Jacob is now 147 and has lived 17 years in Egypt after being reunited with Joseph, but now his eyes have failed and he is weak and dying. Torah and Yasher covers Jacob’s last words to his sons and grand-sons (his seed). Some of Jacob’s last words are blessings, some are rebukes, and some are instructions to his sons for after he is gone.
In Jacob’s last words to his grand-sons (who appear to be twins), and against the wishes of their father Joseph, he sets the younger over the elder. I believe that this is a shadow picture of the second born, spiritual man ruling over the first-born, man of the flesh which we find so often in the scriptures. Here are a few examples.
Joseph replaces Reuben; Joseph received the “double blessing” which usually goes to the 1st born.
Ephraim replaces Manasseh as firstborn
Kohath replaces Gershon (Gen 46:11)
Ephraim and Manasseh learned the ways of Yehovah in the house of Jacob, and in Genesis 48 Jacob even seems to claim them as his own sons.
Yasher 55:35 Ephraim and Manasseh, remained constantly in the house of Jacob, together with the sons of the sons of Jacob their brethren, to learn the ways of Yehovah and his law.
And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. (Gen 48:5)
Why else would the twins be listed with Jacob’s sons and become the fathers of two of the twelve tribes who inherit land in Canaan? Continue reading Jacob’s Last Words→
Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” (Gen 47:8-9)
Jacob, like Isaac, Abraham, Shem and probably even Noah (the son of Lemech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch) has been on his pilgrimage since the day he was born. He has always served Yehovah and dwelt in His eternal kingdom.
I, on the other hand, was a late bloomer; I did not begin my pilgrimage on the earth until 2000 when I was about 45. It was then that I gave up all my connections/covenants and came out of the kingdom of my birth, made myself 100% Yehovah’s man and then began my pilgrimage, my journey in His kingdom. Since that time I have learned what it means to dwell in the heaven instead of earth. Every man who fails to learn to dwell in heaven will perish, just as they did in the antediluvian world. Noah survived because he learned to walk in his pilgrimage with Yehovah. And when Nimrod ruled and reigned on the earth, Noah, Shem, Eber, and Abraham did not serve him even though they lived in what most folks would have thought was Nimrod’s kingdom.
“From whence comes the purpose of a person’s life? Come it by chance, a casting of the lot, or does a call of destiny beckon to each of us?‖ From the movie ‘One Night with the King’.
It is my firm belief that the Creator has a destiny, an eternal purpose for each of our lives and it is my wish to effect those around me to embrace all that the Creator has for them. But until they (I am really talking to men) begin their pilgrimage, their destiny is on hold.
In this passage Jacob is talking to Pharaoh; but Jacob knows and understands the words of Yehovah that were given to Abraham and to himself.
So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and slaughtered slaughters to his father Isaac’s Elohim. Then Elohim spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” So He said, “I am Elohim (THE lawmaker and judge), the Elohim of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” (Gen 46:1-4)
This is destiny, the leading of Yehovah in the life of His men, in order to fulfill His word.
And when Jacob meets Pharaoh for the first time he understands that the provision that he is receiving is NOT from Pharaoh, even though Pharaoh may think so; the provision is from Yehovah for Jacob’s continued pilgrimage on the earth.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
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Joseph’s brothers are forced to come to Egypt to buy provisions for all of Jacob’s camp, and he plans to find them when they do. Joseph created an ordinance so only the head of each family could buy corn in Egypt and when each man comes he must state who he is and who his father is. All the gate-keepers are commanded to bring their lists of the days arrivals to Joseph each evening.
On their way, Joseph’s brothers repent of what they did to him and resolve to find him and bring him back home.
Yasher 51:6 And while Joseph’s brothers were going on the road, they repented of what they had done to him, and they spoke to each other, saying, We know that our brother Joseph went down to Egypt, and now we will seek him where we go, and if we find him we will take him from his master for a ransom, and if not, by force, and we will die for him.
Why were Joseph’s brother declared to be spies?
Yasher 51:7 And Joseph’s brothers agreed to this thing and strengthened themselves on account of Joseph, to deliver him from the hand of his master, and Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt; and when they came near to Egypt they separated from each other, and they came through ten gates of Egypt, and the gate keepers wrote their names on that day, and brought them to Joseph in the evening.
8 And Joseph read the names from the hand of the gate-keepers of the city, and he found that his brethren had entered at the ten gates of the city, and Joseph at that time commanded that it should be proclaimed throughout the land of Egypt, saying,
9 Go forth all ye store guards, close all the corn stores and let only one remain open, that those who come may purchase from it.
Yasher 51:11 And Joseph gave the written names of his brethren to him that was set over the open store, and he said unto him, Whosoever shall come to thee to buy corn, ask his name, and when men of these names shall come before thee, seize them and send them, and they did so.
But Joseph’s brothers did not come to buy food right away; they were busy looking for him. I think where they looked suggests what they thought of him. And isn’t it suspicious that 10 men who come into the city at separate gates now meet in a place that condones anonymity? Continue reading Joseph’s Brothers Are Found→
These are the words [hadavarim] which Moses spoke unto all Israel on this side of the Jordan; in the wilderness in the plain across Suph [the plain at Sinai], between Paran and Tophel; and at Lavan, and at Hazeroth, and at Di-zahav. (Deu 1:1)
Deuteronomy begins with Moses speaking to Israel’s seed on the plains of Moab, just across and a little south of Jericho. So when I read the words “this side of the Jordan” I assumed that the place we were standing on was the place called “this side of the Jordan.” I assumed this because sometimes my understandings are very small and unable to see the larger picture Yehovah is presenting for those who have eyes (spiritual eyes) that do see.
Sometimes it is easy to be blinded by our present circumstances and miss the reality of what Yehovah wants to do in our lives. I looked at the map in this picture and did not find a single one of those bolded places in the above verse. “What is going on here?”, I asked myself.
Then it hit me. Context, context, context is what this is all about; understanding Yehovah’s word within the context of Yehovah’s word. Where did Yehovah speak all His words [His davarim] to us prior to our coming to this place across from Jericho? Suddenly I realized that all these places on this side of the Jordan; were not that place opposite Jericho, but rather that place we have been since we crossed over the Red Sea (40 years before) and entered into Yehovah’s ruler-ship. These seem to be the places where Moses received the words of Yehovah and gave them to His son, Israel. Continue reading This Side Of The Jordan→
At our last meeting we read that Jacob’s 2 sons, Simeon (12) and Levi (11) saved their sister Dinah (8) from the house of Shechem when they killed all the men of that wicked city. In today’s lesson we will learn that even the Canaanites understand that Jacob and His sons Elohim is exceedingly fond of them.
When we had to stop last time we saw that 7 kings of Canaan had come with 10,000 men to destroy Jacob and his household. They seemed like the sands of the sea in number and Jacob was afraid. But the boys displayed great faith.
Yasher 34:59 And Judah said unto Simeon and Levi, and unto all his brothers, Strengthen yourselves and be sons of valor, for Yehovah our Elohim is with us, do not fear them.
60 Stand forth each man, girt with his weapons of war, his bow and his sword, and we will go and fight against these uncircumcised men; Yehovah is our Elohim, He will save us.
Oh – how I love the faith I see in these sons of Jacob! Both Jacob and his father Isaac then prayed to Yehovah for deliverance. Here is a portion of that prayer.
Yasher 34:66 Now therefore, O Yehovah Elohim, Elohim of the whole earth, pervert, I pray thee, the counsel of these kings that they may not fight against my sons.
67 And impress the hearts of these kings and their people with the terror of my sons and bring down their pride, and that they may turn away from my sons.
68 And with thy strong hand and outstretched arm deliver my sons and their servants from them, for power and might are in thy hands to do all this.
Their Elohim is exceedingly fond of them
Yasher 35:2 And Yehovah heard the prayers of Isaac and Jacob, and He filled the hearts of all these kings’ advisers with great fear and terror that they unanimously exclaimed,
3 Are you silly this day, or is there no understanding in you, that you will fight with the Hebrews, and why will you take a delight in your own destruction this day?
Here is the first act in Solomon’s “Song of Songs” which is all about coming out of the world and joining our selves to Yehovah and His kingdom. This little girl is a sleepy little thing and it will be several acts before she even wakes up. She is so much like all of us!
If you have not watched the introduction – please watch it first. You won’t know who the actors represent in this allegory without a program.
Jacob is now 147 and has lived 17 years in Egypt after being reunited with Joseph, but now his eyes have failed and he is weak and dying. Torah and Yasher covers Jacob’s last words to his sons and grand-sons (his seed). Some of Jacob’s last words are blessings, some are rebukes, and some are instructions to his sons for after he is gone.
“From whence comes the purpose of a person’s life? Come it by chance, a casting of the lot, or does a call of destiny beckon to each of us?†– From the movie ‘One Night with the King’.
