“Then Judah approached him [vayigash], and said, ‘Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.’” (Ge 44:18)
Joseph and Judah represent two competing missions of Israel. How those two competing missions ”come near” or “approach” one another is a theme of the Torah portion. The respective houses of Joseph and Judah in the portion are pure prophecy alluded to in the haftarah in Ezekiel.
1. Judah repeatedly calls himself a servant.
2. He speaks “a word” to Joseph.
3. He tells Joseph he is like Pharaoh.
4. He cautions Joseph not to be angry because he is like Pharaoh; in other words, Joseph’s similarity to Pharaoh makes him prone to anger or violence. Pharaoh represents the world system to Joseph’s house like Babylon will to Judah later.
Rabbinic commentary is fascinating in this regard. In that tradition, Joseph represents Israel’s responsibility to be a light to the nations, a universal responsibility. Judah represents the nation’s (Israel's) own responsibility for spiritual development, being obedient to the Torah:
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“The Jewish people are crowned with two qualities, eidut (testimony) and Torah, as it says: ‘God established testimony in Jacob; He set down Torah in Israel’ (Ps 78:5). What are these two qualities? The essence of Eidut is to report facts as they occurred. Nothing may be added or altered when giving testimony. Torah study, on the other hand, requires creative thought. This dichotomy is the root of the conflict between Jacob’s sons. Joseph stressed eidut, as it says ‘a testimony for Joseph’ (Ps 81:6). The aspect of eidut reflects Joseph’s desire to interact with the nations and expose them to the message of monotheism and morality. Judah emphasized the Torah and the special holiness of the Jewish people. They sought to develop and cultivate the unique heritage of Israel.” (Kook, Sapphire from the Land of Israel, pp. 100-101)
If the Torah is a light, and the commandment is a lamp, and if the Word is a lamp unto our feet, then the Word is an equivalent expression to Torah and commandment (mitzvah).
The title of the Torah portion, Vayigash, suggests a close relationship. In Job’s description of the scales of Leviathan, “One is so near (yigshu) to the other that no air can enter between them.” (Job 41:8)
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“Judah represents the first level of God’s unity [as acknowledged in the Shema], a unity manifested through the Torah and the special role of the Jewish people. Joseph sought to sanctify God’s Name among the nations and bring knowledge of one Creator to the entire world. He represents the second level, the universal unity of God.” (ibid)
That combined vision of the Shema was split when the brothers sold Joseph. In Vayigash, it prophesies of a future when the two missions will become so close that ”no air can enter between them.”
When Judah draws near Joseph, or the Torah draws near the testimony, it is said the righteous will feast on Leviathan [Bava Batra 74b] because they will understand the unity of their mission. They will achieve together the ideal balance of Torah and eidut, testimony. Note the axis of the chiasm below:
Mt 8:4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
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Mt 10:18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
Mt 24:14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
The first testimony was extended to the priests. The axis, however, demonstrates how the message would go from Judea to kings and governors where his disciples would preach. From the kings and governors of Judah and adjacent provinces, the testimony would extend to the world. From Judah to and through Joseph. It will then return to Judah when he draws near Joseph, even before he recognizes the testimony of resurrection. Judah will do it because he doesn't want to lose another brother, nor does he want the Father to grieve. Then Judah will see.
What, exactly, is this “testimony of Jesus”?
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And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. (Ac 4:33)
The testimony of Yeshua requires an acknowledgment of his resurrection from the dead. One may say this is the “specialty” of the House of Joseph. Judah drew near Joseph even before he knew of his “resurrection” from the brothers supposed was certain slavery and possible death. Joseph still looked like an Egyptian of the world to them, like Pharaoh.
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“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Re 20:4)
Those who have the testimony and word are not playing a “guess-what-I-want-you-to-know-end-times-game” with the Holy One. You will not receive the mark of the beast by accident. You will receive it by DECIDING to worship another kind and mind. You will receive it by choosing to give yourself over to your self-image, the deception of the cunning serpent-beast from Garden to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image to today. Leviathan, the sea-monster, is the prophetic sea equivalent to the land-based nachash (serpent) and the tanin (dragon & modern crocodile).
You will receive the mark by defying the Word and giving false testimony, the sixth abomination of the wicked lamp, an abomination that causes desolation because it separates brothers, especially Judah and Joseph (Pr 6:16-20). The midrash tells us that Ezekiel’s dry bones resurrection experience took place at the moment that the nations bowed down to the Nebuchadnezzar’s self-image. The three Hebrews alone among the nations defied the self-image of the beast. They were vaccinated by the Word.
The reunion of Judah and Israel, the “two stick” prophecy is part of the dry bones chapter and continuation of the narrative. “So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” ( Ezek 37:10)
Did John see this army? In Revelation12:17 he says, "So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."
The “exceedingly great army” is one equipped to make war with the adversary who HATES their testimony of RESURRECTION and their obedience to the WORD. This resurrected army leads to Ezekiel’s understanding of the two sticks being bound together and becoming one. They are so close that no air can come between them. The testimony and commandment become one again.
The serpent-beast holds up immediate gratification of desire by squashing recognition of the Kingdom of Heaven and what is required to enter it. The righteous must SERVE, OBEY, WAR, and TESTIFY to truth to enter it. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ (Ezek 37:11)
It is the leadership of Judah among the tribes, however, that cuts off the Wicked One by leading relative to the feasts, and therefore the calendar. Notice the progression of the following description of the “good news,” i.e., gospel...
- Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace!
- Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; pay your vows.
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For never again will the wicked one pass through you; he is cut off completely. (Nahum 1:15)
First, Joseph's testimony of “good news,” the gospel, precedes the celebration of the chagim, which are led by Judah. When the House of Israel (Joseph) completes the spread of the good news of resurrection among the nations, they will one day be bound to Judah, who preserves the feasts and deep studies of the Torah. Put the two together, and the Wicked One is cut off, not the army of the dry bones of Joseph and Judah, which resurrect at the same moment the beast believes he's achieved a never-ending kingdom.
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The word of the LORD came again to me saying, “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. (Ezek 37:15-23)
So the two sticks become one. Judah draws near. Joseph’s mission of evangelizing the nations is recognized by Judah. The unique leadership role of Israel among the nations is recognized through Judah’s Torah observance.
Both “houses” return to the mountains of Israel with their “companions.” Judah draws near to his brother, who resembles the nations, yet has not lost his purity and holiness...nor has he lost the resurrection testimony of Yeshua. Joseph follows Judah to the feasts.
And this is why the dragon makes war. He wants to keep the brothers apart. The combined stick of the Torah and the testimony defeat him. They are two faithful witnesses. It is said that Leviathan, the great sea serpent, who envelops the whole world, will become a meal for the righteous at the end of days. They will recognize that their roles have no air between them. They are one even though two. They are the same message. Clean is not twisted into unclean, nor unclean into clean. They are one completely kosher testimony and commandment.
We will elaborate more on this in the Shabbat livestream at 4:00 pm Eastern, 12/26/20, especially because the date is approaching on this coming Sunday, lending clarity to Pharaoh's connection to Leviathan:
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In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, ‘My River is my own; I have made it for myself.’ But I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales; I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, and all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales. (Ezek 29:1-4)
