- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Jun 24, 2022 16:01:19 GMT -8
This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 41:1-38
Haftara- Isaiah 29:1-24
D’rash: Our reading starts with Genesis 41:1a, “After two whole years”:
Genesis 41:1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
in Hebrew “שְׁנָתַ֣יִם יָמִ֑ים shenataim yomim,” literally ‘two years of days.’ This is very specific. It expresses a fullness of time, which can mean either (or both) two entire years, or that things will happen exactly when and how God orders them.
God sets divine appointments in our lives: His calendar, our experiences, events, and especially people. Of the latter there are two kinds. Seasonal acquaintances are those whose period of influence on us is short; seasoned people are with us longer and have a greater impact on us. The baker was seasonal, while the cupbearer turns out to be a more or less seasoned connection. They could be viewed as analogous to the two men crucified with Yeshua. One was condemned, the other told “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
Genesis 41:1b-5a Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. …
Pharaoh now dreams two dreams, the second about grain but essentially the same as the first. These are very troubling dreams. The Nile was the source of life for Egypt and very important in their religious beliefs. And Pharaoh was responsible for the physical and spiritual wellbeing of all Egypt. So he could not afford to ignore the warnings in a dream with such stark imagery and containing the reference to the Nile!
Genesis 41:8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
We can see how this is a problem. No professional interpreter of dreams could help, and the incompetence of his own priests was becoming apparent to him, which in itself must have been troubling. But Pharaoh had to know what these dreams meant!
Genesis 41:9-13 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
So all the time in prison was to bring Yoseph to this time; this divine appointment. Only now the chief cupbearer “remembers” Yoseph- now when it may benefit him to bring the name of this interpreter of dreams before Pharaoh. He’d conveniently forgotten all this time, however Yoseph’s God remembers him, remembers the promises made to him and those to his fathers.
Pharaoh, having tried his own priests and professionals to no avail immediately orders Yoseph brought to him from the jail:
Genesis 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.
When we read that he was once again given special clothing we are reminded that he was once given a special coat, or robe which was used as “evidence” of his death before his father. It was also his coat, or robe that was used as “evidence” against him in a lie perpetrated by the wife of the man he actually remained loyal to. Both these ended in confinement and loss of status. Would this change of clothing result in his being found wanting before the Pharaoh of all Egypt? This, and the likely consequences had to have occurred to Yoseph. Yet he trusted his God and stood boldly before this man whose word was life or death for him.
There is another connecting thread here. Variously translated cistern, dungeon, jail, hole, or pit the term in Hebrew is בּ֑וֹר bor- the exact term portraying the empty cistern in Gen 37:24 that Joseph’s brothers threw him into. So this connects the stories, consequently there may be a play on words here. The Hebrew for Egypt is Mitzrayim, meaning “a place of confinement.” This theme of confinement is played out from the cistern to Mitzrayim to jail; all through no fault of his own; all betrayals by others. Any one of these would make most of us bitter and vengeful, however Yoseph kept his faith in and looked to his God. So now when the test comes, his trust firmly rooted in his God, Yoseph boldly (and as we will later see accurately) interprets the dreams to the satisfaction of the most powerful man in this pagan land:
Genesis 41:25-32 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.
Not what most in his position would have wanted to relate to Pharaoh. Messengers in ancient cultures were killed for bringing less terrible news. But Yoseph not only gives the interpretation, he presumes to offer to Pharaoh advice on how to handle the coming difficult times- advice for which Pharaoh did not ask! That type of affront to this powerful man would almost certainly be a death sentence for anyone, and yet:
Genesis 41:37-38 This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”
And so Yoseph was not only spared, but as we’ll see he is elevated and given another special robe, thus completing the analogy (but not the story) as he is brought low time and again into the בּ֑וֹר bor only to be brought up by his God, in His timing, and become elevated in position, authority, and leadership.
I also did some research, and when Pharaoh said “the Spirit of God” the Hebrew reads “אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ rûach ĕlôhı̂ym,” which can be translated ‘the Spirit of God’ or ‘the spirit of the gods.’ So either this pagan ruler was acknowledging the superiority of Yoseph’s God over the ‘gods’ of Egypt (unlikely); or he was actually saying ‘spirit of the gods.’ ‘The Spirit of God’ is likely a common era translational error. Regardless we can clearly see in this the superiority of Elohei Yisroel, the God of Israel (2 Sam 23:3) over the gods of Mitzrayim and their priests and learned men. And Yoseph does give God the credit and the glory for being the One to give the dreams, interpret them, and ultimately to bring all this about. That Pharaoh believed Yoseph is at least tacit acknowledgement of the power of Yoseph’s God.
Mekorot: all scripture from the ESV unless otherwise noted; JPS Study TNK; Dr Eli of the IBC; Dr D Stern; W Wiersbe; FB Meyer; mosheli, poster on Ahavat Elohim; several reference books; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Gen 41:39-42:17
Haftara- Is 11:2-9
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
Parashah- Genesis 41:1-38
Haftara- Isaiah 29:1-24
D’rash: Our reading starts with Genesis 41:1a, “After two whole years”:
Genesis 41:1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
in Hebrew “שְׁנָתַ֣יִם יָמִ֑ים shenataim yomim,” literally ‘two years of days.’ This is very specific. It expresses a fullness of time, which can mean either (or both) two entire years, or that things will happen exactly when and how God orders them.
God sets divine appointments in our lives: His calendar, our experiences, events, and especially people. Of the latter there are two kinds. Seasonal acquaintances are those whose period of influence on us is short; seasoned people are with us longer and have a greater impact on us. The baker was seasonal, while the cupbearer turns out to be a more or less seasoned connection. They could be viewed as analogous to the two men crucified with Yeshua. One was condemned, the other told “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
Genesis 41:1b-5a Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. …
Pharaoh now dreams two dreams, the second about grain but essentially the same as the first. These are very troubling dreams. The Nile was the source of life for Egypt and very important in their religious beliefs. And Pharaoh was responsible for the physical and spiritual wellbeing of all Egypt. So he could not afford to ignore the warnings in a dream with such stark imagery and containing the reference to the Nile!
Genesis 41:8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
We can see how this is a problem. No professional interpreter of dreams could help, and the incompetence of his own priests was becoming apparent to him, which in itself must have been troubling. But Pharaoh had to know what these dreams meant!
Genesis 41:9-13 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
So all the time in prison was to bring Yoseph to this time; this divine appointment. Only now the chief cupbearer “remembers” Yoseph- now when it may benefit him to bring the name of this interpreter of dreams before Pharaoh. He’d conveniently forgotten all this time, however Yoseph’s God remembers him, remembers the promises made to him and those to his fathers.
Pharaoh, having tried his own priests and professionals to no avail immediately orders Yoseph brought to him from the jail:
Genesis 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.
When we read that he was once again given special clothing we are reminded that he was once given a special coat, or robe which was used as “evidence” of his death before his father. It was also his coat, or robe that was used as “evidence” against him in a lie perpetrated by the wife of the man he actually remained loyal to. Both these ended in confinement and loss of status. Would this change of clothing result in his being found wanting before the Pharaoh of all Egypt? This, and the likely consequences had to have occurred to Yoseph. Yet he trusted his God and stood boldly before this man whose word was life or death for him.
There is another connecting thread here. Variously translated cistern, dungeon, jail, hole, or pit the term in Hebrew is בּ֑וֹר bor- the exact term portraying the empty cistern in Gen 37:24 that Joseph’s brothers threw him into. So this connects the stories, consequently there may be a play on words here. The Hebrew for Egypt is Mitzrayim, meaning “a place of confinement.” This theme of confinement is played out from the cistern to Mitzrayim to jail; all through no fault of his own; all betrayals by others. Any one of these would make most of us bitter and vengeful, however Yoseph kept his faith in and looked to his God. So now when the test comes, his trust firmly rooted in his God, Yoseph boldly (and as we will later see accurately) interprets the dreams to the satisfaction of the most powerful man in this pagan land:
Genesis 41:25-32 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.
Not what most in his position would have wanted to relate to Pharaoh. Messengers in ancient cultures were killed for bringing less terrible news. But Yoseph not only gives the interpretation, he presumes to offer to Pharaoh advice on how to handle the coming difficult times- advice for which Pharaoh did not ask! That type of affront to this powerful man would almost certainly be a death sentence for anyone, and yet:
Genesis 41:37-38 This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”
And so Yoseph was not only spared, but as we’ll see he is elevated and given another special robe, thus completing the analogy (but not the story) as he is brought low time and again into the בּ֑וֹר bor only to be brought up by his God, in His timing, and become elevated in position, authority, and leadership.
I also did some research, and when Pharaoh said “the Spirit of God” the Hebrew reads “אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ rûach ĕlôhı̂ym,” which can be translated ‘the Spirit of God’ or ‘the spirit of the gods.’ So either this pagan ruler was acknowledging the superiority of Yoseph’s God over the ‘gods’ of Egypt (unlikely); or he was actually saying ‘spirit of the gods.’ ‘The Spirit of God’ is likely a common era translational error. Regardless we can clearly see in this the superiority of Elohei Yisroel, the God of Israel (2 Sam 23:3) over the gods of Mitzrayim and their priests and learned men. And Yoseph does give God the credit and the glory for being the One to give the dreams, interpret them, and ultimately to bring all this about. That Pharaoh believed Yoseph is at least tacit acknowledgement of the power of Yoseph’s God.
Mekorot: all scripture from the ESV unless otherwise noted; JPS Study TNK; Dr Eli of the IBC; Dr D Stern; W Wiersbe; FB Meyer; mosheli, poster on Ahavat Elohim; several reference books; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Gen 41:39-42:17
Haftara- Is 11:2-9
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
