Parashat Vayeshev ~ and he settled

Saturday 13 December 2014               Kislev  21  5775

Parashat Vayeshev ~ and he settled                                                       by Shelley Wood Gauld
Gen 37:1 ~ 40:23, Amos 2:6 ~ 3:8, Zech 2:14~4:7, Matt 1:1~6; 16~25

The two sons of Israel who feature most prominently in this parashah are ‘Yosef’ (Joseph) and Yehudah (Judah). And they remain distinct from the other ten brothers throughout the Scriptures…

When Jews think of the Messiah, they typically have in mind Mashiach ben David of the tribe of Judah. It is said that he will restore the Bet Hamikdash (Temple), gather the exiles of Israel, cause the goyim (nations) to be united in peace, put an end to sin and evil, raise the dead, and establish an earthly utopia with its headquarters in Jerusalem. However, the rabbis also speak of a Mashiach ben Yosef, also called Mashiach ben Ephraim (Bavli Sukah 52b). It is believed that he will come first to prepare the world for the coming Kingdom and be killed while fighting God’s war against evil. It is further stated that his death will be followed by a period of calamities and tribulations for Israel ~ and that Mashiach ben David will then appear to avenge his death and inaugurate his earthly Messianic Kingdom. Jewish scholarship therefore refers to Messiah ben-David as the victorious Messiah who ushers in a kingdom of peace; and Messiah ben Yosef as the suffering servant, as found in Isaiah 53. The popular tendency is to focus on ben-David and ignore ben-Yosef, but the Messianic view highlights both and accounts for both in one person.

There are interesting parallels and strong Messianic undertones to be found in the lives of historic Joseph and David: both suffered, ‘disappeared’, and then re-emerged victorious. Joseph, with his dreams of grandeur, was lost to Israel ~ considered dead ~ before his dreams were realised and he re-emerged as a ‘saviour’ in the lives of the brothers who had rejected him.  David, although divinely anointed for kingship in his youth, was rejected by King Saul and was  forced to ‘disappear’ and live as a fugitive for many years, before re-emerging and becoming the quintessential King of Israel.  Both arrived amid promises, were pushed down, and then re-emerged in glory.  
The names Joseph/Ephraim and Judah are highlighted and appear in tandem in various other contexts. (1) In the shadow of Joseph, ‘the ‘Colossus of Egypt’, it is Judah who emerged as the brother with integrity (in the matter relating to the detaining of Benjamin). (2) The line of Joseph/Ephraim was given the blessing of the firstborn by Jacob, but Judah’s blessing “the sceptre shall not pass from Judah” also affirmed tribal leadership. (3) During the time of Moses the two faithful spies who went in to reconnoitre the land were Caleb, from the tribe of Judah, and Joshua, from the tribe of Ephraim. (4) The tribe of Judah was first in the marching order during the wilderness period ~ and after the death of Moses, the leadership of Ephraim re-emerged in the person of Joshua.  On entering the Promised Land, the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was kept in Joshua’s territory of Ephraim for about three centuries, during which time its capital city of Shiloh was the religious epi-centre of the nation.  (5) After the death of Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel split into two independent kingdoms: a northern and a southern kingdom.

The tribe of Ephraim was initially so prominent in the north that the northern kingdom was often referred to as ‘the Kingdom of Ephraim’. Conversely Judah was so powerful in the south that the southern kingdom was known as ‘the Kingdom of Judah’.  In the eighth century BCE, the northern kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians and the majority of the populace were scattered across the Assyrian Empire ~ most becoming assimilated into the sea of gentile humanity.  The southern tribes were also conquered and taken into exile, in the sixth century BCE. They, however, retained their heritage and their descendants remain identifiable as the Jewish people to this day.

On the basis of Jewish population figures alone, we must concede that the vast majority of the descendants of Israel have ‘disappeared’ from view and remain scattered amongst the Gentiles. Because of this, many must have come to know Messiah, at different times and in different places, throughout the past 2,000 years.  If we look at Luke 21:24 we are struck by another realisation; that the restoration of Jerusalem to Jewish control in 1967 (Six Day War) marked the end of an era: ‘the time of the Gentiles’.  From that point onwards the Messianic Movement gained momentum. Jews recognising Yeshua as ‘Mashiach ben Yosef’ have retained their ‘Jewishness’ and worship in a Jewish manner, but equally surprising is the emergence of increasing numbers of Gentiles who evidence a deep longing for a more authentically ‘Jewish’ form of worship and understanding of Yeshua. 
 
Concepts of especially chosen children; ‘disappearance’; being honed, shaped and strengthened in places of darkness and seclusion; and re-emergence to assume positions of leadership, are encapsulated in the lives of Yosef and David ~ and may be linked to the nation of Israel as a whole. This principle or pattern was embedded in the Scriptures centuries before the physical incarnation of ‘Mashiach ben Yosef’, the suffering servant, and ‘Mashiach ben David’, the coming King from the tribe of Judah.