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From: Rabbi Moshe Joseph Koniuchowsky (ravmoshe@bellsouth.net)
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers
Torah
Parshah VaYigash
Bereshith
44:18-47:27
"And
He Drew Near or He Approached"
BY
YOCHANAN MASCARO
YATI
STAFF WRITER
More Two House Truth as Revealed in
The Scriptures
As Rabbi Mordechai Silver' great Torah parshah and Haftarah
demonstrated earlier, this upcoming Shabbat marks an exciting time in
our Torah and Haftarah cycle! Here's my two cents.
The Torah parshah appears at Bereshith 44:18-47:27 and is called
VaYigash meaning: "And he drew near or he approached". The related
Haftarah portion from the Neviim (Prophets) is none other than
Yehezkel 37:15-28 which speaks of the joining together of the two
sticks representing The House of Yahudah and The House of Ephrayim!
This parshah and haftorah are at the heart of Two House Truth. We at
Your Arms To Israel Ministries are excited about this weekend's
message and want to spread that excitement to you and your mishpochah!
First, in the Torah parshah, we find Yahudah and his brothers before
the Pharoah's right hand man, the interpreter of dreams and the second
highest official in all of Mitzrayim! Unbeknownst to them, he is
their very own brother Yosef. Earlier, brother BenYahmin was
imprisoned for having been found with Yosef's stolen goblet in his
mealsack (undoubtedly planted there). Now, of all the remaining
brothers, it is brother Yahudah who musters up the courage to
"approach" Yosef to petition for BenYahmin's release. Indeed,
Yahudah even offers to trade places with BenYahmin! We can certainly
empathize with the emotion and drama of this meeting. One can only
imagine the natural apprehension, distrust and anger on the part of
Yosef who now has the power not only to imprison his own brothers, but
to sentence them to death. And yet while we would expect these
negative emotions in Yosef he instead surprises us by showing a deep
brotherly compassion which exemplifies the chesed (lovingkindness) of
Torah. Yosef is an eyewitness to the public teshuvah (turning
back/repentance) of his brothers as represented through the selfless
sacrifice of brother Yahudah.
We see foreshadowings of Yahshua Himself in these verses. For Yahudah
foreshadows what Yahshua HaMashiach, Himself from the tribe of
Yahudah, would later do for all mankind by selflessly offering Himself
up "for His brothers". "Greater love has no man than this, that He
lay down His life for His friends". - Yochanan 15:13. Yahudah knew
that the penalty for BenYahmin's crime was surely death.
Now imagine the shock, then concern, then shame, and then the elation
that the brothers must have felt upon Yosef's revelation of his
identity. Their very own brother! Who once was lost; but now is
found. Who once was given up for dead; and yet now is alive! Who
once may have been a slave; but now is wearing the Pharoah's (king's)
cloak of power! And what does Yosef tell his brothers in Bereshith
45:5?:
5 "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me
here, for Yahweh sent me before you to preserve life."
Another foreshadowing here of what in fact later happened to the
greater "Yosef", Yahshua, who was sent to "preserve" life and gather
the remnant of Yisrael. It is also interesting to note that our
Mashiach came first as Mashiach ben Yosef "Messiah Son of Joseph!"
But not only was Yahshua the earthly "son" of Yosef the carpenter but
spiritually too, He is a "son" of Yosef ben Ya'acov.
This very Yosef (i.e., The House of Ephrayim), whose tribe is later
blessed by father Ya'akov through Yosef's sons Menassheh and Ephrayim
has been "sent before" Yahudah (i.e., The House of Yahudah) to
preserve life through proclaiming the glad tidings of Yahshua
HaMashiach to the nations [Bereshith 45:5]. In Hebrew the word
preserve here is Strongs H-4241 michyah which means "preserving of
life, sustenance" but may also mean "reviving" as in "the quick of the
flesh" (i.e., resurrection!). Even more interesting is in Bereshith
45:7 the Hebrew word translated as preserve in English is actually
Strongs H-7760 suwm or siym meaning "to put, place, appoint, place,
ordain, bring to pass". It has been part of Yahweh's divine Plan, and
under His appointed direction that Yosef has suffered for the sake of
saving a remnant (Strongs H-7611 sheerith meaning "rest, residue,
remainder, those who escaped") of his brothers. Thus Yahweh sends
Yosef ahead of his brothers to preserve "for them" (the other
brothers) a remnant on the earth keeping them alive for a great
deliverance. "Deliverance" here is Strongs H-6413 peletah also
meaning an escape, those whom have escaped, an escaped remnant".
Further we must remember that the true Hebraic significance of
redemption of any slave is not so much the fact that he is first
redeemed (i.e., repurchased) from his former slaveowner (i.e.,
bondage), but more importantly that he is then set free completely!
For we know that "For if the Son makes you free, then you are free
indeed". - Yochanan 8:36.
Yosef then tells his brothers to go back to their father Ya'akov,
inviting them all to live with him in the land of Goshen.
Interestingly, Yosef also says something that may provide us with an
eschatological (end times) clue: for he then says the following in
Bereshith 45:6-8:
6 "For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are
still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor
harvesting.
7 "Yahweh sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the
earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
8 "Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but Yahweh; and He
has made me a father to Pharaoh and master of all his household and
ruler over all the land of Mitzrayim.
Mitzrayim was two years into the seven year famine when Yosef revealed
himself to his brothers. That is why Yosef says that five years still
remain. The seven year famine in Mitzrayim is a foreshadowing of
seven year end-times tribulation & great tribulation. Scripture
appears to be foreshadowing here that we will be two years into the
tribulation before the latter-day Yosef, the ten lost tribes of
Ephrayim, fully reveal themselves to, and are accepted by, their
brother, The House of Yahudah.
Ya'acov first hesitates but then realizes that the message and
invitation to come and live in the land of Goshen must be from Yosef!
He then takes family and possessions and is on his way. Yahweh
speaks with him in visions by night encouraging him not to be fearful
of "going down" to Mitzrayim and its evils for Yahweh "will go down
with him" and promises Ya'cov that He will there establish the B'nai
Yisrael: The Children of Yisrael and make them a great nation. Yahweh
also tells Ya'acov that Yosef will "place his hands on his (your)
eyes". In a remez interpretation, just like Yosef needs to reveal
himself first to Yahudah for the retoration to begin, this seems to
hint again that it is Yosef's action first that will remove the
blindness in his brothers for it is Yosef's hands that are that will
be laid upon his father Ya'acov's eyes. In this sense Ya'acov
represents all of his sons but more importantly, Yahudah and
BenYahmin for it is Yahudah to whom Yosef is speaking in these verses
and it is BenYahmin who has been temporarly placed in prison. This
clearly reflects the importance of the face to face interaction of
Yosef and Yahudah (The House of Israel/Ephrayim and The House of
Yahudah) first to achieve the ever-important recognition that we are
brothers, and then to go the next step of full and complete
restoration.
The Torah then lists Ya'akov's offspring in Bereshith 46, hinting at
the birth of Yocheved, who will be the mother of Moshe Rabbeynu. In
total, seventy souls descend into Mitzrayim (expressed as "threescore
and ten" in some bibles) where Yosef is then reunited with his father
after twenty-two years of separation. He and his father embrace,
weeping, overflowing with joy. Yosef then ensures the safe settlement
of his family in the land of Goshen. He then brings his father
Ya'akov and five of his brothers to be presented to Pharaoh, and
Ya'akov blesses Pharaoh. It is interesting too that Yosef only brings
five of his brothers before Pharaoh. Why? Perhaps some of the other
brothers would have appeared to have been more threatening to Pharaoh.
Yosef decrees that in return for grain, all the people of Egypt must
give everything to Pharaoh, including themselves as his slaves. Yosef
then redistributes the population, except for the Egyptian priests who
are directly supported by a stipend from Pharaoh. Although somewhat
imperfect in that it is not in Eretz Yisrael nor at Yahweh's temple,
under the circumstances in which Yosef and his family are placed, this
nevertheless clearly demonstrates Yosef's implementation of the Torah
principles of tithing and priestly-sustenance even within Mitzrayim!
Demonstrating once again how Yosef remained close to Father Yahweh,
suffering when needed, and yet wherever possible bringing his captors
into observance of Yahweh's principles and not the other way around.
B'nai Yisrael (The Children of Ya'akov/Yisrael) are then settled and
their numbers are multiplied greatly!! As promised by Yahweh.
Since Rabbi Mordechai amply covered the haftarah in Yehesq'El 37:15-28
I will leave any remaning study of that to the reader. It is required
reading for all adherents to Two House Truth as it clearly describes
Yahweh's joining of the two sticks of Ezekiel symbolizing the
restoration of Kol Yisrael, both Houses of His kingdom; all twelve
tribes of Yisrael in these last of the last days. See also Rabbi
Moshe Koniuchowsky's extensive work on this subject at
www.yourarmstoisrael.org as well as other
fine works by Batya Wooten,
Angus Wooten at www.mim.org, Eddie Chumney at
www.hebroots.org/hhmi.html#Heritage
and even our orthodox Yahudim
brother and scholar Yair Davidy at www.nazarene.net/brit-am/
who,
while not yet accepting Yahshua HaNotzri as his personal Mashiach,
nevertheless confirms orthodox Judaism's critical tenet of the
"ingathering of the exiles" which means the restoration of the twelve
tribes of Yisrael. For it is well known and scriptural that it is
also part of Mashiach's end times role.
Shalom and may you be blessed in this reading.
Yochanan Mascaro
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