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Discussions Torah

Exodus 3-5: Moshe brings signs of God’s Name and staff to Mitsraim; pharaoh increases oppression of Yisra’el

The account of Moshe (Moses) encountering God via the burning bush has spawned a number of interpretations and explanations about who Moshe encountered, how the bush could be burning yet not consumed, etc. Yet the declaration of the Name of God there and the signs God gave Moshe to show the leaders of Yisra’el is the important element. The Name and the signs would strengthen not only Moshe but the leadership for something powerful God would do on Earth via Yisra’el in the mighty empire of Mitsraim (Egypt).

This study also explores the seeming strange vignette of God on the warpath against Moshe’s family, placated only by Tsipporah’s circumcising the son. This appears to be a foreshadowing of the 10th plague against Mitsraim.

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Discussions Torah

Embalming, Mourning, and Forgiving: The Story of Yosef’s Final Act of Grace

After the death of Yisra’el, fka Ya’akob (Jacob), 10 of his dozen sons approached Yosef (Joseph) with a message from their father: Don’t seek revenge for selling him as a slave. Yosef lived out the “second greatest commandment” in his response, showing he trusted God’s plan that had violently separated him from his family and landed him in prison for a few years.

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Genesis 47-48: Ya’akob moves to Goshen; Yosef takes control via the famine; Yisra’el blesses Ephraim & Manasseh

Ya’akob (Jacob) blessed pharaoh of Mitsraim (Egypt) upon arrival there. Ya’akob blessed the sons of Yosef (Joseph), Ephraim and Manasseh, as if they were his own elder sons. As we have noticed in past studies of the account of Yosef in Genesis, there are parallels between the roles of pharaoh, Yosef and Yisra’el (Israel), f.k.a. Ya’akob, and those of the Father, the Son and a people called Yisra’el.

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Discussions Torah

Genesis 44: Yosef slips his silver cup to Ben-Yamin

In Genesis 43, Yosef (Joseph) hosted a large banquet for his brothers and household staff. At the time of the account in Genesis 44, Yosef was still hidden from his brothers. He is the second in command of Mitsraim (Egypt), one of the world’s most powerful nations of the period. This account of the actions of Pharaoh and Yosef is a parable of what the Father and the Son planned to do to and through a group of believers in God, a group called Israel.

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Discussions Torah

Genesis 43: Ben-Yamin appears before Yosef in Mitsraim

The account of Yosef and his once-estranged brothers reaches a crescendo in Genesis 43, as those 10 return to Mistraim (Egypt) with Ben-Yamin (Benjamin), Yosef’s younger brother. There are a number of parallels between Yosef’s life and that of Yeshua the Messiah in this part of the account.

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Discussions Torah

Genesis 42:18-38: Broken hearts bring the heart of God to tears

The life of Yosef (Joseph) is a shadow of the life of the Messiah in a number of ways. In the latter half of Genesis 42, we see another shadow: Yosef was hidden from his brothers yet wanted to weep when he heard their penitence over the death they thought they had set in motion for him by selling him into slavery.

That’s the repentance God seeks from Israel for the treatment of God’s Messiah. The prophets and apostles foretell that day will come.

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Discussions Torah

Genesis 42:1-22: Messiah’s hidden meeting with Israel foretold through Yosef

When the brothers of Yosef (Joseph) came to Mitsraim (Egypt), even the second time, they did not recognize him at all. He was concealed from them behind a new name, Zaphenath-paneakh, and new appearance, shaved and in garb of his office.

Similarly, Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah is known as Jesus Christ the Church-maker in the Gentile world, and He is hidden from the rest of the descendants of Israel.