Have already talked about Adam and Enosh — the two fathers who head the biblical genealogies and whose names mean ‘mankind’. And after today’s Torah reading (פרשת ויגש Parashat Wayyiggash), which recounts the reunion of Joseph and his family, I began to see how this reading not only ties into the whole panorama of Messiah (as the rabbis realized) but also was typed by Adam and Enosh.
“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” (Zech 13:9)
Judah and Joseph
You know the story. Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel, and each produced her firstborn. Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn through Leah but he forfeited his right to the crown (Gn 49:3-4; 1Chron 5:1-2), as also did Simeon and Levi (Gn 49:5-7), which left Judah as heir. But Judah had a rival, namely Joseph the first born of Jacob's beloved Rachel. Thus, say the sages of the Talmud, and as I’ve quoted elsewhere (Sotah 10b):
Thus it was Judah who was behind sending (Rv 19:13) “a vesture dipped in blood” to his father Jacob (Gn 37:31-32), “And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.” And as a consequence, just as Adam had been forced out of the garden Gn 3:23), so Judah wound up separated from his family (Gn 38:1): “And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.” The rabbis note that Judah couldn’t bear their knowledge of his guilt and that they blamed him for their sin.
Judah had the most to lose from this upstart Joseph, and therefore it was Judah who had been the principle instigator in the effort to do away with Joseph. And after the intervention of Reuben (who seemed not to have held any bitterness) it was Judah who said to his brothers (Gn 37:26-27), “What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.”
But God was dealing with the patriarchs of Israel and so, just as Judah would have deprived Jacob of the firstborn of his beloved Rachel, so God deprived Judah of his firstborn (Gn 38:7): “And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.”
And just as Judah would sell his brother into slavery, so it was Judah who rose to the occasion and spoke up for Benjamin — interestingly addressing Joseph in the first verse of our Sidrah as אדני ’ădōnî “my lord” (Gn 44:18) “Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.”
Then (as the ArtScroll Stone Editon Chumash puts it) “Judah offered himself as a slave — not realizing that he was speaking to the very person whom he had once sold into slavery” (Gn 44:33-34), “Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord [אדני ’ădōnî]; and let the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.”
In the eyes of Israel Joseph was dead, just as Judah explained (Gn 44:20), “We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.”
And so the twelve patriarchs of Israel — and thus all Israel — was doomed until Judah and Joseph were reconciled. If Joseph had not been willing to suffer in righteousness for his brother’s sin, he could not have been their savior in the physical famine then nor set the pattern for the messiah to come (Ezek 36:28-29), and the two dominant forces in Israel would have been pitted against each other as Jacob and Esau. And if Judah had not been willing to take responsibility for his sins, he would not have retained the Scepter.
The rabbis say that among the most meaningful moments of the Torah is when Joseph finally revealed himself (Gn 45:3), “I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?” And (Gn 45:4-5), “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.” At that moment everything became clear — all made sense — just as it will with the coming of Messiah. Everything will fall into place.
Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David
Amazing how Christians seem to have missed the meaning of it all, barely grasping the significance of Messiah ben David (Mt 1:1) they totally miss Messiah ben Joseph (Mt 1:21). I suggest that the Pharisees were not so dense — that they already knew of the distinction — which explains their reaction in the following:
Initially his enemies (Ps 110:1) were his brethren (Gn 37:8; Lk 19:14; Jn 1:11) who were reconciled to him when David through his ancestor Judah addressed Messiah ben Joseph as אדני ’ădōnî "my lord" (Gn 44:33-34).
Then there are those “suffering messiah” prophecies in Isaiah — Jews typically apply them to the whole nation of Israel, as in (Is 49:3), “And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But in the rabbinic literature the suffering servant is seen as mostly Messiah — Messiah ben Joseph to be exact. In fact a great deal of parable and mythology has arisen in this regard, but enough is there that if Jesus was the Messiah then when he returns and says, “I am Joseph” — his brethren the Jews will understand completely. The first messianic role to be fulfilled was that of Messiah ben Joseph which was to begin 4000 years after Adam’s creation and last 2000 years until the coming of Messiah ben David. There are many ancient references and much Jewish allegory. Some examples:
The sense is that all the while till the millennial Sabbath dawns the Messiah toils just as his Father toils (Jn 5:17), “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” Raphael Patai quotes at length on this aspect of the suffering servant — as represented by Messiah ben Joseph suffering with and awaiting the redemption of Israel:
פסיקתא רבתי פרק לו סימן גאמרו] שבוע שבן דוד בא בה מביאים קורות של ברזל ונותנים לו על צוארו עד שנכפפה קומתו (והיה) [יהיא] צועק יבוכה ועולה קולו אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם כמה יהא כוחי וכמה יהא רוחי למרום וכמה יהא נשמתי וכמה יהיו איבריי לא בשר ודם אני על אותה השעה היה דוד בוכה ואומר יבש כחרם כחי [וגו'] (תהלים כ"ב ט"ז) באותה השעה אמר לי הקדוש ברוך הוא אפרים משיח צדקי כבר קיבלת עליך מששת ימי בראשית עכשיו יהא צער שלך כצער שלי שמיום שעלה נבוכזנצר הרשע והחריב את ביתי ושרף את היכלי והגלה את בניי לבין האומות העולם חייך וחיי ראשי כלא (הכנסתי) [כנסתי] לכסא שלי ואם אין אתה מאמין ראה טל שעלה על ראשי שנאמר שראשי נמלא טל קוצותי רסיסי לילה (שה"ש שיר השירום ה' ב') באותה השעה אמר לפניו רבוני של עולם עכשיו נתיישבה דעתי דיו לעבד שיהא כרבוThey said: In the septenary in which the Son of David comes they will bring iron beams and put them upon his neck until his body bends and he cries and weeps, and his voice rises up into the Heights, and he says before Him: “Master of the World! How much can my strength suffer? How much my spirit? How much my soul? And how much my limbs? Am I not but flesh and blood? ...”
Now consider this short excerpt from the introduction by Rabbi Nathan Sternhartz (1780-1845) to Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav's story:
The exile of the Shekhina actually began before the creation of the world, and Adam should have remedied it by causing all the worlds to ascent to their proper places and by revealing the kingship of God instantly in the hour of the creation of the world, just as His kingship will be revealed soon at the coming of our Messiah, [may he come] quickly in our days. But he became negligent by eating from the Tree of Knowledge, which is, as told in the aforementioned story, like unto the Viceroy who failed the test and ate of the aftergrowth, and therefy caused damage in all the worlds. And the Shekhina again descended and went down below among the Other [Evil] Side ... (Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts, p. 106)
All these parables mesh with and help us understand the biblical imagery. Thus the celestial Jerusalem (Gal 4:26; Rv 12:1-5) is a mother and not a virgin, whereas there is a daughter who is a virgin (2K 19:21; Is 1:8-9; Is 10:32; Is 16:1; Is 37:22; Is 52:2; Is 62:11; Jer 4:11; Jer 4:31; Jer 6:2; Jer 6:22-23; Jer 8:19; Mic 1:13; Mic 4:7-13; Zeph 3:14; Zech 2:7-13; Zech 9:9; Ps 9:14; Lam 1:6; Lam 2:1-18; Lam 4:22). If the celestial Jerusalem is the mother of the Messiah (Rv 12:1-5) and of us all (Gal 4:26), and if God is the Father of the Messiah and of us all (1Pet 1:3; Rm 15:6; 1Cor 8:6; 2Cor 1:3; 2Cor 11:31; Ep 4:6; etc.), then the virgin daughter of Zion is not God’s wife. She is, as in the rabbinical parable, the daughter of the King (God) and espoused to the Viceroy (Messiah) — just as in the New Testament!
Note the following (Mal 2:10-11): “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.” Note the contrast — here it talks of the daughter of a strange god — and elsewhere of the virgin daughter of Zion — is not the daughter of Zion also the daughter of the God of Israel?
I am reminded of Leon Podles' book (The Church Impotent: The feminization of Christianity, 1999) wherein it was shown how in nearly all the world’s great stories the hero (a man) must first pass through various ordeals and endure suffering before he obtains the prize and, with it, his bride. Women, Podles notes, achieve these things through childbearing, whereas men (who do not bear children) must prove themselves. Interesting how this applies to the Messianic office. Adam is enthroned late on the sixth day in order to precide over the creation (at which time he is Lord of the Sabbath). Yet before this can happen on the millennial scale he must first leave his Father (Gn 3:23; Gn 2:22-25; Mt 19:5; Mk 19:7; Ep 5:31) and make his way in the broader world — which is typed by another prototype Man — namely Enosh. All very fascinating.
Thus Messiah too would be rejected by and suffer at the hands of his brothers, and then be brought to life again and lifted up to high authority (Ps 110:1) over the kingdom of this age such that his brothers will indeed one day bow down before him and accept his rule. If what God had wanted to do was picture “the Incarnation”, then he would have sent an avatar of himself to dwell among the family of Jacob where he himself would receive the visions (Gn 37:5-11) and thence the birthright (Gn 49:22-26; 1Chron 5:1-2). He didn’t. Rather we read (Gn 30:22-24), “And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.” God gave her the son — but he was Israel’s son.
Now the goal of the Covenant (Rm 10:4; τελος ... νομου ‘the end of the law’) was to produce sons (Lk 20:36; της αναστασεως υιοι ‘children of the resurrection’) — it was, after all, a marriage covenant (Is 54:5; Jer 3:14) — and its firstborn of whom Joseph provided a type would be Messiah (Jer 31:9; Col 1:18; πρωτοτοκος εκ των νεκρων ‘the firstborn from the dead’) — (1Cor 15:20; απαρχη των κεκοιμημενων ‘the firstfruits of them that slept’) — (Rm 8:29; πρωτοτοκον εν πολλοις αδελφοις ‘the firstborn among many brethren’). A man would become a son of God.
But the Trinitarians (and other Incarnationists) say that first God had to become a son of man — they will not allow that a brother in Israel began “to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gn 4:26) and was actually heard such that he overcame death (Hb 5:7-10). In essence they say (Lk 19:14), “We will not have this man to reign over us.” No, they are perfectly willing to do obeissance to a Divinity — but a son of Israel who arose to became a son of God via the Covenant of the Resurrection (Mt 22:31-32) — no way!
And thus Messiah is both ben Adam and ben Enosh — he is the son of Man (בן אדם ben ’ādām) appointed to rule on the Earth (Mt 12:8; Mk 2:27-28; Lk 6:5; Rv 3:21), as also the son of Man (בן אנוש ben ’ĕnôš) who must first suffer many things (Mt 17:12; Mk 8:31; Mk 9:12; Mk 9:22). Messiah will reconcile Adam who was sent forth from the Garden to till the ground from which he was taken (Gn 3:23) and Enosh with whom it was begun (Gn 4:26) “to call upon the name of the LORD.”
The same reconciliation occurs between Judah who inherits Adam's crown and Joseph who becomes David’s lord unto salvation. That rivalry continues and its resolution is the subject of countless prophecies (Is 11:12-13; Jer 31:31-33; Ezek 37:15-28; etc.). The sages equate David with Adam — in fact some see in the word Adam (אדם) an acronym for Adam (אדם) who came at the beginning, David (דוד) who reigned at mid-week, and Messiah (משיח) who will be crowned King of Israel just before the Millennial Sabbath dawns. Thus just as Adam was Lord of that first Sabbath, so Messiah ben David will be Lord of the Millennial Sabbath:
In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. (Zech 12:8)
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. (Zech 12:9-14)
14 December 2002