Torah Study – Instructor, Ron Parashas Vayechi Genesis 47:28 – 50:26 Haftaras Vayechi – 1 Kings 2:1–12

Review: Jacob and his household have arrived in Egypt. Joseph has provided for them and they have prospered. They have lands and the family is growing. The famine has passed.

Chapter 47 28 – 31 After Israel has been in Egypt for about 17 years and at the age of 147, Jacob senses that his time is about to come to leave this world. Jacob is aware of the promises that were made to his fathers. He knows that his family will eventually go back to the land of Canaan. He asked Joseph to make sure he was taken back to Canaan and buried. Joseph agreed and swore to him that he would personally get it done. With Joseph’s pledge to bury his father in the land of Canaan, Jacob bow’s to Joseph from his bed, thus fulfilling the dream that Joseph had as a young man. Now even the sun and moon did bow to him, not just the eleven stars.

Just as this prophetic dream came to pass about Joseph, there is another prophetic word about Yeshua that will come to pass. Lets look at it.

Romans 14 6 He who observes a day as special does so to honor the Lord. Also he who eats anything, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; likewise the abstainer abstains to honor the Lord, and he too gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives only in relation to himself, and none of us dies only in relation to himself; 8 for if we live, we live in relation to the Lord; and if we die, we die in relation to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord - 9 indeed, it was for this very reason that the Messiah died and came back to life, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You then, why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For all of us will stand before God's judgment seat; 11 since it is written in the Tanakh, "As I live, says ADONAI, every knee will bend before me, and every tongue will publicly acknowledge God." 12 So then, every one of us will have to give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore, let's stop passing judgment on each other! Instead, make this one judgment - not to put a stumbling block or a snare in a brother's way. 14 I know - that is, I have been persuaded by the Lord Yeshua the Messiah - that nothing is unclean in itself. But if a person considers something unclean, then for him it is unclean; 15 and if your brother is being upset by the food you eat, your life is no longer one of love. Do not, by your eating habits, destroy someone for whom the Messiah died! 16 Do not let what you know to be good, be spoken of as bad;

And again Philippians 2 5 Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua: 6 Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be possessed by force. 7 On the contrary, he emptied himself, in that he took the form of a slave by becoming like human beings are. And when he appeared as a human being, 8 he humbled himself still more by becoming obedient even to death - death on a stake as a criminal! 9 Therefore God raised him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name; 10 that in honor of the name given Yeshua, every knee will bow - in heaven, on earth and under the earth 11 and every tongue will acknowledge that Yeshua the Messiah is ADONAI - to the glory of God the Father. 12 So, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey now when I am away from you: keep working out your deliverance with fear and trembling, 13 for God is the one working among you both the willing and the working for what pleases him. 14 Do everything without kvetching or arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure children of God, without defect in the midst of a twisted and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the sky,

Israel himself, in obedience to God, bowed to his son because it fulfilled God’s word. We, in obedience to God, bow down to His son in fulfillment of His word. When we do this, it says we shine like the stars in the sky. What stars? The same stars that bowed to Joseph also bow to the Messiah. We shine like those stars.

What a powerful connection between the Torah and the New Covenant.

Chapter 48 1 - Someone told Joseph that his father was ill. Joseph brought his two sons to Jacob so that he could bless them. Joseph understood the power of those blessings.

2 – 7 Jacob reviews with Joseph the account of God appearing to him and blessing him, “El Shaddai had appeared to me in Luz in the land of Canaan and He blessed me. He said to me, “Behold – I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make you a congregation of nations, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as an eternal possession.”

Jacob declares that both Ephraim and Manasseh will be counted alongside the other 11 patriarchs. Thus Joseph would receive a double portion through his two sons.

21 – 22 After the blessing of Josephs two sons, Jacob plainly told Joseph that he was about to die and that God would surely bring all of them back to the land of Canaan. He also gave him the city of Shechem which allowed for one portion more than his brothers.

We have to pause here and go forward to the New Testament again. Just as Jacob was telling Joseph that he was about to die and be joined with his fathers, during the last night of Yeshua’s life and during what we call the last supper, he was telling that Apostles that he was about to die and that he was going back to the Father from which he had come. Just as Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons with the Abrahamic blessing, Yeshua blessed the Apostles and even us who have come to believe after them. In John chapter 16 read how Yeshua was explaining how he was leaving/dying and in chapter 17 read the blessing and or prayer that Yeshua prayed over the Apostles and us. It is better than the Abrahamic blessing because He asked His Father for us to be with Him where He is.

John 16 1 "I have told you these things so that you won't be caught by surprise. 2 They will ban you from the synagogue; in fact, the time will come when anyone who kills you will think he is serving God! 3 They will do these things because they have understood neither the Father nor me. 4 But I have told you this, so that when the time comes for it to happen, you will remember that I told you. I didn't tell you this at first, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to the One who sent me. "Not one of you is asking me, `Where are you going?' 6 Instead, because I have said these things to you, you are overcome with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I don't go away, the comforting Counselor will not come to you. However, if I do go, I will send him to you. 8 "When he comes, he will show that the world is wrong about sin, about righteousness and about judgment -- 9 about sin, in that people don't put their trust in me; 10 about righteousness, in that I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 about judgment, in that the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 "I still have many things to tell you, but you can't bear them now. 13 However, when the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own initiative but will say only what he hears. He will also announce to you the events of the future. 14 He will glorify me, because he will receive from what is mine and announce it to you. 15 Everything the Father has is mine; this is why I said that he receives from what is mine and will announce it to you. 16 "In a little while, you will see me no more; then, a little while later, you will see me." 17 At this, some of the talmidim said to one another, "What is this that he's telling us, `In a little while, you won't see me; then, a little while later, you will see me'? and, `I am going to the Father'?" 18 They went on saying, "What is this `little while'? We don't understand what he's talking about." 19 Yeshua knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you asking each other what I meant by saying, `In a little while, you won't see me; and then, a little while later, you will see me'? 20 Yes, it's true. I tell you that you will sob and mourn, and the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she is in pain; because her time has come. But when the baby is born, she forgets her suffering out of joy that a child has come into the world. 22 So you do indeed feel grief now, but I am going to see you again. Then your hearts will be full of joy, and no one will take your joy away from you. 23 "When that day comes, you won't ask anything of me! Yes, indeed! I tell you that whatever you ask from the Father, he will give you in my name. 24 Till now you haven't asked for anything in my name. Keep asking, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. 25 "I have said these things to you with the help of illustrations; however, a time is coming when I will no longer speak indirectly but will talk about the Father in plain language. 26 When that day comes, you will ask in my name. I am not telling you that I will pray to the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 "I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and returning to the Father." 29 The talmidim said to him, "Look, you're talking plainly right now, you're not speaking indirectly at all. 30 Now we know that you know everything, and that you don't need to have people put their questions into words. This makes us believe that you came from God." 31 Yeshua answered, "Now you do believe. 32 But a time is coming -- indeed it has come already -- when you will be scattered, each one looking out for himself; and you will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone; because the Father is with me. 33 "I have said these things to you so that, united with me, you may have shalom. In the world, you have tsuris. But be brave! I have conquered the world!"

John 17 1 After Yeshua had said these things, he looked up toward heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you -- 2 just as you gave him authority over all mankind, so that he might give eternal life to all those whom you have given him. 3 And eternal life is this: to know you, the one true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua the Messiah. 4 "I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me alongside yourself. Give me the same glory I had with you before the world existed. 6 "I made your name known to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 because the words you gave me I have given to them, and they have received them. They have really come to know that I came from you, and they have come to trust that you sent me. 9 "I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given to me, because they are yours. 10 Indeed, all I have is yours, and all you have is mine, and in them I have been glorified. 11 Now I am no longer in the world. They are in the world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, guard them by the power of your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are. 12 When I was with them, I guarded them by the power of your name, which you have given to me; yes, I kept watch over them; and not one of them was destroyed (except the one meant for destruction, so that the Tanakh might be fulfilled). 13 But now, I am coming to you; and I say these things while I am still in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 "I have given them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world -- just as I myself do not belong to the world. 15 I don't ask you to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the Evil One. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Set them apart for holiness by means of the truth -- your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 On their behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that they too may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth. 20 "I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, 21 that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one -- 23 I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me. 24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them."

Look again at the bolded text in Chapter 17:20-21. Yeshua prayed for us. We have been included in the promises of God. What happened with Jacob and Joseph was only a preview of what would happen with Yeshua and the believers.

Chapter 49 1 – 2 Jacob calls for all of his sons and instructs them, “Assemble yourselves and I will tell you what will befall you in the End of Days. Gather yourselves and listen, O sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father.”

By referring to himself with two different names and their association with him, he was inferring that it is true, they were conceived and born to Jacob the man of flesh. It was evident by looking at the sin in their lives. However, he was telling them that by listening to his instructions and by staying together, they could become sons of Israel, the spirit man.

The Apostle Paul spoke to us in a similar way in Ephesians chapter 2 11 Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth - called the Uncircumcised by those who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised - 12 at that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Isra'el. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying God's promise. You were in this world without hope and without God. 13 But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah's blood. 14 For he himself is our shalom - he has made us both one and has broken down the m'chitzah which divided us 15 by destroying in his own body the enmity occasioned by the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom, 16 and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus in himself killing that enmity. 17 Also, when he came, he announced as Good News shalom to you far off and shalom to those nearby, 18 news that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's family. 20 You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. 21 In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. 22 Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God!

3 – 28 Jacob went on to prophecy over and bless each of his sons. He told them upfront that his prophecy had to do with the end of the age or the end of days.

He foretold of a coming ruler of all nations through Judah.

29 – 33 Jacob finished instructing them and then gave them all specific orders to bury him in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had purchased from the son’s of Heth.

Jacob then simply died and passed from this world to the next.

****Read from the commentary in the Chumash****Our father did not die

Chapter 50 1 – 14 With Pharaoh’s blessing Joseph and his brothers bury their father just as he instructed. Then all returned to Egypt.

15 - 21 Joseph’s brothers became fearful that Joseph would hold a grudge against them since their father was gone and he had to the power to do them great harm as Governor of Egypt.

The brothers felt they had to keep Joseph accountable to his father’s wishes so they made up a story that their father wanted Joseph to forgive them for the “spiteful” things they had done to him.

Joseph wept when they told him this story because it broke his heart. He realized that his brothers still did not understand what type of person he was. He never really had any intention of harming them. He reassured them by stating, “Fear not, for am I instead of God? Although you intended me harm, God intended it for good: in order to accomplish – it is as clear as this day – that a vast people be kept alive. So now, fear not - I will sustain you and your young ones.”

This is very prophetic word for Yeshua to his brothers.

22 – 26 Joseph lived on in Egypt. When the time came for Joseph to die, he reminded all of the brothers and the people of Israel that God would surely remember them and bring them up from the land of Egypt to the land of Canaan. He further ordered them to bring his bones up when they went.

(Moses remembers this order and Israel does it. Joshua actually completes the mission)

Yeshua ordered the Apostles to preach the Gospel. Lets you and I try to complete the mission.

Lets look at one of the final orders that Yeshua gave to Peter after His resurrection.

John 21 1 After this, Yeshua appeared again to the talmidim at Lake Tiberias. Here is how it happened: 2 Shim`on Kefa and T'oma (his name means "twin") were together with Natan'el from Kanah in the Galil, the sons of Zavdai, and two other talmidim. 3 Shim`on Kefa said, "I'm going fishing." They said to him, "We're coming with you." They went and got into the boat, but that night they didn't catch anything. 4 However, just as day was breaking, Yeshua stood on shore, but the talmidim didn't know it was he. 5 He said to them, "You don't have any fish, do you?" "No," they answered him. 6 He said to them, "Throw in your net to starboard and you will catch some." So they threw in their net, and there were so many fish in it that they couldn't haul it aboard. 7 The talmid Yeshua loved said to Kefa, "It's the Lord!" On hearing it was the Lord, Shim`on Kefa threw on his coat, because he was stripped for work, and plunged into the lake; 8 but the other talmidim followed in the boat, dragging the net full of fish; for they weren't far from shore, only about a hundred yards. 9 When they stepped ashore, they saw a fire of burning coals with a fish on it, and some bread. 10 Yeshua said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught." 11 Shim`on Kefa went up and dragged the net ashore. It was full of fish, 153 of them; but even with so many, the net wasn't torn. 12 Yeshua said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the talmidim dared to ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13 Yeshua came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Yeshua had appeared to the talmidim after being raised from the dead. 15 After breakfast, Yeshua said to Shim`on Kefa, "Shim`on Bar-Yochanan, do you love me more than these?" He replied, "Yes, Lord, you know I'm your friend." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16 A second time he said to him, "Shim`on BarYochanan, do you love me?" He replied, "Yes, Lord, you know I'm your friend." He said to him, "Shepherd my sheep." 17 The third time he said to him, "Shim`on BarYochanan, are you my friend?" Shim`on was hurt that he questioned him a third time: "Are you my friend?" So he replied, "Lord, you know everything! You know I'm your friend!" Yeshua said to him, "Feed my sheep! 18 Yes, indeed! I tell you, when you were younger, you put on your clothes and went where you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." 19 He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Kefa would bring glory to God. Then Yeshua said to him, "Follow me!" 20 Kefa turned and saw the talmid Yeshua especially loved following behind, the one who had leaned against him at the supper and had asked, "Who is the one who is betraying you?" 21 On seeing him, Kefa said to Yeshua, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Yeshua said to him, "If I want him to stay on until I come, what is it to you? You, follow me!" 23 Therefore the word spread among the brothers that that talmid would not die. However, Yeshua didn't say he wouldn't die, but simply, "If I want him to stay on until I come, what is it to you?" 24 This one is the talmid who is testifying about these things and who has recorded them. And we know that his testimony is true. 25 But there are also many other things Yeshua did; and if they were all to be recorded, I don't think the whole world could contain the books that would have to be written!

Summary We see in this portion a passing of Patriarchs and their respective blessings on those who have to continue on. We see in Yeshua the blessing He prayed for us, those who have to continue on. Now we are well set up for the Generation of Moses to show us pictures of the coming Messiah.

Read Also Acts 7:9-16 1 Peter 1:3-9 1 Peter 2:11-17

Haftaras Vayechi – 1 Kings 2:1–12 1 The time came near for David to die; so he commissioned Shlomo his son as follows: 2 "I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore, be strong; show yourself a man. 3 Observe the charge of ADONAI your God to go in his ways and keep his regulations, mitzvot, rulings and instructions in accordance with what is written in the Torah of Moshe; so that you will succeed in all you do and wherever you go. 4 If you do, ADONAI will fulfill what he promised me when he said, 'If your children pay attention to how they live, conducting themselves before me honestly with all their heart and being, you will never lack a man on the throne of Isra'el.' 5 "Moreover, you are aware of what Yo'av the son of Tz'ruyah did to me, that is, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Isra'el, Avner the son of Ner and 'Amasa the son of Yeter - he killed them, shedding the blood of war in peacetime, putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and the shoes on his feet. 6 Therefore, act according to your wisdom; don't let his gray head go down to the grave in peace. 7 "But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gil'adi. Include them with those who eat at your table, because they came and stood with me when I was fleeing from Avshalom your brother. 8 "Finally, you have with you Shim'i the son of Gera the Binyamini, from Bachurim. He laid a terrible curse on me when I was on my way to Machanayim; but he came down to meet me at the Yarden; so I swore to him by ADONAI that I would not have him put to death with the sword. 9 Now, however, you should not let him go unpunished. You are a wise man, and you will know what you should do to him - you will bring his gray head down to the grave with blood." 10 Then David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 David had ruled Isra'el for forty years - seven years in Hevron and thirty-three years in Yerushalayim. 12 Shlomo sat on the throne of David his father; and his rule had become firmly established,