Prophecies of Jacob & Moses (pdf)
VaYachai Slides (pdf)
VaYechai Notes (pdf)
Overview of VaYechai (Genesis 47:28 – 50:26)
Last week’s Portion ended on a positive note – finally! Joseph had been reunited with his family and they were all in the Land of Goshen in Egypt. We are ready to start the last Portion in the Book of Genesis.
Chapter 47 Jacob Asks Joseph to Bury Him in Canaan
Jacob entered Egypt when he was 130 years old; and in this Portion it was 17 years later as he neared death. He asked Joseph not to leave his bones buried in Egypt but to take them to the burial place of his fathers in Canaan…more specifically, to the Cave at Machpelah in Hebron – where his father and his wives are buried. The chapter ends with Joseph agreeing and “Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.” Some versions translate this Hebrew word “mitah” as “staff”; so this verse would read: “Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” An equally accurate translation of the word “mitah” is Tribe; so the meaning could be “Jacob bowed to Joseph as the one who rules the tribes.” If this is the correct meaning of this verse, then this is the partial fulfillment of Joseph’s dream about the sun and moon and 11 stars bowing down to him! His brothers had already done that (Gen 43:26) and now Jacob has bowed down; the only one left is his mother Rachel. And I believe there will come a time (in the Kingdom) when the resurrected Rachel will also bow to Joseph!
Chapter 48 Jacob Transfers the Birthright
Middle-Eastern custom is to bless the Firstborn with three titles (and areas of responsibility): leader (and King) of the Tribe, spiritual leader of the Tribe (Priest), and the material blessing by bestowing the double-portion. But Jacob split up this three-fold blessing among three different sons. In this chapter Jacob transferred the material blessing to his favorite son (from the beloved Rachel), Joseph.
Jacob’s 12 sons came from his two wives and their two maidservants. The firstborn was Reuben from Leah; but we will see in Jacob’s prophecies over his sons in the next chapter that Reuben disqualified himself by sleeping with Rachel’s maidservant (I Chronicles 5:1), and the next two, Simeon and Levi, disqualified themselves by their actions in Shechem (Genesis 34)… although Levi will appear to redeem himself with his actions immediately following the Sin of the Golden Calf. So the three areas of inheritance for the firstborn were divided among the remaining sons. We see in this chapter that Jacob gave the material blessing of the double-portion to Joseph and then immediately passed it on to Joseph’s two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. They would each receive one full portion of material blessing and, more importantly, be elevated to the same position as their 11 uncles…as heads of their tribes. So, from this point forward, we will see the Tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim hold the same status as the other 11 Tribes…particularly when it comes to inheriting land after the conquest of Canaan.
During this ceremony of giving the firstborn birthright, Jacob did something strange. He deliberately crossed his hands when he blessed his two grandsons: placing his right hand of blessing upon the head of Ephraim the younger. Jacob (the younger) had deceived his father Isaac to receive the blessing of the firstborn; but now he deliberately chose to bless Ephraim the younger. When Joseph challenged him, he said, “I know, my son, I know. He (Manasseh) also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” This phrase “multitude of nations” in the Greek Septuagint is the exact same phrase as we read in Romans 11:26 & 27a, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved…”, and is translated “fullness of the Gentiles. So…Paul is saying here that the restoration of the entire House of Israel will be complete when Ephraim (and all of the “Lost Tribes” of the Northern Kingdom) come out of the Nations to which they were dispersed 2,700 years ago, and are once again restored to his other brothers! It is much more than just the salvation of unsaved Jews.
Chapter 49 Jacob Blesses His Sons
In the first 28 verses of this chapter Jacob pronounced a prophetic blessing upon each of his 12 sons. He starts these blessings by laying out the reasons why Judah, Simeon, and Levi do not qualify to receive the Firstborn blessing
Please refer to the notes and the Power Point slides for details of each of these blessings. There is a summary on the website that compares these blessings of Jacob with Moses’ blessing at the end of the Exodus in Deuteronomy 33.
The chapter ends with the Jacob’s death.
Chapter 50 Jacob’s Burial & Joseph’s Death
Joseph took his family to Canaan to bury Jacob; and Pharaoh sent a very large contingent to accompany them – either out of respect for Joseph, or to insure that he and his family returned to Egypt. The text tells us that only the children (with their mothers, presumably) and their flocks remained behind in Egypt…perhaps held as hostages to insure the burial party returns to Egypt.
The chapter (and the Book) ends with the death of Joseph at age 110; he saw Ephraim’s grandchildren to the third generation. Joseph made the same request of his children that his father had done: “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” This phrase “God will surely visit you” will mark the beginning of Moses’ calling in the next Book.
So, we have completed the reading of the Book of Genesis and we follow the Rabbinic tradition by saying, “Chazak, chazak, ve-nit-chazek!” Be strong, be strong, and we shall be strengthened!”
The Haftarah reading is found in I Kings. We saw in this week’s Torah Portion Jacob’s blessing of his twelve sons; in the Haftarah we see King David delivering similar deathbed blessings & instructions to his son and successor, Solomon. We read from I Kings 2:1-4:
“Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: “I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; that the Lord may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’”
The Brit Chadashah reading is found in the Gospel of John where Yeshua gave instructions to His Disciples on the eve of His crucifixion – His deathbed, if you will. In chapters 13 – 17, He blessed them and gave them their instructions that they were to prepare the World for the coming of His Kingdom. We read the words of Yeshua in John 14:10-14:
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”