Tag: Genesis 44

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Chanukah: Dare to be a Daniel, Joseph, Judas Maccabeus

Lighting the Chanukkah lights at Chabad Hanukkah lighting in Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa, Calif., on December 26, 2016. Photo by Tammy Quackenbush

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).

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Discussions Torah

Genesis 44:18–47:27: Yosef foreshadows Yeshua’s grace

"Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers (Gen. 45:1-24)" by Gustave Doré, 1866
Gustave Doré (1832-1883), "Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers (Gen. 45:1-24)," Doré's English Bible, wood engraving, Wikimedia Commons, 1866.

Aesop’s ancient saying “familiarity breeds contempt” could easily sum up how Yosef’s brothers treated him in his early years and how many leaders of Yisra’el treated Yeshua. The prophetic parallels between Yosef and Yeshua the Mashiakh sharpen further in the Torah section Vayigash (“he approached”).

In it, the brothers’ contempt turns to fear when they realize their plots against Yosef have put them at his mercy. It’s also a picture of the Day of the LORD, when Yisra’el then the world must confess, “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the LORD.”

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Discussions Torah

Genesis 41:1-44:17: Yitzkhak’s and Yosef’s extended passion play

"Joseph, Overseer of Pharaoh's Granaries" by Sir Lawrence Ima-Tadema, 1874
Sir Lawrence lma-Tadema (Dutch/British, 1836–1912). "Joseph, Overseer of Pharaoh’s Granaries," Oil on panel, Wikipedia Commons, 1874.

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.