The Messiah typified by Joseph
(according
to Genesis)
Chapters: 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,
42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48.
Chapter 37
1 And Ya‛aqob dwelt in the land of
his father’s sojournings, in the
2 This is the genealogy of Ya‛aqob. Yosĕph, being
seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the young man
was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Yosĕph
brought an evil report of them to his father.
The chapter starts with a contrast
between Esau, who dwelt in
Working together with his
half-brothers, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, in
feeding Jacob's flocks, he brought to his father the report of their bad
practices. If these things were of a serious nature, it may have been necessary
for Joseph to do this. What the evil was we are not informed; but Jacob's
full-grown sons were now far from the paternal eye, and prone, as it seems, to
give way to temptation. Many scandals come out to view in the chosen family.
On the other hand, we know that the
Lord Yeshua was always right in communing with his Father about the evils of
his brothers according to the flesh and often he exposed what was in their
hearts, openly making manifest evil secret thoughts: “And lo, certain of the scribes said within themselves,
‘This one is blaspheming’. And Yeshua, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why
are you thinking evil things in your hearts?”
(Matt 9:3-4)
3 And Yisra’ĕl loved Yosĕph more than
all his children, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a
long, varicolored robe.
4 But when his brothers saw that their father
loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and were not able to speak
peaceably to him.
God's love for his Son is
necessarily unique. When Elohim's Son became incarnate, and was about to begin
his public ministry, the heavens were opened
and the voice of the Father was heard saying: "This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt
3:17).
In Col 1:13 the apostle called Yeshua
υιος της αγαπης αυτου, Son of his [Elohim's] love.
The garment
of many colours Jacob made for Joseph is typical of the many
features of the glories of the Lord Yeshua. From a comparison of 2 Sam 13:18 we
learn that it was a mark of honour, singling out the wearer as one of noble
birth. How appropriate therefore as an adumbration of
Messiah Yeshua! He, too, was marked off from all his Jewish brothers, marked
off as one of noble birth, marked off by outward signs of peculiar distinction
and honour.
Shortly before his royal entry in
Jerusalem, he spoke to the crowd one of his many parables, thus starting: “A man of noble birth traveled to a distant land to
secure kingly power for himself and to return.” (Luke 19:12).
For
them who are interested in the doctrine of gematria:
The
NV (numerical value) of kethoneth passim, robe of many colours,
is 1060. So it cannot be by chance that Joshua 16:4 has exactly that NV:
So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
That scripture, with its value 1060, reminds us powerfully to Joseph's
first birthright. He was the first son by Jacob’s actual wife, Rachel. That is
why Joseph’s Antitype, Yeshua, in Col 1:15 is called: Firstborn of all creation.
In Israel, the first birthright of Joseph was reflected in his receiving
a double inheritance in the form of the two tribes Manasseh and Ephraim.
Joseph had obtained those two sons by Asenath, his pagan wife.
Obviously, we then think of Yeshua's marriage contract with his (Christian)
Wife-congregation, which is of mostly pagan origin.
In that context, Joseph's two sons remind us forcefully to the double
part the Israel of Elohim is going to receive on earth, as is prophetically shown
in Zechariah 9:12 >> I will repay to you, O
woman, a double portion.
But there is more to
remark about that kethoneth
passim.
Since Joseph was the seventh
son of the two wives, Leah and Rachel together, we obviously are allowed to
refer to the seventh day of Elohim's "Creation week",
the world as it was then given to man and afterwards appeared multicolour in
appearance:
The Garden of Eden with the Adamitic
fall; the Flood; the Confusion of tongues, and subsequent the eras of the
Patriarchs, the Law, the aeon of his own Congregational Body, and finally his
parousia (End time presence), followed by his Messianic Millennium Reign.
However, the Messiah does not just
start leading that final appearance of the Seventh ‘Day. In Hebrews 1:2 we read
about him [Elohim's] Son whom he appointed
heir of all things; by whom also he made the aeons.
From Proverbs 8, where the Son is
introduced to us as the personified Wisdom, we learn that YHWH Elohim used him
– he himself being the Firstborn of all
creation (Col 1:15; Rev 3:14) - in
creating all other things. In the verses 22-23 and 30-31 consequently we hear
him saying:
“YHWH himself produced me
as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago. From
ancient times I was installed, from the start, from times earlier than the
earth… Then I came beside him as a master worker. I was the one he was especially
fond of day by day; I being glad before him all the time. I rejoiced over his
habitable earth, and the things I was especially fond of were with the sons of
men”.
In Gen 37:3 the LXX
[Septuagint] renders kethoneth passim [the garment of many colours] with χιτωνα ποικιλον.
In Ephesians 3:10-11 we
read accordingly about the Son:
So that now to the rulers
and the authorities in the heavenly places, through the Congregation [of which the Son is
Head], might
be made known the greatly diversified wisdom of God [η πολυποικιλος σοφια του θεου], according to the eternal
purpose that he formed in the Messiah, Yeshua.
However, the love of Jacob for Joseph
drew out the bitter animosity of his brothers. Of course Joseph was not to
blame for this; it was Jacob’s love which brought out the heart’s enmity of
these men. Joseph then, made manifest both his father’s love and at the same
time the hatred of his brothers. And exactly that was what Messiah Yeshua did
during his ministry, especially among his Jewish brothers: these two things,
revealing the Father’s affectionate love, at the same time exposing the enmity
of his Jewish relatives. The way how he addressed them we are hearing in John
8:37-45
“ I know that you are
Abraham’s offspring. But you are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no
progress among you. I speak the things I have seen while with my Father,
but you do the things you have heard from your father.”
In answer they said to
him: “Our father is Abraham.”
Yeshua said to them: “If
you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But
now you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I
heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your
father.”
They said to him: “We
were not born from immorality; we have one Father, God.”
Yeshua said to them: “If
God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I have
not come of my own initiative, but that One sent me. Why do you not understand
what I am saying? Because you cannot listen to my word. You are from your
father the Devil, and you wish to do the desires of your father. That one was a
murderer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth
is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own
disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie. Because I, on the
other hand, tell you the truth, you do not believe me”.
5 And Yosĕph dreamed a dream, and told it to
his brothers. So they hated him even more.
6 And he said to them,
“Please listen to this dream which I have dreamed:
7 See, we were binding sheaves in the midst of
the field, and see, my sheaf rose up and also stood up. And see, your sheaves
stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed
reign over us? Shall you indeed rule over us?” So they hated him even more for
his dreams and for his words.
9 And he dreamed still
another dream and related it to his brothers, and said, “See, I have dreamed
another dream, and see, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to
me.”
10 And he related it to his father
and his brothers. And his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this
dream that you have dreamed? Shall we, your mother and I and your brothers,
indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”
11 And his brothers envied him, but
his father guarded the word.
YHWH Elohim did not only send the
dreams to Joseph, but manifestly in his sovereign wisdom, he also caused Joseph
to tell them to his brothers, only thereby increasing their hatred toward him.
As likewise the Lord Yeshua told the Pharisees: "I
tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matth 26:64).
In Joseph's first dream he tells his
brothers that he and they were binding sheaves of grain in the field: his sheaf
arose and stood erect, and those of his brothers all bowed down to his sheaf.
The meaning is clear: the brothers would yet bow to Joseph's authority, which
later on they actually did as Gen 42:6 tells us: Now
Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold to all the people
of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces
to the ground.
Of course, the most vital lesson
here is that all Israel will yet bow to the Lord Yeshua, whom they have
despised and hated. At the time Joseph's brothers considered it ridiculous that
he would ever have dominion over them, and without doubt most of the present
Jews keep it impossible that they will ever bow down to Yeshua, recognizing him
as their true Messiah. Nevertheless, they will be confronted with the
fulfilment of the prophecy in Isaiah 9
For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon
his shoulder; and his name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of
Eternity, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there
shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to
uphold it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of YHWH of hosts will perform this.
It will be exactly as Gabriel
announced to Mary:
The angel Gabriel was
sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a
virgin promised in marriage to a man named Joseph of David’s house, and
the name of the virgin was Mary. And coming in, the angel said to her:
“Greetings, you highly favored one, the Lord is with you.”
But she was deeply
disturbed at his words and tried to understand what kind of greeting this might
be. So the angel said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found
favor with God. And look! you will become pregnant and give birth to a
son, and you are to name him Yeshua. This one will be great and will be called
Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his
father, and he will rule as King over the house of Jacob forever, and there
will be no end to his Kingdom.”
But Mary said to the
angel: “How is this to be, since I am having no intercourse with a man?” In
answer the angel said to her: “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the
Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason the one who is born will be
called holy, God’s Son.
(Luke 1:26-35)
The second dream seems to have
awakened thoughts of questioning in his brothers minds. When he told them and
also told his father that he dreamed that the sun and moon and eleven stars
bowed down to him, his father rebuked him, evidently feeling it was pride on
Joseph's part that occasioned the dream, for he realized that the implication
was plain that both he and Rachel and his eleven children would bow down to
Joseph.
However, what Joseph dreamed and
foretold was nothing less than his future sovereignty. The dream indicated, in
reality, a future dual sovereign capacity: The first dream concerned "the
field," which pointed to Yeshua’s earthly dominion;
but the second dream related to the sun, the moon and the stars, and tells, in
type, of the heavenly dominion of the Messiah. As he himself
told his disciples after his resurrection: All
authority was given to me in heaven and upon the earth (Matth
28:18).
In this respect Ephesians 1:10 is
very revealing.
There we read about Elohim’s purpose
in the Messiah. It is his pleasure to have an
administration [οικονομια]
of the fullness of time, to unite all things under one head in the Messiah; the
things concerning heaven and the things in earth, in him.
Messiah Yeshua is to be the supreme Head of all.
However, at this present time the heavens (or heavenlies) are still in revolt
against YHWH Elohim. Within that sphere "invisible" wicked spirits in the heavenlies are
opposing Christians. They have a struggle against
principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of this darkness,
against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly realms (Eph
6:12). Fortunately however, these creatures will all completely be subjected to
Elohim's dear Son, as was also foreshadowed in Joseph's second dream.
The prophetic value of Joseph's two
dreams is also powerfully expressed in the Philippians Letter, where the spirit
led Paul to paint the lofty elevation of Yeshua after first he had deeply
humbled himself to serve his human brothers here on earth:
Let that mental attitude
be in you that [was] also in Messiah Yeshua, who, existing in Elohim's form,
considered no robbery to be equal to Elohim, but emptied himself, having taken
a slave’s form, having become in likeness of men. And having been found in
fashion as man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death, even
death of a torture stake. Therefore also Elohim exalted him high and kindly
gave him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Yeshua every
knee should bend, of those in heaven and those on earth and those underground, and every tongue should
confess openly that Lord [is] Yeshua Messiah, to glory of Elohim [the]
Father.
But his brothers envied him.
Did this not indicate that they were
apprehensive that Joseph would have such a place of authority? We know too that
it was not only unbelief on the part of the Jewish leaders that moved their
rejection of Yeshua as their Messiah, but also envy: For Pilate was aware that out of envy they had handed him
over (Matth 27:18).
12 And his brothers went to feed
their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph:
“Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I send you to
them.” So he said to him: “Here I am.”
14 And he said to him: “Please go and see if it is well
with your brothers and well with the sheep, and bring back word to me.” So he
sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
15 And a certain man found him, and see, he was
wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying: “What do you seek?”
16 And he said: “I am seeking my brothers. Please inform
me where they are feeding their sheep.”
17 And the man said: “They have left here, for I heard
them say: ‘Let us go towards Dothan.’ ” So Yosĕph went after his brothers
and found them in Dothan.
The hatred of the brothers found
opportunity in the love that sought them. After all, Joseph first sought them
at Shechem and afterwards he went even further, to Dothan. We borrow from
Arthur Pink:
Here the brethren of
Joseph are seen away from their father. Jacob says to his beloved
son: Come,
and I will send thee unto them. How this reveals the heart of Jacob to us. He
was not indifferent to their welfare. Absent from the father’s house as they
were, Jacob is concerned for the welfare of these brethren of Joseph. He,
therefore, proposes to send his well beloved son on an errand of mercy, seeking
their good. And is it not beautiful to mark the promptness of
Joseph’s response! There was no hesitancy, no unwillingness, no proffering of excuses,
but a blessed readiness to do his father’s will: Here am I…
We are permitted to learn something
of what passed between the Father and the Son in the remote past. As the Lord
God with divine omniscience foresaw the fall of man, and the alienation of the
race from himself, out of the marvellous grace of his heart, he proposed that
his beloved Son should go forth on a mission of mercy, seeking those who were
away from the Father’s House. Hence we read so often of the Son
being sent by the Father: Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). And
blessed it is to know that the Beloved of the Father came forth on his errand
of love, freely, willingly, gladly. Like Joseph, he, too, promptly responded: Here am I. As it is written of him in
Hebrews 10:7 >> Then said I, Lo, I come
(in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.
Joseph was sent out of the valley of Hebron. Hebron means communion,
reminding us that the Father sent his Son from the place of intimate communion,
which had been the portion of the Father and the Son from the point in ancient
times that YHWH himself produced me as the
beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago. From
ancient times I was installed, from the start, from times earlier
than the earth, as we already quoted
above from Psalm 8.
Shechem means "shoulder"
and speaks of assuming responsibility, which Israel did under Thorah.
Therefore, when Yeshua was sent by Elohim his Father he came to the place where
the Israelites resided under the Thorah that Elohim had laid upon their
shoulders. Moreover, even Yeshua himself was born within those circumstances: When the fullness of time came, Elohim sent out his Son,
having become out of a woman, having become under Thorah
(Galatians 4:4).
However, Joseph did not find his
brothers at Shechem, likewise also Yeshua did not find Israel in the place of
obedience to Elohim's Thorah. So, he had to rebuke them with the words of
Isaiah:
Hypocrites, Isaiah aptly
prophesied about you when he said: ‘This people honour me with their lips, but
their hearts are far removed from me. It is in vain that they keep
worshipping me, for they teach commands of men as doctrines’.
In the neighbourhood of Shechem a
certain man found Joseph wandering in the field and asked what he was looking
for. The man was able to tell him that he had heard his brothers proposing to
go to Dothan, meaning "their decree", or possibly “two wells”. Just
as Joseph thus found his brothers at Dothan, so Messiah Yeshua found Israel in
a place of their own decrees and traditions, rather than in the place of
subjection to the Thorah of YHWH Elohim. He told the Pharisees and scribes: You have made Elohim’s commandment invalid because of your
tradition.
If Dothan might mean "two
wells" or, perhaps better "cisterns", we are reminded how Elohim
blamed Israel: They have forsaken me, the
Fountain of living waters, in order to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken
cisterns, that cannot hold the water. This was Israel's
condition exactly when the One who was "the fountain of life" was in
their midst.
18 And they saw him from
a distance, and before he came near them, they plotted against him, to kill
him.
19 And they said to each other:
“See, this master of dreams is coming!
20 Now, then, come and let us now kill him and throw him
into some pit, and shall say: ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ Let us then
see what comes of his dreams!”
21 But Re’ubĕn heard and
rescued him from their hands, and said: “Let us not take his life.”
22 And Re’ubĕn said to them:
“Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not
lay a hand on him” – in order to rescue him out of their hands, and bring him
back to his father.
It is striking to notice how that a
conspiracy was formed against Joseph, even before
he drew near unto them.
However, that reminds us of what happened during the days of the One who turned
out to be far greater than Joseph! As soon as he started his Messianic
career inside Israel, when he presented himself publicly to his Jewish brothers
during his public ministry the Pharisees went
out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him
(Matth 12:14).
We refer again to Pink, although
slightly modified:
The prophetic announcement of Joseph
seemed unto his brothers as idle tales. They not only hated him, but they
refused to believe what he had said. Their scepticism comes out plainly in the
wicked proposal Let us slay him . . . and we
shall see what will become of his dreams.
Thus it was with the Messiah of Elohim,
after he had been nailed to the torture stake:
And those passing by were
hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who are
going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!
If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
In the same way the chief
priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him and
saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of
Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in him.
which was an admission that they
indeed did not believe. The Jews
believed him not. His teaching was nothing more to them than
empty dreams. So, too, after his death and burial:
The chief priests and the
Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that
when he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am
to rise again.’
“Therefore, give orders
for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise his disciples
may come and steal him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the
dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You
have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they
went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the
stone. (Matthew
27).
When the stone was sealed and the
watch was set, the sceptical Pharisees were but saying in effect: We shall see what will become of his dreams.
23 So it came to be, when Yosĕph had come to his
brothers, that they stripped Yosĕph of his robe, the long, varicolored
robe which was on him.
24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. And the
pit was empty, there was no water in it.
How this is bringing out the wicked
hatred of these men for the one who had come to seek only their welfare. Like
beasts of prey they threw themselves immediately upon him. It was not enough to
injure him; they must insult him too. They put him to an open shame
by stripping him of his coat of many colours. And how solemnly this agrees with
the antitype. He, too, was insulted, and put to shame: Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the
common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And
they stripped him (Matthew 27:27-28).
The same horrible ignominy is
witnessed again at the torture stake: Then the
soldiers when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments (John
19:23).
The pit wherein is no
water, which is
also mentioned in Zech
9:11, seems to be another name for Hades (Hebrew: Sheol), the common grave
of the dead awaiting their resurrection at the Millennium Kingdom of Messiah: For there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom
in Sheol, the place to which you are going (Eccl 9:10).
We are also reminded of Jonah who
was three days in Sheol:
Then some of the scribes
and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
But he answered and said
to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign;
and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the
prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of
the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation
at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of
Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here”.
(Matthew 12:38-41).
According to Jonah himself he stayed
three days in Sheol, as was also Masjiach Yeshua in that ’pit’ three days
before he was resurrected by his Father Elohim:
Then Jonah prayed to YHWH
his Elohim from the belly of the fish, and he said: “Out of my distress I
called out to YHWH, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for
help. You heard my voice” (Jonah 2:1-2).
But there is still more to note
about the robe of many colours from which Joseph was stripped
off. As we noted earlier above, that kethoneth passim is typical
of the many features of the glories of the Lord Yeshua. Through him, YHWH
Elohim made the various aeons, the world ages, including the Seventh
day of Elohim's "Creation week". The world as it was then given to
man appeared likewise multicolour, but in all the successive stages of it
Elohim's Son had the spiritual guidance.
So, by stripping him of that ‘robe’
the elite Jewish clergy of the First Century with that action tried to prevent
Yeshua from completing his divinely purposed goal, especially during the
Millennium Kingdom: the final blessing of mankind as was promised to Abraham: In your seed – at that moment foreshadowed
by the sacrificed Yitzchak – all the Gojim of
the earth will be blessed because you obeyed my voice (Gen 22:18).
25 And they sat down to eat a meal. And they lifted
their eyes and looked and saw a company of Yishma‛ĕlites, coming
from Gil‛ad with their camels, bearing
spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take them down to Mitsrayim.
26 And Yehudah said to his
brothers: “What would we gain if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27 Come and let us sell him to the
Yishma‛ĕlites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our
brother, our flesh.” And his brothers listened.
28 And men, Midyanite traders passed by, so they pulled Yosĕph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Yishma‛ĕlites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Yosĕph to Mitsrayim.
Just as Joseph's brothers coolly sat
down to eat, so we are told of those who impaled the Lord Yeshua: sitting down they kept guard over him there
(Matth 27:36).
But an unexpected opportunity
arises, of which the brothers take selfish advantage. When a company of
Ishmaelite traders appear, travelling toward Egypt, Judah is not slow to
recognize an ideal way of getting rid of Joseph and at the same time gaining
some monetary profit. And evidently in Reuben's absence they sell him to the
Ishmaelites. However, mark their hypocrisy: Come
and let us sell him to the Yishma‛ĕlites, and let not our hand be
upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh.
Like the Jews did with Yeshua, the
‘brothers’ delivered Yoseph up to the Gentiles. Twenty pieces of silver is the
price they got for him, just two-thirds the price of an average adult slave.
Judas asked the chief priests what they would give for Yeshua. Thirty pieces of
silver is their offer; the price of a slave is their estimate of the One who
was ever Elohim's daily delight
(Matth 26:14-16; Proverbs 8:30)
As we already concluded,
the lifting out of the
pit is an allusion to Yeshua’s resurrection.
29 And Re’ubĕn returned to the
pit, and see, Yosĕph was not in the pit. And he tore his garments.
30 And he returned to his brothers and said: “The boy is
gone! And I, where am I to go?”
Presumably, reader, you
noticed already in the verses 21 and 22 that Reuben in a timid, half-hearted way had tried
to save the life of Joseph. Obviously, at no risk to himself, being too
cowardly, he had not stepped out boldly. In his case we are reminded of
Yeshua’s own warning in matters like this: Whosoever
shall confess me before men, the Son of man will confess him also before the
angels of God; but he that shall have denied me before men shall be denied
before the angels of God (Luke 12:8-9).
31 So they took Yosĕph’s robe,
killed a male goat, and dipped the robe in the blood,
32 and sent the long robe and brought it to their father
and said: “We have found this. Please look, is it the robe of your son or not?”
33 And he recognised it and said: “It is my son’s robe.
An evil beast has devoured him. Yosĕph is torn, torn to pieces.”
34 And Ya‛aqob tore his garments, and
put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort
him, but he refused to be comforted, and he said: “Now let me go down into the
grave [Sheol]
to my
son in mourning.” So his father wept for him.
36 And the Midanites had sold him in
Mitsrayim to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
The brothers sent the
long robe and brought it to their father and said: “We have found this. Please
look, is it the robe of your son or not?”
The anticipation of the type is self
evident: The blood of Yeshua Masjiach as the blood of a scapegoat, a sin
offering, was presented to the Father.
Jacob was now certain that Joseph
had been killed. His mourning continued for his son over a long period, and
though all his sons and his daughters sought to comfort him, he did not respond
to this. How could he? After all, the comforting of his sons was just a display
of hypocrisy. He tells them that the agony of his mourning will not be relieved
before he goes down to Sheol.
From all these typical facts we can
not but conclude that Israel as a nation since 33 AD lives within the sphere of
a blatant lie, especially her religious elite.
1 And at that time it came to be that Yehudah left his brothers,
and turned aside to a man, an Adullamite whose name was Hirah.
Judah is here seen leaving his
brothers. The history of those brothers is not considered in this report, for
Israel's long history has really been represented in the history of Judah since
the ten tribes were separated from Judah and Benjamin. Here, then, Judah
foreshadows the history of the Jews since their rejection of their true
Messiah.
The story of Joseph is interrupted
to expose in particular the shamefulness of an important part of Judah's
history.
Genesis 37 closed with an account of
Jacob’s sons selling their brother Joseph unto the Midianites, and they, in
turn sold him into Egypt. This speaks, in type, of the Messiah being rejected
by Israel, and delivered unto the Gentiles. From the time that the Jewish
leaders delivered their Messiah into the hands of Pilate they had, as a nation,
no further dealings with him; and YHWH Elohim, too, has turned from them to the
Gentiles. Compare the account of Acts, chapter 13; in particular from verse 44.
Hence there occurs an important turn
in our type at this stage. Joseph is now seen in the hands of the
Gentiles.
But before we are told what happened
to Joseph in Egypt, Elohim’s holy spirit traces for us, in typical outline, the
history of the Jews, while the antitypical Joseph is absent from the land.
2 And Yehudah saw there a daughter
of a certain Kena‛anite whose name was Shuah. And he took her and went in
to her.
As we saw already in the previous
chapter Judah took the lead in selling Joseph as a slave. In fact, in every
relationship of Judah his shame and dishonour is evident. He sold his brother,
he deceived his father, and then he married a Canaanite wife. How striking this
is! Judah became the representative of all his brothers. So we find him
wandering among and mixing with the Gentiles, just like Israel at the present
day. He marries a Gentile woman named Shuah.
Canaanite signifies the merchantman
and "Shuah" means "riches." How plainly the meaning of
these names gives us the leading characteristics of the Jews during the
centuries after their rejection of the antitypical Joseph! Israel has exchanged
any spiritual values she had for the legal principle of trading or trafficking
in the world's markets. No longer are they the settled husbandmen and quiet
shepherds as of old; but, instead, travelling merchants. And "riches"
has been the great pursuit for many of them. It has been said that Jews appear
to be remarkably successful in the accumulation of wealth, and can make money
where a Gentile would starve, or speedily become bankrupt.
However, in that respect, we recall
the message which the glorified Messiah is previously aiming to the End time
Jewish community, represented by the community of Laodicea:
These things says the
Amen, the Witness who is faithful and true, the Beginning of Elohim's creation:
“I am familiar with your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that
you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say: ‘Rich I am, and I have
been enriched and need none at all’, while it is not understood that
you are the wretched, and pitiable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I advise you to buy
from me gold refined in the fire, so that you may become rich; and white outer
garments, that you may clothe and the shame of your nakedness will not be
public, and eye ointment to cover your eyes that you may see. All
those for whom I cherish affection, I reprove and discipline. Therefore be
zealous and repent”.
Without doubt, however, it will
require the powerful work of Elohim’s holy spirit in conjunction with the
manifestation of the Lord Yeshua in glory, to break down Judah's proud
arrogance (Zech 12:7-14), just as we shall see [in Genesis
44:18-44] Judah personally broken down when having to face Joseph.
3 So she conceived and bore a son, and he called
his name Ěr.
4 And she conceived again and bore a son, and she
called his name Onan.
5 And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and
called his name Shĕlah. And he was at Kezib when she bore him.
6 And Yehudah took a wife for
Ěr his first-born, and her name was Tamar.
7 But Ěr, Yehudah’s first-born, was
evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH took his life.
8 And Yehudah said to Onan, “Go in
to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an
heir to your brother.”
9 And Onan knew that the offspring would not be
his. And it came to be, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled
on the ground, lest he should give an offspring to his brother.
10 But what he did displeased YHWH, so he took his life
too.
11 Then Yehudah said to Tamar his
daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shĕlah
is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die as his brothers did.” And Tamar went
and dwelt in her father’s house.
Three sons were born to
Er—awake; rouse up
Onan—strong; dynamic energy
Shelah—petition
Deeply significant are these names,
marking the Jews all through the centuries of the present era. Er proved
to be bad in the eyes of YHWH Elohim, hence he put Er to death. In antitype Er
may probably represent the majority of the Jews who used their religious energy
to rouse up hatred and enmity against all who accept Yeshua as the Anointed One
of YHWH Elohim. The old-time enmity that seems as much alive today as it was on
the day when they cried out of the hatred of their hearts: Impale him! impale him! The mere mention of
the name of "Yeshua of Nazareth" to many of them is sufficient to
cause them uttering some awful malediction.
"Dynamic energy" [Onan]
surely fits this people as well. He agreed to take the widow of Er as his wife
in order to have a child that would be officially his brother's. But he did not
complete his contract honourably, and Elohim considered this serious enough to
kill him too. The reason was his absolute selfishness, for the child would not
be officially his (though actually so).
Onan’s selfishness reminds us of the
figure Peloni Almoni in the story of Ruth. As the predicted pseudo messiah he
fulfils the image of Peloni Almoni who had to admit at the gate of
(Ruth; Chapter 4)
These two cases illustrate the
degrading history of the tribe of
Shelah was the last son born, and
the only one of the three brothers to remain alive. Therefore, the long outcast
people shall yet know a national revival; their long, dark winter will soon be
past, and their spring time of sprouting will have come.
Compare Matthew 24:32-35 and Song of Solomon 2:11-13.
The inspired chronicler is careful
to tell us Shelah's birthplace: Now he
[Judah] happened to be in Chezib when she
[Shuah] bore him. Chezib means
"falsehood"; therefore the revival of the nation will take place at a
time when false prophets and false messiahs shall abound, the culmination of
which will be the arch false Messiah — the Antichrist. And the nation will then
have falsehood imposed upon them as has never yet been done before. See again Matthew 24.
12 And after a long time the
daughter of Shuwa, Yehudah’s wife, died. And Yehudah was comforted, and
went up to his sheep-shearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13 And it was reported to Tamar,
saying, “See, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
14 And she took off her widow’s
garments, and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat at the
entrance to Ěnayim which was on the way to Timnah. For she saw that Shĕlah
was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.
15 And Yehudah saw her, and
reckoned her for a whore, for she had covered her face.
16 And he turned aside to her by the
way, and said, “Please let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was
his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What do you give me to come in to me?”
17 And he said, “Let me send you a
young goat from the flock.” And she said, “Do you give me a pledge until you
send it?”
18 So he said, “What pledge should I
give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord and your staff that is in
your hand.” And he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by
him.
19 And she arose and went away, and
removed her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Yehudah sent the young goat
by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge
from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.
21 And he asked the men of that
place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the way to
Ěnayim?” And they said, “There was no cult prostitute in this place.”
22 And he returned to Yehudah and said, “I have
not found her. And the men of the place also said there was no cult prostitute
in this place.”
23 And Yehudah said, “Let her take
them for herself, lest we become despised, for I sent this young goat and you
have not found her.”
24 And it came to be, about three
months after, that Yehudah was informed,
saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has whored, and see, she has conceived by
whoring.” And Yehudah said, “Bring her out and let
her be burned!”
25 When she was brought out, she sent
to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.”
And she said, “Please examine whose these are: the seal and the cord and the
staff.”
26 And Yehudah examined and said,
“She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shĕlah
my son.” And he never knew her again.
27 And it came to be, at the time
for giving birth, that see, twins were in her womb.
28 And it came to be, when she was
giving birth, that the one put out his hand. And the midwife took a scarlet
thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”
29 And it came to be, as he drew
back his hand, that see, his brother came out! And she
said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” So his name was
called Perets.
30 And afterward his brother came
out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. So his name was called Zerah.
The chapter terminates with the
sordid story of Tamar, the closing portions of which obviously foreshadowing the
End-time conditions of the Jews.
Judah's wife Shuah died at last, for
‘riches’ (the meaning of her name) take
themselves wings; they fly away (Proverbs 23:5).
By this
He had promised to give his youngest
son Shelah to Tamar, but he had not kept his promise. She therefore took
matters into her own hands and deceitfully posed as a prostitute to seduce
Therefore, in
As is plainly stated in Isaiah
10:2-23
And in that day it shall
be that the remnant of Yisra’ĕl, and those who have escaped of the house
of Ya‛aqob, never again lean upon him who
defeated them, but shall lean upon YHWH, the Set-apart One of
Yisra’ĕl, in truth. A remnant shall return, the remnant of Ya‛aqob, to the Mighty Ěl.
For though your people,
O Yisra’ĕl, be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return – a decisive end,
overflowing with righteousness. For the Master YHWH of hosts is making a
complete end, as decided, in the midst of all the earth.
1 And Yosĕph had been taken down to
Mitsrayim. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, a
Mitsrite, bought him from the Yishma‛ĕlites who had taken him down
there.
2 And it came to be that YHWH was with Yosĕph,
and he became a prosperous man, and was in the house of his master the
Mitsrite.
3 And his master saw that YHWH was with him and that YHWH made all he did to
prosper in his hand.
4 So Yosĕph found favour in his eyes, and
served him, and he appointed him over his house, and gave into his hand all that he had.
5 And it came to be, from the time that he
appointed him over his house and all that he had, that YHWH blessed the Mitsrite’s
house for Yosĕph’s sake. And the blessing of YHWH was on all that he had
in the house and in the field.
6 And he left in Yosĕph’s hand all that he
had, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. And Yosĕph
was handsome in form and appearance.
There seems to be some sort of connection
between the disgraceful conduct of
In that respect, we remember Paul’s
description, in Philippians 2, of the nature of Yeshua’s humiliation at the
incarnation:
Yeshua, who, existing in
Elohim's form, considered no robbery to be equal to Elohim, but emptied himself, having
taken a slave’s form, having become in likeness of men. And having been
found in fashion as man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death,
even death of a torture stake.
And it is this which Joseph here so
strikingly typified: having taken a slave’s form, but nevertheless a prosperous
slave in the house of Potiphar, because YHWH was with Yosĕph and so Isaiah 53:10 in him had a
significant fulfilment: in his hand the
delight of YHWH will succeed. Consequently
we read: The blessing of YHWH was on
all that he [Potiphar] had in the house and in the field. And he left in Yosĕph’s
hand all that he had, and he did not know what he had except for the bread
which he ate.
How could it be otherwise, Joseph
being a type of Yeshua, the One who was entirely different from any other
servant Elohim ever had. The fear of YHWH was
upon him (Isaiah 11:2). Indeed, so faithfully did he serve
Elohim's purpose that he could say: I
always do the things that please him (John 8:29).
Nevertheless, he, Elohim's’ dearest
Son was tempted, jus as Joseph was; as the divinely inspired report reveals us:
7 And after these events it came to be that his
master’s wife lifted up her eyes to Yosĕph and said, “Lie with me.”
8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife,
“Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has given
into my hand all that he has.
9 No one is greater in this house than I, and he
has not withheld whatever from me but you, because you are his wife. And how
shall I do this great evil and sin against Elohim?”
10 And it came to be, as she spoke
to Yosĕph day by day, that he did not listen to her, to lie with her, to
be with her.
11 And it came to be on a certain
day, when Yosĕph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men
of the house was inside,
12 that she caught him by his
garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled
and ran outside.
13 And it came to be, when she saw
that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside,
14 that she called to the men of her
house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought
in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me
to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
15 And it came to be, when he heard
that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and
fled and went outside.”
16 And she kept his garment with her
until his master came home.
17 And she spoke to him
these same words, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you
brought to us came in to me, to mock me,
18 so it came to be, as I lifted my
voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”
How special! Potiphar, his master,
had left in Joseph’s hand all the things he had, except
for the bread which he ate.
And now exactly that symbolic ‘bread’ is tempting him! And it is here that we
observe Elohim’s holy spirit placing in juxtaposition the account of the
indecency of
Because he continued steadfastly to
resist temptation, Joseph is falsely accused by his temptress, and is cast into
prison.
In Joseph's resistance of
temptation, and his consequent accusation and suffering, we might see a faint
foreshadowing of the temptations of our Lord Yeshua, and the outcome of it. On
one occasion, the Jews wanted to make him king over them because he provided
them - a crowd of not less than 5000 people - free bread through a miraculous
multiplication of five barley loaves: When the
people saw the sign he performed, they began to say: “This really is the
Prophet who was to come into the world.” Then Yeshua, knowing that they were
about to come and seize him to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain
all alone (John 6:4-15).
But also in other ways they sought
to flatter him, turning him from the path of duty and obedience to his Father's
will, if possible. The Devil himself had earlier grasped that way of temptation
when he offered Yeshua dominion over all the kingdoms of the world with their
glory:
Then the Devil said to
him: “I will give you all this authority and their glory, because it has been
handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. If you, therefore, do
an act of worship before me, it will all be yours.”
In reply Yeshua said to
him: “It is written, ‘It is the Lord your Elohim you must worship, and it is to
him alone you must render sacred service.’”
After his first temptation by the
Devil directly, we read that Satan departed
from him until another convenient time. As far as we know,
he never attempted to attack our Lord in that immediate way again.
Rather he preferred doing so through the instrumentality of men. However, like
Joseph, he refused all these blandishments, and, as a result, his flatterers
and professed admirers became his accusers, causing him to suffer for his
faithfulness, as did Potiphar’s wife.
Of course, she had no ground
whatever for a true charge to be brought against Joseph, so she had
to resort to dishonesty, to unjust fabrications.
The same was true with regard to him
who was loyal, guileless, undefiled, separated
from the sinners (Hebrews 7:26). As also Peter wrote: He committed no sin; neither was deceit found in his mouth
(1 Peter 2:22).
His enemies, the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin were looking
for false testimony against Yeshua in order to put him to death. But they found
none, although many false witnesses came forward, who bore
untruthful testimony against him (Matthew 16:59-60).
19 And it came to be, when his
master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did
to me according to these words,” that his displeasure burned.
20 Then Yosĕph’s master took
him and put him into the prison, a place where the sovereign’s prisoners were
confined. And he was there in the prison.
So in Joseph in prison we see the
suffering Messiah. And we see two others suffering with him — Pharaoh's two
officers, his chief butler and his chief baker. However, they do not suffer
like Joseph; he suffered innocently, but they, in all probability, were
receiving due reward of their deeds,
like the two criminals who were impaled with Yeshua:
One of the hanged
criminals now began to speak abusively to him: Are not you the Messiah?
Save yourself and us. In reply, the other, however, rebuked him: “Do you not
fear God at all, seeing you are in the same judgment? And we certainly justly,
for we are getting back what our deeds deserve. But this man did nothing
wrong”. (Luke
23)
Joseph was ruler in the dungeon, and
the verdict of the conscience of his co-prisoners must have been: This man did nothing wrong.
Evidently, Potiphar, the cowardly
woman's husband did not really believe his wife's foul lie. It was perhaps only
to save appearances that he made a show of punishing Joseph. If he really had
believed her story, it is inconceivable why he should not have had this Hebrew
slave immediately put to death. He probably knew her character pretty well.
This is the only manner in which his great leniency towards Joseph can be
accounted for.
And this is just why Pilate was so
slow in giving his consent to have Yeshua impaled. He knew the character of his
accusers well; and he did not really believe him guilty of death. Only as a
matter of policy did he at last pronounce the death-sentence upon him.
Note the contrast in the conduct of
two women in connection with the sufferings of the innocent type and Antitype
of which we are considering. Both were wives of high officers of two of the
most powerful empires the world in Antiquity knew:
As he [Pilate] was sitting on the
judgment-seat, his wife sent to him, saying: “Have thou nothing to do with that
righteous man; for I have suffered today many things in a dream because of
him”.
The wife of the Roman pleaded for
the Just; the Egyptian's wife persecuted.
However, when falsely accused by
that Egyptian woman, Joseph did not attempt any self-vindication; not a word of
appeal was made; nor was there any murmuring against the cruel injustice that
was done to him, when he was cast into prison. There was no countercharge;
nothing but a quiet enduring of the wrong.
When Joseph was reviled, like the
Saviour, he did not revile again. How does all that remind us of what we read
in Isaiah 53:7 >>
He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. As a lamb he was brought to
the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he did not open
his mouth!
Compare Matthew 27:12-14
>>
While he was being
accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to
him: “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against
you?” But he did not answer him, no, not a word, so that the governor was
very surprised.
Joseph thus suffered at the hands of
the Gentiles. Not only was Joseph envied and hated by his own brothers, and
sold by them into the hands of the Gentiles, but he was treated unfairly by the
Gentiles too, and unjustly cast into prison. So it was with his Antitype:
The kings of the earth
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together as one against the Lord, and
against his Anointed One. For truly both Herod and Pontius Pilate with men
of the Gentiles and with peoples of
(Acts 4:26-27).
21 But YHWH was with Yosĕph
and extended kindness to him, and he gave him favour in the eyes of the prison
warden.
22 And the prison warden gave into
the hand of Yosĕph all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever
was done there was his doing.
23 The prison warden did not look
into any point that was under Yosĕph’s hand, because YHWH was with him. And
whatever he did, YHWH made it prosper.
The antitype of this is found among
other things in the fact that the Roman centurion, the one who had charge of
Yeshua’s impalement, cried: Certainly this was
a righteous man (Luke 23:47).
Thus did Elohim
give his Son favour in the sight of this Roman who corresponded with
Joseph’s jailor (Pink).
1 And after these events it came
to be that the cupbearer and the baker of the sovereign of Mitsrayim sinned
against their master, the sovereign of Mitsrayim.
2 And Pharaoh was wroth with
his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
3 So he put them in
confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place
where Yosĕph was a prisoner.
4 And the captain of the
guard put Yosĕph in charge of them, and he served them. So they were in
confinement for some time.
5 Then the cupbearer and the
baker of the sovereign of Mitsrayim, who were confined in the prison, dreamed a
dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with
its own interpretation.
6 And Yosĕph came in to
them in the morning and looked at them and saw that they were sad.
7 And he asked Pharaoh’s
officers who were with him in confinement of his master’s house, saying, “Why
do you look so sad today?”
8 And they said to him, “We each have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” And Yosĕph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to Elohim? Relate them to me, please.”
9 So the chief cupbearer
related his dream to Yosĕph, and said to him, “See, in my dream a vine was
before me,
10 and in the vine were three
branches, and it was as though it budded – its blossoms shot forth, and its
clusters brought forth ripe grapes.
11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand.
So I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in
Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 And Yosĕph said to him,
“This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.
13 Yet, within three days Pharaoh is
going to lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you shall put
Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former ruling, when you were his
cupbearer.
14 But remember me when it is well
with you, and please show kindness to me. And mention me to Pharaoh, and get me
out of this house.
15 For truly I was stolen away from
the land of the Hebrews. And also I have done naught
that they should put me into the dungeon.”
16 And the chief baker saw that the
interpretation was good, and he said to Yosĕph, “I also was in my dream
and saw three white baskets were on my head,
17 and in the uppermost basket all
kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on
my head.”
18 And Yosĕph answered and
said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.
19 Yet, within three days Pharaoh is
going to lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree. And the birds
shall eat your flesh from you.”
20 And on the third day, Pharaoh’s
birthday, it came to be that he made a feast for all his servants. And he
lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and of the chief baker among his
servants,
21 and he restored the chief
cupbearer to his post of cupbearer again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s
hand,
22 but he hanged the chief baker, as
Yosĕph had interpreted to them.
23 And the chief cupbearer did not
remember Yosĕph, but forgot him.
Two men are seen now to be committed
to Joseph's care in the prison, the cup bearer and the baker of Pharaoh, king
of
Dreams played an important part in
Joseph's history previous to his exaltation. YHWH Elohim frequently took this
way to communicate his mind, or to reveal beforehand coming events. In the ages
before Moses, when there was not yet a written revelation of his will, we read
in the book of Job Elohim speaking to men in a
dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, during the
slumbers upon the bed (Job 33:15).
The dreams that both the cup bearer
and the baker were given were evidently strongly impressed on their minds,
because in the morning Joseph observed that they were worried and they told him
there is no one to interpret them.
With his answer Joseph indicated
that they should depend on Elohim himself for the right interpretation: Do not interpretations belong to Elohim? So
the One whom Joseph foreshadowed, again and again, made known what should come
to pass in the future, yet did he say: For I
have not spoken of myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment
what I should say and what I should speak (John 12:49).
Likewise Joseph, he asks them to
tell him their dreams. Obviously, Joseph, in communion and the mind of God, had
no difficulty in interpreting the dreams.
In both cases he declared that the three branches and the three baskets represented three days,
of course a striking spiritual significance with the three days of the death
and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua.
The juice of the grapes signifies
the shedding of his blood as the only means of forgiveness of sins, and the
pressing of the grapes his endurance in suffering of the figurative winepress.
Depending on the value of Yeshua’s shed blood the offending sinner is liberated
from his guilt and bondage. The cupbearer therefore pictures the sinner who
experiences salvations by virtue of that shed blood.
No wonder Joseph’s request to the
cupbearer remember me when it is well with
you. In the antitypical meaning, a
request like that should surely speak to our hearts as being the request
from the Lord Yeshua himself. Since he has so greatly blessed us, it is only
right that we should show some thankful response.
Joseph desired the cupbearer to
speak to Pharaoh on his behalf, because there was no cause in him for his being
so ill-treated. How much more that is true of the Lord Jesus, who was totally
sinless in every way, yet subjected to far worse treatment than was given
Joseph.
The baker, when he heard Joseph's
interpretation, expected a favourable interpretation of his dream too, but to
him his dream proved to have an ominous content, although in his case the three
baskets also had the sense of three days, still reminding us of the death and
resurrection of Yeshua. For while this is a great blessing to the believer, it
is just as surely the disapproval of the unbeliever.
Compare: John 3:16; 1 Thess 4:14
and John 3:18; Acts 17:31.
We saw that the juice of the grapes
is typical of the blood of Yeshua Messiah. It was given into the hand of the
king. Elohim is delighted with the value of the blood of his Son, and on this
basis alone he forgives sin. But the bakery goods were the work of the baker's
hands. They were intended for Pharaoh, just as men intend to please Elohim by
their good works, not realizing that these things can never take away the sins
they have committed. YHWH Elohim can certainly not accept men's works as a
substitute for the work of his own son in bearing the agony of terrible
judgment at the torture stake.
The bakery goods were intended for
Pharaoh, just as men think Elohim will accept their works as payment for their
sins, but they did not reach Pharaoh's table: the birds ate them. In the
parables spoken by Yeshua the birds of the air are typical of the Satanic
activity of evil spirits, who love to deceive people by flattery of their
so-called good works. Compare Matthew 13:4 with 13:19.
Joseph's interpretation of the dreams
was proven fully true when the third day arrived. And just as Joseph had
interpreted so it came to pass. So shall it be with every word of Elohim’s only
begotten Son: The heaven and the earth will
pass away, but my words shall in no wise pass away (Matth
24:35).
Being Pharaoh's birthday, he made a
feast for his servants. Both the cupbearer and the baker were brought forth to
public view, but for contrary reasons. The chief cupbearer was restored to his
former capacity, while the baker was hanged.
What influenced Pharaoh in these
matters is not mentioned, but the evidence of God's presence with Joseph was
unmistakable. However, the cupbearer's heart was apparently not drawn to God in
thankfulness. Rather than speaking well to Pharaoh about Joseph, he forgot him!
May YHWH Elohim preserve us from being like him.
We, who are believers, have
incomparably more for which to remember Yeshua than the cupbearer had for
remembering Joseph. So we have every reason to heed the encouragement of Yeshua
himself when he encouraged his disciples the evening before his death: Keep doing this in remembrance of me,
thereby instituting the Supper (Luke 22:19).
A king’s heart is like streams of water in YHWH’s
hand.
He directs it wherever he
pleases.
In accomplishing his purpose no way
is out of YHWH Elohim's reach; the most unlikely circumstances are made to
minister to the development of it. It was therefore not at all by accident that
Pharaoh dreamed as he did, and when he did. Elohim’s time was in
fact come to rescue Joseph from prison and to raise him to a very high position
of honour and responsibility.
In chapter 39 he had allowed Satan
to manipulate Potiphar’s wife such that Joseph would be found guilty, in such a
way that in fact he should be put to death; instead he ended up in jail.
In chapter 40 YHWH was behind the
scenes again by using Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer. Although through his
ungrateful negligence Joseph had to stay in prison another two years, Elohim
was working constantly and graciously behind the scenes to both bring Joseph
out of prison and to exalt him in a way that would have naturally been
unthinkable for a Hebrew.
So, when the due time came, he
brought forth Joseph to depict the Messiah again in other parts of his purpose
that he had with his dearest Son.
Now, this is ever Elohim’s
prerogative. He is above all and can use all for the accomplishment of his
grand and unsearchable designs. All sorts of agents, whether angels or men, are
at his sovereign disposal to carry out his purposes.
1 And it came to be, at the
end of two years’ time, that Pharaoh had a dream, and saw him standing by the
river,
2 and saw seven cows coming
up out of the river, fine looking and fat, and they fed amongst the reeds,
3 then saw seven other cows
coming up after them out of the river, ugly and lean of flesh, and stood by the
other cows on the bank of the river.
4 And the ugly and lean of
flesh cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
5 And he slept and dreamed a
second time and saw seven heads of grain coming up on one stalk, plump and
good,
6 and saw seven lean heads,
scorched by the east wind, coming up after them.
7 And the seven lean heads
swallowed the seven plump and complete heads. Then Pharaoh awoke and saw it was
a dream.
8 And it came to be in the
morning that his spirit was moved, and he sent and called for all the magicians
of Mitsrayim and all its wise men. And Pharaoh related to them his dreams, but
there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer
spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my crimes this day.
10 When Pharaoh was wroth with his servants,
and put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and
the chief baker,
11 each one of us dreamed a dream in
one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to
the interpretation of his own dream.
12 And there was with us a Hebrew youth, a servant of
the captain of the guard. And we related to him, and he interpreted our dreams
for us. To each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
13 And it came to be, as he
interpreted for us, so it came to be. He restored me to my office, and he
hanged him.”
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Yosĕph,
and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon. And he shaved and changed
his garments, and came to Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph,
“I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. Now I myself have
heard it said of you that you understand a dream, to interpret it.”
16 And Yosĕph answered Pharaoh,
saying, “It is not in me, let Elohim answer Pharaoh with peace.”
17 And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph,
“See, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river
18 and saw seven cows coming up out
of the river, fine looking and fat, and they fed amongst the reeds,
19 then saw seven other cows coming
up after them, poor and very ugly and lean of flesh, such ugliness as I have
never seen in all the
20 And the lean of flesh and ugly
cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows.
21 Yet when they had eaten them up,
no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were as ugly as at
the beginning. Then I awoke.
22 Also, I looked in my dream and
saw seven heads coming up on one stalk, complete and good,
23 then saw seven heads, withered,
lean, scorched by the east wind, coming up after them.
24 And the lean heads swallowed the
seven good heads. And I spoke to the magicians, but there was no one who could
explain it to me.”
25 And Yosĕph said to Pharaoh,
“The dream of Pharaoh is one. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do:
26 The seven good cows are seven
years, and the seven good heads are seven years – it is one dream.
27 And the seven lean and ugly cows
which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads scorched by
the east wind are seven years of scarcity of food.
28 This is the word which I spoke to
Pharaoh: Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29 See, seven years of great plenty
are coming in all the
30 but after them seven years of
scarcity of food shall arise and all the plenty be forgotten in the
31 and the plenty shall not be
remembered in the land, because of the scarcity of food following, for it is
very severe.
32 And the dream was repeated to
Pharaoh twice because the word is established by Elohim, and Elohim is
hastening to do it.
33 And now, let Pharaoh look for a
discerning and wise man, and set him over the
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him
appoint overseers over the land, to take up one-fifth of the
35 And let them gather all the food
of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the hand of
Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 And the food shall be for a store
for the land for the seven years of scarcity of food which shall be in the land
of Mitsrayim, and do not let the land be cut off by the scarcity of food.”
37 And the word was good in the eyes
of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants,
“Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the spirit of Elohim?”
39 Then Pharaoh said to Yosĕph,
“Since Elohim has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as
you.
40 Be over my house, you yourself,
and at your mouth all my people shall kiss – only in the throne I am greater
than you.”
41 And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph,
“See, I have set you over all the
42 And Pharaoh took his seal-ring
off his hand and put it on Yosĕph’s hand. And he dressed him in garments
of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
43 And he had him ride in the second
chariot which he had. And they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set
him over all the
44 And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph,
“I am Pharaoh, and without a word from you let no man lift his hand
or foot in all the
45 And Pharaoh called Yosĕph’s
name Zaphnath-Pa‛nĕah. And he gave him as a wife
Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. And Yosĕph went out
over all the
46 Now Yosĕph was thirty years
old when he stood before Pharaoh sovereign of
Mitsrayim. And Yosĕph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went
throughout all the
47 And in the seven years of plenty
the ground brought forth generously.
48 And he gathered all the food of
the seven years which were in the
49 Thus Yosĕph gathered very
much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he ceased counting, for it was
without number.
50 And to Yosĕph were born two
sons before the years of scarcity of food came, whom Asenath, the daughter of
Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
51 And Yosĕph called the name
of the first-born Menashsheh, “For Elohim has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”
52 And the name of the second he
called Ephrayim, “For Elohim has caused me to bear fruit in the land of my
affliction.”
53 And the seven years of plenty
which were in the
54 and the seven years of scarcity
of food began to come, as Yosĕph had said. And the scarcity of food was in
all lands, but in all the
55 But when all the
56 And the scarcity of food was over
all the face of the earth, and Yosĕph opened all the storehouses and sold
to the Mitsrites. And the scarcity of food was severe in the
57 And all the earth came to Yosĕph
in Mitsrayim to buy grain, because the scarcity of food was severe in all the
earth.
Joseph remained in prison two full
years longer, a further time of learning in humiliation the practical lesson of
self-discipline. However, he was under Elohim's eye, and at the right time, he
sent two dreams to Pharaoh of such a character that he was greatly stirred by
them. No doubt, he had had many other dreams, but these were so outstanding
that he could not ignore them.
Moreover, there was such a
similarity in the dreams that Pharaoh knew they were intended to convey some
meaning. In the morning he was troubled because of them. He therefore called
the magicians and wise men of
As it
is well known, in Scripture Egypt stands as a figure of this world. In Joseph’s
time, the land of the Pharaohs was the center of learning and culture, the
proud leader of the ancient civilizations. But the people were idolaters; they
lacked true knowledge about Elohim, and therefore they lived in deep spiritual
darkness. As we read in the Psalms: With you
is the source of life; by your light we can see light.
Apart from him, all is darkness, morally and spiritually.
So Pharaoh’s magicians were impotent, those so called ‘wise men’ displayed
their ignorance, and Pharaoh was made to feel the powerlessness of all human
resources and the worthlessness of all human wisdom.
And
exactly thus it was with Nebuchadnezzar. The wise men of Chaldea were as
helpless as the magicians of
Only then did the cupbearer wake up
to the realization of his own indifference to Joseph. He told Pharaoh that
while he was in prison he and the chief baker had had dreams that distressed
them until a young man in the prison, a Hebrew, had interpreted their dreams,
and his interpretation proved perfectly correct in each case.
Consequently, Pharaoh sent
immediately for Joseph, and he came shaved and with a change of clothing.
Nothing was said about the reason for which he had been put in prison. As far
as the record goes, he was never cleared of the charge that was falsely brought
against him. He evidently left this all in Elohim's hand. After all, YHWH knows
how to care for the reputation of his servants who are dear to him.
And so it went with our Lord Yeshua
in antitype. Israel might have despised, rejected and impaled him; his lifeless
body be taken down and laid in the tomb, the sepulchre sealed and a watch set, but Elohim resurrected him by releasing him from the pangs of death, because it was not possible
for him to be held fast by it (Acts 2:24).
No; on the third day, he rose again
in triumph over the grave, leaving the cerements of death behind him, all
beautifully prefigured in the case of Joseph. Compare John 20:5-8 >>
Stooping forward, he [John] saw the linen cloths
lying there, but he did not go in [the tomb]. Then Simon Peter also came,
following him, and he went into the tomb. And he saw the linen cloths lying
there. The cloth that had been on his head was not lying with the other
cloth bands but was rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other
disciple [John]
who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed.
So, it is clear that Joseph was
delivered from prison by Elohim's hand: Pharaoh’s troubled spirit, the failure of
the magicians to interpret his dreams, the cupbearer’s sudden recollection of
the Hebrew interpreter, that brought about his release. Joseph himself
recognized this, as is clear from his words to his brothers, later:
Elohim sent me ahead
of you in order to preserve for you a remnant on the earth and to keep you
alive by a great deliverance. So, then, it was not you who sent me here,
but it was the true Elohim, in order to appoint me as chief adviser to Pharaoh
and lord for all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Return quickly
to my father, and you must say to him: This is what your son Joseph has said:
‘Elohim has appointed me
lord over all
(Gen 45:7-9).
And so too it was with the Lord
Yeshua in being delivered from the prison of the tomb:
Yeshua who was from
Nazareth, how Elohim anointed him with holy spirit and power, and he went
through the land doing good and healing all those oppressed by the Devil,
because Elohim was with him. And we are witnesses of all the things he did both
in the country of the Jews and in
(Acts 10:38-41)
Pharaoh then told Joseph that he had
been unable to find anyone who could interpret a dream for him, but had heard
that Joseph was able to do this. Joseph, however, fully disclaims any personal
ability or gift for this, telling Pharaoh rather that only Elohim could give
the answer, thereby indicating also that he would give him an answer of peace.
This simple confidence in YHWH Elohim was the secret of Joseph's receiving such
revelations from him.
Therefore, without any hesitation
Joseph interpreted the dreams for Pharaoh, explaining: The dreams are one; the second dream was
simply a confirmation of the first. Elohim was showing Pharaoh beforehand what
he was going to do in
Moreover, the seven cows signified
seven years, and the seven good ears of grain signified seven years. Similarly,
the seven ugly cows and the seven parched ears of grain each signified seven years.
The well-fed cows and the good ears of grain indicated that there would be
seven years of abundant produce through all the
The fact that the second dream was a
confirmation of the first indicated that the matter was fully established by
Elohim and that he would quickly accomplish his purpose.
Regarding the antitypical
fulfilment, the seven years of plenty seem to relate to the current Christian
era, the aeon of the Christian congregation - Yeshua’s congregational Body -
that began with the outpouring of the spirit in 33 AD and will end at the
Rapture. However, when the End time dawns for this old antitypical Egyptian
world, the seven good years could well coincide with the seven bad years. As is
prophetically announced in Isaiah 65 >>
Look! My servants will
eat, but you will go hungry.
Look! My servants will
drink, but you will go thirsty.
Look! My servants will
rejoice, but you will suffer shame.
Look! My servants will
shout joyfully because of the good condition of the heart, but you will cry out
because of the pain of heart, and you will wail because of a broken spirit.
In addition, about the latter
category we read in Amos 8 >>
Look! The days are
coming, the Lord YHWH declares, when I will send a famine into the land, not a
famine for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of YHWH.
Joseph then gave Pharaoh some sound advice
as to how to prepare for the future. He must appoint a wise, dependable man to
manage the great work of gathering produce into storehouses throughout the
Also in this respect Joseph
foreshadowed Messiah Jeshua serving in the capacity of a wise counselor:
For a child has been born
to us, a son has been given to us; and the rulership will rest on his shoulder.
His name will be called Wonderful Counselor.
(Is 9:6)
The interpretation of the dream was
so simple and appropriate that Pharaoh had no difficulty in believing Joseph
and therefore in approving of his advice. But not only this, he realized that
Joseph was the very man who was qualified for the great work of supervising the
storing of
Therefore, it is by no means a
coincidence that we read about Joseph's Antitype: Carefully concealed in him are all the treasures of wisdom and of
knowledge (Col 2:3).
So, too, during his earthly ministry
among his own Jewish people the words of Yeshua made a profound impression upon
those who heard him: The crowds were astounded
at his way of teaching, for he was teaching them as a person having authority,
and not as their scribes.
(Matthew 7:28, 29).
After coming into his
home territory, he began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were
astounded and said: “Where did this man get this wisdom and these powerful
works? (Matthew
13:54).
Just as Pharaoh and his servants
were struck by the wisdom in Joseph. So here, those who listened to the Lord
Jesus marveled at His wisdom.
Compare also 1 Corinthians 2:14-15
>>
The physical man does not
accept the things of Elohim's spirit, because to him they are foolishness and
he cannot learn them for they are examined spiritually. However, the spiritual
man examines all things; yet he himself is examined by no one.
Not only does the spiritual man
discern spiritual things, but also he discerns rightly temporal matters better
than any unbeliever does, simply because Elohim is the Creator of material
things just as well as things that are spiritual. In that respect, we also
remember Yeshua’s own confession:
I do nothing of my own
initiative; but just as the Father taught me, I speak these things… For I have
not spoken out of myself: but the Father himself who sent me gave me a
commandment as to what to tell and what I should speak. (John 8:28 and 12:49)
Thus, YHWH used the imprisonment of
Joseph as a step toward a far higher dignity than he had enjoyed in the house
of Potiphar. He was now set over the house of Pharaoh. By Joseph's word all the
people of
So we read in Revelation 3:21 that
the ascended Messiah is saying:
Him who overcomes I will
grant to take place with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and sat down with my
Father on his throne.
Today our Lord Yeshua Messiah shares
the throne of the Father as Joseph shared the throne of Pharaoh. As Joseph
ruled over Pharaoh’s house with his word, so today our Lord Yeshua rules over
the Father’s household, the household of faith, the Christian Congregation, by
and through his Word.
But there is much more analogy here.
YHWH Elohim remains always in the dignity of eternal glory, yet he has given
his beloved Son the place of supreme authority over his creation. A blessed
change that was, as it was in the case of Joseph: From shame to glory, from the
prison to the place of rule, from being a slave in fetters to being elevated
high above all, Pharaoh alone being excepted. How beautifully this speaks to us
of the One whom Joseph foreshadowed! Here on earth he stayed in humiliation and
shame, but he is here so no longer, YHWH Elohim, his Father, has highly exalted
his Son:
Therefore also Elohim exalted him high
and kindly gave him the name which is above every name, that in the name of
Yeshua every knee should bend, of those in heaven and those on earth and those
underground, and every tongue should confess openly that Lord [is] Yeshua Messiah, to glory of Elohim [the] Father.
(Philippians 2:9-11)
Pharaoh granting Joseph the honour
of riding in his second chariot and having heralded ahead of him “bow the knee”
also depicted this exaltation.
Take note also of 1 Peter 3:18, 22
what happened to Jeshua Messiah after he had
died once for all time concerning sins, a righteous one for unrighteous ones:
He is at Elohim’s right
hand, for he went to heaven, and angels and authorities and powers were made
subject to him.
Announcing Joseph as Ruler, Pharaoh then took off his signet ring from his hand and
put it on Joseph's hand; he let him clothed with fine linen and placed a
necklace of gold about his neck.
It is assumed that the ring, having
no end, speaks of Yeshua’s eternal identification with Elohim, his Father; the
fine linen reminding us of his perfect purity; the golden chain picturing his
unity with the Father.
Pharaoh also said to Joseph: I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift up
his hand or foot in all the
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name of
Zaphenath-paneah, which means in Coptic language "revealer of
secrets," but in Egyptian "Saviour of the world". Both meanings
are appropriate as applying to Messiah Yeshua, for he has revealed the Father and
the Father's counsels, and by virtue of his great sacrifice on
The name Yeshua was the name the Messiah bore while he was on earth, but
at that time it was held as pledge and promise for
As to the wife Joseph was given,
Asenath, we are told almost nothing, except that she was a daughter of
Potiphera, priest of On. But as a Gentile bride she is typical for Yeshua’s
Congregation which for him became as his Wife after having been rejected by
faithless
At this time we are told Joseph's
age was 30 years, the same as that of Yeshua when he began his public ministry
(Luke 3:23).
Thus, his combined time as a slave
and in prison was 13 years. Now he went out throughout all the
During the seven plentiful years two
sons were born to Joseph by Asenath, the first named Manasseh, which means
“forgetting”, for, as he said: Elohim has made
me to forget all my toil and all my father's house. In antitype
Yeshua Messiah forgets – if we may say so – in a sense, the toil of the days of
his flesh, and the sorrow of his rejection at the hands of
His second son Joseph named
Ephraim, meaning “fruitful”. For
Elohim, he said, has caused me
to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Though our Lord [according to Daniel
9:26] after the sixty-two weeks, as Messiah was
cut off and had nothing as pertaining to the kingdom, he
nevertheless became fruitful in the salvation of multitudes of "sinners of
the Gentiles", for in the new creation there is true fruitfulness for YHWH
Elohim. Manasseh therefore implies the negative side of the truth, Ephraim the
positive.
Even in the
The seven years of plenty came to an
end, as YHWH had forewarned by Joseph. The famine came, not only to
The people of
People from all countries came to
Verse 50 of our chapter says
distinctly that these sons were born to Joseph before the
years of famine came, a type of the ingathering of all Yeshua’s
Body-members, the fullness of the Gentiles,
into the Olive Tree that has its roots in the Abrahamitic Covenant. In Romans
11:17-28 we read:
If some of the [Jewish] branches were broken
off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became
partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive
tree; don’t boast over the branches… They also, if they don’t continue in
their unbelief, will be grafted in, for Elohim is able to graft them in again…
How much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their
own olive tree? For I don’t desire, brothers, to have you ignorant of this
mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial
hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come
in, and
so all [true] Israel will be saved.
Even as it is written: “There will come out of
Moreover, this type of Joseph's sons
makes plain the truth that for Yeshua’s Congregation the day of grace will
close before the tribulation period [the time
of trouble for Jacob] comes, a truth, however, that is taught
directly in the Christian-Judeo Scriptures as well, after the Lord has taken
away his Congregation in so-called Rapture.
Compare: Jeremiah 30:4-7; Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:15-22 (The
Great Tribulation).
The history itself is wonderful
history of the coming of the Lord Yeshua, his rejection by his own Jewish
brothers, his suffering among Gentiles, but his eventual recognition and
exaltation while still his brothers, the Jewish nation, are in a state of
unbelief that will require a spiritual famine to eventually awaken them to a
deep need that will lead to an unexpected and marvellous revelation of their
Messiah, with its abounding blessing (Grant).
1 And when Ya‛aqob saw that there was
grain in Mitsrayim, Ya‛aqob said to his sons, “Why
do you look at each other?”
2 And he said, “See, I have
heard that there is grain in Mitsrayim. Go down to that place and buy for us
there, and let us live and not die.”
3 And Yosĕph’s ten
brothers went down to buy grain in Mitsrayim.
4 But Ya‛aqob did not send Yosĕph’s
brother Binyamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some harm come to him.”
5 And the sons of Yisra’ĕl
went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the scarcity of food was in
the
After having sold their brother
Joseph into the hands of the Gentiles, for his kinsfolk, his jealous brothers,
he was as good as dead. In particular for their father Jacob who lived in the
belief that a wild animal had killed his favourite son. In that experience
Joseph foreshadowed the beloved Son of the Father, YHWH Elohim, who, in due time delivered his Son from
sheol (the grave), and exalted him to his own right hand in the heavens.
Following that ascension and glorification, Yeshua Messiah has been presented
as the Saviour of the world, the Bread of Life for a perishing humanity. As he
himself had assured in advance: I am the bread
of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will
never be thirsty.
Compare John
6.
However, during this world-era, the
age of the Christian Congregation, Yeshua’s Congregational Body, the Jews have
been set aside. Since the First Century, YHWH Elohim has taken a people for his name out from the Gentiles. Only after many centuries of dispersion among the
nations, and after the ingathering of the full number of the members of
Yeshua’s Congregational Body will be completed, Elohim shall again direct his
face on his chosen people of old; as was foretold by Amos:
Behold, the eyes of the
Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the
surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the
house of Jacob,” says Yahweh. “For, behold, I will command, and I
will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a
sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth. All the sinners of
my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil won’t overtake nor meet
us.’
In that day I will raise up the
tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up
its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may
possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name,”
says Yahweh who does this.
The present world age of the
heavenly Congregation will therefore soon have run its appointed course and
then shall come the time for Jacob’s trouble,
also called the tribulation period, when, following the removal of
Elohim’s holy spirit from the earth – as a result of the rapture of that
heavenly Congregation - there shall be a grievous time of spiritual famine. And
it will be, during that tribulation period, that YHWH Elohim shall resume his
dealings with the Jews, Messiah’s brothers according to the flesh. How true
therefore the type: Joseph’s brothers figuring prominently in the closing
chapters of Genesis. First, because of the famine, turning to this world,
pictured by the
However, at the start of the famine,
they dwell In Canaan, in a land wherein no corn was, and we are told: They went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the
scarcity of food was in the
Now, such is the condition in the
place where the ungodly dwell. Alienated from the life of Elohim, they are
living in a world that is smitten with a spiritual famine, in a world that
furnishes no food for the soul. It represents the situation and experiences of
the Prodigal Son in Yeshua’s parable: There is nothing for him but the husks which
the swine feed upon.
Joseph’s ten brothers
went down to buy grain from
The word "buy" occurs no
less than five times in the first ten verses of this chapter. Clearly, the
brothers had no other thought of securing the needed food than by purchasing it.
Such is ever the conception of the natural man. His own mind never rises to the
level of receiving a gift from Elohim, the heavenly Father. He
supposes that he must earn Elohim’s approval, win his favour, and merit his
acceptance of him. It was thus with Naaman, when he went to Elohim’s prophet,
to be healed of his leprosy. This too was the conception of the Prodigal (the
lost son), saying to his father: Make me as one of
thy hired servants, that is, as one who had to
work for what he received. Thus it was here with Joseph’s brothers.
6 And Yosĕph was the
governor over the land, he was the one who sold to all
the people of the land. And Yosĕph’s brothers came and bowed down before
him with their faces to the earth.
7 And Yosĕph saw his
brothers and recognised them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke to
them harshly, and said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From
the
8 So Yosĕph recognised
his brothers, but they did not recognise him.
9 And Yosĕph
remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You
are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
Joseph had been exalted over all the
house of Pharaoh, but how could Jacob and his sons know? The same has
been true in the case of Jacob’s descendants ever since the time they rejected their
Messiah. Because they did not receive the love of the truth, Elohim sent them an
operation of error that they should believe the lie, just as was the
case with Ahab (1 Kings 22:1-38).
Compare the verses 20-
Yahweh said [to all the army of
heaven], Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?
One said on this manner; and another said on that manner. There came forth
a spirit, and stood before Yahweh, and said, I will entice him. Yahweh
said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in
the mouth of all his prophets.’ He said, ‘You shall entice him, and shall
prevail also: go forth, and do so.’
Through their own fault, because
they gave – and still give - preference to the lie, the majority of the Jewish people
do not know that Elohim raised his Beloved, the Lord Yeshua, from the dead.
Through all the long centuries of the Christian era Yeshua, for their part, was
dead. Consequently, all the time a veil has been over their hearts, and
therefore the beginning of the tribulation period will find them still ignorant
of the exaltation and glory of the Lord Messiah Yeshua.
Joseph’s brothers came,
and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw
his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them…Joseph
remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them.
Yes, Joseph "saw" his
brothers, his eye was upon them, even though they did not recognize him.
Likewise, as his Father’s representative, the eye of Messiah Yeshua has all the
time been upon the Jews: For my eyes are on
all their ways; they are not hidden from my face, neither is their iniquity
concealed from my eyes (Jer 16:17).
10 And they said to him, “No, my master, but your
servants have come to buy food.
11 We are all one man’s sons, we are trustworthy,
your servants are not spies.”
12 But he said to them, “No, but you have come to
see the nakedness of the land.”
13 And they said, “Your servants are twelve
brothers, the sons of one man in the
It’s true, Joseph was
now dealing roughly with them by speaking sternly to them, but all the time of
their meeting he attempted nothing but to awaken their conscience as to their
past dishonesty.
However, remark their denying
attitude: We are trustworthy; your servants are not spies.
They assume a self-righteous
attitude, even when coming before the lord of
It is thus when Elohim starts his
work in sinful man: He wounds in order that he may heal. By his
spirit, he sends forth arrows of conviction, things that condemn the
natural Adamitic man. And what is mostly the sinner’s first response? He
repudiates the accusations brought against him. He denies that he is depraved
as the result of his descent from Adam: dead in trespasses and sins (Epf
2:1-5). He attempts to vindicate himself. He is self-righteous. He boasts
that he is a true man!
When Joseph continues interrogating
them, they give him the information that their father had twelve sons, one of
them remaining at home, while the other, they say, "is not". How
little they suspected that the governor knew better than that! But now he is
going to test them in regard to their attitude toward another younger brother,
Benjamin. He tells them that they must be kept in prison while one of their
number returns home to bring Benjamin with him:
14 And Yosĕph said to them, “It is as I spoke
to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’
15 By this you shall be proven: By the life of
Pharaoh, you do not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 Send one of you, and let him bring your
brother, while you are kept in prison. So let your words be proven to see
whether there is any truth in you, or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are
spies!”
17 And he put them all together in prison for
three days.
This was not an unjust action on the
part of Joseph; it was exactly what the brothers deserved. He was putting them
into their proper place, the place of shame and condemnation. It is thus that
YHWH Elohim will deal with Yeshua’s End time brothers. They must be made to
realize what their just due is. They must be taught that they deserve nothing
but punishment, that the place of condemnation and shame is where they rightly
belong. They must be abased before they can be exalted. We'll have to await how
things in that respect will develop in the Times of the end, but we know in
advance with certainty that must be fulfilled in the 70th Week for
Seventy sevens have been
determined concerning your people and concerning your holy city, in order to
terminate THE TRANSGRESSION.
Which transgression has to
terminate? The Hebrew word פשע is singular with the definite article: THE
transgression, or offense. And of course we guess rightly:
18 Now Yosĕph said to them the third day, “Do this
and live, for I fear Elohim:
19 If you are trustworthy, let one of your brothers be
confined to your prison house, and you, go, bring
grain for the scarcity of food of your houses.
20 And bring your youngest brother to me, and let your
words be confirmed, and you do not die.” And so they did.
Joseph said to them the
third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God. If you are honest men, then let
one of your brothers be bound in your prison-house; but you go, carry grain for
the famine of your houses. Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your
words be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so.
By the bounding of Simeon
in the place of his brothers, they are here confronted with a principle that
their counterparts, the Jews of the End Time, will still have to make their
own: the doctrine of substitute suffering for the atonement of sins, a
principal taught now already more than 19 centuries within Christianity:
For the love of the
Messiah constrains us; because we judged that one died for all.
Therefore all died. And he [Messiah Jeshua] died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was
raised [on the third day].
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
The apostle Paul, who wrote these
divinely inspired truths, knew very well that Yeshua sacrificed his soul for
all humanity, a truly liberating sacrifice for the atoning of sins. And it was
his deep appreciation for that act of substitute death which propelled him in
all his spiritual activities.
In Galatians 2: 9-20 he wrote
earlier: I am impaled with [the] Messiah. Therefore,
I no longer live, but [the] Messiah lives in me. As far as I now live in [the]
flesh I live by faith toward the Elohim's Son, who loved me and surrendered
himself for me.
We all, Adam's descendants,
fundamentally died to sin in the substitutionary death of Yeshua. Our
deliverance from the judgment of sin was implied in that one act of Elohim's
Son.
Of course, only those
who put their faith in that substitutionary death are actually experiencing the
abolition of the death sentence of sin.
It is therefore a
perfect illusion on the part of the Jews thinking that by preserving an
ever-higher form of Thorah they also can reach a greater degree of sanctity in
the eyes of Elohim. Therefore, it would be far better for them to pay close
attention to the truth that Isaiah wrote concerning the sufferings of YHWH’s
most prominent Ebed:
He was despised, and
rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease: and as one
from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we didn’t respect
him. Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we
considered him plagued, struck by Elohim, and afflicted. But he was
pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All
we like sheep have gone astray; everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh
has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he
was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn’t open his mouth. By
oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation,
who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the
living for the disobedience of my people to whom the stroke was due? They
made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he
had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand. He shall
see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the
knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall
bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the
great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out
his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bore
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
(Chapter 53)
21 And they said to each other, “Truly, we are
guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the distress of his life when he
pleaded with us, yet we did not listen, that is why this distress has come upon
us.”
They said one to
another, “We are most assuredly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw
the distress [ צָרַת ] of his soul, when he begged
us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress [ הצָּרָ ] has come on
us.”
The brothers were now
smitten in their conscience, but for the time being only among themselves. They
admitted toward each other that they had done wrong, but they still had not
reached the point to confess their sin before the true Elohim.
They recognized their guilt, according to the principle that a man shall
reap what he sows, and they also recognized that it was YHWH Elohim who brought
back their iniquities upon their own heads.
He did so in the form of distress.
The same Hebrew word is found in the announcement of the prophets, predictions
regarding the tribulations that the Jewish people will surely experience in the
End Times:
Jeremiah (30:4-7) >>
These are the words that
Yahweh spoke concerning
Daniel (12:1) >>
At that time shall
Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and
there shall be a time of trouble [שרה], such as never was since there was a nation even to
that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who
shall be found written in the book.
Yeshua himself, some days before he was impaled, made
mention of Daniels prophecy, indicating that the matter would follow the
placing of the abomination of desolation as was also announced by
Daniel in his Year Weeks Prophecy:
When, therefore, you see
the abomination of desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet [Dan 9:27], standing
in a holy place - let the reader use discernment - then let those who are in
Judea flee to the mountains… For then there will be great tribulation, such
as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor will
occur again. Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have
been saved. But on account of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
(Matth 24:15-22)
22 And Re’ubĕn answered them,
saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ and you
would not listen? And see, his blood is now required of us.”
23 And they did not know that Yosĕph
understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
24 And he turned himself away from them and wept,
but came back to them and spoke to them. And he took Shim‛on from them
and bound him before their eyes.
Why did Joseph turn away from them,
weeping? Because it was evident that Elohim's had started a work in their
hearts by the convicting of their consciences. But Joseph would not yet reveal
himself to them, for a deeper work was yet required which would take more time.
Still, Elohim rewarded Joseph's wisdom up to this point by the apparent
self-judgment of his brothers, and he would be encouraged, although he had to
practice patience even further. In the mean time he would not suffer his
brothers to perish by the way; he ministered unto their need:
25 And Yosĕph commanded and they filled their
sacks with grain, also to put back every man’s silver to his sack, and to give
them food for the journey. And thus it was done for them.
Pink remarks: “What a lovely touch
to the picture is this! The Bread of Life cannot be purchased. It must be
accepted as a free gift, if it is received at all. The terms of the Gospel are without money,
and without price. Isaiah 55.
And how beautifully was this shown forth
here, when Joseph, as the type of Messiah, orders the money to be restored to
those who came to "buy the corn." Clearly, this was a foreshadowing
of the blessed truth: By grace you are saved, through faith; and
that not of yourselves; it is Elohim's gift; not of works, lest any man should
boast (Eph 2:8, 9)”.
26 So they loaded their donkeys with the
grain and went from there.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give
his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his silver, for there it was in
the mouth of his sack!
28 And he said to his brothers, “My silver
has been returned, and there it is, in my sack!” And their hearts sank and they
were afraid, saying to each other, “What is this that Elohim has done to us?”
29 So they came to Ya‛aqob their father in the
30 “The man, the master of the land, spoke to
us harshly, and took us for spies of the land.
31 But we said to him, ‘We are trustworthy,
we are not spies.
32 We are twelve brothers,
sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is today with our father
in the
33 And the man, the master of the land, said
to us, ‘By this I know that you are trustworthy: Leave one of your brothers
here with me, and take food for the scarcity of food of your households, and
go.
34 And bring your youngest brother to
me, then I know that you are not spies, but that you are trustworthy – I give
your brother to you, and you move about in the land.’ ”
35 And it came to be as they
emptied their sacks, that look, the bundle of each man’s silver was in his
sack! And when they and their father saw the bundles of silver, they were
afraid.
It is true, through the ages, there has
not been a people, nor any other nation, that has suffered so much like the
Jews. We need only think of the six million of them who were murdered in
Hitler's crematoria. Nevertheless, Elohim always saw to it that they as a
people have survived, nor completely assimilated with the peoples among whom
they stayed in their Diaspora (Ez
20:32:38).
YHWH has sustained them during all
the long centuries that they have been absent from their own land. He has
provided for them by the way, as also Joseph will do for his still erring End
Time brothers. For that very marked period in history, YHWH inspired Jeremiah
to record this prophecy:
It shall come to pass in
that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will break his yoke from off your neck,
and will burst your bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their
bondservant; but they shall serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom
I will raise up to them. Therefore don’t you be afraid, O Jacob my
servant, says Yahweh; neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you
from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall
return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him
afraid. For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you: for I will make a
full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a
full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave
you unpunished.
Their hearts sank [when they opened their
sacks and found the money that they had paid for the grain] and they were
afraid, saying to each other, “What is this that Elohim has done to us?”
How true to life again! The type is
easily interpreted. Elohim will not allow the Jewish souls to rest until they
rest definitely upon the recognition of Yeshua alone being their true Messiah.
To that end YHWH caused the experiences of the way to dispel the false peace.
Similarly, in a way that he shall
choose, the antitypical Joseph will deal with the awakened remnant of
No, the procedure that will prove to
be successful is described in Romans 2:3-4, where the Jew Paul (Saul of
Benjamin) is engaged in an imaginary polemic conversation against the haughty
attitude of his countrymen: >>
Do you perhaps think, O
man who judges those who practice such things [as done by the Gentiles], and do
them yourself, that you will escape Elohim’s judgment? Or do you despise the
riches of his kindness, forbearance and long-suffering, while you do not know
that Elohim's gentleness is trying to lead you to repentance?
Here Saul opposes all Jewish
self-praise and self-overestimation, because in reality, the Jews, who condemn
the Gentiles and their sins, are guilty to the same bad activities! By posing
as judges of the Gentiles they actually also pass judgment upon themselves,
since they themselves also are not free from the pagan vices. As Nathan said to
David who had shown his indignity about the rich man in the parable: You yourself are the man! (2 Sam 12).
Likewise in the case of Joseph’s
brothers, it was simply proof of Elohim's kindness, forbearance and
long-suffering when they were shocked founding the money in their bags,
because they began to realize that this was a matter in which Elohim was
definitely intervening, but for what purpose they did not yet understand.
36 And Ya‛aqob their father said to
them, “You have bereaved me – Yosĕph is no more, and Shim‛on is no
more, and you would take Binyamin! All this is against me.”
37 So Re’ubĕn spoke to his
father, saying, “Take the lives of my two sons if I do not bring him back to
you. Put him in my hands, and I myself bring him back to you.”
38 But he said, “My son is not going down with
you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any harm should come to
him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my grey hair with
sorrow to the grave [Sheol].”
We can easily imagine why Jacob
expressed concern, being greatly disturbed. He accuses his sons that they
bereaved him of Joseph - which was more true than suspected by him
- and now also of Simeon, and that they now want to take Benjamin away
with them. "All these things are against me," he says, having not the
slightest idea that all those events were going to work out wonderfully for
him.
In all this certainly lessons are
found for the repentant Jewish End-time remnant, as was also described by Saul
in Romans: We know that for those who love Elohim all things work
together for good; to them who, according to his purpose, are called ones (Romans
8:28).
Reuben then proposes to Jacob that
he would be responsible for Benjamin if Jacob would send him, offering the
lives of his two sons as surety.
But that offer was actually nothing
than thoughtless folly. If Jacob's son Benjamin was taken from him, would then
the death of his two grandsons serve to comfort him? Therefore, Jacob flatly
refuses, saying his son would not go with them to
Without the Benjamin remnant
1 But the scarcity of food
was severe in the land.
2 And it came to be, when
they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Mitsrayim,
that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”
3 But Yehudah spoke to him,
saying, “The man vehemently warned us, saying, ‘You do not see my face unless
your brother is with you.’
4 If you let our brother go
with us, we go down and buy you food.
5 But if you do not let him
go, we do not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You do not see my face
unless your brother is with you.’ ”
6 And Yisra’ĕl said,
“Why did you do evil to me to inform the man that you still had another
brother?”
7 And they said, “The man
kept asking about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive?
Have you another brother?’ And we informed him according to these
words. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”
8 And Yehudah said to Yisra’ĕl
his father, “Send the boy with me, and let us arise and go, and live and not
die, both we and you and also our little ones.
9 I myself shall stand
guaranty for him – from my hand you are to require him. If I do not bring him
back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
10 For if we had not delayed, truly
by now we could have returned this second time.”
11 And their father Yisra’ĕl said
to them, “If so, then do this: Take some of the best fruit of the land in your
vessels and bring a present down for the man, a little balm and a little honey,
spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.
12 And take double silver in your
hand, and take back in your hand the silver that was returned in the mouth of
your sacks. It could have been a mistake.
13 And take your brother, and arise,
go back to the man.
14 And Ěl Shaddai give to you
compassion before the man, so that he shall release your other brother and
Binyamin. And I, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
15 And the men took that present and
Binyamin, and they took double the amount of silver in their hand, and arose
and went down to Mitsrayim, and stood before Yosĕph.
It is because of the pressure of
hard circumstances that Jacob finally decided to allow Benjamin to go to
O senseless Galatians,
who bewitched you, before whose very eyes Yeshua Messiah was depicted as hanged
on a pole? This only I would learn from you: Did you receive the spirit by
works of the Law or by hearing with faith? ... He then who gives you the spirit
and brings about powerful works in you, [does he perform that] because of
works of the Law or by hearing with faith? Like Abraham, who put faith in Elohim
and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.
(Gal 3)
Abraham believed Elohim when he
assured the patriarch, although still being childless, that to him a son as his
heir would be born and his descendants would become as numerous as the stars in
the sky. For YHWH Elohim Abraham’s faith was meritorious since it was in fact
contrary to all hope.
(Genesis 15)
As we quoted earlier above from
Romans 2: Do you despise the riches of his
kindness, forbearance and long-suffering, while you do not know that Elohim's gentleness is trying to lead you to
repentance?
How little the brothers knew Joseph!
What did he, as Governor over all
16 And Yosĕph saw Binyamin with
them, and said to the one over his house, “Bring the men home, and make a great
slaughter, and prepare, for these men are to eat with me at noon.”
17 And the man did as Yosĕph
said, and the man brought the men into Yosĕph’s house.
18 And the men were afraid because
they were brought into Yosĕph’s house. And they said, “It is because of
the silver, which was put back into our sacks the first time, that we are
brought in, to throw himself upon us and fall upon us, to take us as slaves,
our donkeys too.”
19 So they came near to the man over
the house of Yosĕph, and spoke to him at the door of the house,
20 and said, “O my master, we indeed
came down the first time to buy food,
21 but it came to be, when we came
to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks and saw each man’s silver in the
mouth of his sack, our silver in its weight. And we have brought it back in our
hand.
22 And we have brought down other
silver in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our
sacks.”
23 But he said, “Peace be with you,
do not be afraid. Your Elohim and the Elohim of your father has given you
treasure in your sacks – your silver had come to me!” And he brought Shim‛on
out to them.
The brothers did not only see
Joseph's face, but they were also made his favoured guests. However, that
kindness and gracious treatment only awakened their fear and suspicion. That is
what grace brings about in those who want matters arranged on legal bases. They
were afraid that Joseph was showing such kindness with the motive of finding a
pretext for which to steal all they had. How little they knew Joseph's heart!
Likewise, many of the End Times Jews will react suspiciously in connection with
Elohim's grace showed to them in Messiah Yeshua.
24 And the man brought the men into
Yosĕph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. And he
gave their donkeys fodder.
25 And they made the present ready
for Yosĕph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they were to eat there.
26 And when Yosĕph came home,
they brought him the present which was in their hand, into the house, and bowed
down before him to the earth.
27 And he asked them about their
welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he
still alive?”
28 And they said, “Your servant our
father is in good health, he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads down
and did obeisance.
Before eating in Joseph's house, the
brothers approached the man who went over his house, telling him of their
coming the first time and on departing some distance had found in their sacks
the money they had brought to buy food. Not knowing how the money had been put
there, they tell him they have brought it back, together with money to buy
further provisions.
It is all right with
you, the man
responded kindly, setting them at rest about the matter. They ought only to
thank their Elohim, the Elohim of their father, further telling them: Your money came first to me. This was true:
he had it, but had restored it, though he does not tell them this.
Then he brought Simeon out to them.
Every kindness was shown them for
their comfort, even to the feeding of their donkeys. In that typical way the
divine truth was taught that Elohim's deliverance comes to man in undeserved
kindness. Man is saved by grace, not by deserving works, a truth that those who
have been prone to legalism still have to learn, especially the Jewish people.
Hearing that Joseph was to eat with
them, they got the gift ready they had brought for him. When he came in, they
gave it to him, bowing themselves before him to the ground.
How little these men knew Joseph! As
Governor over all
However, Joseph gave his brothers a
foretaste of such undeserved grace; as he had ordered: These men shall dine with me at noon (verse
16). Compare the Gospel parable that Yeshua himself spoke:
A certain man was
spreading a great supper and he invited many. And he sent his slave out at the
hour of the supper to say to those invited: Come, for all things are now ready.
However, all alike began to make excuses.
(Luke 14)
When Elohim, at the time of the
Exodus, chose the Israelites as his own people and took them within a covenant
with himself, in principle they received an invitation for a place in the
Messianic kingdom. As the natural seed of Abraham, YHWH was willing to make
them a kingdom of priests, in
that position able to become for a blessing of all other nations, the Gentile
peoples.
With the arrival of Yeshua the
Messianic era had its start; the intended king was present in their midst. And
as the most prominent servant of Yahweh, he reminded his Jewish brothers of the
original invitation. At Sinai, they had accepted the invitation unanimously: All that Yahweh has spoken we are willing to do.
(Ex 19:3-8)
That historical fact would make a
refusal, with the intended king in their midst, to a form of rudeness towards
their heavenly Host. Yet, in the First Century, that rude attitude was exactly
what Yeshua encountered from the side of his own Jewish relatives, immediately
since he arrived in their midst. In the Messianic issue, they put themselves in
unison and in the same position as the invitees in the parable: they let
themselves be excused because of meaningless excuses.
29 And he lifted his eyes and saw
his brother Binyamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother
of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “Elohim show favour to you, my son.”
30 And Yosĕph hurried, for his
emotions were deeply moved towards his brother, and he looked for a
place to weep, and went into his room and wept there.
31 Then he washed his face and came
out, and controlled himself, and said, “Serve the food.”
32 And they set him a place by
himself, and them by themselves, and the Mitsrites who
ate with him by themselves, for the Mitsrites could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an
abomination to the Mitsrites.
33 And they sat before him, the
first-born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth,
and the men looked at each other in astonishment.
34 And he took portions to them from
before him, but Binyamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And
they feasted and they drank with him.
Of course Joseph was vitally
interested in knowing about their father: was he still alive? Yes, they tell
him, their father was both alive and in good health. Typically this tells us
that in the tribulation period the Jewish remnant will have their thoughts
exercised as to their relationship to YHWH, the living Elohim.
Again the brothers bowed their heads
in homage to Joseph, not realizing he was the brother whom they had rejected.
Likewise, Elohim's living Son will be dealing with
Benjamin, however, the younger son
of Rachel is of vital interest to Joseph, far more so than the brothers could
guess. For how could they ever imagine that he, Jacob’s youngest son, served as
a type of the End time remnant that so often is announced in Elohim's prophetic
Word, as in Isaiah 10:20-25 >>
It will come to pass in
that day that the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house
of Jacob will no more again lean on him who struck them [the Assyrian like
Pseudo Messiah], but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return,
even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty Elohim. For though your people,
This Benjamin-remnant was also
pictured by Hadassah (Esther) in the story Esther,
she who hid.
From the Esther story in many ways is clear that Mordecai in antitype
represents Messiah Yeshua. After all, Mordecai is the One who continually is
driving Esther, a striking figure how in the End time Elohim's spirit will
control the Esther remnant through Yeshua Messiah'.
Est 10:3 is also very revealing. There we read about the greatness to
which the king raised Mordecai: For Mordecai the
Jew was next to king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the
multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace
to all his seed.
As Joseph – typifying Messiah Yeshua – came right after Pharaoh,
something similar was the case with Mordecai. As we learn that Mordecai, after
his courageous performance, was accepted and loved by his Jewish brothers, we
conclude that also Yeshua will be accepted wholeheartedly by the faithful among
the ancient people of YHWH Elohim.
Therefore, it was that Joseph said
to Benjamin: May Elohim be gracious to you, my
son.
However, the sight of his brother moved
him with such a surge of emotion that he had to immediately leave them and go
to his room to weep. We can well understand this, for he had not seen Benjamin
for about 22 years. After weeping, he returned to his normal self-control,
washed his face and came out to eat with his brothers.
Yet even in the house there was a
division carefully maintained between them. Joseph ate by himself, the Egyptian
servants by themselves, and Joseph's brothers by themselves. Here we are reminder
that the Lord Yeshua is alone in authority over all, while
We are informed that the Egyptians
considered it loathsome to eat with Hebrews. Later, Peter said it was unlawful
for a Jew to have company with Gentiles (Acts 10:28).
The brothers were astonished when
they found they were seated in order of their ages.
But as they were served, Benjamin
was given five times as much as any of the others, by which they were taught
that a younger brother was given greater recognition than those older. They had
before rejected a younger brother, and both younger brothers (Joseph and
Benjamin) were meaningful types, respectively of the Lord Yeshua and the End
time remnant. The special favour Joseph showed to Benjamin was intended to
emphasize to the brothers that YHWH Elohim, far from despising a younger
brother, gives him a place of honour. Too often, the older look down on one
younger, but according to natural birth, the Lord Yeshua was a younger brother
in
The last sentence (verse 34) of this
chapter (43) can also be read thus:
So they continued banqueting and drinking with him to the full.
Or: So they feasted and
drank freely with him.
Or: And they drank and were
merry with him.
Or even: So they ate and drank with Joseph until they were drunk.
Pink has that final sentence
therefore thus commented:
“Ah, what is man! Not yet had sin
been told out. Not yet had a right relationship been established. Nevertheless,
they could be "merry."
A superficial observer would have
concluded that all was now well. It reminds us of the stony ground in the
parable of the Sower: As for the one sown on
rocky ground, this is the one hearing the word and at once accepting it with
joy. Yet, he has no root in himself but continues for a time, and after
tribulation or persecution has arisen on account of the word, he is at once
stumbled (Matthew 13:20-21).
God’s saving work goes much deeper
than producing evanescent emotions”.
Led by Elohim's guidance Joseph
realises the true situation of the brothers. Therefore, we shall see him in the
next chapter determined to bring his brethren out into the fight. Nevertheless,
always with the intention to bring them into true repentance. This illustrates
powerfully that the Jews of the End Times will have a long way to go in order
to be brought to upright repentance in view of their resistance against their
most prominent brother.
1 And he commanded the one over his house,
saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as they are able to bear, and put each
man’s silver in the mouth of his sack.
2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of
the sack of the youngest, and the silver for his grain.” And he did according
to the word of Yosĕph which he spoke.
3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were
sent away, they and their donkeys.
4 And when they had gone out of the city, not
having gone far, Yosĕph said to the one over his house, “Rise up, follow
the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for
good?
5 Is this not the one from which my master
drinks, and with which he indeed divines? You have done evil in what you have
done.’ ”
6 So he overtook them and spoke these words to
them.
7 And they said to him, “Why does my master say
these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do according to this
word.
8 See, we brought back to you from the
9 With whomever of your servants it is found – he
shall die and we shall become my master’s slaves as well.”
10 And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words:
he with whom it is found becomes my slave, and you are innocent.”
11 And they hurried, each man let down his sack to the
ground, and each opened his sack.
12 And he searched, with the oldest first and with the
youngest last, and the cup was found in Binyamin’s sack.
13 And they tore their garments, and each man loaded his
donkey and went back to the city.
14 And Yehudah and his brothers
came to Yosĕph’s house, and he was still there. And they fell before him
on the ground.
15 And Yosĕph said to them, “What deed is this you
have done? Did you not know that a man like me indeed divines?”
Indeed, their relief and merriness
at Joseph’s table was short lived. Sooner than they could have imagined their
superficial peace was disturbed. Joseph had ordered the man of his house to
overtake them and accuse them of returning evil for good in stealing Joseph's
silver cup. The brothers had to be shocked and touched in their consciences to
extremes. In addition, that was exactly the thing happened.
We can easily understand that they
were outraged by the accusation and in their self-confidence they went so far
as to ensure that if one was found to have the silver cup he should die and the
rest would be slaves to Joseph.
The man of Joseph’s house approved
of their words, but was much more lenient in answering them. Of course, Joseph
had instructed him as he had done so during all the previous encounters with
the brothers. Therefore, this special man who acted continually as Joseph’s
lengthening piece, might well typify Elohim's active force, his spirit, just as
was the case with Abraham’s servant Eliezer who was sent to Charan with the
mission to find a wife for his son Isaac.
Compare John 16:12-15, where we hear
Yeshua saying to his disciples:
I have yet many things to
tell you, but you can’t bear them now. However when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide
you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears,
he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. He will glorify me, for
he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. All things whatever
the Father has are mine; therefore, I said that he takes of mine, and will
declare it to you.
So, this man, entirely under
Joseph's leadership, tells the brothers that the guilty one would be kept as a
slave to Joseph and the rest could go free.
What a shock to them all when
Joseph’s cup was found in Benjamin’s bag! What a traumatic experience too for
Benjamin who knew himself innocent!
The brothers knew they could not
leave Benjamin and go home under these circumstances. Heavy-hearted they returned
to the city, where Joseph was still in his house. Again, they bow down to him,
but he too confronts them with the same accusation: What is this deed that you have done? Do you not know that
such a man as I can practice divination?
At this point, the brothers must
have understood that the Elohim of their father Jacob was against them, in the
sense that he overruled all their so-called trustworthiness. Up to this moment,
they still had held the true facts in
unrighteousness, as also Saul of Benjamin so much later would
write about people who deny the true facts about Elohim and his creation: Since the creation of the world his invisible qualities
are indeed clearly distinct from his works. With the mind every
honest person can perceive in creation Elohim's eternal
power and divinity, so that they are inexcusable (Romans
1:18-20).
16 And Yehudah said, “What do we say to my master? What
do we speak? Or how do we clear ourselves? Elohim has found out the crookedness
of your servants. See, we are my master’s slaves, both we and he also with whom
the cup was found.”
17 But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man
in whose hand the cup was found, he becomes my slave. And you, go up in peace
to your father.”
It is not Reuben, the eldest, who
speaks to Joseph, but Yehuda (Judah), the one who had been leader in selling
Joseph as a slave. He does not plead any difference whatever. In fact, though
he had not been personally guilty of stealing the cup, yet he realizes that
Elohim was in this way reminding him of their previous guilt in selling Joseph.
He tells the governor therefore: Elohim has
found out the iniquity of your servants. In fact, he does not
condemn Benjamin and justify himself, but takes his place with Benjamin and his
brothers in a willingness to accept the place of slaves to Joseph.
However, Joseph answers that he
would not require the brothers to be slaves, but would keep only Benjamin as a
slave while allowing the others to return home to their father. Joseph knew of
his father's affection for Benjamin and that the very mention of their father
now would devastate the brothers in having to return to him without Benjamin.
(Grant)
There are several striking verses in
the Prophets that throw light upon the antitypical significance of this point:
For in my holy mountain,
in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all
the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept
them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your
offerings, with all your holy things. As a sweet savor will I accept you,
when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in
which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of
the nations. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into
the
Or Hosea 5:15
I will go and return to
my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face.
In their affliction they
will seek me earnestly
So it was with Joseph and thus it
will be with his Antitype: As their true Messiah Yeshua will only fully reveal
himself to his Jewish brothers when they sincerely confess their offense [THE
offense or transgression; Daniel 9:24]. Only
when
You denied the Holy and
Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,… Now, brothers, I know
that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But
the things which Elohim announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that his
Messiah should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Repent therefore, and
turn around, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of
refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send forth Messiah
Yeshua, who was ordained for you before, whom heaven must receive until the
times of restoration of all things, which Elohim spoke long ago by the
mouth of his holy prophets (Acts 3).
18 And Yehudah came near to him and
said, “O my master, please let your servant speak a word in my master’s
hearing, and do not let your displeasure burn against your servant, for you are
like Pharaoh.
19 My master asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father
or a brother?’
20 And we said to my master, ‘We have a father, an old
man, and a young child of his old age, and his brother is dead, and
he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’
21 And you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me,
and let me set my eyes on him.’
22 And we said to my master, ‘The boy is not able to
leave his father, for if he leaves his father, his father shall die.’
23 But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest
brother comes down with you, you do not see my face again.’
24 And it came to be, when we went up to your servant my
father, that we told him the words of my master.
25 And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little
food.’
26 But we said, ‘We are not able to go down. If our
youngest brother is with us, then we shall go down, for we are not able to see
the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’
27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know
that my wife bore me two sons,
28 and the one went out from me, and I said, “Truly, he
is torn, torn to pieces!” And I have not seen him since.
29 And if you take this one from me too, and harm comes
to him, you shall bring down my grey hair with evil to the grave.’
30 And now, if I come to your servant my father and the
boy is not with us – since his own life is bound up in his life –
31 then it shall be, when he sees that the boy is not
with us, that he shall die. So your servants shall bring down the grey hair of
your servant our father with evil to the grave.
32 For your servant went guaranty for the boy to my
father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall be a sinner
before my father forever.’
33 And now, please let your servant remain instead of
the boy as a slave to my master, and let the boy go up with his brothers.
34 For how do I go up to my father if the boy is not
with me, lest I see the evil that would come upon my father?”
According to verse 16, Yehudah had
admitted: Elohim has found out the iniquity of
your servants. Speaking on behalf of all the brothers, Yehudah
confesses their common guilt.
Yehudah’s last words to Joseph were
in particular refreshing in the way they reached the root of the whole matter.
After all, he asks Joseph to allow him taking the place of Benjamin as a slave
and that Benjamin be allowed to return to his father.
What a contrast to the way Yehudah
had before treated his younger brother Joseph! This was the end that Joseph had
been seeking, to see in Yehudah a genuine repentance that was willing to suffer
as he had made his brother suffer. This too is the repentance that was seen in
the thief who was impaled together with the Lord Yeshua. Pointing to Yeshua, he
said to the other criminal:
“Don’t you even fear
Elohim, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly,
for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing
wrong.” (Luke 23:40-41).
What a change from their earlier
attitude before him, when the brothers had affirmed they were trustworthy men! Now, they give up all
attempts to clear themselves, and take the place of guilty ones
before Joseph. That result was the goal Joseph had before him all the way
through.
And that aim too will exactly be the
design of the activity of Elohim's spirit with respect to the End Time Jews.
Not until they cease to vindicate themselves and, in contrast to this, own
their common guilt as a nation, they can receive true blessings.
Thus, the "steward" will
bring back the brothers into the healthful presence of the antitypical
“Joseph”, as we read in Ezekiel’s prophecy:
I will take you from the
nations and gather you out of all countries. Then I will bring you to your
country. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be
clean. From all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse
you.
Then
I will give you a new heart and a new spirit within you. I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will
put my spirit within you. I will make you to walk in my judgments, and
that you observe my statutes, and keep them.
You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, you will be a people
for me and I will be a God for you.
(Ezekiel
36:24-28).
In exactly that way
At this stage of our research it
seems useful to make a mid-term review of the truths we established.
1. The famine foretold by Joseph was not confined
to the
Accordingly, all countries came into
In Revelation 3:10 we are informed that
this particular famine may be typical of the
hour of temptation, which shall come upon the whole inhabited world [oikoumene], to try
them that dwell upon the earth.
In that message, Revelation 3:7-13, directed to the Jewish End Time
community – there represented by Philadelphia - is described the third part of which in Zacharia 13:8-9 is announced that it will be
left in the land, refined and tested as if it were by fire. It's about the
people who know their Elohim and that shall prevail with his help; according to Daniel it handles
about his true people that will be answered by him when they invoke his name (Dan 11: 32-35; 12:10).
Their deceitful brothers who choose the false Pseudo-messiah, for that reason
are no true Jews, as defined in Romans
2:28-29.
Messiah Yeshua loves that true (Benjamin) remnant and will guide them
safely through the Great Tribulation. For the sake of them, the chosen ones, the days of that
tribulation will even be shortened, otherwise
no flesh would be saved (Mat
24:22).
The tribulation that (mostly) is on them has a special purpose: to put a test upon the inhabitants of the earth.
To obtain that goal to them the task is entrusted to fulfil Mat 24:14
>> heralding the good news of the [then established] kingdom
in all the inhabited earth [oikoumene] for a witness unto all the Gentiles.
Their preaching will confront the Gentiles with a decisive challenge: Will they
identify themselves with Elohim's people that clearly have his favour? Will
they offer them help in their afflictions? (Mt
25:37-40).
2. As remarked above, in Matthew 24:14 we are
previously informed about a worldwide preaching:
This Gospel of the Kingdom
will be preached in whole the inhabited world [oikoumene] for a testimony to all
the Gentiles, and then the end will come.
Since that Messianic Kingdom will be
established at the half of the 70th Annual Week, it will be proclaimed during
the second half of that ‘Week’, being the period in which the spiritual famine
will be so heavy that it apparently coincides with the trial that is announced
in Revelation 3:10.
Joseph opened all the storehouses to
the starving peoples, just as Messiah Yeshua will open the rich, full stores of
Elohim's’ grace in behalf of the Gentile nations. Apparently, Messiah Yeshua,
the Governor of the antitypical
Thus says Yahweh of
Armies: “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the
Gentiles, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, ‘We
will go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is with you.’”
Therefore, in the nations that flocked
to Joseph to buy corn we see pictured a great movement among the nations of
Heathendom, eagerly in search of a place where spiritual food for the soul can
be found. We expect that this movement will also be brought in motion because
of the removal of Yeshua’s Congregational Body, by rapture.
See The Rapture of Jesus’ Congregational
Body.
Actually, that congregation, being
in principle heavenwards called, will then really be close united with her
heavenly Bridegroom, Yeshua Messiah. That action was prefigured in Pharaoh giving
Asnath as wife to Joseph, he then being 30 years of age, exactly as Adam at the
age of thirty received Eve as his wife.
However, after that event, the
rapture, Elohim's spirit will for a certain period of time not be active among
mankind. And maybe, that situation will cause a worldwide lack of spiritual
nourishment.
3. Further, all those painful exercises and
experiences through which Joseph's brothers had to pass before Joseph became
known to them, foreshadowed the sorrows and repentance of the Jewish remnant
previous to their acceptance of him as their true Messiah in the last days.
1 And Yosĕph was unable to restrain himself
before all those who stood by him, and he called out, “Have everyone go out
from me!” So no one stood with him while Yosĕph made himself known to his
brothers.
2 And he wept aloud, and the Mitsrites and the
house of Pharaoh heard it.
3 And Yosĕph said to his brothers, “I am Yosĕph,
is my father still alive?” But his brothers were unable to answer him, for they
trembled before him.
Now that Elohim’s grace had wrought
genuine repentance in the hearts of the brothers, and Judah in particular, and
now they had acknowledged their guilt, there was no necessity for any further
delay; all the things that had hindered Joseph from revealing himself sooner,
were now gone.
Notice that Joseph in particular
gave the order: Have everyone leave me! Thus,
it will be when Yeshua will reveal himself to his repentant Jewish brothers
during his presence. Nobody must come between them and their heavenly Redeemer.
Away, therefore, you unbelieving rabbis who were always accustomed to decide
for their fellow Jews what was right and permissible, or (usually)
impermissible! Away, therefore, all those religionists who always presented
themselves as indispensable mediators. Away, all those ritualists who would
interpose their self made up ordinances as conditions for salvation: Have everyone go out from me!
In this development, we see clearly
what Yeshua had said about the religious elite in the days of his flesh:
Then Pharisees and
scribes came to Yeshua from
Then the disciples came,
and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard
this saying?” But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father
didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They are blind guides. If, then, a blind man
guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
(Matthew 15)
Therefore, away also
with those blind guides!
However, what will then, at the
second opportunity for
Zechariah has given far in advance -
yes, even long before Yeshua offered himself for the first time as their
Messiah to the nation - the prophetic answer to that burning issue:
They will look to the one
whom they pierced, and they will wail over him as they would wail over an only
son; and they will grieve bitterly over him as they would grieve over a
firstborn son (Zech 12:10).
It is quite remarkable that Joseph immediately, when he revealed himself
to his brothers, asked them again “Is my father still alive?" According to
Gen
43:7 and 27 he had already posed that question twice.
Apparently this refers to the uncertainty if, at the dawn of the End Times,
within Judaism still something is remaining of the original patriarchal
attachment to their Elohim, Yahweh. Within the current modern Jewry, is there
yet to find something of Jacob-Israel's deep confidence in the certainty of his
promises? Especially those related to the Seed of Promise and their mission
becoming a blessing to the whole Gentile world?
Obviously, Yeshua now knows the accurate answers to these probing
questions, but that is now out of order. The questions raised by Joseph are to
be valued in their typological meaning.
4 Then Yosĕph said to his brothers, “Please
come near to me.” And when they came near, he said, “I am Yosĕph your
brother, whom you sold into Mitsrayim.
5 And now, do not be grieved nor displeased with
yourselves because you sold me here, for Elohim sent me before you to preserve
life.
6 For two years now the scarcity of food has been
in the land, and there are still five years in which there is neither ploughing
nor harvesting.
7 And Elohim sent me before you to preserve for
you a remnant in the earth, and to give life to you by a great escape.
8 So then, you did not send me here, but Elohim.
And He has set me for a father to Pharaoh, and master of all his house, and a
ruler throughout all the
As we saw in verse 4, Joseph’s brothers were unable to answer him, for they trembled
before him.
Therefore, what a blessed invitation
they are now receiving! Joseph is putting all aloofness and all distance aside.
So, too in the End Times, in marvellous grace the antitypical Joseph will put
all obstacles aside, so repentant Jews may approach freely him, the One who
also is their Saviour, without any hesitation.
After all, he proclaims them a
wonderful message in their ears: Because
Elohim has sent me ahead of you for the preservation of life.
And again, in verse 7 >>
Elohim sent me
ahead of you in order to preserve for you a remnant on the earth and to
keep you alive by a great deliverance.
How anxious Joseph was to take fully
away their fears! Elohim had sovereignly worked in all his experiences in order
to preserve life for many. If he did not want them to be angry with themselves,
then certainly he was not angry with them. What a wonderful attitude for an
exalted ruler!
He also informs them bout the
severity of the famine, by letting them know that the two years of famine they
had suffered in the mean time, was only a beginning. There were yet five years
to come. They must have wondered how he knew such facts ahead of time, but they
did not question his word.
And of course, this is showing the
Jews of the End Times that their true Messiah is endowed with supernatural
abilities, in charge of the administration of all Elohim's governmental
affairs.
Compare Ephesians 1:9-11 >>
He [Elohim] made us [the members of Yeshua’s
Body members] namely known the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in him, for a domestic administration of
the fullness of the times, to unite all things under one head in the Messiah; the things concerning
heaven and the things in earth, in him, in whom we also were made to heirs
predestined to [the] purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the
counsel of his will.
9 Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him,
‘Thus says your son Yosĕph, Elohim has made me master of all Mitsrayim.
Come down to me, do not delay.
10 And you shall dwell in the
11 And I shall provide for you there, lest you and your
household, and all that you have, come to poverty, because five years of
scarcity of food are still to come.’
12 And look, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Binyamin
see that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
13 And you shall inform my father of all my esteem in
Mitsrayim, and of all that you have seen. And you shall hurry and bring my
father down here.”
14 And he fell on his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept,
and Binyamin wept on his neck.
15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them,
and after that his brothers spoke with him.
According to Joseph’s instructions,
the brothers have now to hurry home to their father, with the electrifying news
that Elohim made him lord of all
Moreover, Joseph urged his brothers: You shall tell my
father about all my glory in
So, too, in marvellous grace, Yeshua
will commission his Jewish End Times relatives to go forth, seeking others who
do not yet know him.
Joseph insisted that his brothers
would not only tell Jacob that he was alive, but also that YHWH Elohim had made
him lord of all
Compare Daniel
2:43-44
Moreover, see: Mid-term review
Joseph also promises to provide for
them during the five years of famine that were yet to come.
In that way Joseph was returning
great good to his brothers for the evil that they had shown him. How much
greater yet will be the goodness of the Lord Yeshua, who has been treated far
more shamefully than Joseph was, but will bless Israel - his brothers according
to flesh - in overabounding grace in the coming Millennial age!
Now Joseph again embraced his
brother Benjamin, and both of them wept. Of course Joseph had a special attachment
to the one who was the son of his mother. Apparently, in figure relegating to
the more than cordial relationship between Yeshua and the Benjamin remnant that
will appear in the End Times.
And he kissed all his
brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers spoke with him…
That Joseph also kissed the other
brothers meant that he had forgiven them. It gave proof that he was now fully
reconciled to his brothers. It speaks, too, of love.
Remember that the Prodigal thus was
greeted by his father after his return from the far country and confessed that
he had sinned:
I will rise and go to my
father and say to him: “Father, I sinned against heaven and before you, I am no
longer worthy of being called your son; make me as one of your hired servants”.
And rising up, he went to his father. And while he still was far off, his
father caught sight of him and was moved with pity, and quickly running he fell
on his neck and kissed him tenderly.
(Luke 15)
Notice, it was Joseph who kissed
them, and not the brothers who kissed Joseph. So, also, it was the Father who
kissed the Prodigal. YHWH Elohim always takes the initiative, an attitude that
is carefully imitated by his Beloved Son.
How meaningful, too, were the words
which follow: And after that his brothers
spoke with him. Their fears were all gone now. Reconciled to
Joseph, they could now enjoy his fellowship and converse with him. So it will
be when Yeshua’s Jewish brothers sincerely confess their guilt; it will
undoubtedly lead to a complete new relationship with their Messianic brother.
16 And the report of it was heard by the house of
Pharaoh, saying, “The brothers of Yosĕph have come.” And it was good in
the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “Say to your
brothers, ‘Do this: Load your beasts and go, enter the
18 and take your father and your households and come to
me, and I give you the best of the
19 And you, you have been commanded, do this: Take
wagons out of the
20 And do not be concerned about your goods, for the
best of all the
News of the coming of Joseph's brothers reaches Pharaoh, who is pleased
to hear this: It was good in the eyes of
Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.
We refer to Knapp’s
commentary: “Elohim and
the angels, like Pharaoh and his servants, rejoice when sinners are brought to
repentance. There is joy all around: Joseph rejoices; his brothers rejoice;
Pharaoh rejoices; his servants rejoice”.
Pharaoh also confirms what Joseph
had said, that the brothers should return to Canaan and bring their father and
their households with them back to
Of course Pharaoh realized that he
was greatly indebted to Joseph and was glad to show his appreciation in this
way. More than this, he orders them to take wagons with them from
21 And the sons of Yisra’ĕl did so. And Yosĕph
gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them food
for the journey.
22 He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of
garments, but to Binyamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five
changes of garments.
23 And he sent to his father this: ten donkeys loaded
with the best of Mitsrayim, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, and
bread, and food for his father for the journey.
Joseph gave them wagons - which
would of course include animals to pull them - and provisions for their
journey, even including changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave five
changes of clothing and added to this hundred pieces of silver.
One may wonder if Benjamin might
have had a little difficulty in knowing how to handle this! But Joseph's heart
was abounding in grace, and he sent to his father ten donkeys loaded with the
best things of
24 So he sent his brothers away, and they left. And he
said to them, “Do not quarrel along the way.”
25 And they went up out of Mitsrayim, and came to the
26 And they told him, saying, “Yosĕph is still
alive, and he is governor over all the
27 But when they spoke to him all the words which Yosĕph
had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons which Yosĕph had sent to
transport him, the spirit of Ya‛aqob their father revived.
28 And Yisra’ĕl said, “Enough! My son Yosĕph
is still alive. Let me go and see him before I die.”
In sending them away, Joseph told
his brothers not to quarrel on the way. Why? Because, he knew their character
too well, just as Yeshua knows the natural character of
So, at last they returned home to
their father with the unexpected news that Joseph was still alive and was ruler
over all
Similarly, the Jewish End Times remnant
has to fulfil a mission towards a famine-stricken world. They are to testify
Messiah’s exaltation and glory, just as the burden of the message of the sons
of
Concerning Jacob, he was stunned and
initially he could not believe what his sons were telling him. But they
affirmed him that they were merely relating to him all the words Joseph had
spoken to them.
At
that time the truth must have come out, that the brothers had sold Joseph into
However,
the knowledge that Joseph was living would for Jacob pass by the deception of
his sons.
Finally, as for Joseph's reported
words, Jacob was persuaded when he saw the wagons that had been sent by him.
His spirit revived and he said: It is enough.
Joseph my son is still alive. I will go to see him before I die.
1 And Yisra’ĕl set out with all that he had,
and came to Be’ĕrsheba, and brought offerings to the
Elohim of his father Yitshaq.
2 And Elohim spoke to Yisra’ĕl in the
visions of the night, and said, “Ya‛aqob, Ya‛aqob!” And he said, “Here I
am.”
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.
4 I Myself am going down with you to Mitsrayim
and I Myself shall certainly bring you up again. And let Yosĕph put his
hand on your eyes.”
5 And Ya‛aqob rose up from Be’ĕrsheba. And the sons of
Yisra’ĕl brought their father Ya‛aqob, and their little
ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to transport him.
6 And they took their livestock and their
property which they had acquired in the
7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and
his sons’ daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Mitsrayim.
On his way to Egypt Jacob stopped at
From Genesis 12 and 13 we learn that
Abraham foolishly left Canaan for
That required assurance Jacob
obtained the same night, when Elohim spoke to him in a vision, a reminder of
the dream YHWH had given the patriarch at
But how different the circumstances
now, Elohim telling him: I am Elohim, your
father’s Elohim, this time approving of his trip to
YHWH Elohim promises his own
presence with Jacob, and that he would surely bring him back again. This return,
of course, referred to Jacob's posterity, the nation
And the sons of Yisra’ĕl
brought their father Ya‛aqob, and their little
ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to transport him.
As we learned from chapter 45:21,
transportation had been provided, since Joseph had given them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh. In
antitype ‘the wagons’ may answer to Elohim's holy spirit, sent of the Father to
bring the spiritual helpless Jews to Joseph’s Antitype, their glorious
Messianic brother.
After all, for the End Times
Elohim's spirit is promised to them in connection with the New Covenant which
then will be concluded with the posterity of the Exodus generation:
Look! There are days
coming, assurance of YHWH, and I will conclude with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant; not one like the
covenant that I have concluded with their forefathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they
broke, and I had them as a husband. But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, YHWH is saying: I will put my law in
their inward parts, and in their heart I will write it; and I will be their
Elohim, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every
man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHWH; for they shall
all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh: for I
will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
(Jeremiah 31)
In relation to this, we
can consider also Joel’s prophecy for the Last Days:
It will happen afterward,
that I shall pour out my spirit upon all flesh [of my people
26 All the beings [all soul; kol nephesh] who went with Ya‛aqob to Mitsrayim, who came
from his body, besides Ya‛aqob’s sons’ wives, were
sixty-six beings in all.
27 And the sons of Yosĕph who were born to him in
Mitsrayim were two beings. All the beings of the house of Ya‛aqob who went to Mitsrayim
were seventy.
The 66 people were Jacob’s sons,
grandsons and daughter. They went to
By mentioning the number 70, the
inspired writer apparently wants to indicate that a full number of the Jewish
Community in the End Times will search refuge and care in the antitypical
His name will be called…
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there
shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to
uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever.
The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this. The Lord sent a word into
Jacob, and it falls on
(Isaiah 9)
You saw until a stone was cut out without
hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke
them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the
gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place was found
for them: and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the
whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation of it
before the king… The Elohim of heaven shall set up a kingdom that shall
never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty of it be left to another
people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever. Because you saw that a stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass,
the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great Elohim has made known to the king
what shall happen hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
of it sure.
(Daniel 2)
28 And he sent Yehudah before him to Yosĕph,
to point out before him the way to
29 And Yosĕph made ready his chariot and went up to
30 And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Now let me
die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
Within the new order of things - a
new phase in relation to Joseph’s ‘long varicolored robe’ - Israel
will be globally elevated to the earthly part of Elohim's New Israel,
representing on earth the heavenly Temple City New Jerusalem (Rev
21:1-5).
Compare: Galatians 6:15-16 >>
For in Messiah Yeshua
neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation. As many as walk by this rule, peace and mercy be on them, and on
Elohim’s
Israel.
31 And Yosĕph 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
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.’
33 And it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says,
‘What is your occupation?’
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
Joseph, led by divine wisdom,
prepares his brothers and their households for their being presented before
Pharaoh, telling them he will announce their coming to Pharaoh. He also intends
to tell Pharaoh his brothers are shepherds, having brought their flocks and
herds with them, so that Pharaoh would be prepared to grant them land that
would not encroach on the lands of the Egyptians. The latter namely, had
accustomed themselves to loathe shepherds.
Therefore, the brothers had to let
Pharaoh know that they had been shepherds from their youth and of course
desired to continue that activity in spite of the attitude of Egyptians toward shepherds.
Of course, in this approach again a
lesson in typological sense can be found: Elohim expects his own people to have
hearts as shepherds, to care for the needs of other human souls. At present,
the world (
However, in the new aeon, the
Instead, they are expected to follow
a program of education.
The small and the great, people who
come from all strata of the world population, they all have to learn what
constitutes the life for the Millennium period. To this end, scrolls of
instruction will be opened to train them in the way of righteousness. Their
response to that special form of education will be decisive how judgment will
turn out for everyone personally.
See: Revelation
20:11-15.
However, on earth Elohim’s
Strangers shall stand and
feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your
vine-dressers. But you shall be named the priests of Yahweh; men shall
call you the ministers of our Elohim: you shall eat the wealth of the Gentiles,
and in their glory shall you boast yourselves. Instead of your shame you
shall have double; and instead of dishonour they shall rejoice in their
portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy
shall be to them. For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery with
iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them. Their seed shall be known among the
Gentiles, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall
acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Yahweh has blessed.
1 Then Yosĕph 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
2 And he took five men from among his brothers
and presented them to Pharaoh.
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.”
4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell
in the land, because there is no pasture for your servant’s flocks, for the
scarcity of food is severe in the
5 And Pharaoh spoke to Yosĕph, saying, “Your
father and your brothers have come to you.
6 The
The right time came for Joseph to
introduce his family to Pharaoh. So, he chose 5 brothers on behalf of the whole
family to meet Pharaoh; he did not take them all. It is not said on what basis
he chose those five. In the Hebrew text, we literally read that Joseph chose
them from the edge, obviously meaning that he took either the
most impressive, or just the weaker ones. Anyway, in the Bible the number five
seems to refer to a part of whole
● in 2 Kings 7:13, where we
read about the drastic measures that were taken at the time of another severe
famine during the service of YHWH’s prophet Elisha >>
One of his [of the king] servants answered,
Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which
are left in the city. Behold, they are as all the multitude of
● in two of Yeshua’s parables:
a the five foolish, respectively the
five discreet virgins (Matth
25:1-12);
b the five brothers in the sectarian
‘house’ of the Rich man, in the parable of The Rich man and the poor
Lazarus (Luke
16:19-31).
Incidentally,
among the five foolish virgins and the five brothers of the Rich Man, there is
much similarity: Due to their disbelief in Yeshua, their Messianic expectations
are misdirected. At the crucial moment, they experience rejection and
exclusion.
Maybe, the five that Joseph chose
were those who could well speak on behalf of their other brothers. They
answered Pharaoh's question as to their occupation as Joseph had told them
earlier (in Genesis 46:33-34), confirming Joseph's word that they were
shepherds as their fathers were, and that they desired to sojourn in Egypt
because there was no pasture available in Canaan on account of the famine. They
therefore requested that they might be allowed to settle in the
Pharaoh proved to be very kind to
them. He did not behave towards Jacob and his family as if they were strangers;
receiving them with pleasure. Obviously, he had this attitude because of
Joseph. Joseph had blessed Pharaoh. So, Pharaoh wanted to bless Joseph’s
family.
It
is not exactly known where
Pharaoh
kept cattle at
The
description of the region as the very best of
the
The
numerical value of
And the remnant of Jacob must become in the midst of many peoples like dew
from YHWH, like copious showers upon the grass, that does not hope for man, nor
wait for the sons of men.
By the way, Jeremiah 9:23 has the same NV, and it is really of interest
reading that Scripture in its context, especially Jer 9:22-26.
Later,
after spending 215 years in the region, at the start with the fourth blow
[plague] on Egypt, YHWH Elohim specifically singled out “Goshen” to be left
unharmed (Ex
8:22; 9:26).
Rather than directly answering the
brothers, Pharaoh speaks to Joseph, which reminds us that YHWH Elohim grants
all blessing through Yeshua, the One in whom he finds great delight (Matth
3:13-17).
Through Joseph therefore all they desire
is freely granted to them, for Pharaoh tells Joseph they may have the best of the land. This was pure grace.
But also, on the ground of capability, some could be given the position of
being put in charge of Pharaoh's livestock. Since he knew Joseph, he expected
that at least some of his brothers would be capable men (Grant).
Incidentally, the best of the land might be a reference
to Gan Eden, the original
paradise-like part of the earth. This may well picture Yeshua restoring
During the Millennium
As Yeshua himself promised to the
repentant criminal:
One of the criminals who
was impaled insulted him, saying, “If you are the Messiah, save yourself and
us!”
But the other answered, and
rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear Elohim, seeing you are under the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our
deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” He said to Yeshua, “Lord,
remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Yeshua said to
him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in
Of course, by that
promise Yeshua did not signify that this man would be in heaven that same day.
In fact, Yeshua himself was only raised on the third day and his return to
heaven occurred 40 days thereafter. Here, there is no question at all of
heaven. Yeshua spoke to the believing robber within a Jewish setting.
Consequently, he referred to a
As Elohim’s King of the
Messianic Kingdom, Yeshua will not only be with this man, but with all humanity
that will be on earth during the Millennium. His royal attention will be given
to all.
7 And Yosĕph brought in his father Ya‛aqob and set him before
Pharaoh. And Ya‛aqob blessed Pharaoh.
8 And Pharaoh said to Ya‛aqob, “How old are you?”
9 And Ya‛aqob 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.”
10 And Ya‛aqob blessed Pharaoh, and
went out from before Pharaoh.
11 So Yosĕph settled his father and his brothers,
and gave them a possession in the
12 And Yosĕph provided his father, and his
brothers, and all his father’s household with bread for the mouth of the little
ones.
Remarkably, we are informed that
Jacob blessed Pharaoh before Pharaoh spoke to the patriarch. Obviously, this
occurred according to the principle we read about in Hebrews 7:7 >> Now it is undeniable that the lesser one is blessed by the
greater.
In that Scripture the inspired
writer was referring to Melchizedek who blessed Abraham after his return from
defeating the hostile kings, thereby showing that he was the greater and Abraham the lesser.
Of course, that
principle was also valid for Abraham’s posterity, especially with a view to the
tribe of Levi. As
can be derived from Psalm
110, the priesthood of Yeshua, the Messiah, will be after the order of
Melchizedek. For that reason, his priesthood will also be superior to that of
Levi as was arranged by Thorah! A lesson that will be hard for the Jewish
people still to learn!
But here, Jacob [the greater] blessing the Pharaoh [the lesser] is a picture of the coming
Millennium day, when Gentiles will be blessed through
In answer to Pharaoh's question as
to his age, Jacob speaks of his years as few
and evil, not attaining to the age of his fathers, Abraham and
Isaac. He had seen great trouble and sorrow during his 130 year pilgrimage,
just as has been true of his descendants, the Jewish nation, who have suffered
more affliction than any other nation over a period of centuries. Then Jacob
blessed Pharaoh again before leaving him.
13 Now there was no bread in all the land, because the
scarcity of food was very severe, and the
14 And Yosĕph gathered up all the silver that was
found in the
15 And when the silver was all spent in the
16 And Yosĕph said, “Give your livestock, and I
give you bread for your livestock, if the silver is gone.”
17 So they brought their livestock to Yosĕph, and
Yosĕph 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.
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 any
been left before my master but our bodies and our lands.
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.”
20 And Yosĕph bought the entire
21 And as for the people, he moved them into the cities,
from one end of the borders of Mitsrayim to the other end.
22 Only the ground of the priests he did not buy, for
the priests had portions allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their
portions which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their ground.
23 And Yosĕph said to the people, “Look, I have
bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you
shall sow the land.
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.”
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.”
26 And Yosĕph made it a law over the
The famine was as serious as Joseph
had predicted. Egypt and Canaan were both greatly affected. The people
continued to buy food from Joseph as long as they had money. However, when they
had spent it all and still needed food, Joseph told them to bring their
livestock to exchange for food. This arrangement continued for a year, and the
people came to Joseph again telling him that had nothing left except their
bodies and their lands. Now they request that Joseph should take their land and
also make the people the property of Pharaoh.
From this, at the Tribulation Times,
the whole world population will have to learn the lesson that all people have
been bought with a very precious price, which is by Yeshua’s ransom sacrifice.
For that reason, all humanity is Elohim's property.
Back then, in Egypt, the people
distinguished that they, for the preservation of their lives, were entirely
dependent on the life-sustaining regime that Joseph, with Pharaoh's consent,
had been set. They expressed their willingness becoming completely his
possession, yes, even his slaves.
In conjunction with that
arrangement, Joseph removed the people into cities. The land of the priests was
however, excluded from that decree, since they were already supported by
Pharaoh and nothing in this respect was altered. Though these were not priests
who had any ordination by YHWH Elohim, they still picture the liberty that true
believers in the Lord Yeshua have experienced during the whole aeon of
Christianity, from Pentecost 33 AD all the way to the present day. In Galatians
5:1 these priests are thus encouraged:
For the freedom [the] Messiah set us free.
Therefore stand fast and do not let yourselves re-impose a yoke of slavery.
In summary, the people illustrated
the sphere of government, while the priests speak of the sphere of the free
operation of Elohim’s spirit. As priests of YHWH Elohim, all Yeshua’s Body
members have never been under bondage of Israelite Thorah, because they enjoyed
all the time full provision made for them by grace, or undeserved loving
kindness.
Joseph was not a cruel dictator who
was seeking his own wealth by impoverishing the people. Some have strangely
criticized the plan that he carried into execution, but the people themselves
appreciated it. He had bought them and their land. In return, he gave them seed
to sow the land. For their labour they would receive four fifths of the crop.
This arrangement would work remarkably well, only on condition that the rulers
fair-minded and considerate of the people, and that the people would act
responsibly.
Obviously, all this is strikingly
picturing the coming rule of the Lord Yeshua in his kingdom. As all the money
of the Egyptians was gathered up by Joseph, so we are prophetically informed in
Haggai 2:8, that YHWH is saying: The silver is
mine, and the gold is mine.
Just as the livestock also became
Pharaoh’s property, through Joseph’s arrangement, so YHWH says: Every wild animal of the forest is mine, and the beasts
upon a thousand mountains (Psalm 50:10).
Also, as Joseph bought all the land
of Egypt for Pharaoh, so the Lord Yeshua, by the sacrifice of his own life,
bought the field, that is the
whole world of humanity (Matth
13:38).
Therefore, in the Millennial age it
will be declared: To YHWH belongs the earth
and that which fills it (Psalm 24:1). More than this, Joseph
bought the people themselves, and for that reason YHWH Elohim is telling us in
Ezekiel 18:4 >> Look! All the souls, to
me they belong.
Our natural selfishness in
considering that what we have is strictly our own has been through the years a
terrible detriment to our own happiness. For nothing really belongs to us, as
Israel will learn in a very practical way in the Millennium. Let believers now
remember that we are only stewards, put in charge of what belongs to YHWH
Elohim, and responsible to give him some return for all the goodness he is
showing to us in Messiah Yeshua. Only this attitude will give true
happiness.
Just as the famine in Egypt resulted
in the people becoming the property of Pharaoh, so the great famine of the
tribulation period will result in Jews and Gentiles realizing they are really
the property of the Lord Yeshua, in Revelation 17:14 designated as the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
Because of their great trouble many
among the world of mankind will become more content and happy than they have
ever been before, just as the people of Egypt all found blessing through the
wisdom and kindness of Joseph. Joseph's administration would make for more
equality among the people, with all having at least sufficient for their needs.
Present day governments certainly
have no reputation like this! Tremendous numbers are suffering to the
starvation point, while the number of billionaires in the world increases
amazingly. The people of Egypt said they were willing to become Joseph's
slaves, but Joseph did not treat them like mere slaves (Grant).
27 And Yisra’ĕl dwelt in the land of Mitsrayim, in
the land of Goshen. And they had possessions there and bore fruit and increased
exceedingly.
28 And Ya‛aqob lived in the land of
Mitsrayim seventeen years. So the length of Ya‛aqob’s life was one hundred
and forty-seven years.
29 And the time for Yisra’ĕl to die drew near, and
he called his son Yosĕph and said to him, “Now if I have found favour in
your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, and show kindness and truth to
me. Please do not bury me in Mitsrayim,
30 but I shall lie with my fathers, and you shall take
me up out of Mitsrayim and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I do
as you have said.”
31 And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him, and
Yisra’ĕl bowed himself on the head of the bed.
Jacob’s first concern
was to ensure that his own bones should not rest in foreign soil, not even
temporarily. ‘Israel’ must rest in the Land of Promise! Jacob trusted that YHWH
Elohim would take the family back to Canaan and by Joseph swearing to him,
Jacob reminded his family forcefully that Elohim exactly would do that. Egypt
was not their real home. Elohim
had sworn to give the
The last sentence of
this chapter, Yisra’ĕl bowed himself on the head of the bed, may mean in Hebrew that the
patriarch leaned on the head of his stick. It may not have been the head of the
bed; after all, we know that Jacob was then a weak old man.
1 And after these events it came to be that it
was said to Yosĕph, “See, your father is sick.” And he took with him his
two sons, Menashsheh and Ephrayim.
2 And Ya‛aqob was told, “See, your
son Yosĕph is coming to you.” And Yisra’ĕl strengthened himself and
sat up on the bed.
3 And Ya‛aqob said to Yosĕph,
“Ěl Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Kena‛an and blessed
me,
4 and said to me, ‘See, I am making you bear
fruit and shall increase you and make of you an assembly of peoples, and give
this land to your seed after you as an everlasting possession.’
Jacob here speaks to Joseph about
Elohim's first recorded appearance to him (Gen
28:11-15) at Luz (or Bethel) in Canaan, giving him his special blessing,
promising to multiply him into a multitude of people and to give that land to
his descendants for an everlasting possession. Therefore, Jacob was not
interested in any other land on earth and very rightly so, because
1.) YHWH Elohim himself had made the
promise, the One whom Jacob here designates as El Shaddai, God Almighty, and
2.) he, the patriarch, was deeply
concerned about the welfare of his descendants.
5 And now, your two sons, Ephrayim and
Menashsheh, who were born to you in the land of Mitsrayim before I came to you
in Mitsrayim, are mine – as Re’ubĕn and Shim‛on,
they are mine.
6 Your offspring whom you shall bring forth after
them are yours, and let them be called by the name of their brothers in their
inheritance.
7 And I, when I came from Paddan, Rahĕl died beside me
in the land of Kena‛an on the way, when there was but a little distance
to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is Bĕyth
Lehem.”
Here, Jacob claims Joseph’s two sons
as his own, and history has proved this to be an important matter. At that
time, Jacob had twelve sons, the exact number of administrative completeness.
And now, without doubt fully led by Elohim's wisdom, he gave Joseph an extra
place among the tribes by naming them after his two sons. For later we find
that Levi was given no distinctive inheritance among the tribes (Num
1:47-53) because that tribe was separated in order to do Elohim's service
in the Tabernacle and among all the tribes. Thus the twelve tribes were each
given their distinct inheritance in the land of Canaan, while the Levites were
dispersed among the tribes.
However, any sons that Joseph might
have afterward would be considered connected with either Ephraim or Manasseh.
Verse 7 is the only expression we hear from Jacob's lips as to the death of his favored wife, Rachel. The depths to which his heart was affected is not at all dwelt upon, but though he so restrained his feeling, the memory of it was real and poignant as he tells Joseph of the exact location of her death and the place of her burial. These were things he would not forget (Grant).
8 And Yisra’ĕl saw Yosĕph’s sons, and
said, “Who are these?”
9 And Yosĕph said to his father, “They are
my sons, whom Elohim has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring
them to me, and let me bless them.”
10 And the eyes of Yisra’ĕl were dim with age, and
he was unable to see. And he drew them near him, and he kissed them and
embraced them.
11 And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “I had not
thought to see your face. But see, Elohim has also shown me your seed!”
12 So Yosĕph brought them from between his knees,
and he bowed down with his face to the earth.
13 And Yosĕph took them both, Ephrayim with his
right hand toward Yisra’ĕl’s left hand, and Menashsheh with his left hand
toward Yisra’ĕl’s right hand, and brought them near him.
14 And Yisra’ĕl stretched out his right hand
and laid it on Ephrayim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on
Menashsheh’s head, consciously directing his hands, for Menashsheh was the
first-born.
15 And he blessed Yosĕph, and said, “The Elohim
before whom my fathers Abraham and Yitshaq walked, the Elohim
who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 the Messenger who has redeemed me from all evil –
bless the youths! And let my name be called upon them, and the name of my
fathers Abraham and Yitshaq. And let them
increase to a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
To receive Jacob’s blessing, Joseph
presented Manasseh on Jacob's right hand and Ephraim on his left, but Jacob
crossed his arms, putting his right hand on Ephraim's head and his left on
Manasseh's head. However, before blessing the two sons, we are told that Jacob
blessed Joseph first and then invoked Elohim's blessing upon both Ephraim and
Manasseh, the Elohim of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, the One who had fed him
all his life.
Consistently with his claiming them
as his own sons, he asks that his name would be upon them, and the names of
Abraham and Isaac, stressing the continuity of Elohim's blessing upon that
family: May they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth: Let them increase to a multitude in the midst of the
earth.
17 And when Yosĕph saw that his father laid his
right hand on the head of Ephrayim, it was evil in his eyes; and he took hold
of his father’s hand to remove it from the head of Ephrayim to the head of
Menashsheh.
18 And Yosĕph said to his father, “Not so, my
father, for this one is the first-born, put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I
know. He also becomes a people, and he also is great. And yet, his younger brother
is greater than he, and his seed is to become the completeness of the nations.”
20 And he blessed them on that day, saying, “In you
Yisra’ĕl shall bless, saying, ‘Elohim make you as Ephrayim and as
Menashsheh!’ ” Thus he put Ephrayim before Menashsheh.
21 And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “See, I am
dying, but Elohim shall be with you and bring you back to the land of your
fathers.
22 And I, I have given to you one portion above your
brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my
bow.”
We refer to the
commentary of Arno Gaebelein:
“The adoption of Joseph's sons is
interesting and instructive. As the offspring of the Gentile wife Asenath they
were in danger of becoming gentilized and thus forget their father's house.
Jacob frustrated this by adopting the sons. It was an action of faith: By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons
of Joseph; and worshipped leaning on the top of his staff
(Hebrews 11:21).
Again, the younger is preferred…
Full of hope dying Jacob predicted the return of his offspring to the land of
Canaan”.
About the end of Joseph himself we
read in Genesis 50:22-26 >>
22 And Yosĕph dwelt in Mitsrayim, he and his
father’s household. And Yosĕph lived one hundred and ten years.
23 And Yosĕph saw Ephrayim’s children to the third
generation. The children of Makir, son of Menashsheh, were also
brought up on Yosĕph’s knees.
24 And Yosĕph said to his brothers, “I am dying,
but Elohim shall certainly visit you and bring you out of this land to the land
of which He swore to Abraham, to Yitshaq, and to Ya‛aqob.”
25 And Yosĕph made the children of Yisra’ĕl
swear, saying, “Elohim shall certainly visit you, and you shall bring up my
bones from here.”
26 And Yosĕph died, being one hundred and ten years
old. And they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Mitsrayim.
Based on this part of Scripture, the
apostle Paul (Saul of Benjamin) wrote: By
faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the Exodus of the sons of
Israel, and he gave orders concerning his bones (Hebrews 11:22).
And indeed, from Exodus
13:19 and Joshua
24:32 we know that at the time of Israel’s Exodus Joseph's bones were
actually carried and afterwards buried in the field that Jacob had bought from
the sons of Hamor in the land of Canaan.
However, the question could arise as
to why Joseph for his burial did not require from his Israelite
relations the same procedure as the one that he himself had organised in behalf
of his father, 54 years earlier.
About the ceremony of Jacob’s burial
we read in Gen 50:7-14 >>
7 And Yosĕph went up to bury his father. And
with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all
the elders of the land of Mitsrayim,
8 and all the house of Yosĕph, and his
brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, and their flocks, and
their herds they left in the land of Goshen.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and
horsemen, and it was a very great company.
10 And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond the
Yardĕn, and they lamented there with a great and very heavy lamentation.
And he observed seven days of mourning for his father.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Kena‛anites,
saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad, they said, “This is a
grievous mourning for the Mitsrites.” That is why its name was called Abĕl Mitsrayim,
which is beyond the Yardĕn.
12 And his sons did to him as he had commanded them,
13 for his sons brought him to the land of Kena‛an,
and buried him in the cave of the field of Makpĕlah, before Mamrĕ,
which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for
a burial site.
14 And after he had buried his father, Yosĕph
returned to Mitsrayim, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury
his father.
With his explicit request to be
buried in Canaan, in the cave Machpelah near Hebron, Jacob expressed his faith
in Elohim's promise that Canaan would definitely become the homeland of his
seed, the Israelites. Joseph was characterized by the same faith and it could
be that, taking in consideration his position he had held at the court of the
Pharaoh, it was difficult for him to establish a similar arrangement as was
made for Jacob. The nationalistic feelings of the Egyptians may have resisted
against a funeral in the land of Canaan.
Apart from that, Scripture seems to
indicate that Elohim, with the dead Joseph, had definitely other intentions
than with his father Jacob. And that should not surprise us, especially when we
consider that Joseph, as we noticed clearly, was in many ways a prophetic
picture of the Messiah, Yeshua.
That the arrangement of Jacob's
funeral fitted within Elohim's providence, is evident from the fact that he
made this event into a picture of Israel's future exodus out of the world, the
antitypical Egypt. The very great and heavy
lamentation at the threshing floor of A'tad - literally at the threshing floor of the bramble –
apparently was typical for the matchless Great Tribulation where Israel still
must pass through to enter the Millennium Rest. Compare Judges
9:14-15.
In the Bible, the threshing floor where
the wheat is separated from the chaff, often is a picture of the separation
that causes Elohim's judgment between the righteous and the wicked. In Ezekiel
20:34-38 such a picture is evoked in conjunction with
However, in the case of Joseph’s
death and burial YHWH Elohim obviously had in mind something completely
different. Certainly, it is not unlikely that Joseph after his death could have
been buried in an Egyptian pyramid, but instead he wished to be embalmed and
kept in a coffin so that his bones later – at the time of Israel’s Exodus –
could be taken by his brothers and buried in the Land of Promise. With a view
to Genesis
15:13-16 and Jacob’s assurance in the matter, Joseph had every reason to
expect such an exodus
In retrospect, it turned out that
for Jacob's expanding family in Egypt Joseph's will had great spiritual
benefits. As a result they remained focused on a future exodus of liberation
from that bondage, especially later when they were severely oppressed by the
new Pharaoh and even were made to his slaves. After all, once would dawn the
time for their departure from Egypt, and with that the opportunity to take with
them Joseph's bones towards the land which was promised. As his body remained
in their midst until that day - probably in the land of Goshen, in the care of
some members of his descendants - that promise was kept alive among them.
Finally, in the year 2514 AM, 144
years after Joseph's death, in Elohim's timetable the day dawned for Israel's
departure from Egypt:
And Moses took Joseph’s bones
with him, because Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear: Elohim
will not fail to turn his attention to you, and you must take my bones up
out of here with you.
(Exod 13:19-20)
The next forty years the coffin with
Joseph's embalmed body was carried around
in the wilderness, while the people moved from one stopover to the next. And
possibly also for some time afterwards, when, under Joshua's leadership, it
took Israel almost six years to largely conquer the land. Because only at the
end of the book of Joshua Joseph's final burial is related.
(Numbers
33 and Joshua
14:7-10; 24:32).
When we take into consideration that
Joseph remarkably prefigured the Messiah in many ways, we can wonder where and
under what circumstances we can find the antitypical significance of that
particular fact, namely that Israel carried around Joseph's corpse in the wilderness
for at least forty years, before he found rest with Israel in the land of
typological Rest (Hebrews
4:8).
It seems that the key to that issue has
been provided to us in 2 Corinthians 4:10:
While we are always
carrying around in the body Yeshua’s death-dealing treatment, so that Yeshua’s
life also may be made manifest in our body.
Up to the present time, that
situation was applicable to the members of Yeshua’s Congregational Body, the
heavenly part of Elohim's Israel. First, however, with this statement the
apostle made mention of his own trials and tribulations during his ministry: At
all times he carried around in his body the dying [or: the killing] of Messiah
Yeshua.
But when the New Covenant is
concluded with the Hebrews - Israel's saints of the End times - and they have
washed their robes, having made them white in the blood of the Lamb, they also
will find themselves in that situation.
Since they then will be confronted
with bitter opposition, persecution and will suffer many things during the
Great Tribulation of the 70th Annual Week, they too will carry around in their
bodies the death of their Messiah. However, eventually they too will live in
the true sense of the word. Thanks to him, real life: the life of their Messiah
will be made manifest in them in the form of a new creation.
Compare: Rev
7:13-15 and Gal
6:15-16.
During his turbulent life the
patriarch Joseph in many ways demonstrated his faith; it is therefore all the
more remarkable that the apostle precisely made mention of this facet of his
faith: By faith Joseph, when his end was near,
made mention of the Exodus of the sons of Israel, and he gave orders concerning
his bones.
At least forty years, his brothers
carried around in the wilderness his embalmed body, a constantly being at hand
sign that Elohim's promise - bringing them into the promised land of Canaan -
would certainly be fulfilled.
However, this feature of the Exodus
also sheds a special light on their rebellion and disbelief at the time of the
return of the twelve spies.
Because of the demoralizing report
that was made to their brothers by ten of them, the people refused to go up
even further. Yes, in their uprising, they even wanted to kill the two faithful
spies, Joshua and Caleb, and to replace Moses as their head in order to return
to Egypt under a new leader!
What then, in that case, intended
they to do with the coffin in which they were carrying Joseph’s bones ? Did
they want that particular sign take back to Egypt, considering that sign,
granted them graciously by YHWH Elohim's, as worthless? Apparently, they were
willing to do so in their unbelief! However, in reality, such an act would mean
the breaking of an oath which was made to the dying Joseph, and even more:
nothing less than showing disloyalty to Yahweh their Elohim (Nm
13:17 to 14:10).
Above, we pointed already to Ezekiel
20:34:38, where the gathering of Israel out of the diasporah in the End times
is compared with the Exodus from Egypt. Even then, there will be rebels among
the people and offenders, so there will be again necessity for YHWH Elohim for
judging these Jews.
In those days of old, one of the
reasons for people’s refuse to continue their journey were the so called
‘giants’, the Nephilim, as the spies reported:
There we saw the
Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own
sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (Num 13:33).
Nevertheless, forty years later,
YHWH Elohim granted
Similar things are awaiting the
Hebrews of the End times. They will be led out from the Egypt of this world.
They too will be confronted by giants: the demonical locusts during the First
Woe, at the time the fifth angel will blow the trumpet. Those ‘locusts’ will
arise in the midst of a sooty darkness from the pit of the abyss (Rev
9:1-12).
Compare: Gen
6:1-4; Jude
1:5-7; Two
Peter 2:4; and Two
Tim 3:1-6.
Therefore, the End Times Jews will
be hit hard. However, in a sign that certain victory will be their part, they
will carry around – in their own bodies - the dying of the Greater Joseph. For
what purpose? So that Yeshua’s life may be
made manifest in their own bodies too!