The section of the biblical story of Joseph (Yosef) covered in the Torah reading מִקֵּץ Miketz (“he settled,” Genesis 41:1–44:17) explores greed and jealousy in human nature.
In this study, we see that Yosef’s testing of his brothers demonstrated their positive transformation and growth beyond greed.
Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you? Or at least forgotten about what you’re going through? It would have been easy for Yosef to think so. He’d been languishing in prison for a crime he didn’t commit for at least two years. The second installment of the account of Yosef is in this week’s Torah section, מִקֵּץ Miketz (“he settled,” Gen. 41:1–44:17). We see “that dreamer” go from victim of justice to vice president of the mighty empire of Mitzraim, and the prophecy pointing forward to Yeshua the Mashiakh gets fleshed out.
The strange imagery of seven emaciated cows and seven fat ones in Pharaoh’s dreams that Joseph interpreted — with Heaven’s help — grab one’s attention in the Torah reading מקץ Miketz (“from the end,” Gen. 41:1–44:17).
But beyond the lessons of Heaven’s supreme wisdom and the importance of preparation for lean times is the key teachings from Joseph’s intrigue-filled reconciliation with the brothers who sold him into slavery. In this we see key attributes to look for when Heaven’s Son, Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) seeks to reconcile with His people — and the world.
Yosef (Joseph) a betrayed brother turned slave turned prime minister in Mitzraim (Egypt). Daniel a war captive turned wise man turned second to an emperor in Babylon. יהודה המכבי Yehudah ha-Makabi (Judas Maccabeus) a priest of Yisrael turned leader of a successful insurrection against the Seleucid empire’s campaign of forced conversion. Yeshua ha-Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) in the Temple during the Festival of Dedication. These four accounts may seem to quite disjointed, but the conjunction of the Torah reading מקצ Miketz/Miqetz (Genesis 41:1-44:14, “from the end”) and the celebration of Chanukah/Hannukah helps underscore that ongoing lessons from both help us understand what Yeshua meant by “the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13 NASB).
Torah section Miketz (“from the end,” Genesis 41:1-44:17) is a passion play of the Mashiakh. The suffering Yosef puts his brothers through was not only a recollection of Yosef’s own sufferings but also a foreshadowing of the suffering of the future Anointed One.