Staying in the "Perfect Will of God" (Gen 41)

RabbiJames

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Parashah: “Miketz” (at the end of) GENESIS 41:1-44:17

When we look into this parashah study, we see Yosef, who was, in a way of speaking, in the “pit” He was cast into the prison for something he did not do, yet he continued to trust YHVH for his needs. This reminds us of Melech David's words “You will not leave my soul in Sheol” This was a time of testing for Yosef. It was out of his hands.

He came to Egypt as a slave, got a good position in Potiphar’s house, went from a common slave to comfort of a house, from house to the prison, and from prison to fame and fortune. All in YHVH's perfect timing and planning. We might ask ourselves, if Yosef could have managed an escape from the house of Potiphar, or even from prison, he probably would have headed straight back to his home in Canaan. No one would have been in Egypt to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, and thus, save the world from starvation.

Yet we see that Yosef did submit himself to the perfect will of HaShem, and he was finally taken out of prison via the “cup bearer” (Oh yes, now I realize my shortcomings, there IS a guy in prison that can interpret your dreams your majesty...) Yet Yosef gives all glory to God, “God will give the interpretation” which is a positive witness to YHVH. Pharaoh probably saw the shortcomings and weakness of the Egyptian priests who were “supposed” to get their wisdom from Egyptian gods, yet this foreign “Hebrew” gets his wisdom to interpret dreams from an “invisible” God.

Another thing we see is that Yosef not only gives the interpretation, but also the “solution”. For what good is an interpretation of a dream that speaks “calamity” if there is no solution to the problem? It is kind of like saying; “Hey king, your country is doomed, 7 years of famine, starvation, death...well OK.... nice meeting you Mr. King.” yet Yosef is faithful and brings a solution, through YHVH's wisdom and perhaps the experience he already had in agriculture and livestock when he was in Canaan as a teen.

We see that Yosef gives glory and honor to Adonai, not for himself, to the ability to interpret dreams. Since we are finalizing this week of Hanukkah, we see some similarities between "Y'hudah Ben Mattathias (Judah the Maccabee) and "Yosef Ben Israel" Yosef gives honor and glory to God verbally. Judah Ben Mattathias gives glory through his nick name "Y'hudah Makavi" (Judah the Maccabee) in that the word "Makav" in Hebrew means "hammer" and "Makavi" means "My hammer" the name of "Y'hudah" contains the letters YHVH "The most sacred name of God" So, in this way, Judah is making a statement: YHVH is my Hammer. The victory against the Syrian-Greek armies was accomplished by the "might and strength of God" who just "used" the small army of the Maccabees.

The "light" of Hanukkah was the victory and the recovering of the holy Temple, the renewed worship of Adonai. The spiritual starvation and oppression was finally over. Through Yosef, the "light of hope" was the storing up of provisions (wheat, grain, and probably corn) so when the years of drought came, there was still food, so, no physical starvation. Judah the Maccabee brought peace (shalom) at the end of the three years of war and Yosef brought "Peace of Mind" because there was no need to worry, "there is food in Egypt". (the grain storage pits can still be seen in Egypt today). The word for "Shalom" in ancient Egyptian is "Imhotep" there are statues of a "Pharaoh Imhotep" in Egypt, some believe that Yosef received this name "a man of peace" and later. became ruler when the pharaoh who elevated him to power died. (this is just an idea, may or may not be true)). Now, back to Yosef.

Yosef is now elevated to “assistant in command” to Pharaoh, and goes from “rags to riches” He is now in position to sort of “run the country” and we see that in time, Yosef's brothers come in search of food, of course they do not recognize him, in Egyptian clothing, some 20 years later, no beard, etc. The brothers have to be tested to see if they are really sorry for what they did to Yosef, Yosef needs to see “true repentance”. Yosef is now in the position as “judge” yet when he tested them, using Benjamin, he sees true repentance through Y'hudah, now that he sees this, he reveals his true self, “Ani Yosef!!” (I AM Yosef) He is no longer in the position of “judge” but “family”

When we were lost sinners, Yeshua was in the position as our “judge” As many who will continue to reject the free gift of salvation, they will be “judged” guilty by Messiah Yeshua at the Great White Throne Judgment, yet once we come to Yeshua and accept Him as our Savior and LORD, then, we come “Family” members, and we will be treated as “family”. “Y'hudah” symbolizes “Israel” who, in the future, will recognize “HE who was pierced” and those in Israel will say, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHVH” as Yosef then “Talked” with his brothers, so YHVH desires to “talk” with us, through prayer and fellowship. As Yosef invited ALL his family to Egypt, so ALL who come to recognize Yeshua as Mashiach, are invited to join the “Heavenly family”

Yosef is a “Messiah type” who saved the local world from physical famine, Yeshua saves the world from “spiritual famine” to all those who come to HIM and accept him as Savior and LORD!

Shavua Tov (Have a good week)