Carry Me Out of Egypt
47: 27-31
Carry Me Out of Egypt DIG: What was the significance of Joseph putting his hand under the thigh of Jacob? When was this done before? Why did Jacob make Yosef swear an oath? In what way did Joseph foreshadow the life of Christ?
REFLECT: What preparations have you made to ease the burden on your family at the time of your death? Does it make any difference where you are buried? Why was this an act of faith on Ya’akov’s part? What was his hope? What is your hope?
78. Both Joseph and Yeshua settle the children of Isra’el in a land of their own. Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number (47:27). Goshen was the best of the land of Egypt (45:18b, 47:6). Pharaoh had told Yosef and his sons not to worry about their belongings because the best of Egypt would be theirs (45:20). The result was that the Israelites would live in peace and multiply (Exodus 1:8). So Palestine will be the best part of the earth during the messianic Kingdom where the wilderness will rejoice and blossom (Isaiah 35:1-2), where the riches of the nations will be brought to the Israelites (Isaiah 60:1-16) and where they will live in peace (Ezeki’el 34:25-29).
After the remaining five years of famine, the Nile River began to overflow its banks once again. The land began to flourish once more. With hundreds of Israelites having entered Egypt (to see link click Km – Jacob’s Genealogy), they would leave with over two million (Num 1:46 counted over six hundred thousand men older than twenty years of age). So ADONAI blessed His people according to the promises He made to Abraham. They were becoming a great nation, as God worked behind the scenes. He blessed Pharaoh because he had blessed the descendants of Avraham with the best land that Egypt had to offer. But later, during the time of Moses, when another Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites, God dealt harshly with him, thus fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse (12:3a).
Haftarah vaYigash: Yechezk’el (Ezeki’el) 37:15-28
(see my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)
Reunion in Egypt highlights the activity of the Torah portion and forms the context for the Haftarah. In this reading Judah has matured into the nation that gives spiritual direction, but it has been exiled for seven years from the Temple. The tribes have matured, but they lead disconnected lives. Brotherly hatred had replaced brotherly love. Now the prophet Ezeki’el, in exile with his people, promises complete restoration between the tribes led by the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Isra’el led by Joseph’s son Ephraim. Indeed, the two kingdoms will be united under a king from Judah (Ezeki’el 37:22-24). God promised to purify His people into a holy Kingdom (Ezeki’el 37:23). He promised a covenant of peace, and a Sanctuary in which He would dwell among His people. Only then, would the nation find its place among the nations of the world.
B’rit Chadashah suggested reading for Parashah vaYigash:
Luke 6:12-16; Acts 7:9-16 (specifically verses 13-15)
Yeshua, a descendant of David, a descendant of Judah, begins to redeem the prophecy of Ezeki’el. When Messiah came to Rome, it was the world super-power, with king Herod, an Edomite, in charge. In this reading, Yeshua devotes all night to prayer for the purpose of selecting from His disciples twelve apostles as foundation stones (Lk 6:13; Eph 2:20). The Hebrew equivalent of apostle, or shaliach, describes on who is sent forth with a message and authority of the one who sent him. Yeshua represents Himself as a shaliach of God the Father (John 5:19, 24, 30). Here, Yeshua selects the twelve to represent corporate Isra’el. It is interesting that Judas Isacriot comes from a town in the heart of Judah (Joshua 15:25). How ironic that Judah’s own nation must be purified of men who sin against the Father by selling a Brother for thirty pieces of sliver.
Parashah 12: vaY’chi (He lived) 47:28-50:26
The Key People include Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim, Manasseh, all the sons, and Pharaoh.
The Scenes include Egypt, Canaan, Shechem, the cave of Machpelah, Goshen, and Abel-mizraim.
The Main Events include Jacob’s seventeen years in Egypt, his request for burial with his fathers, the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh by Joseph, the younger son getting the blessing, Jacob’s final words for each tribe, Judah’s position of praise, Jacob’s death, his burial in Canaan, Joseph’s brothers fearing him after Jacob’s death, Joseph’s reassurance, and Joseph’s death at 110 – declaring that YHVH would deliver the Israelites out of Egypt and they must carry his bones back to rest in the Land.
The subject of death dominates this week’s portion, which records the passing away of two of the most important people in the history of redemption: Jacob and Joseph. Obviously, we cannot always determine the time of our own death, but sometimes ADONAI gives us sufficient time to make the necessary preparations. This is the case with Jacob in parashah vaY’chi. He was not taken by surprise; he had more than adequately prepared for his death.
Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years. That was the same length of time that Joseph had lived with his father in Canaan before he was sold into slavery. Consequently, the time period of seventeen years serves as bookends to the Joseph story. The first seventeen years of his life was spent with his father, and the last seventeen years of his father’s life was spent with him. When Ya’akov was a hundred and forty-seven years old, he was ready to die (47:28).
He called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness” (47:29a). As seen earlier in 24:2b, this is a euphemism for the holding of the genitals, which are the source of life. It was a symbolic gesture that if the oath were not carried out, then Israel’s other descendants would avenge Yosef’s unfaithfulness. He had one final request, and who better to make sure that his wishes were carried out than Joseph? He asked Yosef to swear to him that he would not be buried in Egypt (47:29b). He continued: When I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where Abraham and Isaac are buried in the cave at Machpelah (23:3-18). Joseph said: I will do as you say (47:30).
But Ya’akov needed more assurance, and insisted that Joseph’s word be cemented with an oath. Jacob pleaded: swear to me. Why was this necessary? Yosef had just promised to do as his father had said! However, Jacob knew that if Joseph took an oath, it would reinforce in Joseph’s memory his promise to his father. Not only that, the oath would make Yosef directly accountable to God and His wrath if he were to go back on his promise. Then Joseph swore to him.
Did Jacob not trust his favorite son? This was not the issue at all. Jacob wisely knew that Pharaoh might take it as an insult or question Isra’el’s allegiance, if Joseph asked to bury his father outside of Egypt. By requesting that Joseph make a legal oath; Jacob made it possible to request permission from Pharaoh from an entirely different standpoint – the legal agreement between him and his father Jacob. Indeed, that is exactly the reason why Pharaoh did give him permission, saying: Go up and bury your father as he made you swear (50:6). Thus, Jacob took the matter our of Joseph’s hands and made a legal issue out of it that Pharaoh would honor. This is but one example of a legal matter which Jacob had the foresight to take care of out of love and consideration for his family. It would be wise for all of us to follow the patriarch’s example and ease the burden of decision-making upon our loved ones at the time of our deaths.
Isra’el had talked to Joseph while sitting upon his bed. When Yosef swore to bury him in Canaan, Isra’el turned and bowed himself on the head of his bed worshiping ADONAI, thanking Him for granting his last wish (47:31 NKJ), just as David also worshiped upon his bed (First Kings 1:47-48).738 According to the writer of Hebrews, this was an act of faith because Isra’el knew that his descendants would not be in Egypt forever and would one day return to the Promised Land (Hebrews 11:21b). Egypt was to Isra’el and his family what the ark was to Noah, a temporary shelter from the disaster on the outside.739 The hope of the TaNaKh was an earthly hope. Abraham believed that he would be raised from the dead in Canaan and he wanted to be buried there. Isaac believed the same. Now Ya’akov is expressing the same faith. You see, the hope of the TaNaKh was not to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and enter the city of the New Jerusalem, which is the final destination of the Church. The hope of the righteous of the TaNaKh was in God’s Kingdom that will be set up on this earth (Isaiah 2:2-4, 11:6-9, 65:18-23; Jeremiah 31:12-14, 31-37; Ezeki’el 34:25-29, 37:1-6 and Chapter 40-48). That is why Jacob had faith in the resurrection from the Promised Land. If Jacob had no faith or hope in ADONAI’s promise to him, why would it matter where he was buried? The promise of the messianic Kingdom was why he did not want to be buried in Egypt.
It took all of his remaining strength for Jacob to raise himself and utter the prophetic words of Chapters 48 and 49. But he received both his strength and his inspiration by faith, still trusting in the absolute certainty that, though he himself would not live to see it, God would give his seed the land of Canaan and that, someday, all peoples on earth would be blessed through him (12:3b).740
For those who believe in, and follow Messiah today, it makes no difference where we are buried. At the time of the Rapture (see my commentary on Revelation By – The Rapture of the Church), wherever we are, we shall be raised either from death or from life. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will be raised first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (First Thessalonians 4:16-18). So it won’t make any difference if we are buried in Egypt, in Canaan or in Timbuktu. The living in Christ and the dead in Christ all over the world will be caught up to be with Him. We don’t need a launching pad to take off from. No, our hope is a heavenly hope.741 We wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Yeshua Messiah (Titus 2:13). As Rabbi Sha’ul said to the believers at Thessalonica: Therefore, encourage each other with these words.
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