𝗩𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘀𝗵/ "𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥"

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝟰𝟰:𝟭𝟴–𝟰𝟳:𝟮𝟳
𝗘𝘇𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝟯𝟳:𝟭𝟱-𝟮𝟴

This week our portion reveals the outcome of our Joseph story as related to his brothers/father. As Judah has now pleaded to take the place of Benjamin, to receive the punishment in his place, Joseph can't seem to pretend any longer. He is overcome with emotion and after asking all of his own servants to leave, finally reveals himself to his brothers. He is alive - and not dead. I can't imagine what it must have been like in that very moment for the brothers, knowing the wrong they had done to Joseph - almost killing him, then selling him into slavery, only now to be standing before him knowing their very lives (and that of their families) was in his hands. He could choose to do whatever he wishes with them, because of the position he now held under Pharoah. Yet, Joseph has matured past any bitterness towards his brothers and in fact, even recognizes that not them but GOD Himself is the reason he is where he is, 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Wow, doesn't it just give you chills.

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝙎𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙂𝙤𝙙. 𝙃𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙤𝙝’𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙧, 𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙀𝙜𝙮𝙥𝙩.- Gen 45:7-8

Joseph, now understanding his father is also still alive, tells his brothers to go and fetch him - for they all (including their livestock, children, etc) are to come and live in Goshen, where Joseph will ensure their survival. And without even knowing it, ensuring the survival of Israel 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 Nation. I want to point out something interesting though - as Joseph sends his brothers back to the Father (from Egypt to what is part of the promised land), to gather all that belongs to them, we see he sends 𝟭𝟬 male donkeys and 𝟭𝟬 female donkeys. As I have mentioned previously, when I see the number 𝟭𝟬 my ears perk up, as that is the number of the 'lost tribes of Israel'. But here we see the '10 tribes' returning to the Father - yet they don't stop there - they then take the Father back to Egypt. Maybe you are thinking, big deal, what does that even mean? To me, it means that returning (teshuva/repentance) to the Father isn't the end. We do that so that we can then take the Father into Egypt (those who don't yet know Him)! Isn't that beautiful?!?!?! It's the gospel message to 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 (Matthew 28) - and how do we do that? By revealing the Father!!! Shew that is good stuff!

He sent his father a gift similar to the one that Pharaoh sent: 𝟭𝟬 male donkeys laden with Egypt’s finest delicacies, and 𝟭𝟬 female donkeys laden with grain. Joseph also sent bread and other types of food served with bread to his father for the journey. - Gen 45:23

This is where I want to jump to the Haftarah or Prophetic Scriptures that are related to this weeks portion. They are found in Ezekiel and wouldn't you know, we find the LORD telling what will happen in the 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀. Just as the 'tribes' were separated for a time in our Joseph story over the last few weeks, the 'tribes' are currently separated since the time of King Jeroboam and Rehoboam which caused the division and then the 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺𝘀 due to their sin / rebellion against GOD. While the southern Kingdom was exiled for a time, they eventually returned to the land (Judah/Benjamin), yet the other tribes are still 'lost' - 𝗺𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 in the nations upon the earth. Yet here, we see a promise of their eventual 𝗿𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 as 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, ‘𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴’; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, ‘𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.’ 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, ‘𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦?’ 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, ‘𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥, “𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗽𝗵𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹, 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀; 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙖𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘚𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, ‘𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥, “𝘽𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙨𝙧𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙; 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙨𝙧𝙖𝙚𝙡; 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢; 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙨. . - Ezekiel 37:15-22

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲! By the hand of the LORD - He is drawing His children back to His heart, back to His family. He is revealing Himself in such detail, if only we take the time to notice. Just as the brothers returned to their Father, bringing gifts - so too, we as the Father's children are returning, making teshuva / repentance, as those who had gone astray, bringing gifts of our own. And as we do, we must then take the Father into 'Egypt' with us, until all of His children are returned to Him. (vs 23) 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙞𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨; 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙈𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙙. He will cleanse us, yes, yet He also says, "we will no longer defile ourselves", and He, by His Torah, has laid out what He sees as defilement. We have a part to play, friends. Its not 'greasy grace' where we return to Him and then continue to live as we always have, nope, we return to Him in 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, living as He has commanded us.

I felt led to finish with a final prophetic image, from Revelation 21:10-14. You see, in the Kingdom to come, the new Jerusalem coming down from Heaven from GOD, has 12 gates by which we are able to enter. Yet, the 12 gates already have a name. They are the names of the 12 tribes (sons of Jacob/Israel). Which one do you think you will enter from? Are you of the spiritual House of Israel - in covenant (blessings and stipulations)? It's time to get ready friends, for the day of redemption is drawing very near. One sign of the covenant is the Sabbath (sundown Fri - sundown Sat) which just happens to start tonight. Will He find you faithful, beloved? May we all be found with our lamps full and ready for His return! To Him belongs the glory, forever - Amen!