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Take a tip from me: I said, maybe things look bleak,
But you just don’t know now what God is gonna do in time.Yes, somebody sold me ’cause I annoyed them.
“Somebody Sold Me” by Apologetix, 2012. Based on Genesis 37–50.
It looked like my world’s end.
Now I have a federal job with the brass here.
It’s not penitential; it’s vice presidential.
I boss men — boss men around.
The Torah reading מִקֵּץ Miqetz/Miketz (“from/at the end,” Gen. 41:1–44:17) further reveals that neither Reuben nor Yehudah (Judah) fully understood what they were committing themselves to when they, in their own power, thought they could protect Yosef (Joseph) and Ben-Yamin (Benjamin) from harm in the pit and in Mitzraim (Egypt), respectively. The older brothers could not see the bigger picture of that God was doing through them.
Centuries later (Matthew 27:15–46), we see Roman governor Pilate trying to maneuver events to save Yeshua (Jesus) from death, but Heaven had something at work with the Messiah (Christ) that was bigger than what Pilate or the blood-thirsty crowd could understand.
On more than one occasion, God took control of a superpower through the actions of a captive. Think: Yosef (Joseph) in Mitzraim (Egypt), Daniel in Babylon and Medo-Persia, and Hadassah (Esther) also in Persia. The Pharaoh that Yosef encountered was wise enough to see God’s power at work in him. Rather than being jealous of Yosef’s closeness to God, the ruler made him the prime minister over his entire kingdom. A wise shepherd for his country, this Pharaoh understood that God was the one in control — not himself.
We later see this Pharaoh as the epitome of wisdom, with the Scriptures calling him “the Pharaoh who knew Yosef.” That’s contrasted with the later dynasty of “the Pharaoh who did not know Yosef.” That one fought the Creator, and the Creator won.
Solomon: The wise guy who needed to wise up
In the haftarah (parallel passage) for Miketz (1Kings 3:15–4:1), we see that King Solomon in his great wisdom was able to discern who was the real mother of the child that was brought into his court among the two squabbling women.
Yet we see that with all his viciously political acumen he was not able to discern the danger of allowing his wives, whom he married for political expediency, to bring their home countries’ false gods and the false spiritual practices with them into Heaven’s physical beachhead on Earth — the land of Israel.
Solomon was world-renowned for his wisdom. But in his life, he had one foot on the path to the Tree of Life (1Kings 3:3–15) and one toward the Tree of Knowledge (1Kings 2:10–3:2). If we take Solomon to be the Qohelet (Preacher) behind Ecclesiastes, we can gather that he meandered through the world’s wisdom, but at the end of it all, he realized that he should have stuck with the path to life:
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 NASB 1995
“Miketz” means “from the end.” In context, that is related to the end of two years from the time Yosef interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s bread maker and wine bearer to the time he was called into Pharaoh’s court. But commentators over the centuries noted that Miketz also point could toward the future — “in the end [times].”
There are some parallels between Joseph and Daniel that are important to bring out. Both of them were brought before kings who had been given dreams that they did not understand. Both Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar first consulted with their own magicians and wise men, before consulting the one who had God’s wisdom rather than the wisdom that comes from the demonic realms.
God was ready to speak with these kings and He placed Joseph and Daniel into a position to save the nations they found themselves living in from disaster.
The Wise men that went looking for the star in the east, were probably devotees of Daniel, and Daniel taught them what to look for as the sign of the coming of the Messiah and God, using the constellations that they studied, was able to speak to them and announce when and where the Messiah would be born.
God speaks to us in language we can understand. God gave dreams to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar even though they were not looking for Him, but God got their attention using imagery and language that they understood. Then God brought His men to them to explain the dreams and impart the knowledge God wanted for them.
As God used Joseph to save Egypt from famine, God also used that famine to bring the family of Israel into Egypt for food. All of this was planned by God Himself.
When God places His dependable followers into places of authority in the world, those nations are a blessing not only to their citizens but to the surrounding nations, as Egypt was when Joseph was in authority.
When evil tyrants are in control of a nation and they persecute God’s people, those nations are cursed. We see this happen later in Egypt, when a “Pharaoh who did not know Joseph” came into power and persecuted His people. We also see this in countries today which are persecuting believers, they are not nations known for prosperity and stability.
Chanukah: Announcement of the coming Immanuel
The annunciation (announcement) of the coming of the Messiah (Christ, “Anointed One”) through Miriam (Mary) is connected with Chanukah (Festival of Dedication) via time elements mentioned in the Gospels. When she shortly thereafter visited her relative Elisheva (Elizabeth), who was six months pregnant with Yokhanan (John) the Baptizer, Miriam prays similarly to the prayer of Channah (Hannah) when God blessed her with the prophet Samuel.
I would encourage you to read Channah’s prayer (1Samuel 2:1–10) together with Miriam’s prayer (Luke 1:26–56; Latin: the Magnificat) with a cross-reference guide (see pages 3–4 of the PDF notes for this study). Both Channah and Miriam drew heavily from Scripture to express that God was doing a great work through them. He was blessing them for carrying on this mission in His name.
As we think about the celebration of Chanukah, we recall the great blessing that God gave to the world through a young woman. The light of God came into the world through Miriam.
About 150 years before God appeared to Miriam proclaiming her as the mother of the Messiah, the Maccabees were fighting against the corruption of the priesthood and the Temple of God because of the inroads of Hellenism. This spreading of Greek culture and philosophy started with Alexander the Great’s conquests of large swaths of the Mediterranean coastline, Mesopotamia and even east to India.
When Alexander conquered, he respected the religions of his conquered nations. But when he died, Alexander’s empire ultimately was split among four of his main generals. One in particular, Selucius, had control over the Promised Land as well as lands east. Over time, the Seleucid rulers lost the tolerance of religious practices of their conquered peoples that Alexander had exercised.
Selucius’ descendant Antiochus IV — nicknamed Epiphanes, which means “crazy man” — did not want anyone to receive worship except himself. He bullied the Jewish people and desecrated their temple by commanding sacrifices to himself on the sacred altar.
Antiochus IV Ephiphanes profaned God’s temple but the Maccabees restored it. They rededicated it on the 25th day of Kislev and celebrated it for 8 days to mirror the festival of Sukkot which they weren’t able to celebrate a couple of months before.
In Chanukah, we celebrate Immanuel — “God with us.” We see Yeshua in the Temple celebrating Chanukah (John 10:22–30). It’s at that time — when Israel is celebrating freedom from someone who claimed to be a god and took over the true God’s house — when Yeshua forces Israel’s leaders to face up to His identity: “I and the Father are one.”
Summary: Tammy