GENESIS
January 20, 2018
By Pastor Kim Hickcox
(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)
The rest of Genesis, chapters 39-50, are dedicated to Joseph in Egypt and show us crystal clear examples of Romans 8:28 “And we know that, for those who love God, He works all things for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”, and Hebrews 13:5 “…For He said, ‘I will not abandon you and I will not ever forsake you,’6so that we are confident to say, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I shall not be afraid, what will man do to me?’” Yes I added verse 6 – it is so apropos and Paul was quoting Psalm 118:7 which again show us the timelessness of God’s Truth!
“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hands of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. 2And the LORD was with Joseph and he was a successful man and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to succeed in his hand.4And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he served him and made him an overseer over his house, and he put everything he had into his hand. 5And it was from the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. 6And he left all the he had in Joseph’s hand and he did not know anything he had, except the bread which he ate. And Joseph was good looking and well favored.” Genesis 39:1-6
In this introductory passage in to what we eventually see is the remainder of Joseph’s life (spent in Egypt from age 17 to 110), we see both Hebrews 13:5-6 and Romans 8:28 come to fruition. And those of us who have sent a lot of time in church have heard that one of Y’shua’s names is the Son of Joseph: Son of God, Son of David, Son of Man and Son of Joseph. But where did this title of His come from? Was it just because he, Joseph, was a classic Old Testament symbol of Y’shua due to his constant favor, unjust punishment, final triumph and forgiveness?
Well, I have found an incredible teaching on this that I am going to share from pages 1785-1786 of the Glossary in my One New Man Bible:
“Jewish teachings tell us the there is a Son of Joseph as a Messianic figure. The Son of Joseph is representative of the farmer because of Joseph’s dream of the sheaves in Genesis 37:6-7.” (And yes, that is where the infamous Salvation Army evangelical street song Bringing in the Sheavescomes from that we see in old movies.) “The seven years of plenty (that we will read about when we get to chapter 40) are also representative of the farmer. The rabbis say that the enmity toward him by his brothers is from the brother’s call to shepherding contrasted with Joseph’s call as a farmer. The two careers speak of two different ways of life, as we know from the many tales of the ranchers and the framers in the old west of U.S.
“While the shepherd maintains the status quo, the farmer is out to transform the land, from grasslands, woods, and swamps into land that produces crops, returning up to one hundred fold on his labor and seed. The labor is intense and includes eleven tasks forbidden on the Sabbath. These are sowing, plowing, reaping, gathering, threshing, winnowing, sorting, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking. Of the shepherd’s duties only shearing and the processing of wool or milk are forbidden for the Sabbath.
“With his transformation of the land, the Son of Joseph brings material blessings, while the Son of David, also known as Judah, guards the past. In Ezekiel 37:15-17 we have two sticks, one representing Judah and the other Ephraim, being joined together. Since David is a son of Judah and Ephraim a son of Joseph, the elements are there forthe merger of all believers, both Jewish and (Gentile) Christian, all segments of Judaism and Christianity coming together in a Messianic celebration.”
Ezekiel 37:15-17 “The word of the LORD came to me again saying, 16‘Moreover, you son of man, take one stick for yourself and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel and his companions, then take another stick and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for the entire House of Israel, his companions. 17And join them one to another into one stick and they will become one in your hand.’”
God’s Word in so incredible, isn’t it? It truly is a tapestry of mankind’s origin, life story as a whole and eternal future. Let’s look at how Ezekiel 37:15-17, written about 600 years before Y’shua ties into not only the Lord’s Prophet Isaiah, who came about one hundred years earlier, but also John and Paul, contemporaries of Y’shua. So we are now going to read several Scripture passages that will tie flawlessly together that span 700-800 years!
Isaiah 44:5 “One will say, I am the LORD’s, and another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will subscribe with his hand to the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.”
“One will say, I am the LORD’s,” – These are followers of Y’shua; either believing that He would come or that He has come already and will come again.
“…another will call himself by the name of Jacob,” – These are the secular Hebrews who do not follow their religious heritage but know and proudly claim their biological heritage to Abraham.
“…another will subscribe with his hand to the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.” – These are the religious Hebrews who have not named Y’shua as their Savior, but hold to the Laws/Teachings and Traditions of Moses.
This is how the Holy Spirit broke it down for me, and it does cover all factions of Judaism – past, present and future.
Ezekiel 34:23, “And I will set up one Shepherd over them and He will feed them, My Servant David. He will feed them, and He will be their Shepherd.” A reference to Y’shua, Who will be from the line of David, as David had been dead for about 300 years.
John 10:16 “But I also have sheep that are not of this sheepfold: and it is necessary for Me to lead those and they will hear My voice, and they will become one flock, one Shepherd.” Sound familiar?
Ezekiel 37:17 “And join them one to another into one stick and they will become one in your hand.’” AND…
Ephesians 2:14-18 “For He is our peace, the One Who has made both things into one and Who has loosed the dividing wall of the fence, cause of enmity to His flesh, 15by His nullifying the tradition of the commandments by decrees, so the He could create the two, Jewish and non-Jewish, into One New Man, establishing peace 16so He could reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, as God killed their enmity by means of Y’shua. 17And when He came He proclaimed the Good News of peace to you, to those far away, and peace to those near: 18because through Him we both have the introduction to the Father by means of one Spirit.”
Romans 11 – I am not going to write out the entire 11th chapter of Romans, but the subtitles I have are:
Verses 1-10; The Remnant of Israel
Verses 11-24; The Salvation of the Heathens
Verses 25-36; The Restoration of Israel
“It is interesting that Jewish scholars say that neither Judah nor Joseph can prevail alone. The two brothers need each other because a world of Josephs would lose sight if the old in its pursuit of the new, and a world of only Judahs could trap Judaism in a web of irrelevances.”
Speaking of irrelevances, I have yet to discover how non-believing Hebrews justify the centuries long lack of animal sacrifices or the shedding of blood with the annual covering if their sins. It is explained away as not being able to use the Temple in Jerusalem since 70AD, and, as that was God’s House and He wanted no other, I get that. However, that is still, according to the Old Covenant, only part of the problem. The other and might I had major part would be that the entire Book of Leviticus gives the intricate details of the specific sacrifices needed for specific sins, so if they do not believe that the Ultimate Sacrifice has (already) been made for them, how are they holding on to YHWH’s salvation?
“Another expression of two Messiahs is with the term ‘suffering Messiah’ and ‘reigning Messiah.’ Y’shua suffered in His first coming, but will reign on His next appearance.” This again, is lost on the non-believing Hebrew, as they did not nor do not believe in the concept of the suffering Messiah since He came already and was rejected by so many of His family throughout the ages. And it is actually forbidden to read Isaiah 53, which specifically refers to His suffering and rejection. One of the strongest ploys that devil has ever succeeded in!
We can see both Judah and Joseph in His ministry, with many references to shepherding and any to being transformed. Examples if being transformed include the parables of the sower (see Matthew 13:1-9 & 18-23) and statements such as ‘You will know them by their fruit.’ (Matthew 7:16) Paul also referred to our transformation in Romans 12:2 …by the renewing of your mind. When Y’shua reigns it seems that His reign will be like Joseph’s as the Prime Minister under the King of the Universe. Another similarity to Joseph is His physical absence from us for a season. The current Church is more under David than Joseph, being maintained more than transformed. Satanic forces still have power, much of it conceded by the Church, since very few teach and minister deliverance. Messiah’s reign will be without Satan while he is bound for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:2) Only then, without Satanic influences, will people be totally transformed and be able to be all that they can be. In that sense the current status is more like the Davidic reign and the Messianic reign will be more like the reign of Joseph. By that we can readily see that Y’shua is both Son of David and Son of Joseph, whether 2000 years ago or in His reign.”
So starts our study of Joseph, whose name means let him add. When Genesis Joseph kept the famine at bay, he kept not only the nation of Egypt alive, adding generations to them, but he also kept his own family alive and we know what that explosion led to! The Joseph of the New Testament was Y’shua’s step-father, and look at the increase he helped with through the raising of his step-son Y’shua!
Next week the trial really begins! Because “…Joseph was good looking and well favored.” Genesis 39:6b (which was not necessarily a good thing).
Shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment