FoodinFAMINE

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Va-y'chi, which means, "and he lived." The title comes from Gen. 47:28: "And Jacob lived (haya - breathing, live, alive, save, quicken, revive, life, recover, remain alive, live prosperously, live forever, be restored to life or health, preserve alive, to revive from discouragement or death) in the land of Egypt (misrayim/masor/sur - Egypt, Egyptians/besieged places, fortified, limit, distress, fortress/lay siege, adversaries, assault, bind up, confine, to press upon, to compress) seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years."

     Looking at the Hebrew meanings of the words used in the above verse, we can say that Jacob (and his family) found their lives preserved, restored, and even prospered, in a place of danger, limitations and confinement. They found this preserved life because of the calling of God on Joseph's life. Joseph said: "...And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (Gen. 45:5-7, excerpt). Joseph was ordained to keep Jacob/Israel alive during a time of severe famine, and for the sake of the future generations of Israel, in the unlikely nation of Egypt, ruled by Pharaoh. Because of the favor that Joseph had received from Pharaoh because Joseph was a man filled with the Spirit and wisdom of God, Pharaoh gave the best land in Egypt to be occupied by Jacob and his family. (see Gen. 45:16-20).

     There were still five years of famine to endure in Egypt after Jacob and his sons came to dwell there. (Gen. 45:6). As our reading begins in Genesis Ch. 47, we are presented with a strange series of facts regarding how Joseph, as second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, dealt with the famine: "Now there was no bread (lehem/laham - bread, food, grain, meat, loaves, shewbread, provision/fight, make war, to eat, overcome, devoured, prevail, engage in battle, consume) in all the land; for the famine (ra'ab/ra'eb - famine, hunger, dearth, hunger for Jehovah's Word, scarcity of grain/suffer hunger, allow to hunger, be voracious, to cause to hunger) was very severe (kabed/kabad - great, grievous, heavy, sore, thick, massive, abundant, very oppressive, burdensome/honor, glorify, glorious, gain glory, sore, made heavy, burden), so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished (laha - to burn, to be rabid, insane, exhausted by frenzy, languish, faint, madman, tongue thrust out longing for drink, driven by a demon, scared) because of the famine." (Gen. 47:13). The suffering in the famine was so great that it drove people mad with it. We should also notice the connection in meaning between bread or grain and warfare in the Hebrew word and root lehem/laham. We will discover that famine can result from a state of war. We will see that famine is also associated with spiritual warfare as well. I would also like to note that grievous heaviness in the Hebrew meaning associated with the severity of this famine is also related to the glory of God in the words kabed/kabad above. Scripture tells us that as the glory of God filled the temple, the priests that ministered there could not continue because of its massive heaviness. (see 2 Chron. 5:12-14). The prophet asked, "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap." (Mal. 3:2). This will have meaning in the last days as Christ returns also, because He comes with great glory, and the overwhelming brightness of His glory will destroy the wicked one. (see Isa. 40:5-8, Mt. 24:30-31, 2 Thess. 2:8). Jesus has given to the Body of His believers this same glory. (Jn. 17:22-24).

     As we read about Joseph's tactics for provision during the ongoing deep famine throughout the region, we should keep in mind that Jacob's and consequently Israel's survival are linked to Joseph's ongoing favor in his position with Pharaoh. Officially, Joseph has been entrusted by Pharaoh as a ruler over Pharaoh's household and everything that belongs to Pharaoh. He can only keep Israel alive as he pleases and enriches Pharaoh.

     This is how Joseph handled the distribution of grain kept in Pharaoh's storehouses during the famine: "And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house." (Gen. 47:14). 

     When the money failed because the people had given it all to pay for grain, they came to Joseph asking for more bread, saying to him, "Why should we die in your presence?" Joseph then told them to give him their livestock since their money was gone, and he would give them bread. Joesph fed them that year in exchange for all of their livestock, which became Pharaoh's. (v. 16-17).

     The next year of the famine, the people came to him again for bread. Because they had neither money nor herds left, they sold themselves and their land to Pharaoh so that they wouldn't die: "Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh...so the land became Pharaoh's." (v. 18-20).

     Joseph moved the people off the land and into the cities across Egypt, and decreed: "Then Joseph said to the people, 'Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land...in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.' So they said, 'You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." (v. 23-25). Pharaoh took twenty percent. The Egyptian priests did not have to give up their lands because Pharaoh always continued to supply them with their ration of food.

     Pharaoh became greatly enriched because of Joseph's service to him, and the people remained alive although they had to give everything including themselves to Pharaoh. What would the world be willing to do to save themselves and their families from starvation? Scripture says that many will turn away from God and turn instead to a supernaturally evil, oppressive tyrant and his world-wide economic system.

     This brings me to what I see in this part of Joseph's story as a prophetic picture and warning.

     Famine is one of the catastrophes prophesied during the time before Christ's return. Jesus prophesied: "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Mt. 24:7-8). Because of one of the horses of the Apocalypse, wheat and barley will become scarce on the earth. (see Rev. 6:5-6). This black horse followed the horse that would take peace from the earth. As we saw in the Hebrew words lehem/laham used above meaning "bread", famine often associated with warfare.

     Famine is also very prominent in the world today. 318 million people in 68 countries are facing hunger now, which is double the amount from 2019. Famine has been officially designated in the Palestinian Territories, South Sudan, Haiti, Mali, Yemen, the Congo, Myanmar, with near famine conditions reported in Chad, Somalia and Syria. Most of these famine conditions have resulted from conflicts and weather changes. Myanmar's near famine is connected to a major earthquake that occurred there. Famine is steadily crawling across the surface of the earth at this time.

     In the United States, the fifth largest wheat producer in the world, three years of drought has affected the winter wheat yields in Kansas, and too much rain has reduced the spring wheat output in North Dakota. It was during the decade of the 1930's that the great plains of the United States, known for its rich soil, was renamed The Great Dust Bowl. Several factors, including poor land management, led to this devastation. On April 14, 1935, a dust storm came to that area that was so huge the date was later called Black Sunday. It was called this because what started out as a sunny day, became darkened as the sun was obscured by the thick cloud of black dust until "it was darker than the darkest night." The Dust Bowl lasted for years as once-rich prairie land turned to dry dust, and families abandoned their useless farms.

     Also occurring in the United States, $24 trillion dollars' worth in farms and farmland is currently up for sale. Very wealthy individuals, corporations, and even foreign nations are buying some of this land. Will farming continue on this land after it is sold? Hundreds of millions of acres of farmland in the United States have already been sold - to two entities, one being a foreign government.

     The top two producers of wheat in the world are Russia and the Ukraine. Ukraine's rich black soil is considered the most fertile land on earth, and that nation has been called "The Breadbasket of Europe." Both countries have been at conflict together for several years. Together they produce 1/4 of the world's wheat. What effect will their ongoing conflict have on their production of wheat?

     The global food chain has become very vulnerable.

     Conflicts, weather changes, and natural disasters like fire and flood can change the grain production of the earth in a moment. However, as we saw above, the people of God, Jacob/Israel and his family, were provided for in the middle of a severe famine. Both Joseph and Pharaoh guaranteed the provision for God's people in the territory of Goshen (meaning "to draw near"), also known as Rameses, in Egypt. This was the richest soil in Egypt. However, men pass away, as Joseph and this Pharaoh did, and the situation changed. God does not pass away, and He continued to see and hear His people until the day of their deliverance from Egypt and after.

     The prophet of God also wrote this as a correction to God's people from the LORD: "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) all-the-tithes into the storehouse ('osar - treasury, store, supplies of food or drink, God's armory or magazine of weapons), that there may be food/meat (terep/tarap - prey, meat, fresh leaves, spoil, food, descending to battle like a lion, the spoil of the wicked/tear to pieces, feed, prey, catch, provide food) in My house, and try Me in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'If I will not open for you (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the windows ('aruba/'arab - latticed like a dove-house or coop, a chimney for smoke to escape, a sluice for water to flow/to weave, to intertwine, to mingle) of heaven and pour out for you a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it." (Mal. 3:8-10). Pharaoh received twenty percent of future earnings in addition to all of the money, herds, lands and servitude of his people that he had already received, while the LORD only asks for ten percent, and that ten percent is identified with the sacrifice of His Son, the Messiah/Christ, Jesus, who gave Himself as an offering, as indicated by the presence of the *aleph-tav in written Hebrew (see *note below). It seems a small, but spiritually powerful token for God to request from us. He would certainly be entitled to all that we have if He demanded it. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is worth far more than everything we own combined. (Mt. 6:31-34 and Mt. 13:44-46).

     We can see how the supply of the LORD comes to us as He spoils His enemies in spiritual and physical battle according to the Hebrew words terep/tarap above. We have a record in scripture of the LORD breaking a severe famine that had come upon His people by defeating and spoiling the besieging Assyrian army that had surrounded Jerusalem. (see 2 Kings 7:1-16). The enemy's bread that they left behind in their camp fed God's starving people.

     Not only does the LORD supply His people with physical bread, and His Word, the scriptures, as spiritual bread, but He also supplies us with the Bread of salvation and eternal life, Jesus. David wrote: "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed." (Ps. 37:25-26).

     As we study these Sabbath reading portions, the special and peculiar characteristics of the Sabbaths of the LORD are revealed for us to learn. The Lord's Sabbath contains a special double provision ahead of time, as was the case with Joseph, Pharaoh and Egypt in order to carry His people through the time of rest in Him when His people cannot gather.

     If you would like to learn more about the loving provision of the Lord, you can join me in prayer: "Heavenly Father, Who owns the world and everything in it, I give You my thanks for the provision that You have made for me throughout my life, and the lives of my family. No matter the circumstances that come upon the world, You have shown Your faithfulness to me. Nothing is impossible for You as Your Son Jesus demonstrated when He multiplied the few loaves of bread to feed thousands. I hold up the bread, both natural and spiritual, that You have given to me, and I wave it before You in praise and thanksgiving. I pray for those who hunger and thirst at this time across the world. You have blessed us with abundance to share with others in Your name so that men will glorify You. Lead me in Your Word and by Your Spirit, and let me always trust in You for all things. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

Bread

      The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Va-yiggash, which means, "and he drew near." The title comes from the moment when Joseph, a governor or ruler in Egypt, revealed himself to his brothers who had come from Canaan to Egypt again for bread grain during a famine: "Then Joseph (yosep/yasap - "Jehovah has added"/more, exceed, add to, increase) said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph; does my father (Jacob/Israel) still live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed (bahal - afraid, dismayed, rash, thrust him out, disturb, alarm, terrify, anxious, tremble inside) in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come/draw near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt." (Gen. 45:3-4).

     This Sabbath reading this year also occurs during the same week as the observance of Christ's birth, Christmas. There are similarities between the story of Joseph and Jesus that helps us to understand the depths and the heights from which our salvation comes.

     Joseph had been rejected in the most extreme manner by his brethren when he was a young lad, as they even considered killing him. Now, however, his greatest wish was to be reconciled with them, and with his father, Jacob, whom Joseph dearly loved and who had remained behind in Canaan. Jesus also experienced this kind of rejection: "He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." (Jn. 1:10-11). From the moment that Christ came into the world, the spirit of this world tried to thrust Him out (see bahal above).

     Joseph then said to his brothers: "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph: 'God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen (gosen - "drawing near"), and you shall be near to me...There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine." (Gen. 45:9-11).

     Joseph told his brothers to get their father and to "draw near" to him in Egypt. Even the place in which they would settle in Egypt, the best of the land as even Pharaoh had agreed to give to them, was called by a name that means "drawing near." (v. 17-18).

     Joseph recognized that the LORD's purpose in his life was as a saver of life - to preserve life, especially the lives of Israel (Jacob), through an extreme and long-lasting famine. He had told his brothers earlier: "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life...And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (v. 5-8).

     Joseph recognized that the betrayal of his brothers resulted in the elevated position of authority that he now held in Egypt. Joseph had the power to send his brothers away without the bread that they sought. He had the power and the reason to condemn his brothers and imprison them, as he himself had been imprisoned, but he did not do this because he understood the importance of the purpose of God in his life. Joseph had been sent to save life, especially the lives and household of Israel/Jacob. Jesus came with the same purpose. Jesus told Nicodemus, a teacher in Israel: "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn (krino - to separate, put asunder, to judge, to pronounce judgment, to subject, to censure, to punish, damn, decree) the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (sozo - save, keep safe and sound, rescue from danger or destruction, to save a suffering one from perishing, to heal, make well, restore to health, be whole, to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic/Christ's judgment, to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic/Christ's deliverance). He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he also who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (Jn. 3:17-18). The Greek language used above indicates, the meaning of sozo, or salvation, is even deeper than we might have thought. It also includes healing, and to deliver us from those evil things that would hinder receiving the Messiah/Christ as Savior. The world is already condemned for its unbelief, so it is a waste of time and purpose for us to condemn the world. The idea is, to move those who will receive it from unbelief into belief in the Son of God. 

     Personal betrayal also played a role in the fulfilment of Jesus' purpose, as it did in Joseph's life. The infamous betrayal of Jesus by Judas was one factor necessary and prophesied that led to the cross and Christ's crucifixion. Knowing this ahead of time, Jesus even said to Judas at the Passover supper, or Last Supper: "What you do, do quickly." And Judas, being filled by Satan, left to betray Him. (see Jn. 13:21-27). Satan had filled Judas after he took the piece of bread that Jesus had handed him. The Bread that saves is also the same Bread that condemns when rejected.

     This same betrayal also played a part in Jesus' deliverance of the New Covenant to His disciples and to us. The apostle Paul received this connection through a revelation from the Lord: "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Paul then wrote: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes."  (1Cor. 11:23-26). I have often wondered why the Lord specifically connected His betrayal by Judas to what we now refer to as "Communion" as He revealed it to Paul. The wisdom of God used the greatest betrayal ever recorded to create one of the great spiritual weapons of victory that has been delivered to the church of believers - the Eucharist (meaning "to give thanks") or Communion, the Table of the Lord. We will see another reference to artillery and weapons, as well as armor later. Do we think of Communion as also being an essential weapon that has been provided to us in our spiritual warfare?

     The first time that Jacob sent his sons to Egypt from Cannan, they took money with them to buy the grain: "When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, 'Why do you look at one another?' And he said, 'Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.' So Joseph's ten brothers (the eleventh and youngest, Benjamin, was kept in Canaan by Jacob) went down to buy grain in Egypt." (Gen. 42:1-3).

     It is important to look at the Hebrew meaning of the word translated as "grain" or "corn": it is the Hebrew word and roots seber/sebar/sabar, and means "all kinds of grain, corn, broken in a mill, a breaking, a breach, a fracture, wounds, destruction/hurt, breaking, bruise, affliction, crushing/break in pieces, rend violently, bring to the birth." Jesus identified the broken bread of the Last Supper with His body having been broken for us. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was placed in a manger, a vessel that holds the grain (see above) that feeds the animals. The specific circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus were not accidents, but full of meaning.

     On the first trip to Egypt, the brothers were recognized by Joseph as they approached him to buy grain, but they did not recognize him. They paid money to purchase the grain, but when they returned home to Jacob, they found not only the grain in their (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) sacks (keli/kala - vessel, bag, artillery, weapon, armorbearer, jewel, tool, yoke/end, finish, accomplish, done, fulfil, to be finished or complete) that they had purchased but also all of the money that they had given in payment for the grain, plus more provisions for their return journey, and they were afraid. (Gen. 42:25-28). They're money had not been accepted but returned to them.

     When the destruction of His body had been completed (see keli/kala above) on the cross, Jesus said, "It is finished." (see Jn. 19:28-30).

     The prophet Isaiah brought the Word of the LORD calling people to come, buy and eat, without money and without price: "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy...come to Me. Hear and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you - the sure mercies of David...Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." (Isa. 55:1-6, excerpt).

     Joseph's brothers received bread grain which cost them nothing, as Isaiah also wrote above.

     Jesus spoke about being the bread of life: "And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst....Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life...This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." (Jn. 6:35, 47-51). 

     Jesus could not have been clearer in identifying Himself as the spiritual bread of eternal life for anyone who will receive and eat of it. We cannot buy this kind of bread, as Isaiah wrote. It is a gift of Himself from Jesus to the world to bring life to the world from death. 

     In another portion from this week's Sabbath reading, the prophet Amos warned of another famine that is coming upon God's people because of their sins and their rejection of His Word: "Behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD God, 'That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the word of the LORD, but shall not find it." (Amos 8:11-12).

     This is a time when we are to draw near to our Savior, Jesus. He is our living Bread, the Word (see Jn. 1:1-3, 14) who became flesh, born as a babe in Bethlehem (meaning "the house of bread"), and grew into a man, and dwelt with us. He gave His flesh for us to eat of the bread of eternal life.  Draw near to Him.

     If you would like to partake of the Bread of life, you can pray this prayer with me: "Lord Jesus, You came to earth so that I could hold the Bread of life without price in my hand, which is Your body broken, crushed and wounded, so that I could eat it and live. You have saved me from destruction, and You have brought healing to me. Because of the Bread that You have given to me, I will never be hungry again. I draw near to You, Lord, and trust in You for all things concerning my life and salvation, and that of my whole household. I believe on Your name, Jesus, and pray in Your name. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

DrawNear

The sabbath reading scheduled for this week is titled Va-yiggash, meaning "and he drew near". For the third time in scripture, a severe famine has come upon the land. Both Abraham and Isaac were sustained through famine, and now Jacob and his family will be kept through a famine as well. The nature of a famine is strange. Pharaoh's dreams revealed that in a famine the abundant and healthy are devoured by the blighted and ill-favored. The prophet Joel also describes this same "devouring" by worms or locusts and grasshoppers (Joel 1:16-20 and 2:25). Jo-el makes clear that these devouring creatures are the LORD's army. In Joel, the famine comes before the day of the LORD (1:15), and the outpouring of His Spirit (2:26-27, 3:28-29), which is important to note. Another portion from this week's sabbath reading tells us that the LORD sent the famine during Joseph's time in Egypt in order to raise up Joseph: "Moreover He (God) called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all of the provision of bread. He sent a man before them - Joseph - who was sold as a slave. They hurt (ana - afflict, oppress, humiliate, stoop, mishandle, cry out, testify, witness) his feet (regel/ragal - feet, footstool/slander, make false statements about, defame) with fetters, he was laid (bo - bring into, enter, fall upon) in irons (barzel/birzot - iron, harshness, oppression/to pierce, holes, aperture, wounds, choice olive, "well of olives"). Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him." (Ps. 105:16-19). We can see a connection between Joseph and Jesus through the meanings of the words used to describe Joseph's slavery above. Before the return of Jesus, the Messiah, famine will play a major role in prophetic events (Mt. 24:3, 7, Rev. 6:8). In another of this sabbath's readings, one of the prophets wrote of a different kind of famine, not of food, but of the Word of the LORD: "Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord God, 'That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; They shall run to and fro seeking the Word of the LORD, but shall not find it." (Amos 8:11-12). In this case, great greed had been attached to the purchasing of food, as well as contempt for the provision of God (v. 1-2). The feasts and sabbaths of the LORD that interfered with the selling of anything and everything, including people, were also treated as an inconvenience (v. 5-6). This situation threw Israel into bitterness and mourning "...like mourning for an only son". (v. 9-10). The prophet Zechariah wrote something very similar: "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a first-born." (Zech 12:10). There was a famine for the hearing of the prophetic Word of God, as Amos wrote above, for four hundred years, which covered the period from the end of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Tanakh, to the birth of Christ, and the announcement by the prophet of God, John the Baptist speaking of Jesus at Bethabara (meaning "House of Crossing over, passing over, passing before, passing through"): "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!...I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.' And John bore witness saying, 'I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He (the Spirit) remained upon Him....this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." (Jn. 1:28-34). The prophetic word given to a prophet of God was back after four hundred years of silence, and it was a life and history changing Word! As Christ broke the famine for the hearing of the Word of God, Joseph also broke or ameliorated the famine for bread that had spread across Egypt and Canaan. The prophecy of Amos may see a second fulfillment in the time before Christ's return. The apostles Paul and Peter wrote that in the last days before Christ's return, many will despise the hearing of the Word of God, and prefer lies and fables instead, which we are seeing now (see 2 Tim. 4:3-4, Mt. 24:23-24, 2 Pet. 2:1-2). God said in Psalm 105 above that He brings famine in order to bring forth a chosen servant, like Joseph, and also like Christ, to save the lives of His people, even a remnant. However, Joseph will not only provide for Israel during a famine, but he will seek a reconciliation with his brethren - the same brethren who despised and betrayed him, and sold his life into slavery for twenty shekels of silver. Joseph was so overcome by the sight of his brothers standing before him, as he was now the leader of Egypt under Pharaoh, that Joseph wept aloud. He said to them, "I am Joseph; does my father still live?' But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers, 'Please come near to me.' So they came near. Then he said, 'I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here.; for God sent me before you to preserve (sum - set, appoint, set or make for a sign) life....And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity (seerit/sa'ar - remnant, escaped remainder of wrath/be kept alive) for you in the earth, and to save (haya/hava - save alive, be restored to life, revive from death/breathe (see Jn. 20:21-22), declare, show) your lives by a great deliverance (peleta/palit/palat - escape, escaped portion/deliver(er), to bring into safety or security, to cause to escape, slip away, deliver from danger). So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (Gen. 45:1-8). Jesus also said that He was not sent by men but by God, His Father in heaven (Jn. 7:28-29). As Joseph told his brothers that he was sent to Egypt by God to preserve them, according to the meaning of the word (see above), this was also set to be a sign. This encounter between Joseph and his brothers, and their preservation through him, was to be a sign declaring something to all of us. We are in the Book of Genesis, or B'reshiet, "Beginning", and a beginning principle of God is being revealed through this sabbath's reading selection. Not only do we have a prophetic image of Christ in Joseph as one who "preserves, saves, and brings a great deliverance" to God's people, Israel, but we also see a prophetic reconciliation that will carry the promise of God for thousands of years, even to this present time. The title of this sabbath's reading is Va-yiggash, or "and he drew near". Upon seeing his brothers standing before him, Joseph was overcome with emotion. and said to them, "Please come near to me." (Gen. 45:4). Joseph, a leader of Egypt, had the authority and every reason to judge and condemn his brothers for their betrayal of him years before (see Gen. 37:4, 8, 18-28). However, Joseph "...fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brother's talked with him." (Gen. 45:14-15). Joseph provided food and safety for his father, Jacob, and his brothers' families in the best land in Egypt, Goshen, meaning "drawing near" (v. 10, 18). Even Pharaoh and all of his servants were pleased that "Joseph's brothers have come" (v. 16), and Pharaoh wanted to meet and speak with them, and told Joseph: "Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen..." (Gen. 47:5-6). The fact that Joseph held an almost kingly position of authority in Egypt plays a large role in the reconciliation. This beginning principle of God regarding the reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers, who despised and abused him, will have far-reaching prophetic significance concerning the joining of Israel and the half-Gentile children of Joseph under the subsequent rulership of a kingly figure, and later still, the reconciliation and restoration of Jewish and Gentile branches in the olive tree, in faith, by the Word of God. We also must remember that the Joseph/Jesus figure in our reading immediately, and with tears of joy, received back his brethren who had despised, abused and unjustly treated him. In another reading portion from this sabbath, the power and eternal significance of Joseph's reconciliation with his brothers is seen again in Ezek. 37. By the prophetic Word of God, the two separate sticks that represent Judah/Israel and Joseph/Ephraim (half-Gentile son of Joseph), are joined together in the hand of the prophet, as the LORD declared: "...and I will make them one nation...and one king shall be king over them all...nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore...but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them, and I will be their God. David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd...My servant David shall be their prince forever." (Ezek. 37:22-25). Because King David had already been dead for many centuries when this prophecy was given, the reconciling factor between Joseph and his brethren in this prophecy is the Messiah, the eternal David, the Son of David, and King forever (2 Sam. 7:12-13, 16, 25, 29, Isa. 9:6-7, Lk. 1:30-33, Lk. 18:35-43, Lk. 19:35-38, 1 Tim. 6:14-16, Rev. 19:16), the one Shepherd and King of the one reconciled people. Paul also wrote of this miraculous but again prophetically guaranteed reconciliation between the Jewish branches and the Gentile branches into the same holy root, the Olive Tree representing the olive oil of anointing, or the Anointed One, the Messiah, Christ (Rom. 11:5, 15-18, 23-27, 29). In fact, the Word and ministry given to the Church of believers is the Ministry of Reconciliation, through Christ, between men and God, and between all creation and its creator (2 Cor. 5:17-21). We see in this Ministry given to us the ultimate manifestation of the Genesis principle of kingly preservation, salvation, great deliverance and reconciliation introduced to us in this week's sabbath reading. Finally, as we look again at the title of this week's sabbath reading portion, "and he drew near", various scriptures tell us to "draw near" to God (incl. Heb. 10:19-22, James 4:8-10, 1 Peter 2:3-4). Often, when Jesus healed and blessed, the people drew near, or came near, to Him (see Mk. 3:7-8, Mk. 10:13-15, Lk. 18:40-42). So great was His desire to draw Jerusalem near to Him in reconciliation, that Jesus wept over that city, because without that reconciliation and His preservation and deliverance into safety, terrible destruction awaited that city (Mt. 23:37-39, Lk. 19:41-44). History noted that this destruction occurred in 70 AD by the Romans. God has raised up His King and Deliverer if we will draw near to Him. If you would like to learn more about our King and Deliverer, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, I draw near to You through the preservation and reconcliation provided by Your Son, Jesus. He is the ever-reigning King over all creation. He is the Author and Finisher of all life. He, like the example provided to us by Joseph, desires above all things for His brethren to be reconciled to Him, and through Him, I am kept from destruction by His great deliverance. I pray also for the reconciliation of Judah/Israel and Joseph/Ephraim together into one, under one King and Shepherd from the line of David, and the restoration of the Jewish and the Gentile branches united together in our Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus. I ask these things in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Famine

The Sabbath reading for this week deals with a famine. In one portion of the reading, the prophet Amos told Israel about a coming famine directed towards God's people who were consumed with the corrupt love of money. They cheated and oppressed others in order to gain wealth for themselves (Amos 8:1-6). God said that their pride brought them to this condition. This prophesied famine would send Israel into a period of repentance and mourning: "...I will make it like mourning for an only son...". (v. 10, see also Zech. 12:10). The prophetic Word of the LORD to Amos describes the famine to come: "Behold the days are coming says the LORD God, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing (sama - to hear, obey, understand, yield to, diligently, discern, perceive, publish, declare) the words of the LORD...They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it." (v. 11-12). This is describing a spiritual famine, rather than a physical famine. The famine of "hearing" is on our end, not receiving, obeying, nor communicating to others the Word of the Lord. As the famine hits, God's people would try desperately to receive direction from the LORD, but they would not be able to hear it. Another portion from the Sabbath reading deals with famine from another perspective that pertains to God's remnant. No matter how dark and dire a situation looks, God does not forget His remnant. Isaiah said of the remnant: "Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah." (Isa. 1:9). The LORD had established a whole situation in Egypt over the course of several years so that His remnant would have provision in the middle of a very long famine. Joseph acknowledged to his brothers, who had betrayed him, when he was reunited with them, "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life...And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity (se'erit - remnant, residue, remainder, escaped, surviving portion) for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (Gen. 45:5, 7-8). This provision made by God for the remnant was so unusual that it might have been unrecognizable to Jacob and his family back in Canaan. The family had already been in the famine for two years before the brothers traveled to Egypt in desperation to seek food (v. 6). The family might also have felt great reluctance to seek help in Egypt, because in another Sabbath portion, Egypt is described as "the land of Hsm" (Ps. 105:23). (Previously in scripture, Ham's sin against his father Noah, became a toledot (generational precedent) established in regard to Ham's son, Canaan - Gen. 9:18-27). Another reason that Jacob might have been reluctant to live in Egypt is because he was aware that God's covenant promise to him and his fathers was in the land of Canaan, not Egypt. Also, Jacob had the example of his father Isaac, who sowed seed in the middle of a famine, and reaped one hundred fold in this promised land by the favor of God (Gen. 26:12-14). Jacob was convinced, however, to go into Egypt to live, rather than to just visit his son Joseph, by God's reassurance to him: "Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" And he said, "Here I am." So He said, "I am God, the God 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). In the midst of famine, Jacob, father of a remnant of God, did not suffer a spiritual famine in the hearing of the Word of God as we read in Amos above. God did indeed make a great nation of Jacob while his family lived in Egypt. Acts 7:14 tells us that Jacob went down to Egypt with 75 people, but we know that by the time the children of Israel left Egypt centuries later under the deliverance of Moses, they numbered over six hundred thousand adult males, plus the Levites, and the women and children (Num. 1:45-47). Joseph set aside the best land in Egypt, Goshen, meaning "drawing near", for his father and brethren, with Pharaoh's favor and consent (Gen. 47:5-6). The title of this Sabbath's reading portion is also "and he drew near", or Va-yiggash. The remnant draws near to Joseph and to God, while others draw near to, and are ruled by, the world and the things of the world. While the remnant of Jacob was favored and made welcome in the worldliest power, Egypt because of Pharaoh's regard and dependence upon Joseph, the difference between Egypt and God's people was marked. Pharaoh asked what the occupation of the brothers was, and they answered "herdsmen", because their true occupation as shepherds was an abomination, or loathsome, in Egypt (Gen. 46:31-34). Yet the kingdom of God values the role of the shepherd, and both the Father, and His Son, the Messiah, identify themselves as being shepherds. Also, the Egyptians would not eat at the same table as Joseph or the Hebrews. God created favor and provision for His remnant in the middle of Egypt, but there was still prejudice towards, and an offense created by, that remnant. The lesson of Joseph, the famine, and the remnant is important to us today. We are seeing, as was prophesied, a famine of the hearing, in all of the meaning of that word, the Words of the LORD. The apostle Paul wrote of the time when people would know God and His Word, but would willfully choose to ignore it, and even suppress it (Rom. 1:18-21). He also wrote: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Peter also wrote of God's people seeking false teachers, false prophets, and false doctrines in the last days (2 Pet. 2:1-2). The days of famine for the hearing of the words of the LORD are coming, and they are even here now. There is a remnant, however, for whom God will provide. Paul said, "Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace." (Rom. 11:5). This word was given in the context of remembering those of Israel who refused to worship the demonic god of the world, Ba'al (1 Kings 19:18). From these things, we can recognize the famine present now, and the remnant in these current days as well. What about the Josephs? Joseph knew as a youngster that he was set apart by God by the prophetic dreams he was given. His dreams portrayed him as having an exalted position, before which others, including his own family, would have to bow. These dreams were true, but that prophetic vision from the LORD tested Joseph: "Moreover He (the LORD) called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a man before them - Joseph - who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him. The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom." (Ps. 105:16-22). In this description of his affliction and the oppression used against him, Joseph is a type of Christ. The LORD does not place the survival of His remnant into the hands of just anyone. Many thousands may follow the easy, smiling preacher, but the remnant recognizes the Josephs whom God has provided to preserve them. The Josephs have been tested, changed, and proven by the testing of the very prophetic Word that has called them. The man Joseph was not the same as the lad who couldn't wait to tell his family how they would all be bowing to him. The purpose of the prophetic calling upon Joseph was much larger than who bows to whom. Joseph, having been tested by the prophetic Word, understood that he had been exalted, not for his gifts alone, but in order to "preserve a posterity (remnant)..in the earth", and to save lives. These are the Josephs that the remnant needs in order to survive the famine. If you would like to learn more about God's remnant in the earth, and become one of them, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, You have sent Your Son, Jesus, to preserve a remnant in the earth, called by Your name to salvation, even in the middle of a famine for the hearing of Your Word. You sent Jesus to keep us alive forever, through all circumstances. I want to be part of Your remnant. I want to always "hear" the Word of the LORD, and obey your voice. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to keep me, and seal me, in Your remnant of salvation, and to keep me from seeking after any Word but Yours. You have made provision for Your remnant in the famine, and I thank You for it. I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen."