Weekly Torah Lesson
Parasha: va yeshev – and he dwelt
Torah: Bereishit 37:1 – 40:23
** Have you ever gone for a period of time in your life when the things that happened to you just didn’t seem to be “fair”? It has happened to me several times. Today’s Torah Lesson documents such a period in the life of, Yaakov’s son, Yosef.
** 37:18-24 Yosef’s brothers see him coming and plot to kill him; Reuvein talks them into putting him into a pit until he can return him to Ya’akov; The brothers put him into the pit and gather together for a meal.
** 37:25-27 The brothers see a caravan of Ishmaelites heading toward Egypt; Notice that Ishmaelites is mentioned twice; Yishmael was their grandfather, Yitzak’s half brother.
** The brothers sell Yosef to the Ishmaelites and go about developing a cover up by dipping Yosef’s coat into goat’s blood to make it appear that Yosef was mauled by a wild animal.
** The Ishmaelites take Yosef to Egypt and sell him to Potifer who used Yosef to manage his entire estate.
** 39:7-20 Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Yosef; Yosef refuses, “…how can I do this great wickedness and sin against Elohim?” How did he know that adultery / fornication is a sin? Potiphar’s wife persists and when there were no witnesses, she tries again, fails and starts yelling for help; When her husband arrives home, she tells him the lie and he believes her and puts Yosef into prison; This was the second time that a “coat” and a lie were used as false evidence against Yosef so that Avinu could move him to the next step of his journey;
** Potifer put Yosef into jail where he was eventually put in charge of the prisoners.
** 39:21-23 Avinu was with Yosef in prison; The jailer gave Yosef full control over the prisoners; The jailer prospered because of Yosef;
** Eventually, the prison received two prisoners from the king’s palace. The butler and the baker did something to irritate the king and found themselves under Yosef’s authority.
When both prisoners had similar dreams, Yosef translated their dreams accurately.
** 40:20-23 Three days later both officers were taken out of the jail; The butler was restored; The baker was hanged; The butler forgot about Yosef;
** Notice the “mixed blessing”. Avinu “prospered” Yosef but kept him “under control” by controlling his environment. Both times that he prospered, it felt like everything was taken from him and he had to start over again.
** This may help us to understand why we go through “trials”.
*** “1 Why seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking to Yeshua the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of Avinu. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to children, My son, despise not you the chastening of Avinu, nor faint when you are rebuked of him: 6 For whom Avinu loves he chastens, and whips every son whom he receives. 7 If you endure chastening, Avinu deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? 8 But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.” (Heb 12:1-11)
“25 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Why we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve Avinu acceptably with reverence and fear: 29 For Avinu is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:25-29)
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