Joseph and Benjamin - Part II

We pick up where we left off in part 1, ready now to explore a most glorious prophetic allegory! When Benjamin is finally brought to Egypt, Joseph sees him before the dinner.

Benjamin was very dear to Joseph even though his younger and only full brother was just an infant when he saw him last - if indeed he had ever laid eyes on him. This story is so awesomely revealing! Dwell on what Joseph told Benjamin for a moment. "May God be gracious to you, my son." Benjamin is a Bride type - and hasn't God been gracious to an extent beyond what's able to be comprehended? Pause to reflect on what you're really being given a look at in this esoteric account. What a time it will be for the Bridegroom, whom we see here being dramatized by Joseph as an actor on a stage. He's so overcome with emotion that He retreats to his chamber to weep privately! When the Bridegroom has stolen his Bride away and receives her to Himself, what intensity of emotion, what profound joy will be felt! The Song of Solomon conveys poetically something of the passion of their relationship. Have you come to know this love, friend?

The Cup of Divination

The 43rd and 44th chapters of Genesis are filled with intrigue as they tell the story of how Joseph sets Benjamin up and uses him to ensnare the other brothers. The situation revolves around Joseph's silver cup, a cup used for "divination." That this cup is what was hidden and discovered in Benjamin's sack is important.

By using Benjamin, Judah was even very particularly snared because he was surety for his brother.

This engaging drama speaks to me of how the 144k will be caught between a rock (THE ROCK) and a hard place, as the expression goes. Just as Benjamin was the "hook" that ensnared Judah, the Bride will be the means to secure those who have been made accountable for Y'shua's blood. Just as the setup was accomplished by means of Joseph's silver cup being found in Benjamin's sack, it will be the discovery of Y'shua's cup being in the Bride's possession that will bring the brothers humbly before the Lord of Heaven.

We can glean some insight about what will be found in the Bride's possession from the attributes of Joseph's cup.

Silver is a metal that signifies redemption, so Benjamin's being found in possession of it links the Bride to her Bridegroom's redemptive work.

This cup was used for divination, and it's Joseph's cup. Although some conclude from this that Joseph must have been practicing the Occult arts according to the ways of the Egyptians who worshiped other gods, that seems unlikely, especially when projected through the type and applied to Y'shua Himself. What need is there of some counterfeit in the presence of the genuine? Remember, it was through Joseph that dreams were interpreted, and those interpretations were given by God. The name that was given to him by Pharaoh, Zaphenath-paneah, means, "the revealer of secrets." His cup of divination represents the ability to learn and reveal divine secrets. That it's this cup of divination that was hidden and discovered to be in Benjamin's possession affords us some insight into why the 144,000 sons of Israel will become jealous of the Bride, because they will demonstrate their certain knowledge of secrets. The 144,000 sons of Israel will know with full assurance that the secrets revealed to the Bride as they engage in their redemptive mission is legitimate, as if they actually had Joseph's silver cup or wore the mantle of the prophets of old as they divine from the God of their Fathers.

Because this cup is Joseph's, which is to say, Y'shua's, let's compare the cup that He drank from at the last supper. It was a cup of promise that will be fulfilled when antitypical "Benjamin" is with "Joseph" in "Egypt."

It was also a cup of a covenant, a disposition, contract, will or testament.

In a disposition there is something to be transferred or bestowed, some property or privilege. I already noted the redemptive aspect of silver and we find it here in that the blood being poured out was the actual price of redemption.

The cup of His blood being poured out was redemptive so it is, at least in a figure, a silver cup. The Bride has likewise been given a mission of redemption. It's a great honor and responsibility, for the cup of the new covenant in His blood has a burden that goes with it. Those who drink of this cup pour out their lives and even their blood as He did His. They are His and their blood is His. This is the cup Y'shua asked His Father to remove from Him while praying so intensely in the garden of Gethsemane. This the cup that Y'shua defended shortly after that, from Peter, who, being led of the carnal mind would have, in ignorance, denied him the drinking of it, with his sword. This cup is the same one he had discussed earlier with the wife and sons of Zebedee.

That cup is as Joseph's cup, the one found in Benjamin's sack. Martyrdom is part of that redemptive work. This willingness of the Bride to drink of this cup is a testimony of sincere love.

Consider the following passage.

If you meditate upon the meaning of this passage you may glean some valuable insight. There's more here than I can or will attempt to say - and I don't pretend to understand it all - but it's a message for the Bride. In the last days, She will be a precious few who will not be condemned with the world when great tribulation breaks forth. She alone understands the Lord's words, symbolized by the breaking of bread. She alone is willing at the first to drink of His cup. Recognizing the body of the Lord has to do with understanding how the Bride is separate from the Body and how the Bride is taken out of it. Worthiness is the issue. The wearer's robe is the symbolic factor in picturing worthiness, whether or not it is made white in the blood of the Lamb.

This collateral study in three parts is strongly recommended.

• The Testimony of Gethsemane - Pt 1 of 3
• Separation in the Olive Press Place * T of G - Pt 2
• Your Final Exam * T of G - Pt 3

Joseph's silver cup of divination will be discovered in Benjamin's sack by the unnamed steward, a type of the holy spirit. This is a "God thing," through and through.

This gripping drama in the 44th chapter of Genesis reveals how the Lord will accomplish His magnificent plan. What is concealed and revealed in Romans 11 is acted out for our instruction through the shadowy means of prophetic type.

The Prophetic Scene and its Timing is Revealed

If you haven't yet read the study explaining the brilliant prophetic plan from Romans 11, What Will Their Acceptance Be But Life From the Dead?, you may want to take this opportunity before continuing here. You should have confidence in the knowledge that every resurrection is triggered by a key faction of Israel coming to accept Y'shua haMashiach. It's a simple truth yet an amazing eye-opening insight! The first in sequence is going to be seen as through the lens of the narrative of Genesis 45!

This scenario was the first of its kind to be revealed to me. It was my entry point into an astounding series of similar discoveries, every one of which revolves around the commissioning of the 144k and the theft of the Bride! The connecting thread by which this wondrous tapestry is woven together is - chronology. By the grace of Yahweh, the timing of key events is being made known relative to the Famine week.

Since hearing is of the Lord on an individual basis, I can only ask the Lord to let those hear who have ears to hear.

According to the words of the prophet Isaiah:

The end has been made known from the beginning and, in a reflection of that order, we find keys to the book of Revelation within the book of Genesis!

As this precious testimony unfolds, Joseph has concealed his identity from his brethren. He's going to reveal himself in a picture of Y'shua as He reveals His identity to His own brethren, the first faction in sequence, those sons of Israel numbering 12,000 from each tribe. All Joseph's brothers have been brought together before him in Egypt. Simeon has been restored, signifying that most essential element that Romans 10:17 tells us is the prerequisite of faith, hearing. Here is the revealing!

Y'shua will become known to Israel just as it is recorded. This is the scene and those are the words they will hear! I believe they will already be familiar with that passage, having a vivid awareness of the historical context. Imagine how amazed they will be when they actually see Him and hear Y'shua speaking to them without an "Egyptian interpreter"! Glory! What a privileged view beyond the veil! The long awaited aceptance of their Messiah is pictured so simply and beautifully in this long hidden but now open scene of their ancestor's recognition of brother Joseph! Subsequent to this incredible event the Bride will then be received by her Bridegroom, because their acceptance is the trigger for the resurrection!

What happens when Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers is the subject of Revelation 7.

The passage appearing below is an interactive presentation. Hover your mouse cursor over the lines of this passage (or, if you're using mobile or a tablet, tap on a line) and meditate on the highlighted lines that appear. This reveals the emphasis that's placed upon Genesis 45:6 as the symmetrical thematic pattern pivots through it. Although it might have seemed to you (like it had to me for so long) that verse 6 was of relatively little significance, both the timing and the harvest activities are really very important on the prophetic level.

When Joseph marked the time relative to the famine week he knew when it began and also how long it would last because their situation was just as it had been revealed to him through Pharaoh's dreams about nine years earlier.

When you read Joseph's reference to plowing and reaping, the harvest allegory should come to mind. Spiritual truth is being communicated in agricultural terms.

You have to know that this is not being called to our attention for no reason. The Author has even gone so far as to set it as the focal pivot of the thematic structure. Something significant is happening in the Lord's harvest field with the crops that are His people! The announcement is made that there will not be any more plowing or harvesting for another five years. Plowing prepares the ground before planting for the fruitfulness of the crop, and harvest is a reference to resurrection, of course. What we are so cleverly being "not told" in Joseph's reference of verse 6 is that it's right then at that very time a season of harvest and also of plowing, the activities that were being paused! There is context within which this must be interpreted.

The brothers have just fulfilled their commission to fetch Benjamin from the land of Canaan and present him before Joseph (Genesis 42:34). Consider that activity in agricultural terms where they are the farmers who faithfully brought in the crops from the field for the landowner. (You can compare their effort to the contrasting one of the vine-growers of the parable in Luke 20:9-16.) In the prophetic signification, Israel is fulfilling a mission that began almost 2 millennia earlier with 12 men from Galilee (from the land of Benjamin). What is widely known as "the great commission" may come to mind.

There is some complexity to all this but as I understand it, the farmers who will complete that mission will number 12 thousand from each Tribe. How this will come about is according to the dynamic of the plan that's so brilliantly concealed and revealed in Romans 11! It's their corporate moment of turning from rejecting their messiah to accepting him that triggers the "life from the dead," which will be that literal resurrection by which the Bride-Benjamin is brought to Heaven-Egypt before the Bridegroom Y'shua-Joseph!

That's a harvest, of barley, and yet there is another commission given, with an implicit plowing that produces another harvest in short order, of wheat!

Let me ask you something, and I want you to think on this. When this prophetic scenario is fulfilled, do you think the timing relative to the Famine week will vary from the foreshadowing type? There's every reason to conclude that it will not. This is not being revealed just to mess with us and throw us off track. There's a consistency to this that will become evident as you see these prophetic scenario's opening up to reveal their secrets. I am assured that some will know the times like Noah knew the times - and this is an example of how they will know.

As the narrative continues, the timing is called to our attention once more.

There is something we should note in the expression of verse 12, that they can see that it is his mouth that is speaking to them. Joseph was no longer speaking to them in Egyptian through an interpreter. He was speaking directly to them in his native tongue, their native Hebrew. This revelation, together with the recent events and the special witness of Benjamin, convinces them that he is who he claims to be. What an inspiration this record is to me!

Joseph singles Benjamin out as one who has eyes that see. The Benjamin-Bride knows who Joseph-Y'shua is, being already very intimately acquainted. Joseph-Y'shua is revealing himself, opening the eyes of his brothers and making known his identity through the family relationship. In this heavenly chamber, the Bride's radiant presence in her newly white robed and glorified condition will bear striking witness to Y'shua's claim!

Even in the drama of the moment's heightened emotion there is some essential business that receives immediate attention. Joseph gives another commission. His brothers are sent out to bear testimony to Jacob and to bring him quickly to Egypt. In the coming reality, they are to tell Joseph's father Jacob-Israel about all the honor accorded Y'shua in heaven, how He was exalted to the right hand of the throne of God (and everything in the book of Hebrews about his being greater than the angels and the everlasting high priest). They must also testify about everything they will have seen during their visits to heaven, which certainly includes the presence of the glorified Bride. The 144k will carry out their mission and return with Jacob. He and those with him will be specially provided for and protected for a season, their salvation assured.

The awesome record of Genesis 45 goes on to disclose what happens after the commissioning. It's an emotional scene!

Wow! I want to be there! What a time of rejoicing. The yom tov of Hag HaMatzot, the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, will be celebrated like it has never been celebrated before!

Overseeing and directing this crucial mission, the heavenly Father advises Y'shua about the specifics. They are subsequently carried out and the mission gets underway.

To assure the success of their mission, the brothers are dispatched with fit provisions. They receive:

• ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt
• ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey
• some wagons from the land of Egypt
• new clothing

Now, consider how Jacob responds to their testimony.

Praise the Lord for his patience and mercy! Their report stunned Jacob but he became convinced upon hearing all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them - and on seeing the wagons. Those were some very special vehicles, indeed. When the spirit of their father Jacob revived, this is the indication that those of his offspring that he represents come to accept Y'shua as their Messiah. Israel says, "I'm convinced! My son Y'shua is still alive!" Oh, what a tremendous realization!

Observe the changing reference to their father in the narrative. "...the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 Then Israel said..." This directs our attention to the meaning of the changing of his name.

When the spirit of their father Jacob revives, and Israel says, "I'm convinced," his struggle with God and with men will be over and he will have prevailed! Glory! How awesome! After all the many years that have passed, in a brief span of time comes two waves or phases of Israel's restoration! What an honor and privilege to be able to grasp the prophetic import of this passage, to see this coming reality!

Let's consider the esoteric meaning of the provisions for their journey. The 10 donkeys with the best things of Egypt must be some of the treasures of heaven borne by angels, the exact nature of which I can't even imagine. The 10 female donkeys bearing the grain and bread and other provisions for their journey speaks to me of The Word that will sustain them, also borne by angels of a particular class. The clothing they were given was Egyptian clothing. Jacob and his family were going to be brought to Goshen in Egypt, and they needed to be specially outfitted because that's a kind of special heavenly domain prepared for their preservation. Clothing indicates the status and state of the body itself. You'll see an example of this in the Iron Gate study, which is next up in the directory listing for, When Cometh That Thief in the Night, and also in the study on the Twenty-First Chapter of John.

Here's something that may make you absolutely giddy with joy and get you up on your feet, dancing and praising the Lord! The ten brothers received a single change of garments for the mission. They were already suited up for the realm of three spacial dimensions plus one of time. Their single change of garments extended their range, equipping them supernaturally. (sealed- protected from the 4 winds blowing... Revelation 7:1-3) Benjamin received five changes of garments. This illustrates the Bride's glorified condition and a resurrection body that extends their range through 5 dimensions, dimensional realms or heavenly domains! (Of related interest - 1 John 3:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 * Thematic Symmetry of 1 Corinthians 15 - Interactive)

Now, what about the wagons? These had a role in convincing Jacob that his sons' testimony about Joseph was true! The word used here for, wagons, is Strongs #5699. 'agalah, ag-aw-law'; from the same as H5696; something revolving, i.e. a wheeled vehicle:--cart, chariot, wagon. "Egyptian" carts will transport their precious cargo to heaven so this is not going to be a convoy of hay wagons, Hummers or U-Haul trailers. Have you ever read about Ezekiel's vision of the throne and wheeled vehicle? That's what Joseph's "Egyptian" chariot is like!

• Ezekiel 1 - Interactive
• Heaven's Vehicles - UFOs - Fake and Genuine
• The Kingdom Viaduct

Now, when Jacob's spirit revived he said, "I will go and see him before I die!" This makes it plain that they aren't being transformed in resurrection. Remaining in his temporal body of flesh, Jacob will be transported in the agalah convoy to a special place called Goshen, which means "drawing near." It is a drawing near to Y'shua and perhaps a near-heaven realm, like what's being called in todays lingo, a pocket universe. This sanctuary represents the best of the land of Egypt where they can enjoy the fat of the land. This is no earthly place with natural access but one that is perhaps related to the garden of Eden, isolated and with guarded access. The beloved occupants will be kept safe and out of the dragon's reach, as according to the account in Revelation 12.

When Jacob's spirit revives we know that, according to the Romans 11:15, there must be an accompanying resurrection. The next appointed harvest after the barley at Pesah is for the wheat at Shavuot. The event is pictured in Revelation 7.

Praise the Lord! Are your eyes opening to see glorious sights?

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