Parashah Miketz
Genesis 41:1-44:17
As I hope you remember from last week, Jacob is in prison for something he did not do. There, he noticed that Pharoah’s baker & his cupbearer were both looking a bit sullen. He asked them both to tell him what’s up, and it turned out that they had each had a dream that were bothering them. Jacob, giving credit to G-d alone, gave each the interpretation. The baker was going to be executed, and the cupbearer would return to his task. As he was leaving, to go back to work, he promised Joseph that he would tell Pharoah about his wrongful imprisonment. Two years have now passed, when we take up this week’s reading.
Pharoah has a very disturbing dream, so he calls for all of his necromancers, fortune tellers & wise men of Egypt. Pharoah told them his dream and asked what it meant, but none of them could tell him what it meant.
Ah-ha!!! This is when the cupbearer spoke up about this Hebrew slave who was in prison with he and the baker. He told about their dreams & how this Hebrew interpreted both dreams and both came to pass exactly as he said they would.
So, Pharoah sent for Joseph who was allowed to bathe, shave and put on new clothes.
When he arrived,
Bereshit (Genesis) Chapter 41
15Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, but none can interpret it, and I have heard about you that you can understand a dream and interpret it.”
16Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not by my own power; God will provide an answer through me for Pharaoh’s welfare.”
17Pharaoh then spoke to Joseph: “In my dream, I was standing on the bank of the Nile River.
18And then, out of the Nile River emerged seven cows, robust and well-formed, and they grazed in the marsh.
19Then seven other cows emerged after them, meager, very ill-formed, and emaciated; I have never seen such bad-looking ones in all Egypt.
20The emaciated, ill-formed cows then ate up the first seven robust cows.
21These were ingested whole inside them, but it wasn’t visibly apparent that they had been ingested whole inside them: their appearance was just as ill-formed as before. Then I woke up.
22I fell asleep again and saw in my second dream that seven full, good-looking ears of grain were growing on a single stalk.
23Then seven ears of grain, shriveled, gaunt, and battered by the east wind, sprouted after them. 24The gaunt ears of grain then swallowed up the seven good-looking ears. I told this to the necromancers, but not even one of them could explain it to me.” 25Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The two parts of Pharaoh’s dream are actually, a repetition of one and the same dream. God has told Pharaoh what He is about to do.
So Joseph told him it was all really one dream about the next seven years would be years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. And, he said, since Pharoah had this revealed twice, that means it was all going to happen really fast, so they should act immediately. He explained that Pharoah should select a trustworthy & wise man to be placed in charge of Egypt. He said it is imperative that this man should appoint overseers over the various regions of Egypt to prepare for the feminine by gathering up all of the food produced across the land in the coming good years and put in storehouses.
In this way, when the famine comes, Egypt will survive.
37The way in which Joseph explained the dream pleased Pharaoh and all his courtiers, 38and Pharaoh said to his courtiers, “Could we find another man like this, who has the spirit of God within him?”
39Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40You will be in charge of my court, and by your orders will all my people be provided for. Only by the throne will I outrank you.” 41Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby confer on you power over all Egypt.” 42Pharaoh removed his signet ring from the finger of his own hand and put it on a finger of Joseph’s hand. He had him dressed in robes of linen and placed the gold chain of office around his neck. 43He had him ride in his second royal chariot, and they proclaimed before him, “The king’s counselor! How wise he is for his young age! Bend the knee to him!” He was thus given kinglike authority over all Egypt. 44Pharaoh then said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. I decree that without your say, no man may lift his hand or his foot in all Egypt.”
Then, he gave Joseph an Egyptian name and the daughter of Potiphar’s daughter as his wife. This one sentence is my favorite of this entire story. The reason he was jailed was because Potipher’s wife tried to seduce him, failed, grabbed his tunic & cried out that Joseph had tried to rape her. Now, her daughter is Joseph’s wife!!!
When the famine hit Egypt, it hit the entire region. So it wasn’t long before Jacob sent Joseph’s brothers to Egypt to buy much needed food. Of course, when they approached him, his dream of them all bowing before him came true. The rest of the Torah reading is about the back & forth trips and arguments. And so we are left, once again in a cliff hanger place…
Haftorah Miketz
Zechariah 2:14-4:7
Haftorah Miketz
Miketz means “At the end.” It is the story of Joseph interpreting Pharoah’s dreams and becoming the ruler
of all Egypt in order to prepare the county
for the soon to come peril.
This week’s Haftorah reading is rather different. It is from Zechariah 2:14-4:7
It's the story of the young prophet being led to see visions.
3 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan[a] standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand[b] plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said,
“Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. 6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”
First, you must understand that Joshua is the English translation of Y’shua. And then, we see that he is told to expect the time when the Angel of the L-rd will bring G-d’s Servant, the Branch. This too, is Y’shua.
Our Reading from the
Brit Chadashah
John 10:22-28
22 Then came Chanukkah; it was winter in Jerusalem. 23 Yeshua was walking in the Temple around Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 Then the Judean leaders surrounded Him, saying, “How long will You hold us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us outright!” 25 Yeshua answered them, “I told you, but you don’t believe! The works I do in My Father’s name testify concerning Me. 26 But you don’t believe, because you are not My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
Chanukkah begins this Wednesday night,
December 25, 2024. As Messianic Believers,
or Christians who are following after the ways of the first Apostolic leaders, and the 1st century church, this is a way cool time of year. It is highly unlikely that Y’shua was born in December. I’ve tried to walk down the Shepherd’s Fields in Bethlehem on December 25, and it’s almost impossible because of the ice that covers the ground. It is much more likely, as most Messianic leaders believe, that He came to tabernacle with us during the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, September or October. But we know that this is the perfect time for Chanukkah, the Festival of Lights commemorating when the Holy Temple was rededicated after being desecrated by the Syro-Greeks who had slaughtered pigs on its altar. And it is also the perfect time to rededicate ourselves to the L-rd, to walk in His ways and to share His Truth.
It’s a perfect time to be like those shepherds and go tell it on the mountain, over the hills, and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain, that Y’shua HaMoshiach is born…
My desire is for you to share this teaching with everyone you know and that you continue to pray that Debra & I remain in strength with good health so that we may continue to serve HaShem through our service to His people. And please let me know how you like my shift from Haftorah to Torah lessons.
Please check out & SHARE Debra’s music
and her weekly podcast, A Story & A Song is now there too
Sunday mornings @ 11:30 ET
is always worth a half hour of spiritual uplifting:
You can find it easily on YouTube:
@JewishRockMusic
Or on Instagram at: debracohenmusicdotcom
Debra has a brand new book on Amazon
that everyone should read & review…
https://a.co/d/aAmG4pH
And here’s an extra special gift from Debra. Avinu, which means “Listen,” is the introductory word to the Song of Moses. Here is her lovely video version:
https://youtu.be/yCJu4HDvma4?si=i9M8mf1eaLkAJs4R
And please share this teaching with those
whom you suspect could do with a little insight
into G-d’s Word & His Ways…