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מִקֵּץ Miketz – (‘from the end’)
Genesis 41:1 – 44:17
Introduction
The Word of God is filled with Words. And sometimes words can be very illuminating, especially nouns. Just like the names of people and places in John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrims Progress’ the names of people, places and things in the bible are very important.
In this study I have used the word ‘Chalice’ here in the title instead of the word for ‘cup’ because the underlying Hebrew word ‘Gibeya’, is not the usual word for cup and it is only used here and one other place in scripture where it is translated ‘Pot‘.
We will concentrate on Genesis chapter 44 in this word study which concerns Joseph’s Silver Cup or Chalice which was deceptively put in Benjamin’s Sack in order to test his brothers to see if they had repented of their former behaviour and to facilitate reconciliation. We will look at the meanings of the Words for ‘Sack’ and ‘Cup’ and how they shed much light on the purposed of the cup and Benjamin in the last days.
Background
But first let’s briefly touch on the back story. Joseph the dreamer has been loosed from years in prison to become viceroy of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh in authority due to the Lord revealing the meaning of Pharaoh’s dream about a coming famine to Joseph. He is married to Potipheras daughter Asenath begetting Manasseh and Ephraim in Egypt. Joseph is now in charge of the country’s grain storage during the 7 years of plenty and the distribution of it during the 7 years of famine.
His brothers that betrayed him have to come down to Egypt to buy food. Joseph gives the brother’s food in their sacks along with their money but sets them up and charges them as Spies. They protest their innocence as ‘TRUE MEN’, כֵּנִים אֲנַחְנוּ, Genesis 42:11, 19, 31, 33, 34. Joseph holds Simeon prisoner and requests that Benjamin his full brother must come down to Egypt also. Once they return with Benjamin Joseph puts food in their sacks but also tests his brothers by putting His Silver cup that he uses to ‘Divine’ into Benjamin’s Sack. Now Joseph will see if they indeed are ‘TRUE MEN’!
The Sacks of food & money
Genesis 44:1
Before we look at the Silver Charger let us look at where it was hidden -In Benjamin’s sack!
Let’s look at the word for ‘sack’, אֶת־אַמְתְּחֹת. We will see that the word for ‘sack’ represents the man that dwells in this mortal tent called a physical earthly body. And the word for sack also represents ‘truth in the inward parts’ or ‘truth underneath’. And it also represents ‘fear of the truth’ etc. There are other ways to slice up the word for sack also. In any case the purpose of Joseph’s test is to reveal what is in His brother’s hearts, to reveal the truth, even as Joseph was called the ‘Revealer of Secrets’ – ‘Zaphnath-paaneah‘, Gen 41:45.
Sack
אֶת־אַמְתְּחֹת
H572 אמתּחת am-takh'-ath
From H4969; properly something expansive, that is, a bag: - sack.
H4969 מתח maw-thakh'
A primitive root; to stretch out: - spread out.
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Isaiah 40:22
One way to read this text is that the heavens are spread out even as Israel was spread out around Mount Sinai in tents (Num 24:5, ‘Ma Tovu Oheli Yakov’…). The heavens are composed of Israel dwelling in tents. And the idea of being spread out is in the word translated as ‘sack’ here. Interesting the word for sack is prefixed with the Aleph Tav sign of the direct object emphasizing not just the noun but the Word of God itself (Aleph to Tav, Alpha to Omega).
The sacks of wheat represent the sons of Israel with the price for their redemption in their sacks, the silver money. They are filled with the Word of God which is likened to a seed and to bread which is made from ground up wheat or corn etc. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
TRUTH
Within the word for ‘sack’, amtachath, אמתּחת, is the word for ‘truth’, emet, אֱמֶת.
H571 אמת - 'emeth eh'-meth
Contracted from H539; stability; figuratively certainty, truth, trustworthiness: - assured (-ly), establishment, faithful, right, sure, true (-ly, -th), verity.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psalms 51:6 (8)
הֵנ־אֱמֶת חָפַצְתָּ בַטֻּחֹות וּ֝בְסָתֻם חָכְמָה תֹודִיעֵנִי׃
Thus the word for ‘sack’, amtachath, אמתּחת, is related to at least two ideas…
- truth, emet אמתּ
- underneath, tachath תּחת
What Joseph was looking for in the sacks was, truth underneath. Truth in the inwards parts.
FILL the SACK’s MOUTH with FOOD & MONEY (SILVER)
Like a person, the sack has a mouth so in this way it represents the person. We are fed everyday by the Lord and our lives are a test to see what is in our hearts, just like Joseph’s brothers.
After David had sinned with Bathsheba and was found out he repented and said…
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psalms 51:5-6
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
This verse from the Psalms is perhaps the key to understanding the meaning of the ‘Sack’ containing the ‘Silver cup’. The word for silver in Hebrew also is used to mean money. And it is also related to the idea of ‘desire’.
Silver = longing, Gen 31:30.
And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst <related to the word for silver ‘kesseph’> after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
This verse is pivotal as it clearly shows the dual nature of silver as both redemptive and also representing the source of desire that can lead either to saving (redeeming) us or leading us astray. Jacob longed to return to the land of Israel but unbeknownst to him he was also carrying the seeds of idolatry through the household god/idol of Laban which Rachel hid under her skirt.
Thus the cup is put into the sacks to reveal the secrets of the heart in each of Joseph’s brothers, to see what makes them tick, to see what they truly desire. It only needs to be put into Benjamin’s sack to reveal the hearts of all.
In scripture gold represents faith, 1 Peter 1:7, and silver represents redemption (literally purchase of land or souls), Gen 23:15,16, Num 3, Lev 27 (verse 25). The silver cup represents redemption of the Kingdom as we shall see.
Joseph’s Silver ‘Cup’ or Chalice (Gebiya)
H1375 גּביע gheb-ee'-ah
From an unused root (meaning to beconvex); a goblet; by analogy the calyx of a flower: - house, cup, pot.
Genesis 44
What does Joseph’s Silver Chalice represent? Firstly Silver is related to the purchase of the land of Israel and the purchase of our redemption. There are 4 cups used during the Passover seder. The 3rd cup is called the cup of Redemption. Other studies have looked at this in depth. The Silver cup receives the wine, which is the blood of the Messiah. To receive is feminine while to give is masculine. We will look at this giving a receiving concept later in this study. Suffice to say that the cup is a receiver of grace.
The cup, גּביע, ‘gebiya’ contains wine. Wine can make us drunk. Sometimes those prophesying are thought to be drunk with wine. In Ephesians 5:18 we are instructed not to be drunk with wine but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In this we can see that true spiritual wine is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Joseph’s cup that contained wine was related to his ability to see the future through the Holy Spirit. Joseph’s Silver Cup or Chalice was used to ‘divine’ (KJV). The word translated ‘to divine’ is the word Nechash Nechash related to the word for Serpent which is related to Priesthood and Kingship. The Word for Serpent, Nachash is related to the word Chash, which means to sense, as in sensing the future.
There is a very significant detail in the Old Testament in Jeremiah 25 about the sons of Rechab, or the ‘Rechabites’, who had vowed not to drink wine, Jer 35:5,6,7 because their father had forbidden it, Jer 35:14.
The only other time where the word translated as Cup (Chalice) is used other than in Genesis 44 is here in Jeremiah 35 which links the sons of Rechab to the act of drinking wine.
And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots [gevi-im] full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
Jeremiah 35:5
וָאֶתֵּן לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי בֵית־הָרֵכָבִים גְּבִעִיםמְלֵאִים יַיִן וְכֹסֹות וָאֹמַר אֲלֵיהֶם שְׁתוּ־יָיִן׃
This is a key chapter in understanding what Joseph’s cup is all about and its relationship to Benjamin. This is inspired Torah commentary or expansion of Torah. The first five books of the Torah are the Kernal and the rest of the word of God is the outer layers or expansion upon the earlier word. Anyway Jeremiah 35 is really about Joseph’s cup that was hidden in Benjamin’s sack.
It just so happens that Rechab was ‘reckoned’ to be a Benjamite through a Beerothite according to 2 Samuel 4:2. The phrase ‘reckoned to be’ is not there for nothing, it is a hint that he was reckoned to be, but wasn’t really. He was reckoned to be by grace not by blood. Beeroth just so happened to be a neighbouring Canaanite city to Gibeon. The Gibeonite and the Gibeonites were Canaanites! Rechab could have been a Canaanite proselyte living amongst the children of Benjamin. The implication is that so long as they kept themselves from strong drink they could keep their purity and Canaanite penchant for idolatry. Whether the Rechabites were Canaanites or not the fact is that within the territory of Benjamin are the Rechabites which abstain from wine which is what is contained in Joseph’s cup used to prophecy which is in Benjamin’s sack. Thus wine and Benjamin are related. And so this seemingly irrelevant historical trivia is not trivial but is further inspired Torah commentary on what Joseph’s cup is all about.
Let’s look at the word for chalice/cup. The word for cup in Hebrew is H1375 גּביע, ‘gebiya’ which is related to a word meaning ‘hill’, H1387 גּבע – Geba, which was in Benjamin’s territory. There was another place in Benjamin’s territory called ‘Gibeah’, H1390 גּבעה. Another related word is ‘Gibeon’, H1391 גּבעון. And finally, the Gibeonites, H1393 גּבעני
The silver cup of Joseph had a rounded shape and thus the Hebrew word for cup, ‘gebiyah’, גּביע, reflected this. The rounded shape also is an allusion to the womb as we shall see later. The word for the convex rounded shape of the cup also related to the rounded shape of hills and thus the word is related to the word for hills and even the name of some hills.
Geba
H1387 גּבע geba‛
From the same as H1375, a hillock; Geba, a place in Palestine: - Gaba, Geba, Gibeah.
The town of ‘Geba’, גּבע, (which means hill) was in the territory given to Benjamin, Josh 18:24. How appropriate that the town with a name etymologically related to the word for Joseph’s cup that was put in Benjamin’s Sack was located in Benjamin’s actual territory. Geba was also a town for the Levitical Priests to live because it was near Jerusalem, Josh 21:17.
Gibeah
H1390 גּבעה ghib-aw'
The same as H1389; Gibah; the name of three places in Palestine: - Gibeah, the hill.
A similarly named town called ‘Gibeah’, גּבעה, was also in the territory of Benjamin, again stressing the relationship between Benjamin and Joseph’s cup which is also called a Gibeah in Hebrew, Josh 19:12-16. It was here in ‘Gibeah’, recorded in the same chapter of Joshua 19, where a very tragic event occurred that ultimately led to the destruction of all but 600 Benjaminites. A Levite travels to Gibeah and stays the night. His wife is raped by the Benjamites of the town who are also Sodomites. Rather than judging the wrong done by their brethren they fight all the other tribes of Israel to defend these rapist murderer Sodomite Benjamites. Eventually after three attempts the children of wickedness are destroyed once their city Gibeah is destroyed behind them. God through the other tribes of Israel wipes all but 600 Benjamite men out who are able to repopulate Benjamin’s tribe. But they have to steal wives at a dancing celebration due to an oath made by the other tribes not to give them wives. Here we can see that Benjamin does have a dual nature of being Ben-Oni – son of my troubles before he truly becomes ‘Son of my Right hand’ or Ben Yamin in Hebrew.
Gibeah was also the home town of Israel’s first King, named Saul who was from Benjamin.
1Sa 10:26, 1Sa 11:4, 1Sa 13:2, 1Sa 13:15-16 (2), 1Sa 14:2, 1Sa 14:5, 1Sa 14:16, 1Sa 15:34, 1Sa 22:6, 1Sa 23:19, 1Sa 26:1, 2Sa 6:3-4 (2), 2Sa 21:6, 2Sa 23:29
Sadly King Saul did not end his career well and was rejected by the Lord because he did not follow the word of the Lord. Saul’s final disobedience was not destroying the Amalekite King Agag. 1 Samuel 15:8,9,20,32,33. This lost him his Kingdom and the prophet Samuel went out to anoint a young shepherd boy named David who was a man after his own heart. Samuel executed Agag but some of his progeny escaped. Agag was prophesied earlier in the Torah in Numbers 24:7. Later some in the Book of Esther there is a man named Haman that tries to destroy all Jewry. Haman is an Agagite. And Agag comes from Amalek. The sin of Saul the son of Kish in not destroying Agag would have to be corrected in a future Generation. And it just so happens that Mordechai the step father of Queen Esther who defeats Haman is from the tribe of Benjamin and a descendant of Kish, Saul’s father. So the good news is that ultimately Benjamin will overcome his troubles and become the son of my right hand, Ben-Yamin. And this again is what the cup in Benjamin’s Sack is all about. It is all about the Kingdom coming to Israel and Jerusalem which is in Benjamin’s territory.
Gibeon
H1391 גּבעון ghib-ohn'
From the same as H1387; hilly; Gibon, a place in Palestine: - Gibeon.
And now we come to a most interesting town named ‘Gibeon’, גּבעון, which is also related etymologically to the word for Joseph’s Silver Cup or ‘Gibeya’, גּביע, in Hebrew. Gibeon also ‘just so happens’ to be located in Benjamin’s territory, Surprise, Suprise. And Gibeon also tells the story of the Kingdom of God and end time prophecy which Joseph’s cup used to divine alludes to. In particular Gibeon is about the BATTLE for the Kingdom of God! Gibeon is about war with the Canaanites.
In the book of Joshua chapters 9 and 10 we read about the battle for the land as the children of Israel are coming across the Jordan River to possess the land under Joshua. Joshua succeeded Moses and unlike most Ephraimites, Joshua was a true son of Joseph who obeyed the Law of the Lord and did battle according to the word of God. Joshua did not mix paganism with the truth. If he was alive today on earth you would not find him celebrating Christmas or Easter on the Pagan Calendar of Baal and Ashteroth (Easter-Astarte/Asheroth). He would remember the first and second comings of the Messiah according to the Hebrew feasts in Leviticus 23 as we are supposed to.
Gibeonites
H1393 גּבעני ghib-o-nee'
Patrial from H1391; a Gibonite, or inhabitant of Gibon: - Gibeonite.
Gibeon was the strongest walled cities of the Amorites. But unlike the other Canaanites the inhabitants of Gibeon decided to trick Israel instead of going into a full head on ‘Super Bowl’ clash of swords. They feared Israel and a party of ‘Gibeonites‘ disguised themselves with old worn out clothes and carried rotten stale food while feigning that they were travellers from a far off land. They deceived Joshua into making a treaty with them. In doing this the Israelites were unable to destroy them due to their oath. The Gibeonites are made to be water carriers and wood choppers for Israel, and in particular for the house of the Lord, Josh 9:21,23. This means that Canaanites are in the house of the Lord to this day! And they cannot be destroyed unless they do evil. Saul in his zeal tried to destroy the Gibeonites and in so doing he broke a solemn treaty that Israel had made with them. This cost Saul’s descendants dearly, 2Sa 21:1-4 (5), 2Sa 21:9. Thus our zeal must be according to the knowledge of God’s Word otherwise we can do a lot of harm. Of course there will be some Gibeonites that are truly repentant and God in his mercy has allowed them to survive. There may have been some truly faithful Gibeonites if the mighty men of valour in 1 Chron 12:4 were Gibeonites by blood.
The word ‘Canaanite’ means ‘trader’ or ‘merchant’. This does not mean that being involved in trade is necessarily evil but these people should not have been in the land of Israel because it was not given to the descendants of Ham (the Canaanites are the cursed branch of Hams line). And through their trade the Canaanites were corrupting the world through the spread of paganism. The land is allotted to Israel to spread the belief in the one true God, Yahweh Elohim, יהוה אלהים. Trade is a powerful way to build an empire and spread religion. The last days Babylon is full of trade that is used to build her power and influence in the world.
In Josh 10:12 we read how Joshua commands that the Sun stand’s still over Gibeah until he has destroyed the enemy Canaanites and the Lord answers his command prayer. Of course the Gibeonites are spared but the other cities and peoples are destroyed. This halting of the setting sun is very significant not just because of the obvious miracle but because the Sun and the moon are related to the Hebrew Calendar and determine the biblical feast seasons!
The victory and the deception at Gibeah will have its final outworking and fulfilment in the last days. Not all the Canaanites have been destroyed. Their physical seed still survives.
But there will come a time when there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord. Many of the traders in the temple in Yeshua’s time may have been descendants of Gibeonites and other Canaanites. In John 2:14,15,16 Yeshua began his ministry by driving out the Canaanites, the changers of money. At the end of His ministry He also drove them out again! (Mat 21:12,13, Mark 11:15, Luke 19:45,46). It must be important!
Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah 14:21
This means there will be no more Gibeonite in the house of the Lord either because they are Canaanites!
Thus the sun standing still over Gibeah has profound spiritual implications for the final end time victory over the end time Canaanite merchants of last days Babylon in Revelation. Remember that the word Canaanite means merchant. Babylon is a place of commercial trade as well as spiritual and physical fornication and apostasy.
Babylon opposes Jerusalem. But Jerusalem has an impure aspect to it even as Benjamin has some things to deal with inside. Jerusalem is also called spiritually Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified.
The following verse shows that what happened when the sun stood still over Gibeon is also prophetic for the future as Isaiah stated that the Lord will do his strange work and bring to pass his strange act as he did in Gibeon.
For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Isaiah 28:21
כִּי כְהַר־פְּרָצִים יָקוּם יְהוָה כְּעֵמֶק בְּגִבְעֹון יִרְגָּז לַעֲשֹׂות מַעֲשֵׂהוּ זָר מַעֲשֵׂהוּ וְלַֽעֲבֹד עֲבֹדָתֹו נָכְרִיָּה עֲבֹדָתֹו׃
The scope of this is just too much to talk of here but I hope that this study will give some a desire to research the word further for the mine of prophetic insight that this word study on Joseph’s cup and what the word Gibeya, Geba and Gibeon are actually about.
Another important verse that links the Kingdom to the idea of what Joseph’s cup represents is in the book of Chronicles where King David has to get the Tabernacle and the Ark from Gibeon. Again the word Gibeon is related to the Hebrew word for Joseph’s cup.
For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.
1 Chronicles 21:29
So Gibeon was a high place. And high places were places of idolatry. And Gibeon was a Canaanite city. In this way David opposes Gibeon vice versa. David must get the sacred things that are in Gibeon and bring them to Zion, to Jerusalem. Both Jerusalem and Gibeon are in Benjamin’s territory.
Benjamin the 12th Son
OK now we’ve talked enough about the silver cup, Gibeah and its namesake towns in Benjamin’s territory. Let’s get back to Benjamin.
Benjamin was born through travail and those berth pangs of that travail killed his mother, Rachel. Benjamin did not know his own mother! Her death was due to her stealing Laban’s Idol (Teraphim) and hiding it under her skirt, Gen 31:34. Jacob did not know she had taken it and declared to Laban that whoever took the Idol shall die. There is power to the spoken word. The idolatry that is in Rachel and thus Benjamin will only be expunged through the tribulation of the last days of which his traumatic birth with the death of his mother Rachel foreshadows.
Rachel was going to call Benjamin’s name ‘Ben Oni’, which means ‘son of my troubles’, but Jacob overrides Rachel and calls him Ben-Yamin, (Benjamin)which means ‘son of my right hand’. In this way Benjamin represents the Messiah who comes firstly to bear the burden of our sin (troubles) and then the second time he comes to rule (at the right hand of God).
Benjamin is the 12th son, the last son of Jacob. Benjamin is Joseph’s full brother through Rachel. Benjamin did not betray Joseph. And so there is a very important difference between him and Joseph’s other brothers. And that link is related to God’s government coming down from Heaven to the Earth. The number 12 is related to government. There are twelve tribes of Israel which are related to the 12 Hebrew months of that rule the year. There are 12 disciples/Apostles of the Messiah King of Israel. There are 12 constellations of the Zodiac (Hebrew Mazaroth) which actually related to the 12 tribes of Israel. Thus the Heavens are divided into 12 portions to rule or govern the night. The 12 tribes of Israel are depicted as 12 stars in Revelation chapter 12. There are 12 hours that rule the day (John 11:9) and 12 hours to rule the night. There are 12 months that rule the year. Thus the number 12 is related to government, to rulership.
So Benjamin the 12th son is all about rulership in the sense of receiving the kingdom as we shall see shortly. Jerusalem is in Benjamin’s territory. In this way Benjamin is the physical link between the two houses of Israel with Ephraim to the north of Jerusalem and Judah to the South. Benjamin receives 5 times as much provisions from his brother compared to his brothers. In this way Benjamin is the ultimate receiver. And Joseph is the ultimate giver. In this way Joseph represents the will of the heavenly king and Benjamin is the recipient. Jerusalem is in Benjamin’s territory and Benjamin represents the Kingdom.
In the next Parsha reading we find out that Benjamin the 12th son receives 5 times as much clothing than his brothers. The number 5 represents the feminine. The fifth letter of the Hebrew AlephBet is heh, ה, which when put on the end of a noun usually denotes feminine gender. There are 5 books of Torah and the Torah is described as the Law of thy mother, Proverbs 1:8. Five also represents grace and also to be fully armed for battle like David’s five small stones. The word of God/Torah arms us for battle to take the land. When we are ready to obey God’s commandments then we are ready to return to the land and that requires a fight also. And the battle for Jerusalem is a battle royal. And the battle to keep Jerusalem Holy is also a royal battle. And Benjamin is right in the middle of it. And Joseph’s cup is in Benjamin’s sack.
Conclusion
The Silver Chalice (Cup) in Benjamin’s Sack represents the Kingdom of God coming to Jerusalem and all Israel when Messiah returns. Joseph represents the Messiah, the ultimate giver. Benjamin Joseph’s little brother (little Joseph) represents the ultimate receiver of Grace. This grace is alluded to by the 5 changes of clothes etc because grace/mercy is related to the number 5. The earth is established in Mercy (Grace), Psalm 119:64 and so is the land of Israel with it’s capital in Jerusalem in Benjamin’s territory. This gracious giving from above extends down to Jerusalem and the Temple which are in Benjamin’s territory and are the earthly representations of that pattern which is in heaven. The earthly temple is a copy of the heavenly temple. The earthly Jerusalem is a copy of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Joseph represents the heavenly man while Benjamin represents the drawing down of the heavenly man to the earthly plane. In this way you could call Benjamin, Little Joseph. Benjamin represents the earthly footstool of the heavenly Kingdom. And this receiver of Grace is the Kingdom of God upon the earth, Malcut Elohim al HaAretz. This is the Chalice or cup, (Gibeya, גּביע, in Hebrew) which is related to the word for ‘hill’, Geba, גּבע, which ultimately is not just Jerusalem but more succinctly Zion!
The Canaanite city of Gibeon represents something that opposes Zion. But the Lord of all grace is also extracting that good part that is in Gibeon which the sons of Rechab represent. But after all the good is extracted then there will have to be a final separation of true Israel and the final cleansing of the Lord’s House. This is the purpose of the final tribulation. (At the moment we are not on the cusp of the tribulation but we are on the cusp of the hard trying times of World War 3 where much of the lost tribes will be cut down due to sin. We are on the cusp of the regathering of the remnant of the 10 lost tribes through judgement and the outpouring of the Spirit as spoken of in Joel.)
In any case there is a battle for Zion and a need for cleansing in God’s spiritual House and later physical House, the Temple. The Canaanites are in the camp and within the House of the Lord right until the end. And this only adds to the mix. It’s not just the mixed multitude (‘erev rav’) that can contaminate pure Israel. Israel is impure within due to sin. For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is uncleanness even within the physical descendants of Israel and even within the physical born again descendants of Israel.
All of the 12 tribes of Israel are in this travail. All Joseph’s brothers are involved in the travail of Zion because all of them were in travail due to dealing with their betrayal of Joseph. And the sons of Joseph are also part of this travail because of their own penchant for idolatry and because they still feel the sting of their own father Joseph’s betrayal by Judah and the other brothers.
The children of Judah also have to come to terms with their own betrayal of Joseph and the seed of Joseph through their hard treatment of the 10 northern tribes of the House of Israel headed by Joseph’s seed at the time of the split in the Kingdom that occurred after Solomon, 1 Kings 12. And this breach continues to this day. And it was for this reason that the Messiah came to suffer as the suffering son of Joseph to heal the breach and bring back the scattered sons of God, which is principally the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.
And shortly the Jewish Leadership of Israel will have to confront the raising up of the remnant of the 10 lost tribes of the House of Israel after World War 3. And that means that they will have to confront Joseph so to speak just as Judah had to in Egypt. And they will have to confront their own brother, the Messiah, Yeshua the Son of David who came as the Son of Joseph and Son of God. There is much soul searching. Indeed all of the redeemed of Israel must deal with Yeshua. And the lost tribes must deal with their betrayal through the casting off of God’s Law, the Torah.
That battle is actually within all Israel and it is in Benjamin in particular in who’s land Jerusalem and Gibeon dwell. Benjamin has to get rid of all idolatry that is within his blood in order to be a perfect conduit for the Kingdom coming down to Zion in Jerusalem. The ’Son of my troubles’ will become the ‘son of my right hand’ and the breach between the two houses of Israel will be restored. But it will happen during a time of tribulation. All 12 tribes of Israel have each gone astray in their own way so none of us are without guilt. Israel’s battle with Canaanite idolaters and even Ishmael, Edom and Amalek is part of an internal struggle with our own internal idolatry where we are king instead of Messiah. Our battle is within ourselves. We are at war with our own flesh within us, our body and our carnal nature which is our earthly sack. Our outer enemies are merely a reflexion of our inner enemies. Our outer enemies draw their power from the evil that lurks within our own hearts. Our outer enemies are sustained and nourished by us. The twelve sacks had twelve mouths. Ultimately what is in our sack is seen by what is in our mouths for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, Mat 12:34, Luke 6:45. Joseph who represents the Messiah is able to get to the heart of the matter so that we can see at last what we are and thus make confession. As it was for the patriarchs and the twelve sons of Israel so shall it be for all Israel and ourselves in the Last days. Zion will be restored but it will be through travail.
Rory
