Can we do תפילות prayers for:
Mike Clayton and his ministry
That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?
| December 10 2010 |
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TEACHING THE HEBRAIC PERSPECTIVE OF FAITH IN AND OBEDIENCE TO THE ONE TRUE GOD
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| Vayigash "And he came near"
Genesis 44:18-47:27
Ezekiel 37:15-28
*Archived teaching from 2009*
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| Torah Commentary |
| Vayigash "And he came near"
Genesis 44:18-47:27
Ezekiel 37:15-28
Seeing the Big Picture
Just seeing his brother's faces must have been very hard because of Joseph's memories of the day he was sold into slavery. He had asked himself many times if he had truly forgiven them for their actions. But seeing their faces was the true test.
The plan of Joseph to hide the goblet in the pack of Benjamin had worked. The brothers now stood before him and the final testing of their hearts was playing out very well. Joseph could hear the change that had happened in these men. Through the experience they had learned the word humility at a level no one would have ever thought possible. As Judah stood before Joseph trying to bargain, his words were no longer about his own welfare, but about someone else's. Judah had learned a lesson and knew all too well what happened when you thought of yourself first and only.
In the days prior to this meeting, as the boys traveled back to Egypt, Joseph had thought much about the place he found himself in. His dreams were coming to pass right before his eyes. It would be important to him to see the actions of his brothers and to witness the changes that had happened to them. But more important to Joseph would be his own actions. Had he truly forgiven them? In his heart he thought so, but he knew all too well that actions speak much louder than thoughts. It weighed heavily on Joseph what the next meeting with his brothers would bring, not as much regarding their attitude, but rather his.
Now his brothers stood before him. He could no longer hold back his emotions. He had to tell them who he was. In the dream they had bowed down before him. In his position he now had the power over them to bring this dream to pass. With one word they would all bow and become his servants, but somehow it just did not seem right. This was no doubt what they all deserved, but his love for them and a deep forgiveness would overcome even his dream. Instead of humbling the boys with his presence, Joseph found himself humbled by theirs. All of a sudden, in the moment before he told them who he was, he saw for the first time the big picture. He was not anyone special. He had simply been the one chosen for the task. The events of his life had not been about him, but rather about them. Why had he been the one of the twelve chosen to go before and prepare for this day? Many of the others might have been better for the job, but he was the one.
A deep sense of humility swept through Joseph. It reached every fiber of his being in an instant. With the humility came a love for his brothers he had never known before. The emotion this brought on was overwhelming him. With urgency he sent his Egyptian servants out of the room. Family business was to be a personal thing; no pagan visitors would be allowed to join in.
Joseph knew that part of his dream had been based upon the pride of his youth. Yes it would come to pass, but the ending would be a bit different. Pride would turn to humility. Bows would be turned to tears flowing from a heart of love. His brothers as servants would never be part of the picture, for in the end they were family. A family once broken and in dysfunction was now on the way to walking in a unity they had never known or dreamed of.
This account has much to say to us. We, like Joseph have been sent ahead of our brothers to store the grain of His Word. We have been looking to the grain called Torah and have been storing it in our hearts and lives. Many of our brothers and sisters, both in physical and spiritual senses, have been wasting those precious grains by reading but not doing. They continue to grind the grain of Torah under their feet with observance of pagan holidays. We sit and wait, sometimes in the prison and sometimes in the palace, simply living our lives before them. We can feel rejected, hurt and even at times indifferent to the attitudes of those around us, but the account of Joseph continues to give us hope to keep walking and not turn back.
I have said it now for the third week, "In the end, the heretic becomes the hero." But what will be the attitude of the hero when the family is brought to our feet in the end? Will we in pride tell them to bow, or will we follow the example of Joseph? Will we see the big picture and understand that what we have learned and lived was never about us, but rather was all for them in the end? This is a question yet to be seen, but it does cause us at the very least to consider our calling in a bit of a different light.
Shabbat Shalom,
Mike
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