Vayechi – Torah with Joseph

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Joseph Shulam.

Shalom, my name is Joseph Shulam, and together with Brad TV, we’re going through the whole Torah, following the readings in all the synagogues of Jewish people in the world, including messianic Jews. Many of them are reading from the Torah, the same order, like the rest of Israel reads. And we are approaching the end of the Book of Genesis. We’re in the last portion that is read in the synagogue, this next Shabbat. And it starts with the word Vayechi, and Jacob lived in the land of Egypt. He lived, but very interesting, in chapter 25, when we did the portion of Chayei Sarah, the life of Sarah, and it’s called Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah, Sarah dies and Abraham dies in the same portion. And now we are Vayechi, and he lived and Jacob dies.

There is something prophetic about this reading, but I want to go back a little bit to last week’s portion, which in my opinion, is one of the most dramatic and one of the most interesting Torah portions in the whole Torah. The best Hollywood producer and director and actors could not capture the drama, the intensity, and the importance of last week’s portion. We started talking about the story of Joseph in chapter 37 of Genesis from riches to rags and then from rags to riches in the following portion.

From prison, he becomes the Prime Minister of Egypt, the man next to Pharaoh himself. And in chapters 44, 45, and 46, we see the brothers also go from rags to riches. They thought that if Joseph discovers they are his brothers who sold him, who wanted to kill him, who hated him, who despised him, if he now is this most powerful in Egypt next to Pharaoh, that he’s going to do them great harm. But on the contrary, they were full of fear when Joseph said, “I am Joseph, your brother.” Very dramatic scene. All the Egyptians were driven out of the room. Only Joseph and his brothers are there in that room. And that the steam of their fear and the sweat of their brow filled the room. And then Joseph says, “I am Joseph, your brother,” and they’re full of fear.

God Uses Their Evil for Good

And he says, “Hey, stop fearing “because what you thought was for evil, “God turned it for good.” This principle that says all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord, also appears in Romans 8. The same principle, appears in Proverbs. It appears in Psalms. It appears in many places in the Bible. The principle is that we may think that the horrible things that are happening to us are from evil and for evil’s sake, but actually, God reveals to us and especially in the story of Joseph, that the very evil that the brothers stood for is the very thing that saved them. Oh, this paradigm goes all the way to the Messiah, to Yeshua, to Isaiah 53, that starts the description of despising that root that grew out of parched land, the root of Jesse, the son of David, the Messiah himself.

The idea is so prevalent and it’s so important for us today to understand this principle. You know, we may think that what’s happening to us is terrible, but it could be that the best thing that happened to us is the crisis, the difficulties, the strain on our faith and our love and our life that ends up bringing the glory of God down from heaven right on our head. Yup, what we thought was for evil God can, and he does very often turn out for good, especially if we do our best to be righteous and to be holy and to be proud of being disciples of Yeshua, not ashamed of Him, because if we’re ashamed of Him, then we’re going nowhere. And then whatever we thought was for good will turn out for evil, the opposite paradigm.

Again, I’m repeating that. Sometimes we thought the best thing for us, the great victory that we have, maybe in the world, in the finances, maybe in other areas of our life, that can turn out to be the biggest thorn in our flesh.

This paradigm is very important, folks. And I suggest that you read the story of Joseph from chapter 37 on to the end of Genesis. Not very many chapters, an hour of reading, And read it in one piece because it’s a novel. It’s a whole story, one of the few whole stories in the Bible that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it’s drama from the beginning to the end. So now we’re in chapter 47, verse 28. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt. In other words, Joseph made sure that Jacob and Benjamin and all the brothers and their families and their flocks had come to Egypt, and he puts them up in the most lush, beautiful, full of water part of Egypt, the land of Goshen. And they lived there. And Jacob is there with his children, with his grandchildren, and Joseph and his family are not too far away.

Jacob Dies in Goshen

And then Jacob dies. 17 years he lived under the shadow of Joseph in the riches of Egypt. He lived 147 years, but before he dies, verse 29 of chapter 47, when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son, Joseph, and said to him,

That takes us back many chapters.

When Sarah dies in chapter 25 of Genesis, Abraham buys the cave in Hebron, the cave of Machpelah, he pays for the 400 pieces of silver in front of the Hittite and makes it the family grave, the family grave. Wow. Sarah dies, she’s buried there. Abraham dies, he’s buried there. And now Jacob dies. And he asks from Joseph to make sure that is carried back from Egypt to the land of Canaan, to the city of Hebron, and buried there with his grandfather and his grandmother and his father, Isaac.

I think it’s a very dramatic thing. What’s dramatic about it? That these people who lived in the land of Egypt, let’s compare it to somebody, something that we all know. They lived in New York, in Manhattan, on the 35th floor of a luxury apartment building, overlooking Central Park. That’s what I would compare the land of Goshen to. And when they die, they don’t want to be buried in Manhattan, in the land of Goshen. They want to go back to that small piece of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and be buried together with their fathers and their mothers and their grandmothers and their grandfathers.

This is very unique. This is very Israel, folks, because that is a confirmation of the promises of God and of the prophetic fulfillment of His promises. I wanna go back, be buried in the land that has eternal promises to it. That it’ll be the eternal possession of Abraham’s seed. Joseph himself, when he dies, he’s embalmed like the pharaohs, but he wants to be buried in the land of the Children of Israel, to leave Egypt, and cross the sea on dry land. They are carrying the sarcophagus, the burial box of Joseph to the same tomb, to the same cave, to the same city of Hebron, in which Abraham bought the cave several hundred years earlier.

So Joseph comes, his father invites him, and he comes and he doesn’t come alone. He comes with his two sons. But before that, Jacob wants him to swear, to take an oath, that he is going to be buried in the land of Canaan, in the cave of Machpelah, with his fathers, forefathers. And he makes him, tells him, swear to me, and he swore to him, that Israel bowed himself at the bed, at the head of the bed. Joseph goes on to the city where a Pharaoh is to the city where he lived, probably today.

And he gets a message: “Your father is very sick,” and he takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and he goes to visit his father on his death bed. And Jacob’s messengers tell him, Joseph and his two sons are coming to see you. So Israel with his last strength sits up on the bed, straightens himself up on the bed, and he sits on the bed.

Jacob Blesses Joseph

And Jacob sees Joseph and he starts telling him his story, a short version of the story of Jacob.

Where is Luz? Luz is Bethel. That is the ancient Canaanite name of Bethel. The fact that it is called Bethel in the book of Genesis is what is called an anachronism. The writer knew that Bethel’s ancient Canaanite name was Luz, which means that the text was written sometimes after the children of Israel arrived in the land of Canaan and conquered Bethel in the book of Joshua.

And God said to me,

This is the third time that this promise of God is given, only in the book of Genesis. Chapter 13, verse 15 is the first time. Chapter 15 is the second time. And now Jacob repeats this promise that was given to Abraham.

Very interesting. He’s telling Joseph, Joseph, the prime minister of Egypt. The man’s second to none, except Pharaoh himself is telling him, “Look, you may be Joseph the second to Pharaoh in Egypt,”but you should know that God is faithful “to keep his promises.”He will make you fruitful and multiply you” and will make you multitude of people “and give this land to your descendants “as an everlasting possession forever.”

Jacob Adopts Joseph’s Sons

Ho, we’re now in the land of Israel. We’re returned in our congregation with people that came from Russia and people who came from Bulgaria like myself and people who came from Iraq and people who came from Georgia, Russian Georgia, and people who came from United States, and people who came from other parts of the world. Returning home, folks, to the land that was promised to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.

And Jacob is repeating that promise right here in chapter 48 of Genesis. “And now to your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, “who were born to you in the land of Egypt “before I came to Egypt, they are my sons. “They’re just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon.” What is Jacob telling Joseph? I’m adopting your children, who are my grandchildren, and giving them the status of my children. Why is this important? Because they will inherit the land. Not only will they inherit the land, Ephraim and Manasseh inherit the bulk of the land, some of the best parts of the land, right in the middle of the land from the sea, almost from the sea to the Jordan River and across the Jordan, they have a tribe of Manasseh, a huge part of the land.

The other tribes, Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, Asher got smaller pieces, but the children of Joseph got the bulk of the land. So that gives us the kosher stamp for what happens in later history, Israelite history where Ephraim becomes one of the most powerful tribes, the leading tribe of the 10 northern tribes of Israel that separated from Judah in the days of the son of Solomon.

It’s interesting that we see the principle that is called in Hebrew, Whatever our fathers did became the sign, the direction, the vision, and the future of their children. Ah, what a principle this is for us today in the 20th century. We’re talking about educating our children. We’re talking about raising our next generation as believers like we are. We’re talking about, you know, overcoming the strains and the pulls and the influences of the world in our life.

And here in the Book of Genesis, in the words of Jacob, we see that whatever the fathers did became the path or the sign for his children, ha. I wish I knew that when I was younger and my children were babies. My children are good. They’re believers, they’re strong believers, and my grandchildren, but eh, they’re brothers. This a principle that we need to all assume.

What We Do Affects Our Children and Grandchildren

We’re worried about our next generation. We worried about our children, our grandchildren, but a worry’s not enough. We should take in advance this teaching of the Torah before we make the children and before we have grandchildren. Then we’ll save ourselves a lot of pain and heartache and problems in the future. And Jacob continues to bless Joseph, to bless Joseph, and to bless his grandchildren, Ephraim and Manasseh. And then he switches in verse seven of chapter 48.

He said,

I think that this is a beautiful situation. Jacob’s love for Rachel didn’t stop, even after she died. And it tells Joseph where his mother is buried. And until today, that tomb of Rachel is considered a holy place.

But I want to skip a little bit and go to some interesting things that we have here in this text. And that is the 12 tribes are getting blessed. No, most of them are getting blessed, but Levi and Manasseh… No, Levi and Simeon, not Manasseh, sorry. Levi and Simeon are not getting blessed. They’re getting cursed. Jacob doesn’t bless them, he curses him.

Why? Because they embarrassed him in front of the people of the land in Shechem. And they went and tricked the men of Shechem, and then forcibly circumcised them all. I don’t know with what kinda knife, but it must’ve hurt a lot to circumcise all the adult men of Shechem, not only the babies. And then verse 16 of chapter 48. Jacob tells Joseph something amazing.

He says, “And the angel has redeemed me from all evil.” The angel revealed himself to Jacob at Bethel. “Redeemed me from all evil.” And he blessed the lads, the boys. And he said, “Let my name be upon them “in the name of Abraham and Isaac “and let them grow into a multitude “in the midst of the earth.” Here we are. What do you mean, let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth? Well, the word multitude is not in the text.

What’s in the text is, I’m gonna read it from the English text, but with the Hebrew meaning. “Let my name be upon them.” In other words, I adopt them. “In the name of my father, Abraham and Isaac, “and let them grow into fishers “in the earth.” The word in Hebrew is, let them fish, multitude, much fish among the inhabitants of the land, in the midst of the earth. Doesn’t say anything.

Abraham Was an Evangelist

Means among the inhabitants of the earth. And he gives that title to Abraham and Isaac. And how do we know about Abraham? What do we know about Abraham? Right in the beginning of the story of Abraham in chapter 12 of Genesis, dear brothers and sisters, it says that Abraham took Sarah, his wife and lot of his family, and the souls, which he had made in Harran to make souls in Hebrew, to do mission work, evangelism and Abraham brought with him, you know, probably a thousand people in his camp, 318 men between the age of 12, 20, and 50.

They had wives, they had children. He evangelized. And this is where Yeshua gets the idea, “I will make you fishers of men,” like who? Like Abraham, your father. Hallelujah. My time is up, folks, but keep reading, and I will touch the highlights for the next portions, which is going to be the beginning of the Book of Exodus. God bless all of you. Keep studying.