A revelation of the heart of Yeshua

by Daniel Yahav

When we study the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob, we find an amazing revelation of the heart of Yeshua towards his brothers in the flesh, the people of Israel, and in particular the Messianic body who are his brothers in the flesh and in the spirit. Joseph is a picture and a shadow of our Lord. The parallel between them is amazing. Both were loved by their father. Jacob loved Joseph above all his brothers as he was the first born son of Rachel, his most beloved wife. Yeshua is also the beloved son of his heavenly father. Twice do we hear God the father declaring from heaven "This is my beloved son…".

Both were sent to the sons of Israel. Joseph was sent by his father Israel to visit all his sons who were shepherding their flocks in Dothan, and Yeshua said to the Canaanite woman that he was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. Both were willing to go as their father sent them. Both were betrayed by Judah. It was Judah the brother of Joseph who came up with the idea to sell Joseph to the foreigners who were on their way to Egypt. Also Yeshua was betrayed by Judas. Both were sold for a price of a slave. Yeshua for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave (Ex.21:32), and Joseph for 20, because the traders sold him later on in the slave market in Egypt for 30 pieces of silver. Both were sold to gentiles. Jesus to the Romans and Joseph to the Egyptians. Both ended up in the pit. Joseph in prison and Yeshua in the grave. Both rose to the highest place. Yeshua to the right hand of the father and Joseph to be second only to Pharaoh. Both started their ministry at the age of 30. Both of them went through this difficult way in order to save their family. Both were not recognized by their brothers, but were mistakenly thought as being foreigners. The brothers of Josef thought he was an Egyptian. The people of Israel still consider Yeshua as being a "Christian false god", not understanding that he is the promised Messiah, son of David from the tribe of Judah. All of this parallel is to show us that Joseph is a prophetic picture of Yeshua. When we now look at what happened when the time came for Joseph to reveal himself to his brothers, we get a revelation of the heart of Yeshua towards his brothers in the flesh in general, and towards his spiritual brothers in particular. Joseph was a great administrator. He organized the entire nation of Egypt during the seven good years and gathered and stored an enormous amount of food to save the nation during the seven years of hunger. Yet, as great of an administrator he was, we still find him right there, were the food was being sold to the people who came from all around to buy food.

Why was he sitting right there in the heat of the desert, with all the noise and hassle of the people with their camels and donkeys who came to buy food, with all the smell of sweat and the flies which were drawn to the droppings of the animals?! He could have easily assigned someone else to do this for him.

The reason is that he was eagerly waiting for his brothers to come and bow before him, as God had revealed to him in his dreams when we was only 17. When they finally came, he put them through a test, calling them spies. The brothers were shocked and Reuben the oldest, told them that this trouble had came upon them because of what they had done to their brother Joseph. This thing they had done, had been sitting on their conscious all those years. He had no idea that this Egyptian ruler was actually Joseph himself and that he understood every word they spoke. When Joseph heard them, he was moved, and could not contain himself. The bible says that he went to another room and cried. Nobody noticed it, not his brothers nor the Egyptians. I believe this is a revelation of the heart of Yeshua today. Yeshua is eagerly waiting for his brothers in the flesh, the nation of Israel, to come to him. The time is drawing near. The bible also says that Israel will go through a time of testing. It is called the "tribulation of Jacob". Interestingly, when Joseph put his brothers into trouble, the word used in the Hebrew bible is ”T’sara” (Gen.42:21). The same word is used in Jeremiah 30:7 to describe the future tribulation of Jacob in the end-time. Then, when the brothers of Joseph came down to Egypt for the second time, bringing Benjamin, the full brother of Josef with them, Joseph had to rush out of the room again, as he could not contain his tears. Again no one noticed this. Benjamin is a picture of the body of Yeshua in Israel today, who are his full brothers both in flesh and in Spirit, just like Benjamin was Josef's full brother.

Dear friends, I believe that as you show your love to the "Benjamin", the younger brothers of Yeshua, The Messianic body in Israel, through your prayers and support, you bless the heart of Yeshua, who is eagerly waiting for the time to be revealed to all of his brothers, and for the time when His people will say "Baruch Haba beShem Adonai" - "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".