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From: Ephraim & Rimona Frank
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Joseph: The Mystery Man
Shalom Fellow Israelite,
If there is one word that characterizes the house, stick, or tree of Yoseph
it is 'mystery'. So if you do not mind putting on a Sherlock Holms hat, or
an Inspector Clouseau cloak, let us begin our investigation by rendering all
the glory unto the One to whom glory is due, and by acknowledging the fact
that Yoseph is a product of this Elohim of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'acov.
YHWH calls himself the "Elohim of Israel", therefore, if we were to come to
know Him, we would of necessity need to know who this 'Israel' is.
Conversely, to know who Israel is today would help us know and understand
her Elohim. If YHWH hides His face, He would have to hide Israel as well.
Thus there is a double mystery to uncover here.
As we set out on our journey of following Yoseph's life experiences, let us
consider his biography as a prophetic parallel to the destiny of those who
would eventually comprise the 'House of Yoseph'. We will begin our
expedition starting with Yoseph's ancestry and with events that marked his
early years. Remember, when it comes to prophetic revelation- understanding,
what we see in the microcosm of the life of the Patriarchs, may well be
indicative of what is to take place in the historical macrocosm of their
descendants!
Yoseph's great-grandmother had been barren all her childbearing years. After
she was too old to have children, she became doubly barren, if you will,
since her womb and ovaries were totally non-functional by then.
Notwithstanding, the Creator, for His purposes and namesake, intervened into
the affairs of this family of faith. "Therefore it is of faith that it might
be according to mercy, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed,
not only to those who are of the Torah (Judah), but also to those who are of
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, 'I have
made you a father of many nations' in the presence of Him whom he
believed----Elohim, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which
do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so
that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, 'So
shall your descendants be'" ( Gen. 17:5; Rom. 4:16-18). Later on in
Israel's history, Isaiah the Prophet echoes this mysterious connection
between the past and future. "Remember the former things of old, for I am
Elohim, and there is no other; I am Elohim, and there is none like Me,
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are
not yet, saying, `My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure'"
(Is. 46:9-10). Thus we see that the history of Israel is a continuum of
YHWH's word, counsel and pleasure.
What are we to remember from "the former things of old" and from "the
ancient times", and why? The Creator Elohim, in establishing His name, did
so by making a covenant with Yoseph's great grandfather Avram. YHWH sent
messengers to him to tell him that his wife would conceive and bear a son.
This was a cause of great laughter in the tents of this family, seeing that
Avram was almost 100 years old and Sarah 90. These messengers certainly knew
how to tell a good joke! But lo and behold within that year she conceived
and gave birth to the only begotten son of promise. When the birth pangs
rocked Sarah's body and when Yoseph's grandfather had actually emerged from
the womb making his debut in this world, it was no longer a joke. He was
named Yitzchak, after the laughter his parents had entertained in response
to what to them seemed a humorous message. Since Divine intervention was the
order of the day and the main testimony of the matriarchs, Yoseph's
grandmother, Rebecca followed suit, and was also barren for almost twenty
years before she conceived the "two nations". The blessing she had received
upon her departure from her family: "Our sister, may you become the mother
of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of
those who hate them" (Gen. 24:60), seemed almost irrelevant and hopeless
after so many years of waiting. And as quoted above, "Elohim, who gives life
to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did",
intervened in the family situation once again. Now, if you will, please
switch your magnifying glass over to a statement made in the blessing to
Yoseph: "His glory is like a firstborn bull, and his horns like the horns of
the wild ox; together with them He shall push the peoples to the ends of the
earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of
Manasseh." (Deut. 33:17).
The Creator seemed to have had multiplicity on His agenda, just as He did
when He addressed Adam, Noah and Avram, telling them to be "fruitful (which
is also the root of "Ephraim") and to "fill..." (of the same root
found in
Israel's blessing to Yoseph and Ephraim concerning their seed which was to
become the "fullness of the Gentiles"). Is there any wonder, then, that the
Apostles addressed the House of Ephraim as "Gentiles"? Take note of the
difference between the Creator's words to Avram and what He said to Adam and
Noah. To the former He says: "I will multiply your seed". It is He who takes
Divine responsibility as the husbandman, over the seed of the Patriarchs.
Avram, being promised in the covenant by his Creator that he would become a
nation, a chosen nation and a company of nations, was as assured of the
fulfillment of that covenant as much as he was sure of YHVH's very
existence: "For when Elohim made a promise to Abraham, because He could
swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying,' Surely blessing I
will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you'.... Thus He,
determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability
of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath... for it is impossible for Elohim
to lie... (Heb.6:13-14, 17-18; Gen.22:16).
Following in the footsteps of the previous matriarchs, Yoseph's mother's was
very much like her predecessors. Her womb was also barren and not capable of
conception. Again Elohim, with the power of bringing forth life from the
dead, intervened in the womb of Rachel. She named her firstborn son,
"Yoseph", as she prayerfully and prophetically claimed a future of being
"added to" (that is, having more children). It is perhaps noteworthy that
immediately upon Yoseph's birth, Ya'acov his father petitioned his uncle to
let him return to his own country. Is there a connection between the
'emergence' of Yoseph and returning to the land (Gen. 30:24-25)?
Yoseph, while just an infant and perhaps even when still strapped to his
mother, watched Rachel steal the household idols from her father. This
disposition seemed to have affected Yoseph's offspring in later years, as
they too had a very strong propensity toward idol worship. Moreover,
Yoseph's mother was very jealous of her sister Leah, Yeudah's mother (ref.
Gen 30:1). Could it have been the same jealousy that was manifest in the
tribe of Ephraim, Yoseph's son, in his relationship with Yeudah in later
years, concerning which the Prophet had a few things to say (ref. Is.
11:13)? However, the attitude of Leah's children toward Yoseph, as we know,
was non too benevolent either.
Little signs of favoritism, by Ya'acov towards his beloved Rachel's oldest,
began to come into view at the outset, influencing decisions he made
concerning his family. One such example was the family's journey home from
Haran. Upon running into his brother Esav, who wanted at one time to kill
him for stealing his birthright, Ya'acov divided up the family for
protection and possible escape. As Esav approached Ya'acov's camp with 400
men, it is not hard to guess who was hidden, last in line, behind his mother
(Gen. 33:2).
Yoseph's brothers of course did not take kindly to this partiality, and
began to despise him as it became obvious that His father was grooming him
for a special place in the family. Yoseph had lost his mother, who died
when giving birth to his brother Binyamin, and thus did not enjoy maternal
protection during his formative years. Leah, whose children were his half
brothers only, might have treated him more like a stepbrother. However,
Ya'acov transferred all the love and affection he had for Rachel on to
Yoseph. This became quite evident when special garments were being given to
him that had, in fact, the markings of royalty. The brothers' enmity began
to change to outright hatred, especially after Yoseph gave an evil report
about them to their father. The text makes it hard to know what Yoseph's
exact intentions were regarding his brothers, but the result was not a
positive one. The brothers hated him even more, and to add insult to
injury, Yoseph had a number of dreams in accordance to which he was destined
to a superior role in the family. Being a teenager, of course, he had no
compunctions in letting everyone know about them. He was slowly putting the
nails into his own coffin. As seen in previous scriptural stories, brothers
who entertain enmity and hatred ultimately are led to contemplate murder.
The Apostle Yochanan (John), in his Torah dissertation, put it this was
"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer" (1 John 3:15). The close
affinity these two attitudes bear one to the other is unmistakable.
Finally, the day came when the brothers had their opportunity to get rid of
this 'spoilt brat' once and for all, but YHWH's sovereignty and purposes
prevailed, proving the wisdom and accuracy of His word: "A man's heart plans
his way, but YHWH directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). Thus the prophetic
mystery unfolds. Yoseph's brothers stripped him of the outer garment that
identified him, he was thrown into a pit (a dried up water well) of darkness
and despair, only to be dragged off later and to be sold as a slave to some
Midianite merchants who were carrying special herbs and barks used for the
preservation (mummifying) of corpses in Egypt. Next the brothers killed a
male goat and dipped in its blood Yoseph's cloak, which they presented to
their father.
Now that we have gathered some of the evidence, it is 'lab' time. We need to
examine the data accumulated thus far about Yoseph's life circumstances, and
in the course of this review ask ourselves if and how it applies to what
eventually was to take place in the chronicles of Yoseph's 'House'...
Shabbat Shalom,
Shevet Achim
Ephraim Frank
Israel
"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has
happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans
11:25).
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