Week 12: Genesis 42-50

"How can I go up to my father and my brother be not with me?" 

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Hi folks, welcome back to another episode. Hope you have a great week. Um, I did. We lost uh lost my final um interrenal soccer game, so I am no longer my sister's keeper. Um now I'm everyone's keeper, as the song entails. My but uh sadly that era is done. But we are we're we're getting into the Joseph era, we're back in it, and I love it. Watched Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the movie with my roommates this week, and it is a fever dream, folks. It was truly writ watched and and written and and seen. It gives 1970s, but Donnie Osmond sings great in it. And shout out to Donnie, faithful member, great guy. Not just because he's a member, but just because overall, great guy. I know the woman swooned over him, but I don't know if anybody who listens to this podcast um is old enough. Maybe my grandparents are. Shout out to to Jim and Sandy. Don't know if they listen, but shout out nonetheless. Um, but we're gonna, but actually, as I was watching it, it some parts did kind of come to my mind even as I was watching the movie. So we'll talk about that. But let's first and foremost just let's remember what was happening last week, right? So Joseph, he's he's you know, literally sold by his brothers, amazingly horrible, and he goes, he keeps falling, he goes literally far down, down, down, as far as a person could possibly go. And then now he's able to interpret the pharaoh's dreams, the rulers of Egypt's dreams, and that makes him, you know, second in command. He is running, he is saving these people right now, right? And um, let's just read the Come Follow Me um thing for this week, which is it had been about 22 years since Joseph brothers sold him into slavery. And so this this is the question for me whether or not Benjamin was alive when Joseph left. And I've really been thinking about it, and we thought about it as we were watching the as Joseph was sold, and I just don't know. I do not know. I don't know if his mother was still alive, I don't know if Benjamin was alive yet, or if this happened after. I don't know. There's nothing in the text to indicate it, except for obviously the line of narration that suggests that this happened before, because it was before they settled that Rachel died and that Benjamin was born. So it does make me think that maybe Benjamin was born at this point. Maybe he was just super young, like really, really young when Joseph was sold. Um, maybe his mother was still there, like we talked about last week, but but the point is we just don't know, but I would say that Joseph didn't get that much time with Benjamin, his only blood brother. And I think that becomes important to the story later. But okay, Joseph had suffered many trials, including false accusations and imprisonment. When he finally saw his brothers again, Joseph was the governor of all Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh. He could have easily taken revenge of his brothers, and considering what they had done to Joseph, that might even seem understandable. And yet Joseph forgave them. Not only that, but he helped them see divine purpose in his suffering. God meant it unto good, he told them, because it put him in position to save all his father's household. In many ways, Joseph was like Jesus Christ. Even though our sins caused him great suffering, he offers forgiveness, delivering all of us from a fate for our worse than famine. Whether we need to receive forgiveness or extend it, at some points we all need to do both. Joseph's give example points to us to the Savior, the true source of healing and reconciliation. And I just was thinking about that today as I went to the temple and all these things, which is Joseph is truly the biggest example of Jesus Christ. We all are imperfect in so many ways. We betray Jesus and his commandments. We're all imperfect to greater extents in our lives, of course, but we're all imperfect and we all ultimately betray him. And yet he forgives us all freely. He weeps with us because he's so excited to see us, as Joseph does with his brothers. Joseph weeps so many times in this. Um as he sees his brothers and realizes that they have changed and that they come back to him, and he just forgives them and he says, you know what? He doesn't even talk about the past, except for saying, you know what, this was all part of God's plan. And I think that just really hit me as something that maybe the savior would all say to us that in our mortal lives we stick in the past so much, like, oh, at least me especially. I'm like, I shouldn't have done this. Ugh, I'm the worst. Like, I just I remember all of my past mistakes and how imperfect I've always been. And I'm just like, I'm so sorry. But Jesus and God rarely talk about the past, they always point us to the future. They talk about the past to be like, you know, I was always there, or God, this was, you know, you know, even though you messed up, like you did mess up, but I forgive you, and that's and you can do better, right? When Jesus forgave the people and performed the miracles that when he was on the earth, he just says, you know what, go and sin no more. Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Or, you know, because of your faith hath made thee whole, go. He points to the future. He talks about the present healing because of the person's actions, because of the reconciliation that they're providing with their faith, but then he says, Go. And and let's let's you know, follow me. Let's talk about our future together rather than focusing on our past. And I'm so grateful that Jesus Christ points us to it. And I think Joseph does that as well. So, yeah, um, one of the one of the first parts um that the Come follow me does is compare Joseph to Jesus, and um, we'll do that as we go throughout the narrative. Um, we talked a little bit about this last week, right? That he was the most beloved son, um, like that Judah betrayed him, um and and a lot of other things, but but we'll and so we'll go that, and and then we'll talk about also this forgiveness brings healing, which is so important, and then we'll talk about the prophetic blessings, which the Comfhalemy mentions, and then finding meaning in our trials, which I think is I we talked about that last week, right? And I think that that's kind of what we covered last week, and so we'll talk about that a little bit this week, but just a reminder of what we talked about last week, which is no matter if our trials are caused by our own problems, by just natural consequences, or by the actions of others, Christ and Heavenly Father can consecrate them for our good, make them holy. Um, it's what I always think about when Christ changes the dirty, gross water where people would have washed their hands, or not even wash their hands, just gross, dirty water, because that's what it was, into wine, into the best wine. And that's just what I think he can do in our lives. Um, is that he can take this gross muddled mess and just make it good and make it the best. Um, even though it doesn't seem like that's something he can do, but we've been reminded again and again nothing is too impossible for the Lord. And so we need to come to him in our trials. Does that mean he will take them away? No, I was just reading in the Book of Mormon this week that, you know, the the people of Limhi prospered by degrees. It didn't go away. The the burdens were lightened, but not did not go away. Whereas the other one, you know, the the people of Alma, sorry, yeah, the people of Alma were saved instantly. And so it just looks different for other people for a myriad of reasons. And um what we can do is to not add to other people's trials as best we can to help lighten their load, to he uh to be with them as Jesus Christ would be, and then ultimately to um to just love and and we can see that. So that's what I would say. And then he talks about a seer shall the Lord raise up, um, in the Joseph Smith translation, um which I yeah, we'll talk about that as well. So pointing to Joseph Smith. So Joseph is in power, and Joseph's brothers go to Egypt. Why? Because they're starving, and they're like, fine, we're gonna go down. And they don't recognize him, right? Interestingly, here in verse in verses 42, we get the um, we get the moment of the brothers bowing down, right? The same words that have been used, Joseph's dream is fulfilled here, right? And he recognizes him, he says, You are spies, you know. You could be spies, right? But then um he threatens death, right? They've never been spies, but they're not honest men. But they they even self-identify, I think it's interesting. We're 12 brothers, but one's back because uh because our dad couldn't handle if the youngest died. And so that makes me wonder how old is he, right? That's where all these questions come from. But maybe it is just the reality of like I can't lose another son of Rachel, who I loved so much. Um, and I think it's also interesting to remember that these brothers are not just going for their dad or for themselves, right? These are old men, older men, they have families as well that they are needing to provide for, and so um that's probably why they sent them all, because they need to gather all of that grain for all those people, and they've grown and changed um throughout this time, and this is showed as like he says, you know what, like he says, I fear God, which is interesting. So he's telling them, by the way, and they could probably tell that he's is of Hebrew descent, as we'll see later, but he's telling them, listen, I worship the same, or I fear. Maybe he doesn't, you know, maybe this isn't indicative that he's that he's worshiping God, but he's saying, I fear God, I fear Yahweh Elohim, the same God that you do. So, like, you know, if you're honest men, like, but and you know, like, and then and then they're sitting here and then and they're like, you know what, maybe this is happening to us, maybe like he's accusing us, and finally, like, our sins of of you know being bad to Joseph is now upon our head. It's like they're like, karma is getting us, right? Like, and Ruben's like, did I not tell you guys like this would happen to us? Like, you know, and like this is a reckoning for us, like we shouldn't have done this, you know? Like, we're paying the penalty for what we did for our brother. We would not listen, right? Like, they're like, they're seeing they're seeing this, and he sees this and he's crying. He's like, Are you serious? Like, they realize maybe that what they did was wrong for me. Like, I feel like this is the beginning of Joseph being like, Okay, they're different. So Simeon stays there in the place, right? While the other brothers go away to get their to get Benjamin, and and Joseph gives them their money back, which I love, right? Which I think is also a Christ-like character where he's like, Okay, give me your money for e food. I'm actually gonna give you everything back and more in return. But I I'm asking you to do this for me, right? So they go and they do that, and and they go and they're like, Ugh, the what has God done for us? This is great, but also I think they're more afraid than anything, which is like, are you serious? Now we look like we stole the money. Okay, and so they tell them they're like, ugh, Jacob, Jacob, right? Interesting here that this that Israel is not used here. Jacob is used here throughout this whole story, particularly when it refers to Jacob grieving and being sad. Um, and I looked up to see if there was a reason why this was, and scholars think that this is because Israel is used when he's in like his official tribal capacity, and Jacob is used when he's a father, or like being more human. And again, I think that just points back to what we talked about last week and like a couple of weeks ago, which is like God is the God of Jacob, of the human side of Jacob, where he weeps and he's worried and he's like, I can't, like, I know we need to save my family, but like also I can't lose my son. Um, but anyway, they go to him and like Reuben steps in and he says, You know what? I will I will promise I will take care of Benjamin. You can kill both of my sons if Benjamin dies. And and Jacob's like, Ugh, I don't know, like, okay. And he's like, you know what? Yeah, that's that's fine. He's like, but he and he's like, Maybe we shouldn't, but this the family gets so severe that they have to do it. And Israel said, Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother? Oh, I love it! He's like, Wow, why did why did you even mention you had another brother? Like, that was weird. Again, Israel is used here, so maybe not. Maybe the theory of Jacob is not true here. I don't know. It could just be that these are like different stories coming together, so different names for Israel was used. I don't know, but but then Judah said, Come with me, I will be for him, I will be accountable for him. And I love this because Judah is stepping up. Judah, who we know sold Joseph, right? He was Judas in that way. He was the original Judas. Um came up and says, you know what? No, I'm going, I will, I'm, it's me. And this points, right? Obviously, these are also tribal stories that are being brought up and mentioned. So this is pointing out how Judah will ultimately become a leader, right? The tribe of Judah um will will become, will take care of people, will become a leader, right? This is shadows that, um, right, and so his quality of leadership leading to the the leadership of his tribe, but also the change that I think he has. And so, you know, they ultimately go down, and Joseph saw them, and they're like, you know, they're gonna they're gonna dine with me. And they're afraid, but they they go and he says, you know what, don't be afraid. It was God that gave you that stuff. And then Simeon came. Um, and they bowed before him once again, right? So the twice, which is interesting, because Joseph had two dreams and they bowed before him twice. So a little bit more fulfillment. He looked upon Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this, you know, is this your younger brother? And he said, he hurried out. He was so overcome with his love for his brother. I mean, he hasn't seen this man for 22 years. And like I said, Benjamin's probably younger, right? And so he's like, he's so overcome he has to leave. He's like, uh, he's sobbing. And they're like, okay, he has to leave. He's crying so much, he loves his family. Uh, it's so cute. Are you getting brotherly love? And then, so it's interesting, Hebrews and Egyptians are not eating together. And so he eats with the he eats by himself, the brothers eat separately, and then the Egyptians eat separately. And so it shows here that like he wasn't an Egyptian Egyptian, and they should have known that, right? Again, this points to me maybe pointing to the fact that these were all also um the Hyksos leaders, um, meaning the foreigners coming in from the Levant that we talked about, right? The same thing as Joseph, which is why he maybe would have become a leader, because Pharaoh would have been like, okay, we're kind of similar, but then the native Egyptians that were serving under him couldn't eat with him, so it was just part of the custom. Anyway, could be. I love this too. Joseph gives Benjamin like five times the amount of food. He's like, No, I love you so much. I need to give you more food. And then he tricks him, classic trickster, but like kind of fair. Like, he needs to make sure that they're loyal. Also, just like a classic. I mean, come on, he's taking it's it's his grandma, it's his dad tricking, it's his grandpa, you know, Jacob tricking. Oh, he's that's his dad. Duh. His dad, Jacob, his mom, Rebecca, his grandma, Rebecca, um, Rachel and Lane kind of being sneaky. Like, this is just this is a family trait, kind of being sneaky. Um, and then Joe, Judah, and his brothers come and they say, be, you know, like, let us be. Like, how can we clear ourselves? Like, we promise it wasn't us. Take me, like, take me instead, basically. Um, he tells him the story, and then he says, you know, for how can I go back to my father if the boy was not with me? This is one of my favorite lines in all of the Hebrew Bible, and I kid you not. I just love this because we all have promised our Heavenly Father that we're gonna come down to a strange land and that we have all I say that we have promised our brothers and sisters and our Heavenly Father that we were gonna bring each other back home. Jesus Christ, of course, is the one who made that all possible, as Joseph is the reason that they can all bring each other back home because of his sacrifice and his saving, right? And his knowledge. But how often are we, as people, being like, you know what, I can't go back to my father if my brothers and sisters aren't with me? If that's through temple work or serving or making them feel the love of Jesus Christ. That can be our mantra, and that's just that's one of my favorite things. And we have to forgive them, right? As much as much as Joseph and and Judah have forgiven themselves or asked for forgiveness, right? Like, to be like, you know what, no matter what happened, um, I can't I can't go back home without my brothers and sisters, without my siblings, without my loved ones. And can we all feel that way? Judah's just such a wonderful example to me. We also need to remember that Christ comes from the tribe of Judah. And try the Judah was was this standing, like we said, this leadership, right? Um, David, Christ. So Judah here is a type of Christ, I think so too. I think he, you know, how could I go back to God? Because he's the only one that was guaranteed to go back, because he lived the only perfect life. But how could he go back up there? How could he return to the father and the boy be not with me? And we are all Benjamin, where we have somebody step. We've we've made the mistake. Whether we've been tricked by Satan, okay, Joseph as Satan is a little crazy, or not. We all have made a mistake and Christ steps in for us just as Judah did. Jod Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. He says, Guys, you truly like it's me. Don't you don't you realize it's me? Um, don't I love this too? Now don't be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. For God sent me here to preserve life. It was God. God knew what he was doing. Obviously, you know, you guys made this decision, but don't be angry. Don't be distressed at yourselves. It's okay. This was all a part of God's plan. Can we all reach that? I don't know. I don't know. There's a lot of things in my life that I don't know if I have truly forgiven myself or other people for. But reading this line makes me realize what we all need to reach at some point in our life, which is, you know what? Don't worry about it. It's God has taken care of it and it's all part of his greater plan. Um, whether or not it was originally or he's made it, you know, like he's all-knowing and and it's it's he God has made it okay. And that's what I would say too, is that God can make everything okay. He probably didn't cause a lot of things to happen, but he nothing is too impossible for him to not fix, right? And so he explains it, like bring he says, Bring my bring my dad! I want to see my dad. It's been so long since I've seen my dad, right? So um they go and get the dad, and he tells Pharaoh, he's like, ah, my dad, my dad is here. Um so I love that. Um, there is that one point that I think I skipped over, but let me find it. When he's detaining Benjamin, it says, uh, Joseph, it says that um the brothers tore their clothes, and this is so important because last week they tore Joseph's coat, right? They tore somebody else's coat. It was torn, it was ripped in pieces, it was a sign of betrayal. But as we know, uh or maybe you don't know, but a sign in uh the Near East, particularly in Israel, for a sign of distress, of great distress, a lot of times coming with mourning or with repentance, is tearing your own clothes. Um and I think that's that's so interesting here that now they're tearing their own clothes on behalf of their brother who did do something wrong, that they're gonna stand in front of, they're gonna stand up for him, whereas before they tore their brother's clothes in an act of betrayal when he had done nothing wrong. And so just the difference between obviously these men have changed, the opposite, the parallelisms there. Also to our own repentance, which is instead of you know going against God when we repent, uh when we when we sin, when we when we repent, we we humble ourselves, we we you know, and because of Christ, he stood in our place. So I love that connection there as well. Um so then um Jacob went to Egypt, you know, right? No longer feeling old. He's like, I feel alive now. Um and so um they uh they went and um Um Joseph, right, is revealing himself. Sorry, he reveals himself to his brothers. Uh, Jacob, they're gonna go up to meet Joseph, uh Jacob, and um, they're gonna get a land down in Egypt because they, you know, they're still gonna need access to the food. The the famine's gonna still be there for five years. And so um they're gonna be given Goshen, which is this land. Um, and Joseph is saying, you know what, just say that you're shepherds, because they are. Um, one thing that I was reading was like, they're tricking them into saying that they're shepherds. It's like, I don't know if they're tricking, they actually are shepherds. Um, and maybe Joseph is like, you gotta tell them that you're shepherds because uh they won't want you to live in their land. Or maybe it's the fact that he's like, you know, say that you're shepherds, which you are, but it's maybe just a partial truth, and then we'll get all this great land. I don't know, because they don't want us to be right next to them. Either way, they get this land um that they end up staying in until the exile. And it's the land of Goshen, which is in the um what is called, you know, Lower Egypt, but it's actually the more north near the Mediterranean Sea in the Delta. Um, and then it's near um where one of the cities where the Israelites were thought to have helped build, which would be the city of Ramses, but we'll talk about that next week. So Jacob brings his whole family to Egypt, all of his grandchildren, um, and then uh as part and it's about 66 souls, but maybe with Joseph's family at 70, hard to know. But that's what's happening in chapter 46, and Jacob settles in the land. Interesting that Jacob is blessing the Pharaoh. Um, it makes me laugh because um, like Jacob blessed the Pharaoh, and so this is saying, like, this is a gesture that conveys a sense of Jacob's superiority over Pharaoh. I'm like, so true. Also, maybe he was just blessing him, you know, like he he's a prophet. He can do that even if Pharaoh maybe it's just a sign of respect to the Pharaoh. I don't know, but I love it. Anyway, um, and then we see as well um that Joe that Jacob himself is transformed. He wished he was so worried about dying. Um, but then he sees his son and he goes, you know what? I can die now. I've seen I have lived to see Joseph's face that I never thought I would see again. Are you kidding me, the love? The way that I'm sobbing. Um, but I know that, you know, for all the people that we may not feel like we will see their face again, I know we will. Um because of Christ. Because he is our savior, and I think, and we'll see Christ's face again, and and maybe we won't recognize him. Um, I think that's an interesting element here, which is, you know, a savior who's been set up, yeah, you know, as it says, we you know, he's so strategic in his setting up. Um, but when we see him, we won't recognize him, and he'll have to tell us who he is, and we'll be like, is it really you? As I was watching that that uh movie, uh, Joseph and the Amazing Tech in the Colored Dream Co. That's the part that's dead. I mean, just like, is it really you? Is it true? Oh my gosh, I can't believe it. Um, but I know that if we if we come to know him in this life, then we will recognize him. Um I just was also reminded of of how on the um in Revelation it's told that Jake and in the Doctrine of Covenants that Jesus will appear to the Jews and they won't know who he is. Um but then when he reveals himself, then they'll remember. Um, and I think that is a little bit symbolic here in the story as well, right? The 12 tribes of Israel not recognizing their savior. Um, but then once he tells them who they are, they're so grateful and they kneel before his feet. Um, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, just as the 12 tribes bow down to Joseph. Um, so then Jacob's about to die. So he's like, I'm gonna bless people. And uh it's some of these are blessings, some of these aren't blessings, um, you would say, but maybe, you know, in the same way that we would say, maybe a patriarchal blessing is a blessing, maybe just a little reminder, um, a prophecy of what their life may be like, um, of what a prophecy of their tribe, what that will look like. Um, scholars say that this is just like a tribal motto, I guess. Um, I think it can be both. Like, why wouldn't it become the tribal motto because it was a blessing or prophecy given by the patriarch? So, um, and so this is he he does some plays on words, he does some things here. So let's let's talk about it. The thing that's happens is Joseph, obviously, his sons go to get the blessing. Interesting birthright blessing. So, this is what's happening. Joseph would get a double portion, so in fact, both of his sons just become his fathers, and that's where Joseph's birthright comes into. We get Manasseh and we get Ephraim. Now, Ephraim was the younger brother, if you recall, but Jake, uh Joseph, whoa, Jacob meshes up his hands. So he puts his right hand, which would be the like the more prominent hand on Ephraim, the younger son, left hand on Manasseh, and he and Joseph is like, Oh hey, dad, you probably can't see. Um, you messed up, and he's like, No, he did this on purpose. So he blesses them with the same blessing, um, which I think is important to remember that sometimes, you know, our blessings are the same as somebody else, and that's fine. But he's, you know, the God who walked with my fathers, who's made me a shepherd, has been my shepherd. Ugh, love it, right? Who deemed me from all harm, blessed these boys in them that my name be perpetuated in the name of my ancestors, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude on the earth. Multitude, right? Uh, Ephraim, fruitful multitude, fruit. I love that. I love that. Um, and one reason that I do love this as well is because Ephraim. Um, I had a professor while I was in Egypt. Uh, we go to uh we were in Cairo, but one part of the Cairo that we were entering into was Heliopolis. And as we were there, he turned to us and he goes, So um, this is where uh Joseph's father-in-law was from, where Joseph's wife was from, therefore where where Ephraim and Manasseh were from. Welcome to the land of your ancestors. Ah, are you kidding? Love it. So that was cool. But as they're there, um, you know, so he gets a blessing saying, May you, Israel, invoke blessings saying, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. Um, make fruitful and you know, and not be forgotten, maybe Manasseh, right? And I love this because we know that um the Nephites come from Manasseh and Ephraim um because of Ishmael. We know that a lot of modern-day people in their patriarchal blessings, so whether this is just of spiritual ancestor or physical, I don't know. I'm not one to tell you. Um, but we know that ultimately um this is important. And Ephraim will also become the head of the tribe of the of the kingdom of Israel. And so, just how cool is that that we can see that here. And then we get this story, okay. So, Jacob's like, let me tell you. Let oh, gather around that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. It's a prophecy, folks. It's not always a blessing. Okay, assemble and let me tell you. It's giving Lehi, right? Before he dies, he does this to all of his sons, to Jacob, to Joseph, um, to all those people. Interesting that he named them Jacob and Joseph. I don't think that's a coincidence, right? He's reading these stories, he feels a connection to these men, particularly, I would say, to Joseph, who left his family in older in order to save them, as the Nephites did, as Lehi did. So, okay. And he finds out that he is directly descended from Manasseh, from Joseph in the Book of Mormon. He didn't know this, he didn't have his ancestry, probably because Lehi's family was of Manasseh, and that was up in the northern. And then as the northern kingdom was getting destroyed, they went down into Judah, where which is near Jerusalem. And so that's probably what's happening. That's why Lehi didn't know. Sorry, little tangent for you. Reuben, you're my firstborn, right? Like, unstable as water, right? He slept on your father's bed. Uh, he slept with, I don't remember if it was his dad's wife. I think so. Or just slept with another woman upon his dad's bed. I can't remember. Either way, he defiled his father's bed, which is why he lost the birthright blessing. Um, he was so, you know, interesting. Um, and this is the tribe of Reuben diminished and eventually disappeared. And so that's maybe the fruit, uh, the the the vision of Reuben that he's seeing. Sime Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence. Remember, they kill a bunch of those people for Dinah. So he's reminding them of that. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. Simeon ultimately disappeared as a tribe, and then Levi was scattered in that it just became the tribe of priests. Judah, your brother, shall praise you. That is a play on the word Judah, right? Play, praise. Um, your hands shall be the neck of your enemies. Judah is as a lion's whelp. So Judah, this lion becomes a symbol for the lion of Judah becomes a symbol that is used throughout. We will see this, right? He crouches down, stretches out like a lion, the scepter will not depart from him. Obviously, like we said, Judah becomes um the head of the kingdom of Judah. And at the beginning of the United Kingdom, it is the tribe of Judah that comes into power. Zebulon shall setter up the stores of the shores of the sea. This ultimately didn't happen, and so people wonder. It seems to be landlocked so maybe like this is a historical shift in boundaries, which is like as far as we know, it was landlocked, but maybe it wasn't originally. Um right, then we have Isakar is a strong donkey. Love it. It it um and Isakar can also be mean like a hired man or someone who is hired, and so that's why he becomes a slave. You know, it's kind of a play on his words. Um, and ultimately, of course, Isakar um is one of the last tribes. So Dan shall scattered tribes, I would say. Dan means judge, so he shall judge his people. Um fierce as a snake, which is also um, yeah, which we will see later coming up. So then we have Gad, a play on it. Uh, I wait for your salvation, oh Lord. I love that middle because I wait for your salvation. Okay, do you guys remember? I wait for your Jesus, O Lord. Love it, love it, love it. Anyway, Gad, um, a play on the word gad can mean raiding group, which is where the idea of a troop cometh comes, right? But that's not what it was happening in there. But it also means fortune, but it also could mean troop cometh or a troop, I think. Close enough, it sounds like it. So it shall be raided by raiders, but he shall rate at their heels, right? Again, once again, destroyed. Um also it could be that uh interesting too, because we get this the children of Gad being destroyed in another ancient Union document known as the Mecia Stella. So they're rated literally, and just um Asher means happiness, right? So his food shall be rich. Nathalie um is a doe. Okay, free, you know, it's comparison to um his birth, which what was happening at his birth, let me see. Just in the fact that um, like a uh a doe has been freed to calf, because if you remember the uh the stories that Rachel gave up her handmaid to have an athlete. So maybe that's referring to that. Um, Joseph is a fruitful bough, right? Fruitful, Ephraim, a fruitful bough brought by a spring, his branches shall run over the wall. Now, we as Latter-day Saints would see that as a prophecy for obviously going over the wall, going outside of the land of Jerusalem, going outside of the borders, being Ephraim, maybe both um, you know, breaking off, going into the kingdom of Israel, but then also I would say um found in the Book of Mormon. Um, and yeah, so and it gives all of these wonderful blessings to Joseph, obviously, um, because he has the birthright blessing. Um, just him as right, but then like I think this also just it gives like a full blessings. The blessings of your father are strong. I think this might be a final blessing to all of his sons, but that's just my personal opinion. But it could just be to Joseph, right? But um and it may be because he has the birthright, so he gets all these blessings, right? The bountings of oh, it is, it's to Joseph because it's on the end. Sorry. I was just speculating, but then it's literally here. My bad. But verse 26 the blessings of your father are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bountings of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph. I love that. Um, Joseph was the birthright son, he gets a lot of the blessings for saving him, and and I think we see that fulfilled in the Book of Mormon. So Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. Um, and like, okay, he's a fierce fighter. Okay, cool. You know, a lot of fighting, and we'll see that come up, right? That that uh Benjamin the Benjamin's will actually be um doing some pretty horrific things and will be a fierce fighter coming up in in Judges. So interesting thoughts here. Um, not all of them are spiritual, just more, just an explanation of what that means. But then Jacob dies, and Joseph is sad and gives him a proper blessing, brings him up to Canaan and buries him. Joseph then forgives his brothers again. Um, and he's and his brothers weep, just as Joseph wept, right? And says, We are here as your slaves. I think they're afraid that since their father died, Joseph is now actually gonna um be mad at them again, and he's like, Nope. Am I in the place of God? Okay, how is that humbling to everybody in the world? Like, am I in the place of God to punish you? Um, no, our job is to forgive. Um, and sometimes we don't need to stay in a circumstance, right? Or forgiveness doesn't mean that. Um, but maybe we're not inflicting extra judgment or there on them than what the natural consequences of it already have been, um, or what God will have allow happen to them. But ultimately it is our job to forgive and to not add to that. And I think that's shown here, right? He will take care of them. And that's funny too, because ultimately he is a symbol for Christ who is who is God. And Joseph then is able to live, he's able to see his grandchildren, and then he dies at 110, which is the perfect number, uh, basically the ideal lifespan in ancient Egypt. So Joseph grows to be live an ideal life in Egypt after living such a hard life, um, which is ultimately what can happen, right? As we as we turn to God. It might not be the ideal life, but you know, we we can see God in it. Last thing that we're gonna talk about is um this Joseph Smith translation in which he talks about a seer shall shall the Lord raise up. And this is a similar prophecy found in the Book of Mormon that we do not have in the Bible. Whether this was taken out or, I mean, I think it was, obviously, because we have it in the Book of Mormon, and they it was probably on the brass plates. Um, that's what I would say. And it could be the fact that it was just so specific. Um, it could be the fact that it was just on the brass plates and was lost and wasn't kept in our current Bibles today, but it's that Joseph dies, and um he emphasizes as he's dying, he he promises his brothers two things, which is that the Lord is going to raise up two people, Moses, which is not from his his body, but Moses, sorry, from his loins, right? From his posterity, but Moses will come and will save them and lead them out of Egypt, and then that the Lord will raise up a seer, um which is uh which is Joseph Smith. His name shall be Joseph, and it's found in the Book of Mormon. And um Joseph has always been an interesting name to me because it means to add, and I think that's interesting, right? Like his name is is Joseph, he's adding uh to uh the scriptures and our idea of Christ. Um, but also I love the name Joseph because so the word for Joseph uh Joseph means to add, but and the word for to gather is is um is asof, asof in Hebrew, and that to me those are similar, and I don't think that's a coincidence, um, because both Josephs ultimately were the reason that tribes of Israel were able to gather. So I always think of Joseph as as the adder, yes, but also as as the gatherer, both of them. Um, and I'm gonna be honest with you, this part of the Book of Mormon has always been like, oh wow, this is very, very on the nose. Like, um I'm just like, wow, like I can't imagine reading this as Joseph. Like, it just seems to be so amazingly perfect and on the nose. However, and and sometimes that's been a struggle for me to reconcile, like, really, like this prophecy that's just so much on the nose when a bunch of other prophecies we just are seemingly so um ones that we have to decipher and all those things, and so yeah, it's it's a question that I have. Um, but ultimately I cannot deny that um the Lord has answered my prayers again and again that I know that the Book of Mormon is true, um, is a true testament of Jesus Christ. And because of that, I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and all the other questions that I have go away as I focus on that. Um I will I'll never forget the sweet peace that I felt as I received the answer to my prayer um when I was 12 years old, and the peace and answers that I continue to get as I read the Book of Mormon, the peace that I feel is undeniable, and how it testifies of Jesus Christ and helps me to know him is undeniable.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

And that comes because of Joseph Smith, and that's maybe because of the tribe of Joseph for that. I'm grateful. And I see this comes in Jesus' name. We'll talk to you next week.