PARASHA: “VaYechi” (and he lived) GEN 47:28-50:26
In this, we see Jacob (Israel) in his last days, he prepares to “go the way of all men” (as King David put it), Jacob is getting ready to die. He prepares himself and ensures that his sons and grandsons are blessed, so they know what lies ahead of them. A father's blessing to his children is of great importance.
We see that he lived 17 years in Egypt, and strangely enough, Yosef came to Egypt at age 17! All in all, Jacob lived 147 years. Imagine us living that long. Jacob spoke to Joseph, his son, requesting, "Do not bury me in Egypt." Rather, "Bury me in the burial place of my fathers. We can learn something from that request.
Egypt was just a temporary place of sojourning. He was looking forward to the promised land as his permanent "resting" place. We are also just "sojourning" on this planet called Earth; our permanent residency is in the New Jerusalem. Our bodies will be placed under the ground we walk on, but our "real" selves will join Yeshua in the Heavenly realm, and in the future, the New Jerusalem will come to the New Earth that God will create for all time. (or rather, timelessness).
Jacob/Israel blesses Efrayim and M'nasheh. They are his grandsons, yet declares them his "legitimate sons." We are declared "B'nei Elohim," sons (and daughters) of God, when we come into a "born again" relationship with Yeshua. I think that this is our best identity ever! forget denominational titles, we are "sons and daughters of our Most High God YHVH." We are inheritors of the Kingdom forever.
Efrayim, even though he is the secondborn, will receive a bigger blessing than his brother. His "descendants will grow into many nations." At times, the firstborn does not necessarily receive the "bigger blessing," but rather the "lastborn" or "in between." I was the lastborn of my parents, yet I am the only son who has 4 children and 7 grandchildren. My brother and sister do not have offspring to speak of. We see today that the descendants of Jacob have spread out into all the nations of the world. Then Jacob pronounces prophecy over his 12 sons for the "Acharit-HaYamim" (the last days) or far into the future. The Holy Spirit gives prophecy to Israel for his children. Let's look at the name meanings first.
RUEBEN (Re'eh) “to see”, SIMEON (Sh'ma) “to hear”, LEVI (lev=heart) “united, joined together” Y'HUDAH (contains the most sacred name of God, YHVH) “praise”, DAN “judge”, NAPHTALI “wrestling” GAD “a troop comes”, ASHER “blessed”, ISSACHAR “wages”, ZEBULUN “dwelling"”, YOSEF “YHVH will add a son”, BENJAMIN “son of the right hand” MANASSEH AND EFRAYIM “forget my toil and my father's house” and "fruitful"
Rueben, sadly, loses preeminence of the firstborn because he "slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine". Be careful what you do; one single act of disrespect might be very costly. Simeon and Levi acted with violence when their sister Dinah was raped by Sh'chem, son of Hamor. They went and destroyed the whole city, slaying all the men. Do you wonder why "all the men" if only Shechem was the culprit? Bad temper, violence! Jacob "curses their anger" (not them) and scatters them in Israel. The Levites were "Scattered" throughout the land of Israel, living in different territories of their brethren, not having their own territory.
But then "Y'hudah" (Judah) receives the "Big Blessing." “The scepter shall not depart from Y’hudah, nor a scholar from among his descendants until Shiloh arrives and his will be an assemblage of nations” 49:10
Who is “Shiloh?” We can pretty much agree that it is Messiah Yeshua. Even Rashi and Onkelos render: “until the Messiah comes to whom the kingdom belongs.”
All nations of the world will be gathered unto Messiah Yeshua when he returns to reign for 1000 years. We can also see that in gematria, the name “Shiloh” (Sheen, Yod, Lamed, Hey) "Sh, Y, L, H" sums 345. The words HaShem (a title for YHVH) also sum 345, and “Moses” also sums the same. Of course, it does, since HaShem and Moshe contain the same letters. Moshe was a type of Messiah who redeemed Israel from Egyptian slavery, as Messiah Yeshua redeemed us all from slavery to sin. Also, with the name “Shiloh” we see “Yah” (Yod, Hey), which of course is the shortened form of YHVH. Also, Moses was a "law-giver," who received the "Law" (Torah) from God, as Yeshua (who gave it) gave a deeper understanding of Torah. Let's look at the names of the sons of Israel and their meanings as born-again believers.
We can all SEE the changed lives, the miracles that have been done in believers' lives, and we HEAR of the faith of others who have been challenged by oppressive governments, we HEAR God's Word through SEEING the words in the Torah, and take them into our HEART, so that the words of Torah are JOINED TOGETHER to our lives, so that we may PRAISE the name of YHVH. We must all look at our lives and JUDGE ourselves in light of the scriptures. Are we living the way YHVH wants us to live? We must judge ourselves lest we be judged, yet we will ALL incur JUDGEMENT at the “Judgment seat of Messiah. Every day is a kind of “WRESTLING” match between our old nature and our renewed nature, the sinful flesh against our new “born again” selves.
We are Adonai's TROOPS, we are at war against HaSatan, and his unholy fallen angels, it is spiritual warfare, and our weapons are the WORD of God, His Holy Spirit and HIS holy angels, and our prayers, we have been BLESSED with a new relationship with our creator and redeemer, and we will receive WAGES for our good works, (mitzvoth) in form of rewards in heaven, as “gold, silver, precious stones” We should be "FRUITFUL" and share God's Word with others.
Our future hope is one day to DWELL WITH OUR HUSBAND, who is Messiah Yeshua, who loves us as his “bride”. Every time a lost person is “born again,” a SON IS ADDED to God's redeemed family of believers. We are sons of Adonai's RIGHT HAND, who is Messiah Yeshua, who stretched out his HANDS to receive the nails. We can forget our TOILS, rest from them on the Sabbath. Every Sabbath day is our time to rest from our TOILS, and to be in OUR FATHER'S HOUSE. Someday, we will have our permanent “Sabbath rest”. Again, the biggest blessing of Judah is the coming forth of SHILOH, who is Yeshua, who will have the ruler's scepter, who will be “king over all the earth” to whom will gather ALL nations.
The book of Genesis ends with the word “Egypt,” yet begins with “B’Reisheet” (in the beginning). Do you think there is a sort of symbolism here? Could we perhaps say, Israel had its “Beginning” in “Egypt” when they began their 400-year sojourn, to become a “multitude?” Something to think about. The Torah begins with the letter "B" (B'reisheet), and Genesis ends with the letter "M" (MitzraiM), "Egypt." These two letters equal 42 in letter value (B = 2) (M = 40)
The following words in Hebrew have the value of 42 in gematria: Eloah (a name for God in Deuteronomy), "Ima" (mother) "B'Chelev" (in milk)
"Ehyeh asher Ehyeh" (I AM who I AM), the two "Ehyeh" = 42. So what could God be saying here? What could this mean to us as believers? Our Creator God, who is the Great I AM, who is "Eloah," is like a mother who nourishes us with the sincere "Milk of the Word. " (1 Peter 2:2)
Shalom, have a blessed week
In this, we see Jacob (Israel) in his last days, he prepares to “go the way of all men” (as King David put it), Jacob is getting ready to die. He prepares himself and ensures that his sons and grandsons are blessed, so they know what lies ahead of them. A father's blessing to his children is of great importance.
We see that he lived 17 years in Egypt, and strangely enough, Yosef came to Egypt at age 17! All in all, Jacob lived 147 years. Imagine us living that long. Jacob spoke to Joseph, his son, requesting, "Do not bury me in Egypt." Rather, "Bury me in the burial place of my fathers. We can learn something from that request.
Egypt was just a temporary place of sojourning. He was looking forward to the promised land as his permanent "resting" place. We are also just "sojourning" on this planet called Earth; our permanent residency is in the New Jerusalem. Our bodies will be placed under the ground we walk on, but our "real" selves will join Yeshua in the Heavenly realm, and in the future, the New Jerusalem will come to the New Earth that God will create for all time. (or rather, timelessness).
Jacob/Israel blesses Efrayim and M'nasheh. They are his grandsons, yet declares them his "legitimate sons." We are declared "B'nei Elohim," sons (and daughters) of God, when we come into a "born again" relationship with Yeshua. I think that this is our best identity ever! forget denominational titles, we are "sons and daughters of our Most High God YHVH." We are inheritors of the Kingdom forever.
Efrayim, even though he is the secondborn, will receive a bigger blessing than his brother. His "descendants will grow into many nations." At times, the firstborn does not necessarily receive the "bigger blessing," but rather the "lastborn" or "in between." I was the lastborn of my parents, yet I am the only son who has 4 children and 7 grandchildren. My brother and sister do not have offspring to speak of. We see today that the descendants of Jacob have spread out into all the nations of the world. Then Jacob pronounces prophecy over his 12 sons for the "Acharit-HaYamim" (the last days) or far into the future. The Holy Spirit gives prophecy to Israel for his children. Let's look at the name meanings first.
RUEBEN (Re'eh) “to see”, SIMEON (Sh'ma) “to hear”, LEVI (lev=heart) “united, joined together” Y'HUDAH (contains the most sacred name of God, YHVH) “praise”, DAN “judge”, NAPHTALI “wrestling” GAD “a troop comes”, ASHER “blessed”, ISSACHAR “wages”, ZEBULUN “dwelling"”, YOSEF “YHVH will add a son”, BENJAMIN “son of the right hand” MANASSEH AND EFRAYIM “forget my toil and my father's house” and "fruitful"
Rueben, sadly, loses preeminence of the firstborn because he "slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine". Be careful what you do; one single act of disrespect might be very costly. Simeon and Levi acted with violence when their sister Dinah was raped by Sh'chem, son of Hamor. They went and destroyed the whole city, slaying all the men. Do you wonder why "all the men" if only Shechem was the culprit? Bad temper, violence! Jacob "curses their anger" (not them) and scatters them in Israel. The Levites were "Scattered" throughout the land of Israel, living in different territories of their brethren, not having their own territory.
But then "Y'hudah" (Judah) receives the "Big Blessing." “The scepter shall not depart from Y’hudah, nor a scholar from among his descendants until Shiloh arrives and his will be an assemblage of nations” 49:10
Who is “Shiloh?” We can pretty much agree that it is Messiah Yeshua. Even Rashi and Onkelos render: “until the Messiah comes to whom the kingdom belongs.”
All nations of the world will be gathered unto Messiah Yeshua when he returns to reign for 1000 years. We can also see that in gematria, the name “Shiloh” (Sheen, Yod, Lamed, Hey) "Sh, Y, L, H" sums 345. The words HaShem (a title for YHVH) also sum 345, and “Moses” also sums the same. Of course, it does, since HaShem and Moshe contain the same letters. Moshe was a type of Messiah who redeemed Israel from Egyptian slavery, as Messiah Yeshua redeemed us all from slavery to sin. Also, with the name “Shiloh” we see “Yah” (Yod, Hey), which of course is the shortened form of YHVH. Also, Moses was a "law-giver," who received the "Law" (Torah) from God, as Yeshua (who gave it) gave a deeper understanding of Torah. Let's look at the names of the sons of Israel and their meanings as born-again believers.
We can all SEE the changed lives, the miracles that have been done in believers' lives, and we HEAR of the faith of others who have been challenged by oppressive governments, we HEAR God's Word through SEEING the words in the Torah, and take them into our HEART, so that the words of Torah are JOINED TOGETHER to our lives, so that we may PRAISE the name of YHVH. We must all look at our lives and JUDGE ourselves in light of the scriptures. Are we living the way YHVH wants us to live? We must judge ourselves lest we be judged, yet we will ALL incur JUDGEMENT at the “Judgment seat of Messiah. Every day is a kind of “WRESTLING” match between our old nature and our renewed nature, the sinful flesh against our new “born again” selves.
We are Adonai's TROOPS, we are at war against HaSatan, and his unholy fallen angels, it is spiritual warfare, and our weapons are the WORD of God, His Holy Spirit and HIS holy angels, and our prayers, we have been BLESSED with a new relationship with our creator and redeemer, and we will receive WAGES for our good works, (mitzvoth) in form of rewards in heaven, as “gold, silver, precious stones” We should be "FRUITFUL" and share God's Word with others.
Our future hope is one day to DWELL WITH OUR HUSBAND, who is Messiah Yeshua, who loves us as his “bride”. Every time a lost person is “born again,” a SON IS ADDED to God's redeemed family of believers. We are sons of Adonai's RIGHT HAND, who is Messiah Yeshua, who stretched out his HANDS to receive the nails. We can forget our TOILS, rest from them on the Sabbath. Every Sabbath day is our time to rest from our TOILS, and to be in OUR FATHER'S HOUSE. Someday, we will have our permanent “Sabbath rest”. Again, the biggest blessing of Judah is the coming forth of SHILOH, who is Yeshua, who will have the ruler's scepter, who will be “king over all the earth” to whom will gather ALL nations.
The book of Genesis ends with the word “Egypt,” yet begins with “B’Reisheet” (in the beginning). Do you think there is a sort of symbolism here? Could we perhaps say, Israel had its “Beginning” in “Egypt” when they began their 400-year sojourn, to become a “multitude?” Something to think about. The Torah begins with the letter "B" (B'reisheet), and Genesis ends with the letter "M" (MitzraiM), "Egypt." These two letters equal 42 in letter value (B = 2) (M = 40)
The following words in Hebrew have the value of 42 in gematria: Eloah (a name for God in Deuteronomy), "Ima" (mother) "B'Chelev" (in milk)
"Ehyeh asher Ehyeh" (I AM who I AM), the two "Ehyeh" = 42. So what could God be saying here? What could this mean to us as believers? Our Creator God, who is the Great I AM, who is "Eloah," is like a mother who nourishes us with the sincere "Milk of the Word. " (1 Peter 2:2)
Shalom, have a blessed week
