Starting after Sukkot 2024, Hallel Fellowship switched to a three-year cycle of Torah and parallel Bible readings (2024–2027), outlined by TorahResource. While there’s ancient evidence for a triennial cycle, a major benefit is to provide more time to mine more of Scripture for lessons.
Readings
- Genesis 49:27–50:26
- Zechariah 14:1–11
- Luke 23:13–34
Corresponding reading in the 1-year reading
Insights from the readings
- Joseph → Messiah: suffering leading to redemption; forgiveness beyond judgment; and burial leading to covenantal hope.
- Judah’s scepter → King’s arrival: Messianic kingship prophesied. Jewish midrash (allegorical commentary) affirms this.
- Judgment and mercy: Divine justice intersects with salvation — embodied in Messiah.
Suffering Servant → redemptive purpose
- Hebrew/Greek key terms:
- רָעָה raʿah (“evil, harm”) – Gen. 50:20
- ἀγαθός agathos (“good”) – Rom. 8:28
- Scripture usage:
- Gen. 50:20 – “You meant raʿah against me, but God meant it for good.”
- Rom. 8:28 – “God works all things together for agathos.”
- Messianic insight:
- Joseph’s suffering foreshadows Yeshua’s sacrificial path: enduring evil yet becoming the instrument of salvation, demonstrating God’s sovereignty over evil.
- Rabbinic/Midrashic parallel:
- The Mekhilta (on Gen. 50:19) notes Joseph saying, “Am I in the place of God?” teaches that vengeance belongs to God, embodying divine mercy over judgment (Wikipedia).
Forgiveness and reconciliation
- Hebrew/Greek key terms:
- נָשָׂא nasaʾ (“to lift, bear, forgive”) – Gen. 50:17
- ἀφίημι aphiēmi (“to release, forgive”) – Luke 23:34
- Scripture usage:
- Gen. 50:17 – Joseph is urged to “forgive (nasaʾ)” his brothers.
- Luke 23:34 – Yeshua: “Father, forgive (aphiēmi) them.”
- Messianic insight:
- Joseph’s act of lifting his brothers’ guilt mirrors Messiah lifting sin, linking Torah’s forgiveness with the ultimate atonement in Yeshua.
- Rabbinic/Midrashic parallel:
- The Talmud (Rabbi Jose bar Ḥanina in Yoma 87a:13) draws from Gen. 50:17–19 to teach ethical limits on seeking forgiveness, and says one should not ask more than three times. Also, forgiveness is divine domain — Joseph’s words reflect this theology (Wikipedia).
- Another tradition recounts that Joseph’s coffin was carried alongside the Ark in the Wilderness, representing that “I am the LORD your God” (Ex. 20:2) and “am I in the place of God?” (Gen. 50:19)—highlighting Joseph’s typological covenant role (Wikipedia).
Kingship and final victory
- Hebrew/Greek key terms:
- שֵׁבֶט shevet (“scepter, rod”) – Gen. 49:10
- βασιλεύς basileus (“king”) – Luke 23:2–3, 38
- Scripture usage:
- Gen. 49:10 – “The shevet shall not depart from Judah… until Shiloh comes.”
- Luke 23:3 – Pilate: “Are You the basileus of the Jews?”
- Zech. 14:9 – “The LORD will be king over all the earth.”
- Messianic insight:
- The enduring shevet anticipates the Davidic Messiah; Yeshua is mock-crowned basileus, whose true kingship will be fully revealed at His return.
- Rabbinic/Midrashic parallel:
- Midrash Rabbah, Targum Onkelos, Rashi, Ramban, and Sanhedrin 98b all interpret “Shiloh” in Gen. 49:10 as a Messianic reference — and even list “Shiloh” as one of the Messiah’s names (Hallel.info, Hebrew Texts, Hadavar).
- Rashi: “Shiloh” signifies the King Messiah, to whom the kingdom belongs (Hebrew Texts).
- Ramban: the shevet refers to David’s line; Shiloh is his son (Messiah) receiving obedience from the nations (Hebrew Texts).
- Midrash Rabbah: nations will bring gifts to Messiah (Shiloh) — a global submission of loyalty (Hadavar).
Exile and return: Death and resurrection
- Hebrew/Greek key terms:
- קָבוּר qavur (“to be buried”) – Gen. 50:13
- ἀνάστασις anastasis (“resurrection, rising”) – Luke 20:35; Acts 2:31
- Scripture usage:
- Gen. 50:13 – “Jacob was buried (qavur) in Machpelah.”
- Luke 20:35 – “Those worthy attain the anastasis (resurrection).”
- Messianic insight:
- Burial in the Land shapes Israel’s hope; Yeshua’s resurrection embodies both personal and restored covenant hope for Israel’s national rebirth.
Judgment and deliverance
- Hebrew/Greek key terms:
- מִשְׁפָּט mishpat (“judgment, justice”) – Zech. 14:12
- σωτηρία sōtēria (“salvation, deliverance”) – Luke 1:69; Acts 4:12
- Scripture usage:
- Zech. 14:12 – God’s mishpat strikes the enemies of Jerusalem.
- Luke 23:34 – Through Yeshua bearing judgment, sōtēria is granted.
- Messianic insight:
- Just as Joseph tested before revealing himself, Zechariah portrays divine judgment; Yeshua absorbs judgment on the cross, providing salvation not through human might but divine mercy.
Studies
Beyond the grudge: Choosing compassion over vengeance (Genesis 50; Luke 23; Zechariah 14)
This study explores forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation through the stories of Joseph and Yeshua (Jesus). Drawing from Genesis, Zechariah and Luke, we examine how Heaven models humility, letting go of grudges and embracing mercy. Messiah embodies the Yobel — the Jubilee release from debts (and related enslavement). Messiah also fleshes out the scriptural importance of community transformation and the need to welcome back those who have changed. Ultimately, we’re called to forgive as Heaven has forgiven us, modeling divine desire for compassion on the world.
‘You are Mine’: Finding belonging in God’s family (Isaiah 43; John 16)
Isaiah 43 and John 16 focus on how God calls us by name and shapes us through life’s challenges, just as He did with Israel in exile. This study explores the importance of trusting the Master’s plan (fulfilled in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus), the meaning of true belonging and how prayer transforms us. No matter where we are, God’s redemption and love are personal, purposeful, and ongoing — inviting us to connect with Him and each other.
Shiloh or sham: Was the messianic message of Genesis 49:10 lost in translation?
“Jesus asked [a group of Pharisees] a question: ‘What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The son of David'” (Matthew 22:41–42 NASB95). The scribes and teachers of the Scriptures of Israel knew that the Messiah would descend from through King David thanks to a key phrase in the blessing the Patriarch Ya’akov (Jacob) gave to his son Yehudah (Judah) in the Torah passage וַיְחִי Vayechi (“he lived,” Genesis 47:28–50:26).
But in modern times, scholars have come to doubt that messianic interpretation, and some of the latest Bible translations no longer include “Shiloh”…
Torah reading Vayechi (ויחי): Genesis 47:28–50:26
We’ve been mining the account of the life of Yosef in Mitzraim over the past three weeks (see the sections Vayeshev, Miketz and Vayigash) to see foreshadowings of the coming Mashiakh.
These shadows grow even more defined in this week’s Torah portion, וַיְחִי Vayechi (“he lived,” Gen. 47:28–50:26). In it, we see parallels between pharaoh, Yosef and Ya’akov, and the Father, the Son and the people called Yisra’el.
How a righteous man’s dying words changed the world (Genesis 49)
The deathbed blessing–prophecies in the Torah reading ויחי Vayechi (“he lived,” Gen. 47:28–50:26) of Ya’akov (Jacob) to his 12 sons — especially, Yosef (Joseph) who was betrayed by his oldest brothers then reunited with the same but changed men — is a model for how Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) and we His followers give our all in mending the broken heart connection between Heaven and Earth.
One of the key lessons from the blessings of the 12 founders of the tribes of Israel in Torah reading ויחי Vayechi (“he lived,” Gen. 47:28–50:26) is that ancestry doesn’t mean much if each generation doesn’t carry on the legacy handed down. We can learn from these blessings and from the final messages of King David for Solomon (1Kings 2:1–12) and of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) for the Twelve (John 13–17) what Heaven wants us to pass on to our children and to the world.
We all have to choose spiritually and physically (belief in action) to follow what is right…
Why character of Israel’s 12 tribes matters for the ‘end of days’ (Genesis 49)
When some learn about the connection between the 12 tribes of Israel and the “end of days,” they can obsess over finding out their modern identities and whether one is part of said tribe. Yet a more important lesson from the blessings for the 12 sons of Israel in the Torah passage ויחי Vayechi (“he lived,” Gen. 47:28–50:26) is the character of each of the peoples that are the sons’ legacy.
Genesis 49:22–26: Yosef teaches us how to be ambassadors for Christ
How do we become righteous? Yosef’s life story shows the way. He walked in the path of righteousness, he did not “do in Rome as the Romans do” and refused to hold grudges against or plot revenge against those who persecuted and defamed him. What we can learn from the Torah reading ויחי Vayechi (“he lived,” Gen. 47:28–50:26) is this was the Messianic template that Yeshua walked too.
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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