaoh told Yosef, "[So] your father and brothers have come here to you!
6. "The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land; let them remain in the land of Goshen. And if you are aware of any capable men among them, make them chiefs over whatever livestock are mine!"
Capable: or forceful—i.e., men strong enough to work with the large cattle they had, as compared to the smaller flock animals the Israelites cared for. Since it appears that he brought the smallest of his brothers (see note on v. 1), Pharaoh may have been saying, “If there are any among you who are bigger, they can deal with my cattle.” But if the Egyptians despised keepers of flocks, why did Pharaoh have livestock? They might have been used for milk and for plowing. They may have been traded to them in exchange for food by other foreigners. But this Pharaoh may have been one of the Hyksos, a Semitic dynasty that took over Egypt for several generations before the Egyptians won back the rulership (which may be why Exodus begins by mentioning a Pharaoh who was not familiar with Yosef). It may have been only the Egyptians (not the Pharaoh himself) who hated shepherds.
7. Then Yosef brought his father Yaaqov in and presented him to the Pharaoh, and Yaaqov blessed Pharaoh.
Blessed: means “bowed the knee to”. He recognized that he was the one YHWH had appointed to be in authority. But as a father blesses his children by bending down to pay attention to them, Yaaqov is really the one in the position spiritually to pronounce a blessing upon Pharaoh. (v. 10)
8. Then the Pharaoh said to Yaaqov, "How many are the days of the years of your life?"
Yaaqov’s sorrowing may have made him appear many years older than he really was. But the study of mummies has revealed that, due to lung disease from the excessive dust in the desert, Egyptians at this time rarely lived more than 50 years, since, unlike the Delta where Goshen is, Upper Egypt only has a narrow strip of greenery on each side of the Nile protecting it from the desert winds. Most lost their teeth because they were ground down by the sand that was in every bite. This affected their ability to receive nutrition as well. Even the Pharaohs, whose diet was the best of all, commonly died at 30 or 40. Thus, to him, Yaaqov is a very old man, and he expects that much of Yosef’s wisdom came from this man, so he asks this question so that he might impart to him some of his learning.
9. And Yaaqov replied to Pharaoh, "The days of [the] years of my sojournings have been 130 years; few and evil have been the years of my life, and they have not equalled the lengths of my forefathers' lives in their sojournings."
Evil: a play on the very similar Hebrew word for “100” just before it, but in his view, he has wasted too much of his life. He complains about his woes, though 130 is the numerical value of the Hebrew words for the “stairway” to heaven that he had seen in his vision, as well as for the “appointed times” YHWH would give His descendants. He may have therefore thought his own “appointed time” was close at hand. He should have been rejoicing now that he was reunited with his son. He was a prophet, and so he bespoke his own shortfall of years, for he would live 33 years fewer than his father (as the shortening trend seen after Noakh’s flood had not yet stabilized). But why would he answer this generous emperor who has granted him quarter and food in such a curt manner? Because he has lived in the house of Lavan and been drained of his life by one whom he blessed, so he keeps his answer as short as possible, not giving any unnecessary information, so as not to be taken advantage of again. (43:6; compare Proverbs 23:1-3; 25:6; Qoheleth/Eccles. 5:2.)
10. When Yaaqov had blessed Pharaoh, he departed from his presence.
11. Then Yosef settled his father and brothers on property he gave them in the land of Egypt—the best of the land, in the region of Raamses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Commanded: see 45:18. That the name Raamses (later called Pelusium) existed this early discredits the idea that Raamses was the Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus simply because the Israelites were then building a city by that name. The name actually originated from the name of an Egyptian god. Yair Davidi writes, "This was the region traditionally associated with the Hyksos kings”, who are thought to have been Semitic. Yosef may have even been instrumental in establishing this dynasty.
12. And Yosef sustained his father and brothers and all of his father's household with bread for the little ones’ mouths.
Sustained: i.e., through the famine. The rest of the people around them had to buy food.
13. But [before long] there was no bread left in the whole land, because the famine had become exceedingly severe, and both the land of Egypt and the land of Kanaan were languishing because of the famine.
The Nile did not flood as usual, in addition to there being no rain, adds Josephus. Languishing: or depleted.
14. So Yosef collected all the money that was to be found in the land of Egypt and the land of Kanaan in return for the grain that they were buying, and Yosef brought the money into the [treasure] house of Pharaoh.
Money: literally, silver.
15. Then all the silver in both the lands of Egypt and Kanaan ran out, and all the inhabitants of Egypt came to Yosef, saying, "Give us bread!" and "Why should we die right in front of you? For our money has run out."
In front of you: or in your presence. I.e., "We have you here, and you have food; won't you give us some?"
16. So Yosef said, "Give me your livestock, and I will give you bread in exchange for your livestock, if you are out of money."
17. So they brought their livestock in to Yosef, and Yosef gave them bread [in exchange] for the horses, and for the livestock of the fields, and for the livestock of the herds, and for the donkeys. And he gave them adequate bread for that year in exchange for their livestock.
Pharaoh benefited from this, as he now owned all the livestock. But Pharaoh had put Yosef’s brothers in charge of his livestock, so by this move Yosef increased Egypt’s dependence on Israel. He ensured that his brothers had the leverage to remain honored and free to live the separate lives that define them as Israel. (Webster)
18. When that year came to an end, they came to him in the following year and said to him, "We cannot hide from my master the fact that we have neither money nor flocks and herds left, since they have all already gone to my master. Nothing is left before my master except our bodies and our lands.
19. "Why should we perish right in front of your eyes—ourselves along with our soil? Buy us and our land in exchange for bread, and let us—both we and our land—become slaves to Pharaoh. And give us seed so that we may survive and not die, and the land not become desolate."
They now became serfs, even though the seed donated for the reserves had once been theirs. All things were being placed "under Yosef's feet", yet he considered them Pharaoh's. Likewise, when every knee bows to Messiah as king, it is really "to the Father's glory". (Philippians 2:11) After the world is devastated during the Birthpangs of the Messiah, he will acquire everything for the Father, because he will have charge of the only real "bread" left in the world: "From Tzion instruction (torah) will go forth." (Yeshayahu 2:3; compare Amos 8:11) Seed: There may not be enough water for the crops to come to fruition, but having the roots remain intact would at least keep the desertification at bay.
20. Thus Yosef bought all of the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, because everyone in Egypt sold his field, since the famine was so hard on them; thus all the lands became Pharaoh's.
21. And as for the nation, he resettled its people to the cities, from one end of the territory of Egypt to the other—
If they lived in cities rather than among the fields, they were constantly reminded that it was Pharaoh's land they were working, rather than their own. The Assyrians used this same psychological tactic heavily, knowing that a people separated from their land will not feel such a strong bond to it, and those who are resettled in a place they do not know as well will be less able to start an insurrection, because they are not as familiar with the lay of the land and thus do not have a “home court” military advantage like the Maccabees later did, though smaller in number than the Greeks. Since the people no longer needed to be spread out to tend their own flocks or fields, it was easier to administer them and monitor their activities in cities. It was also easier to distribute the food if they all lived close to where the grain was stored, without using up their energy and the animals’ in transporting it to outlying areas, which would also require them to eat more.
22. except that he did not buy the land that belonged to the priests, because Pharaoh had allocated a share for the priests, and they regularly ate their prescribed share which Pharaoh had apportioned to them. Thus they did not need to sell their land.
This was similar to the later Israelite levitical laws, in which the priests received a percentage of all the people’s crops. If this Pharaoh was one of the Hyksos, he may have recognized the inherent priesthood of Yaaqov’s family as descendants of Shem (whom many identify with the Melchitzedeq of ch. 14). This special status may have been granted to the house of Levi early on, since Aharon was free to go out into the wilderness to meet Moshe after the rest of Israel was enslaved. (Ex. 4:14, 27)
23. Then Yosef said to the people, "See? I have acquired both you and your land today in exchange for food. But now, here is seed for you, so go sow the land.
24. "And when you gather in your harvest, you must give one fifth to Pharaoh, and the other four fifths can be your own, for seeding the field and as food for yourselves, and for those in your houses, and for your little ones."
Thus although he owned everything and imposed this double tithe, Yosef (on behalf of Pharaoh) was reasonable and allowed the people to eat the fruits of their own labors. They may be the first sharecroppers, again showing Yosef’s wisdom, which still benefitted people who lived millennia later.
25. But they said, "You have saved our lives! Only let us find favor in the eyes of my master, and we will become slaves to Pharaoh."
Compare how Yosef’s brothers treated him when he told them of his dreams of dominion over them, and how these people treated Yosef—how he rose to power with no jockeying for position. No one had any problem with his reigning over them. Even when he sold them to Pharaoh as slaves, they appreciated him! (Compare how both David—1 Shmu’el 10:21; 2 Shm. 5:1; 19:11--and Yeshua were treated by their own brothers and by the other tribes or nations.)
26. So Yosef made it a law until this day over the land of Egypt, that one fifth is for Pharaoh, the only exception being the land of the priests; it did not become Pharaoh's.
Until this day: that is, Moshe's day, as he would know well.
27. But Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen, and they had holdings in it, and they were fruitful, and multiplied greatly.
Yosef consolidated power for Pharaoh in such a way as no Pharaoh before him had been able to. But none of the Israelites' land was sold to Pharaoh; it was his gift to them. They were the ruler’s relatives. Everyone else in Egypt was a slave to Pharaoh now. Similarly, of all nations, only Israel was given an eternal deed to its permanent Land. But the fact that they “had holdings” was both a blessing and a pitfall. They may have begun to grasp their possessions too tightly and let them define who they were. Those with the most wealth usually end up being the greatest slaves of all—to the market, their bank accounts, their stockholders, and the upkeep of their grand houses and cars. The things own them rather than serving them. Thus they were already opening the door to the slavery that was to come. The Book of Yasher as extant today says they allowed themselves to be gradually sold into slavery because they became indebted in order to grow wealthy, setting the stage for the Exodus.
INTRODUCTION: What do you do when you can no longer “cover your tracks”, but YHWH is holding your feet to the fire—when you are forced to own up to something you did long ago and thought you had gotten away with it? The sobering fact is that He does not forget. BaMidbar/Numbers 32:23 tells us,“Be sure your sin will find you.” (Compare Luke 12:3.) Justice will catch up, because nothing beats His surveillance. Knowing this should always make us think twice before doing anything we think is hidden. But Yosef’s brothers did not have this luxury any longer, and the worst dilemma imaginable to them has now come upon them. Often YHWH brings us to that point just to see if we will admit that we, and not someone else, are to blame; sometimes that is the end of the battle, though there are no guarantees. To what extent will we be willing to go to make things right?
But what do you do when you were the one wronged, but it is becoming obvious that there are extenuating circumstances? Not that the people who did you wrong are any less guilty, but what they did was nonetheless used, in YHWH’s sovereignty, to make other necessary things fall into place so that you can accomplish something even more important, which you would never have had the connections or power to accomplish otherwise. Would we take that into consideration? Should that change the outcome when revenge—or even justice—is finally within our reach? Would we insist on making the most of the open door we might never get again, or could we leave vengeance in YHWH’s hands and trust that He is more skilled than we at resolving the very frayed loose ends? What if we forgive, and then those people never change? Would we be guilty of failing to fix things when we could have? Worse, what if they commit a more heinous crime because we left them on the street? Would we be found just as guilty as they?
These are the huge questions the players in this epic drama are faced with as we approach the conclusion of this phase of the story:
TORAH PORTION
VaYigash
(Genesis 44:18 - 47:27)
The Only Way Out
The last Torah portion ended with a real cliff-hanger: the sons of Yaaqov were “busted” and there appeared to be no way out. We might tend to respond with “Only a miracle could save them now.”
But wait. They had just realized that Elohim, the worker of miracles, was the One who had exposed their guilt! So why would He provide them with a miracle? He was the judge!
What finally does get them out of their bind is their own actions. Yehudah steps up (the essential meaning of yigash) and again (as in last week’s portion, 42:37; 43:9) bears the risk of daring to try to get them out of this terrible dilemma. He offers to place himself in his brother’s precarious position, showing that he loves his brother as himself—the very reverse of how the brothers had treated Yosef, and therefore the perfect reparation for it.
I suspect that this is one reason Yehudah was the one Yaaqov later sent ahead to prepare the way before them all (46:28)—a reward we are again seeing his tribe receive in our own day. I believe it is the reason the scepter of Israel was given to Yehudah, and also why Yehudah was allowed to be the tribe that preserved the Torah and its associated culture through the centuries when all the tribes were in exile. It has borne the brunt of the world’s attacks on Israel, because it has been the tribe that remained visible while the rest got lost in the crowd and nearly completely assimilated with the nations. So it deserves special honor in our day when the other tribes are returning. Unlike the prodigal son, that brother did not squander his inheritance.
The brothers could have tried fighting back, but how would they have overcome Pharaoh’s army, the greatest in the world at that time, when they were out of favor with Elohim?
Yaaqov had had to finally admit there was no way he could still hang onto a security that he himself had devised (42:38; 43:2), but had to risk what in his eyes was everything (all that remained of the only woman he had really wanted to marry) if any of them were to survive. Likewise, the brothers recognize that they must lay their cards on the table and plea-bargain, because they could not deny their guilt before YHWH. That had to admit that He was the one in charge; they were not. But it was this very humbling of ourselves and confession—surrendering to the position that, ultimately, He had put us in, and deciding to do whatever was necessary to fix the problem we (and no one else) had caused—that got us out of the mess.
And look where else it got them—the highest position. As Yeshua said, “He who exalts himself will be brought low, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mat. 23:12) YHWH isn’t out to ruin us, but only to make us what we were meant to be rather than the infinitesimally-smaller versions of ourselves and our callings that we could come up with.
Study questions:
1. What was it that made Yosef finally realize it was time to let his brothers know who he was? (Gen. 44:33-34)
2. What enabled Yosef to overcome resentment toward his brothers? (45:4-7)
3. What finally took away his brothers’ fear of opening up to him? (45:15)
4. Why do you think Yosef felt confident about promising things to his brothers (45:9-10) before Pharaoh told him he could (45:17ff)?
5. Did Yaaqov follow Pharaoh’s recommendation in 45:20? (6:6) Why or why not?
6. Why was Yosef’s last charge to his brothers before their departure (45:24) necessary? Do you think they managed to do what he asked?
7. Why would YHWH appear to Yaaqov to tell him to do what he was already in the process of doing? (46:1-3)
8. What might 47:3 tell you about what it means to be an Israelite?
9. What trend does Yaaqov describe in 47:9? Physically, why might this be occurring? What other reason is behind it? (See Genesis 6:3)
10. How might this Torah portion play out as a prophecy about the rapprochement of Yosef’s descendants with those of Yaaqov’s other children?
Companion Passage:
The Sidewalk
for kids
Yosef told his brothers, “Elohim sent on me ahead to make sure you would survive… You are not the ones who sent me here; Elohim is.” (Genesis 45:7-8)
So does that mean it didn’t matter what his brothers had done to him?
Yosef saw YHWH’s hand in the things he went through after the pieces of the puzzle started coming together, but probably not before that. He went through some really bad things because of how his brothers treated him, and he was right to want them to realize what their terrible choices had done to him. So he pushed them into a corner to test whether they were really sorry for what they had done.
Yosef even waited until he saw that his brothers were willing to take the blame and to take the punches instead of letting another brother be hurt, before he ever said, “It’s okay; it worked out for the best.”
“All things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28) is a verse we quote often. But that’s not a blanket statement. We shouldn’t forget the rest of the verse: “…to those who love Elohim and are called according to His purpose.” If we aren’t cooperating with YHWH, but are doing what we know is wrong, we shouldn’t expect things to go well for us. YHWH will do what He needs to do to remind us of who we belong to and that we could be much better people than we are allowing ourselves to be.
So there are two sides to bad things that occur, especially when they are the result of our doing something we knew was wrong. YHWH didn’t let them off the hook; when they started having trouble in Egypt, they knew it was because He remembered what they had done, even if it was 22 years before.
One the other hand, Yosef kept being the best he could be, even in the worst places—like slavery and jail. He did love YHWH and he was convinced that YHWH’s purposes were good, even though it didn’t always look that way. And eventually he was much more than rewarded for the sacrifices he made to keep doing the right thing even when it would have been much easier not to.
And when the time came when someone really smart was needed to solve a big problem, there was somebody ready. He had learned from the things he had gone through and knew how to bring order and cheer into some really messy places.
The good that came from his very wise plan to get ready for the famine did affect Yosef himself positively, but YHWH might not have done all of that just to make him a big shot. It was for the sake of lots of other people that he was put in that great, high position.
Yes, YHWH loved him, and he did deserve this big “raise”, but it takes a really special person to not become proud of himself and ignore other people’s problems once really great things start coming to him. Yosef couldn’t do that when he was young. He seems to have been bragging about his dreams that suggested he was really great and the way his father treated him better than all his brothers. Part of why he had to go through all of those bad things was to make him into the person who was ready to really have people bow down to him, in reality, not just in a dream.
So when bad things occur, stop and ask yourself: “Is this because I did something wrong and need to fix it?” If not, remind yourself that even if you did right, the world can be a very bad place sometimes, and YHWH uses even the things mean people do to make us into the kind of people who can solve the biggest problems. (Psalm 76:10)
It takes a really hot fire to get the impurities out of gold or silver, but it makes them even more valuable. And it takes rough sandpaper to make something smooth or even more shiny than it could ever have been without it.
Some things we go through are not pleasant at the time, but trust YHWH; He knows what it takes to make us into the people who can handle what is coming later, which we can’t see but He can. He wants us to be in shape to not just be a better person ourselves, but to make things better for everyone around us, because YHWH cares for them too.
The Renewal of
VA-YIGASH
Here Yehudah does just what Moshe tried to do, and what Yeshua actually succeeded in doing: he substitutes himself for the guilty one. (Gen. 44:33) And that is what convinces Yosef that his brothers are ready to know they still have a brother. This time the guilt was a setup, but Yehudah didn’t know that, and acted on the assumption that it was real. But there is a real guilt that must be addressed.
Ever since the Father lost His first son (“Adam, where are you?”), He has been without His crowning creation. Humanity is no longer what He made, but is only a shell of what YHWH wanted in this world. The closest we could come was a nation kept in line by strictly-defined customs that made us an example to the other nations of what righteousness looks like. But we messed up that picture badly. If Israel, now called His firstborn (because the one actually born first was gone), went unredeemed, the whole human race as YHWH intended it would be completely lost. What depth of sorrow that would cause to our Father!
So Yeshua, though exempt from the punishment himself, stood in the gap so the holy people might again be without guilt and the Father could have His special treasure back.
Because he laid himself on the line, Yehudah was given a great and delightful surprise—the restoration of his long-lost brother! And likewise, Yeshua gets some big bonuses because of what he did: “When You shall make his soul an offering for sin, he … shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of YHWH shall prosper in his hand. He shall see [the results] of his soul’s labor, and be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. So will I divide him a portion with the great, … because he has poured out his soul unto death.” (Yeshayahu 53:10-12)
And, “It is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Yaaqov, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also make you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my deliverance to the very end of the earth. Thus says YHWH, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to the one whom men despise and the nation abhors…: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall bow in homage, because of YHWH Who is faithful … and He shall choose you.” (Yeshayahu 49:6-7)
YHWH extended the benefit of what Yeshua did beyond just Israel, so He gets back not only Israel, but much more of the human race as well—just as Yaaqov got not just Binyamin but also Yosef back!
When Yosef’s brothers realized they could be in trouble, he comforted them: “And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves, that you sold me here; for Elohim sent me before you to preserve life… So now it was not you that sent me here, but Elohim.” (45:5-8) Paul echoes this in Romans 8:28: “All things work together for good to them who love Elohim, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
Once he saw that they were really repentant, Yosef had a “heart of compassion”, exemplifying an attitude that is often implied in the Tanakh, but is directly commanded in the Renewed Covenant: “Let all bitterness, rage, anger, clamoring for attention, and injurious words, be put away from yourselves along with all ill-will. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as YHWH for Messiah’s sake, forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31, 32) And there are many such commands, because now the power has also been granted to not just do outward actions but to have a changed heart that wants to obey.
Like Yosef, Paul also told a congregation where someone had done really wrong but had been disciplined, “Such a person has been punished enough. So instead you ought to forgive him and comfort him, lest he be swallowed up with too much sorrow. I urge you, make sure he knows you love him.” (2 Cor. 2:6-8)
Yosef even reminded his brothers not to fight on their way to get their Father! (45:24) Likewise, Paul says, “Be at peace among yourselves.” (1 Thess. 5:13) Not such a terrible thing, is it? Would you call that legalism? “His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 Yoch. 5:3)
Becoming Part of
His Story
The history of redemption is the story that matters to all of us; none of us can afford to write it off as irrelevant. So YHWH has made it as interesting as possible. The Torah has a flair for drama, for YHWH knows how to tell a story. The cliffhanger from which we are resuming this week shows that YHWH’s acting within history has just the right measures of plot and twist, suspense and resolution, to keep us all fascinated by what really is “His story”.
Yosef perceived YHWH’s hand in his own life, with all of its turns and vicissitudes, and recognized that he was part of a story much bigger than just his own. He was really just one of the characters, along with his brothers, while YHWH was really the Author. “It was Elohim who sent me here—to preserve life… Elohim sent me on ahead of you to ensure a means for survival… You are not the ones who sent me here; Elohim is.” (Gen. 45:5-8)
So he saw the importance of acting along with, and not against, the Author. YHWH was making provision, so he made provision. He was a foreshadowing of Yeshua, who did even better, having retained the full connection to the heavenly realm and “only did what he saw the Father doing”. (Yochanan 5:19, 30) YHWH showed compassion, so he showed compassion. Even when he was in a position to have a complete monopoly over the whole land of Egypt, he only really required 20% from the people, when he could have easily gotten away with commandeering 100%. (47:13-25)
Yeshua said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of Elohim.” (Matithyahu 5:9) Sons are those who act like their Father. He gave another example: “Love your enemies, bless the ones who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray on behalf of those who abuse and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven, because He causes the sun to rise on [both] bad people and decent [ones], and sends rain for [both] the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Mat. 5:44-45)
Yosef learned how to do that, and he blessed the brothers who had cursed him by their actions. Where do you see places to bring YHWH’s character into your situation by lining up with what He is like? That is truly the way to pull truth from one realm into another—to put our hands and feet where our mouth is when we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Mat. 6:10)
The Missing Factor
in Our Calculations
“A gentle answer turns away the heat [of wrath], but offensive words stir up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)
It seems Yehudah knew this, and as the rhetoric heats up on both sides today, we would all do well to remember this important insight. Remember, “the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of YHWH”. (Yaaqov/James 1:20) We simply have to know what He wants done and do it. It may be good to be angry at what angers Him, but that’s not what gets the job done. (James 1:20) He calls us to overcome evil not with more evil, but with good. If we choose to operate His way, He’ll supply the empowerment.
Only a few people have been willing to go as far as Yehudah did (44:33) in laying down his life for his brother. We can count them on one hand: Moshe (Ex. 32:32), Yeshua (Yochanan 10:15-17), and Sha’ul/Paul (Romans 9:3). Kefa (Peter) intended to do so (Yoch. 13:37), but did not follow through, though he did succeed when he was allowed a second try. Sydney Carton did so in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities—“It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done”--but though highly-motivating, that is still fiction. Yehudah’s was a “living sacrifice”—literally giving his life, not his death (i.e., not a martyrdom but placing the rest of his life into a brother’s service so another brother might also survive).
Thanks to his sincere self-humbling, Yehudah did not need to do what he offered. It was enough to show Yosef his brothers could genuinely repent. But Yehudah did not know this yet; he fully expected to spend the rest of his days in Egypt. Later he did end up doing that, but as an honored guest, not a slave.
His father was even more the pessimist than he. He tells Pharaoh that his days had been troublesome, and that his lifetime fell very far short of his ancestors’. (47:9) But that was no reflection on what YHWH thought of him; he must have forgotten the curve by which everyone’s lifespans were shortening in the centuries just following the Flood. Even Yosef’s life, a much higher percentage of which was in luxury, was far shorter than Yaaqov’s. (Joseph Dillow, in The Waters Above, [pp. 157-182], attributes this not directly to increased levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun upon the collapse of the shielding vapor canopy, as one might expect, but the increasing ratio of carbon 14 to carbon 12 since the canopy broke up, and its absorption into our bodies, speeding the disruption of biochemical processes because of its proximity to our DNA, and thus more mutations causing molecular dysfunction with each generation.)
But Yaaqov had long had this outlook: He expected a lot of flak over the incident at Sh’khem (34:30), and maybe he would have gotten it had YHWH not been part of the equation (35:5). But He was, and that is the antidote to our pessimism.
Maybe this is why, unlike Yehudah, Yaaqov had two names. We again see his heart freeze up because Yaaqov can’t believe the truth, but gasps and recovers his breath when “Israel’s viewpoint”—the one that aligns with reality as YHWH sees it--takes precedence. (45:26-28)
Now again, his expectation of never being comforted about Yosef (37:35) was overridden by YHWH’s great kindness. Yet even when reunited with Yosef, he says, “You’re alive, so now I can die!” (46:30) What?...No, no!
I suppose he expected his joy to again be short-lived and decided that, if so, he’d rather die while still so contented. But why bring death into this moment at all? It was far off, and YHWH’s poetic justice could again overcome the “Yaaqov viewpoint”. He had a lot longer life left than he anticipated: another full 17 years with Yosef--the other bookend to the common years of their two lives. (37:2)
So don’t sell yourself short by choosing the natural reaction, be it anger, which really accomplishes nothing, or the pessimism that forgets that when times are hardest, “He supplies more grace”, which means both favor and empowerment. (4:6 from the other Yaaqov--James)
Keep YHWH in the equation!
Still Alive
“Who can lay any charge to YHWH’s elect? [Only] Elohim who [Himself is the One who] justifies. [So] who is there to condemn? [None other than] Yeshua the Messiah…[the very same one] who intercedes for us.” (Rom. 8:33-34) Our judge Himself provided us with the best of defense attorneys—and the fine with which to pay Him!
But if the one who is judging us is the very one against whom we committed the worst crime, who is there to defend us then? That is the situation Yosef’s brothers now found themselves in—cornered, with no place to turn.
They recognize how comprehensive his authority is: “You are just like Pharaoh himself” (44:18)–a perfect picture of how Yeshua relates to YHWH: so fully in tandem with Him that to see one is essentially —though not literally—to see the other. (Yochanan 1:18; 14:9) He is “a master in all of His house, and a governor in the entire land” (which in Hebrew also means “earth”— which will be the Father’s “bonus gift” to him, per Isa. 49:6; that divinely-designed language is full of such double entendre!)
Yosef seems to be a “type” of both Yeshua, on whom his brothers who pierced him will look and mourn (Z’kharyah 12:10) and of his (Yosef’s) own descendants, who have been unknown to their brothers, the descendants of Yehudah, looking for so long like Gentiles. (Hoshea 7:8) Might that rapprochement also occur two years into another seven-year period of hardship, while there is still substantial suffering to be endured but mitigated by the excitement of such recognition of and reunion with long-lost family?
And what is it he says, after they are so shaken that the one they so mistreated or forgot about is still alive, well, and thriving? It's “Is my father still alive?” Yeshua always deflects our attention from himself to the Father, and his main concern is that our connection with the One he called “my Father and yours, my Elohim and yours” (Yoch.20:17) is intact.
Yosef’s very next words are, “Won’t you please come close to me?” (45:4) He brings up the facts from the past but immediately anticipates their terror at their realization of the position he is now in to not just rub in the fact that they have indeed bowed to him as in his dreams so long ago, but to bring on them the severe “karma” they deserve. But he sees they have experienced enough of this to have a true change of heart, and when Yeshua sees his brothers in his very own Davidic family mourning for how they wrote him out of their story and essentially thus assassinated his character, he will undoubtedly be more focused on the family’s reunion than on getting back at them for how they have treated him and in the process their Father, whose choice of whom to put in authority they rejected, thus essentially rejecting His authority too. No wonder Yosef asked, “Is my father still alive?”
His attitude is more like David’s in another foreshadowing of that great reunion of Messiah with his family: a slight chiding since they should have known better--“Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house?” but then an embrace—"Are you not of my bone and my flesh?” (2 Shmuel 19:11-12)
When they finally take the good news back to their common father, we see more distinctly than anywhere the interplay between his two natures--Yaaqov and Israel–in one of the clearest-ever examples of the contrast between the flesh and the spirit: “His heart fainted because he did not believe…” (45:26) Paul explains, “The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit, for they are foolish to him.” (1 Cor. 2:14) He has no receptors in him anymore, and it is like gibberish to him. How could such things be, if they are not in his experience?
“But when he saw…the spirit of …Yaaqov revived, and Israel said, ‘It is enough…’” (45:27-28) He was still alive!
This was his true self: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please YHWH, but you are not in the flesh; you are in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you… Though the body is dead because of sin, …He who raised Messiah from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies as well through His spirit.” (Rom. 8:8-11) “If you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if through the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13), as Yaaqov discovered, and very soon he heard YHWH’s voice clearly. (46:2)
“The instruction of YHWH is perfect, restoring the soul.” (Psalm 19:7)
The very same option is available to us. Use it!
Foreshadowings
This portion is replete with examples of the Jewish adage that the lives of the patriarchs foreshadow the history of their descendants, and one of them is reflected in the haftarah: the still-future reunification of very estranged brothers.
The Midrash that Yosef (Joseph)’s brothers brought an army to fight the Egyptians does not fit with the tone of Yehudah (Judah)’s attitude in Torah when he gently, humbly pleads with the potentate he does not yet know is his brother. He appeals to his humanity in hopes that he can find sympathy in his heart since he must have, after all, had a father at some time too. (Gen. 44:18-34) There is none of the confrontational arrogance of Yehudah and the other brothers seen in Yasher/Jasher 54. That book gives us some valuable added information, but parts like this sound like imaginative attempts to fill in seeming gaps that YHWH (through Moshe) saw fit to leave in the biblical account, not considering the “missing” details to be essential. This one seems to mischaracterize Yehudah, father of the Jews, the royal tribe (49:8-10) from which David’s line came, including the son who will return as Messiah. In Genesis, Yehudah instead showed maturity and servant leadership. Yaaqov recognized it and sent him to be the trailblazer (46:28) after YHWH reassured him it was okay to temporarily leave the Land He had promised them and that He would even accompany them in their descent into another land (46:3-4)—for Scripture always depicts leaving the Land He gave to this family as “going down”.
Yaaqov laments the shortening of lifespans (47:9), the new normal after the Flood changed the atmosphere until by Moshe’s time, 120 was already the limit (Deut. 31:2), and still the average kept getting shorter (Joshua 24:29). Moshe himself only held out 70 or 80 as the life expectancy for most (Psalm 90:10) and the graph has pretty much settled there.
But after he heard Yosef was alive, “the spirit of Yaaqov their father revived. And Israel said…” (45:27-28) So the spirit of Yaaqov—his true self—speaks as Israel. Now again, a restoration of the spirit of Israel is already in progress. And like Yaaqov, YHWH has already sent Yehudah ahead of the rest of us yet again in modern times.
The haftarah (Ezk. 37:21-25) affirms that the other tribes will indeed follow Yehudah home to another grand and tearful reunion (cf. Jer. 50:4) after millennia of separation and exile: “‘YHWH says, ‘Watch! I am taking the descendants of Israel from among the nations… from every side onto their own ground. Then I will make them one nation in the Land…of Israel, and one king will be king to them all. They will never again…be divided into two kingdoms…They will dwell on the Land I have given My servant Yaaqov…forever, with David, My servant, as their leader forever.’” It’s no “Zionist conspiracy” that the ruler of the whole world will be a Jew; YHWH is the One who will accomplish this restoration we now see beginning.
Yehudah tells Yosef, “You are just like Pharaoh.” (44:18) Yet he was not Pharaoh. Yeshua said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Yoch. 14:9), though the Father cannot be seen. (Yoch./Jn. 1:18; 5:37) Yosef describes himself as “lord over all [Pharaoh’s] house.” (45:8) Likewise, “the Father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the Son...Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” (Yoch 5:22-23; 13:20; 15:23)
The very thing Yosef offered his brothers (45:9-11) is what Pharaoh himself invited them to do. (45:17-20) They thought alike; Yosef anticipated what Pharaoh would do. Yeshua made similar offers on behalf of YHWH: “I will ask the Father and He will give you...” (Yoch. 14:16) “If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him.” (Yoch. 12:26) Yet Yosef carried out none of his promises until Pharaoh ordered him to do what he had in mind. (46:31-47:6) “The Son can do nothing of himself, but only what he sees the Father doing.” (Yoch. 5:19, 30; 8:28) “I speak whatever the Father says to me.” (Yoch. 12:50)
Pharaoh offered Yosef’s family responsibility for more than just their own flocks. (47:6) YHWH said it was too small a thing for Yeshua to shepherd the two flocks of Israel (Yoch. 10:16); He would also set him over other nations. (Isa. 49:6)
Yosef continues to foreshadow the prophecies about Messiah as he gradually brings everything the Egyptians have into not his own but Pharaoh’s ownership. (47:14, 16, 20); ultimately even the people themselves come to be owned by him (47:23-25). Shades of 1 Cor. 15:24-28, which says the Son must put all other rulers and powers—even death—under his feet, but after that he will hand the Kingdom back over to the Father and be subject to Him “so YHWH may be all in all”.
The reparation of the broken relationship is encapsulated in a comment we could almost overlook--that “his brothers talked with him” (45:15)—something they could not do when they hated him. (37:4) The day Messiah’s brothers “talk with him”—and weep--in the same way (Zech. 14:10) will be nothing short of “life from the dead”! (Rom. 11:15)
