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This Shabbat we have two parashas; MiKetz, meaning “At the conclusion” and Vayigash, meaning “And he drew near” covering Genesis chapters 41-47.
Joseph is in prison on a false charge of attempted rape. Poor Joseph; betrayed by his brothers, enslaved in Egypt, wrongfully accused. Yet despite it all, Joseph conducted himself with integrity, and God showed him favor. In last week’s parasha, Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker who had been jailed. His interpretation came to pass: the cupbearer was restored to office, and the baker hanged. Joseph asked the cupbearer to put in a good word for him with Pharaoh, but the cupbearer forgot, and Joseph spent two more years in prison. But he couldn’t have known how suddenly and dramatically things were about to change.
Miketz opens with another strange series of dreams – these interrupting the sleep of Pharaoh. He summons his wise men, but they are unable to declare the meaning. Suddenly, the cupbearer remembers and admits, embarrassingly, that he had forgotten Joseph. He tells Pharaoh about this impressive young Hebrew in the prison who understands dreams. Joseph is immediately summoned, and interprets Pharaoh’s dreams. Seven years of superabundant harvest are coming, to be followed by seven years of a devastating famine. Joseph advises Pharaoh to appoint someone to oversee the systematic storing up of grain during the plentiful years in preparation for the famine. Pharaoh said, “Great idea – the job is yours!”
In a single day Joseph ascended from the prison to the palace, as second-in-command over all Egypt! Pharaoh was delighted with Joseph, giving him his signet ring, wealth, honor, and a wife from a prominent family, with whom he fathered two sons, M’nashe and Ephraim, from the verbs meaning to forget and to be fruitful, since God enabled him to forget his former woes, and made him fruitful.
Meanwhile, one-fifth of Egypt’s grain was stockpiled… so much that they stopped counting! But the prosperity ends abruptly, and the famine begins – so vast and severe that the entire Middle East is affected.
Moses turns our attention back to Jacob and his family in Canaan. They’re running out of grain, and by this time everyone knows Egypt is the only place to find more. Jacob sends his sons there, but Benjamin he keeps with him. He’s already lost one of his beloved Rachel’s sons; he won’t risk the other. The brothers arrive in Egypt and Joseph recognizes them as they bow down to him! His dreams are coming true. But they don’t recognize him; it’s been over 20 years.
He decides to test them. “You’re spies!” he declares. They protest their innocence. They explain their situation, and in the process tell him they have a younger brother back home with their dad. Joseph puts them in a prison cell for three days, but then releases all but Shimon who is to be kept in confinement. Joseph sells them grain, but tells them plainly that to prove their honesty, they cannot come back to Egypt without their younger brother. Only then will he release Shimon.
On their way home, they discover that their money has been put back into the sacks, and now they’re afraid they’ll be accused of stealing the grain. It is the beginning of a series of tests to which Joseph will subject them, precipitating a crisis which will force the brothers to confront their long-hidden sin.
When Jacob’s family again runs out of grain, the brothers have no choice but to return to Egypt. Despite Jacob’s reluctance, this time Benjamin accompanies them. Joseph orchestrates one more crisis, planting his own ornate goblet in Benjamin’s sack of grain before sending the brothers away. After they’ve departed, Joseph sends a guard after them. The guard rebukes them for ‘stealing’ his master’s cup. They again protest their innocence and invite him to examine their sacks. He does, and to their dismay, it is found in Benjamin’s sack.
The others are told they are free to leave, but Benjamin will be taken and made a slave. The brothers are horrified – they can’t return home without Benjamin! So, they turn and head back to Egypt, to plead for Benjamin’s life.
And this is where parasha Vayigash begins.
Back in Egypt, and unaware that he is standing in front of Joseph, Judah falls to his knees, pleading with this ‘Egyptian lord’ for the life of their brother Benjamin, insisting that if Benjamin doesn’t return with them, their father Jacob will surely die of sorrow. And then Judah does something wonderful and courageous – he offers his own life in place of Benjamin. Of course, Judah is the one whose genealogical line will eventually lead to Messiah; and though Judah was certainly flawed, this profound act of self-sacrifice is a foreshadowing.
At this, Joseph can no longer contain himself. Overwhelmed with emotion, he orders everyone but the sons of Jacob out of the room, and in one of the most emotionally charged scenes in all of Scripture, reveals himself, saying: “I am your brother!” They are thunderstruck! He beckons them to draw near and see that it’s really him. The very one they had hated and betrayed has become their provider, their savior!
While not glossing over the brothers’ guilt, Joseph affirms that it accomplished God’s greater purpose: to send him ahead to provide salvation for his family. And that’s what he’ll do. Joseph sends them back to Canaan with generous provisions and gifts for his father, and tells them to inform Jacob that his son Joseph is alive, and is lord over Egypt, and that the entire family is to relocate to Egypt, which will be the only place food will be found in the five remaining years of famine.
The brothers return to their father with the incredible news, Jacob’s beloved son is alive! The entire family sets out for Egypt. And, just as Abraham had sojourned in Egypt during a famine, now his descendants will sojourn there, but we already know they’ll be there a long time!
This is a pivotal time for them, and when Jacob stops in Beersheva to offer sacrifices, God meets with him and reassures him, saying “…do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes.” This passage is where the juxtaposition of the names Jacob and Israel gets interesting, and it isn’t arbitrary. When God says he will bring Israel up again out of Egypt, He refers to the nation, not the man. So Israel the man and, figuratively, Israel the nation, goes down to Egypt. Israel the man and, figuratively, Israel the nation stands before Pharaoh and blesses him, and Israel settles in Goshen.
The parasha ends with the Egyptians running out of money. The famine has so ravaged the land that the people are forced to sell their livestock to Joseph in exchange for grain; and when that runs out, they are forced to sell their homes and lands. Joseph effectively makes Pharaoh the landlord over all Egypt! But the people are grateful to Joseph, who saved their lives through his insight and wise administration.
Judah may be the one whose genealogical line leads to Messiah, but Joseph is the one whose godly character despite repeated injustices, and whose exaltation from the prison to the palace and salvation, not only of his own family, but of many others, anticipates what Messiah will do. Some rabbis recognized this pattern, and in light of various prophecies from Isaiah and Zechariah, spoke of Messiah ben Yosef (the son of Joseph”) – a righteous but unjustly afflicted Servant of God.
Understand, then, the irony, when Yeshua calls Himself the bread that came down from Heaven, and the Jewish leaders respond by saying, “Isn’t this Yeshua, the son of Joseph…?” They were so close to stumbling onto the truth.
Meanwhile, through His own suffering and exaltation, Yeshua has opened the way to eternal life for us – He has already accomplished the work of Mashiach Ben Yosef. Soon He will be revealed to the inhabitants of the world in power and splendor as Mashiach Ben David.
Joseph wouldn’t be the last Jew taken captive to a foreign land, interpret a king’s dream and suddenly rise to prominence. The same thing happened to Daniel in Babylon. What is it about the Jews and the revealing of mysteries? Our people, it seems, were chosen by God to unveil His mysterious plans and purposes to the nations.
Applications:
- Don’t interpret your immediate circumstances to be the sum total of your life. You don’t know what God has in store. He reallocates assets, whether grain or people, according to His infinite wisdom. Trust Him to fulfill His good purposes, in His time. Learn to wait.
- Jacob assumed Joseph was dead, never again to be seen. Likewise, Israel’s leaders reckoned they would never see Yeshua again, but He has risen and is alive and highly exalted. Jacob didn’t know that he and Joseph would soon be reunited. Likewise, Israel, at present, doesn’t yet know it, but a reunion is coming soon, when Messiah returns in splendor.
- Wouldn’t you think Joseph would show up in the New Covenant as a type of the Messiah? The innocent one, hated by his brothers, sold for the price of a slave, suffering unjustly, then rising from the pit to the pinnacle, and saving the very ones who hated him. Maybe nothing needed to be said because it’s obvious to anyone who’s studied Genesis.
- Just as Joseph saved, not only his own spiteful brothers, but many other peoples, so Yeshua has become the source of salvation, for both His own brothers, and for men and women from every nation.
Praise be to the God of reversals, who shows kindness to the undeserving. Let’s go out of our way to tell everyone about Him!