Parasha Mikeitz

Bereshit (Genesis) 41:1 –44:17
Haftarah: M’lakhim Alef (1stKings) 3:15 –4:1
Brit Chadasha: Acts 7:9 -16

The Aleph Tav

In the Revelation of Yeshua Ha Mashiach to John we find 4 references to the Aleph Tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew Aleph Bet; Rev. 1:8, 1:11, 21:6 and 22:13. The translation reads “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.” Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet. Messiah Yeshua is a Hebrew man and not a Greek man therefore He would have said “I am the Aleph and the Tav, the beginning and the ending. He is the entire Hebrew Aleph Bet from A to Z so to speak therefore He is ALL the Hebrew letters, ALL the Hebrew words. Jn. 1:1 confirms this understanding. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. He was in the beginning with Elohim.” In its ancient form the Aleph Tav would read “strength of the covenant.”
Amos 8:11: “Behold, the days are coming,” says Yehovah Elohay, ‘that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yehovah.”

מִקּץֵ meaning at the end (of time)

Parasha Highlights:

The dreams of Pharaoh
Joseph’s interpretation of his dreams
Joseph position is elevated
The famine begins
Josephs’ brothers travel to Egypt
Ge. 41:1: “Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. Recall the first letter of Scripture is the letter Bet, ב. The Bet is the 2nd letter of the Aleph Bet. In its ancient form means house, tent or family. The Bet is symbolic of Yeshua, the Son, second only to Yehovah. The numerical value of the Bet is Two.
As we study each Torah portion, we will come to understand there will be “two” redemptions. The first when Israel is brought out of Egypt (a picture of the nations) and the second when Israel is gathered back to the land from the nations where she has been scattered. This sidra is directing our attention to the end of a specific time period. It speaks to the end of Joseph’s exile from his brethren as well as the end of the 2000 years between the 1st and 2nd advents.
Since Joseph is a type and shadow of the Mashiach, we can see by extension this sidra is speaking to the end of Yeshua’s’ time exiled from His brethren; the “Mikeitz” of a two-thousand-year separation. “Two” full years had passed since Joseph interpreted the dreams of the cup bearer and baker. Is it a coincidence that the dreams are always in pairs? Scripture tells us that one day is like a thousand years:
Ps. 90:4: “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
2 Pt. 3:8: ” But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” One is the same, then, as 10, 100 or 1000 to Yehovah.

Promise of the 2nd redemption

Ez. 11:14 –17: “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘get far away from Yehovah; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ Therefore say, ‘thus says Yehovah Elohay: although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’ Therefore say, ‘thus says Yehovah Elohay: I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land (אֶת־אַדְמַת) of Israel.'” **The Father’s timing for mankind was established in the first line of the Hebrew Scriptures:

Yeshua’s first advent occurred at the 4000-year mark while the second advent will occur at the end, Mikeitz, of the 6000-year mark.

With the number “two” in mind we should be looking at the Mikeitz, the end of the appointed time for mankind. The Father has already given us this timeline. Once in the first line of the Hebrew scriptures and once in Ge. 6:3: “And Yehovah said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 120 years x’s 50 jubilee cycles = 6000 years. The Father reckons time in days, weeks, months and years; all multiples of seven.
We find ourselves in Ge. 4:3 -6 when applying the “rule of first mention.” “And in the process of time, מִקּץֵ ימִָים (the end of an “appointed time”) it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Yehovah. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And Yehovah respected Abel and his offering; but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So Yehovah said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? **Mikeitz is making a connection to presenting an acceptable offering. The offerings to Yehovah are to be brought at the “appointed time.”
The narrative gives the account of Pharaoh’s dreams; the one dream having to do with cattle and the other ears of corn. V 14 “Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph ( אֶת־יֹוסֵף ), and they raised him from the pit; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.” **Josephs’ name is used 38 times in this sidra with only one Aleph Tav connection relating to the phrase of being “raised from the pit.” Raised from the pit is a picture of resurrection. Messiah Yeshua will have been “raised from the pit.”
V 25 –27: “Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘the dreams of Pharaoh are one; Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.
Famine is one of the four altar judgments. The four altar judgments are found in Ez. 14:21: “For thus says Yehovah Elohay: ‘how much more it shall be when I send My four severe judgments on Jerusalem—the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence—to cut off man and beast from it? Can famine be used as a physical and spiritual judgment?
The Hebrew word for famine is רָעבָ; the numerical value of which is 272. 2 + 7 + 2 = 11. The number eleven is associated with Yeshua, the Word of Yehovah, so we could make a good case then, that the judgment of “famine” was the result of disobedience to His Word.
Joseph is elevated to a new position, 2nd only to Pharaoh. V 45: “And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. And he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. So, Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.” **Josephs’ new name, Zaphenath-paneah, means “treasury of the glorious rest.“ Even the new name of Joseph seems Messianic in nature.
V 48: “So he (Joseph, the type and shadow of Messiah) gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt (the nations) and laid up the food (אֶת־כָּל־אֹכֶל ) in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them. **The Hebrew word for food is אֹכלֶ ; the numerical value of which is 51. 5 + 1 = 6, the 6000 years of mankind. Joseph was storing grain. Is Covenant Israel referred to in Scripture as wheat?
Joseph marries Asenath and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Who is Asenath? The sages teach that Asenath was the daughter of Dinah, whom Shechem, son of Chamor had fathered. Jacob had to hide the infant outside his house, since Dinah’s brothers wanted to kill her. He kept her hidden under a bush and for that reason, she was given the name Asenath. Praying for her safety, Jacob hung a gold medallion around her neck, inscribed with the words: “Whoever marries this girl should know that his children will be descendants of Jacob.” The archangel Gabriel brought Asenath to Egypt to the house of Potiphar. There she grew up and was raised as a stepdaughter. (Torah Anthology)
V 56: “The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all ( אֶֽת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר ) the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.”
42:1 –8: “When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, ‘why do you look at one another?’ And he said, ”indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.” So, Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers (אֶת־אֶחָיו ), for he said, ‘lest some calamity befall him.’ And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw his brothers ( אֶת־אֶחָיו ) and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, ‘where do you come from?’ And they said, ‘from the land of Canaan to buy food.” So, Joseph recognized his brothers ( אֶת־אֶחָיו ), but they did not recognize him.” ** The ten Aleph Tav brothers of Joseph represents the Northern Kingdom. They sought Joseph for grain, not recognizing him. At His 1st advent, Yeshua recognized those of the Northern Kingdom, but they did not recognize Him.

What is a famine?

A famine means there is no food for man or beast so both perish. Grain i.e., corn, wheat or barley = bread. Bread is used to strengthen the physical body while the “bread” of life nourishes our spirit.
Jn. 6:27: “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Jn. 6:3: “Then Yeshua said to them, ‘most assuredly, I say to you, Moshe did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” **Everlasting life = partaking of the bread of life, Yeshua, the Word. The famine is an altar judgment. This famine covered the face of the earth. What were they really starving for?
Mt. 4:4: “But Yeshua answered, ‘it is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Was this a “new” concept?
Dt. 8:3: “He humbled you, and in your hunger gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yehovah.” (a Torah precept)
V 9 -13: “Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, ‘you are spies! You have come to see the nakedness ( אתֶ־ע רְֶותַ ) of the land!’ And they said to him, ‘no, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies.’ But he said to them, ‘no, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land. And they said, ‘your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father ( אֶת־אָבִינוּ ) today, and one is no more.'”
V 18 –24: “Then Joseph said to them the third day, ‘do this and live, for I fear God ( הִים 􀋄 אֶת־הָאֱ ); If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses. And bring your youngest brother ( אֶת־אֲחִיכֶם ) to me; so, your words will be verified, and you shall not die.’ And they did so. Then they said to one another, ‘we are truly guilty concerning our brother (Joseph), for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore, this distress has come upon us.’ And Reuben answered them, saying, ‘did I not speak to you, saying, ‘do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.’ But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter. And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.”
Out of the ten Aleph Tav brothers, why was Simeon imprisoned? The Hebrew name Simeon ( שִמְעוֹן ) means to “hear with
acceptance.” Can you see the word “Shema?”
V 34: “And bring your youngest brother ( אֶת־אֲחִיכֶם ) to me; so, I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother ( אֶת־אֲחִיכֶם ) to you, and you may trade in the land ( אֶת־הָאָרֶץ ).
Jacob is beside himself. Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone and now you want Benjamin. The grain runs out leaving Jacob and his family without food. Jacob relents and allows the Alef Tav Benjamin to return to Egypt with his brothers.
43:25 – 26: “Then they made the tribute ( אתֶ־המִַּנחְהָ ) ready for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the tribute ( אתֶ־המִַּנחְהָ ) which was in their hand into the house and bowed down before him to the earth. **Was the bowing down of Josephs’ brothers before him a fulfillment of another dream?
Ge. 37:5 -7: “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, ‘listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.'” **Joseph is raised up to be 2nd only to Pharaoh and his brothers bowed down before him.

The “minchah”

The word “minchah” means gift, tribute, offering, present, or sacrifice. This word is used four times in our sidra. Three times the Aleph Tav attached which directs our attention to the offering of Messiah Yeshua. The “minchah” offering is the daily 3:00 p.m. offering of the Temple. This is the time-of-day Yeshua surrendered His life. He was the pascal (Passover) lamb that was offered for the sin of the world. He was the Aleph Tav “minchah” gift.
In conclusion, we are rapidly approaching the “Mikeitz,” the end of that two-thousand-year period of time before the 2nd advent. The “end” of Messiahs’ 1stadvent marks the beginning of the Renewed Covenant ratified by His blood. We are at the end of one period of time which marks the beginning of a new period of time. We are approaching the time of Covenant Israel’s regathering where we will rule and reign with Messiah Yeshua for one thousand years.

Haftarah

1st Kings 3:15 –18: “And Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of Yehovah, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, “O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.”
V19 –23: “And this woman’s child died in the night, because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, ‘no; but the living is my son, and the dead is your son.’ And this said, ‘no; but the dead is your son, and the living is my son.’ Thus, they spoke before the king. Then said the king, The one said, ‘his is my son that lives, and your son is dead:’ and the other said, ‘no, but your son is dead, and my son is the living.'”
V 24 -28: “And the king said, ‘bring me a sword.’ And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, ‘divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.’ Then spoke the woman who’s the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, ‘Oh my lord, give her the living child, and in no way slay it.’ But the other said, ‘let it be neither mine nor yours, but divide it.’ Then the king answered and said, ‘give her the living child, and in no way slay it: she is the mother thereof.’ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of Elohim was in him, to do judgment.”
The obvious connection to the Torah portion is the dream of Solomon. Embedded in the narrative, however, is a description of the spiritual condition of Israel. The number “two” refers to Israel being in covenant or out of covenant. The word “harlot” refers to the “two” kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom; both of which committed spiritual harlotries before Yehovah. The child that dies is Yeshua at His 1st advent. The number three speaks to His resurrection. Finally, the word “two” was used 3 times. 2 + 2 + 2 = 6, the 6000 years allotted to mankind.

Brit Chadasha

Acts 7:9-16 The connection to the Torah portion is the sale of Joseph.
And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.