As
a Loving and loyal servant of the Anointed One, Jesus, He called me for a
mission to reveal FATHER’S wonderful Gospel of Agape Love. I write these blogs
to all HIS Beloved chosen ones, for you have been Divinely summoned to be Holy
in HIS Eyes. May His joyous grace and
total well-being, flowing from Our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
rest upon you. You and I are called into
a faithful commitment to Jesus, to bring honor to His Name. You and I are among the chosen ones who
received the call to belong to Jesus, the Anointed One.
My friend Alan wrote the following:
Joseph; All For One, and One For All.
As We now try tocontinue with the on-going saga of
Jacob/Israel, and the continued accumulation of sons brought forth from the
union of Jacob with Leah, and the two hand-maidens that were gifts from Laban,
the father of Leah and Rachel. For it is
Rachel, the one ‘true love’ that got Jacob entangled into this circus of
activity, and Rachel has yet to conceive, and bear a son to validate the union
of Jacob and Rachel. And Rachel is still
under intense personal pressure, from herself, to produce a son, and heir, for
her husband. Her sister, Leah, has not
only produced six sons, potential heirs of the family birthright, but she has
also produced a daughter, Dinah, as if to emphasize to Rachel, that she not
only has not produced a son, but she also hasn’t even produced a daughter. All of the women with which Rachel has had to
‘share’ her husband have produced sons for Jacob, but the only legitimate
object of Jacob’s love and affection, Rachel, is still barren.
KJV Genesis 30:22 And God remembered Rachel, and God
hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
The apparent pregnancy and pending birth for Rachel must
have caused quite the commotion and scurry of excitement in Jacobville, that
community of wives and offspring that all found their identity and sustenance
in union with Jacob, ‘son of Isaac’. All
of these people lived in the geography overseen by Laban the Syrian of
Padan-Aram. So the news of a pending
birth to Jacob, husband to Rachel, would also be noteworthy to the household of
Laban.
KJV Genesis 30:23 And she conceived, and bore a son; and
said, “God hath taken away (asaph)my reproach.”
This verse unveils a remarkable bit of information that
has been scarcely, if at all, discussed in circles of Bible students. For in this very statement uttered by Rachel,
“God has taken away my reproach”, is revealed the name of her first-born son
Joseph; or, ‘Yoseph”. We will discuss
this further, but first we must consider, or at least acknowledge the verse
that most in Bible study circles have considered to be the revealing of why
Rachel declared the name of her firstborn to be Joseph.
KJV Genesis 30:24 And she called his name Joseph; and
said, “The LORD shall add to me another son.”
We have endeavored to discover the Spiritual value
revealed in the names of these first ten sons of Jacob. Some of these names have yielded some quite
valuable bits of Spiritual insight. And
if all of these previous sons of Jacob were given names that were valuable to
communicate to us Spiritual information that proves to be of importance in this
portion of this God pageant of the scriptures, and continues to be of
importance later on in the scriptures as we pursue our journey from Adam to
Christ, of how much more value could the name of ‘Joseph’ (Yo-seph as
pronounced in the Hebrew vernacular) prove to be in expanding our Spiritual
understanding and appreciation of this magnificent pageant which Our Father,
the Holy Spirit of Truth in Love, has
laid out and orchestrated for our behalf?
All Hebrew words/names we investigate are derived from
action/verbs that are composed of three letters. These ‘three-letter’ action verbs describe
activity, and when we can discern, by Holy Spirit Revelation, the motive or
motivation that is the impetus that reveals the purpose which is the driving
force to impose or impart a particular, or specific verb/activity, we are
drawing much closer to ‘seeing’ the Heart of God, and we can grasp the intent
and purpose that this verb activity is attempting to bring about, and reveal to
us.
I know of no better description of the name ‘Yoseph’,
“Joseph”, which I can share than to include a writing that I did on this
subject/name a few years back. So, I
will plagiarize myself from a previous article that I believe communicates,
more effectively, this idea surrounding the name Joseph “Yoseph”.
What could possibly be the
connection between Joseph, Asaph, doors, thresholds, gates, reeds and the Red
Sea? Only religion could so confuse the
simplicity of God’s Word to us that we could spend two thousand years (2 days?)
wandering in the wilderness of misunderstanding, and be so blinded from such a
simple truth. When Yashua appeared as
Messiah his ‘assignment’ was to reveal to us the plain and uncomplicated
reality of the Kingdom of God within.
And according to John, chapter 17, he did exactly as Our Father had
asked him to do. He manifested Father
before us, severing us from the stronghold of satanic carnality. Even so, religion still had a role to play in
keeping us in a 2-day pageant (two thousand years?) until it was time for us to
see (sea?), for ourselves, the foolishness that religion has perpetrated on
humanity. The timing of God’s Pageant is
flawless, and cannot be improved upon.
We have currently entered into the Third Day (as I am able to understand
it), and it is now time for us to move on, and to move up. Come with me as we ascend in our heavenly
understanding of who, and whose, we are.
“Come up here!” [Rev. 4:1”]
Joseph, the 11th
son of Jacob, has a very unique role to play in our journey from Adam to
Christ. The name ‘Joseph’, in Hebrew, is
‘yo-seyph’, and is referenced in Strong’s Concordance as #3130. The name ‘yo-seyph’ (Joseph) is derived from
the primary root ‘sa-phaph’ , and for you researchers, is Strong’s #5605. ‘sa-phaph’, as a primary root, is only used
one time in the Old Testament. That
singular use of ‘sa-phaph’ is in Psalm 84:10 where it is translated as
“doorkeeper”. If I am able to
communicate this concept accurately, hopefully we can discover that the root
‘sa-phaph’ is not a reference to an actual doorkeeper, but something much more
revealing and personal to us individually.
Can it be that the use of the word ‘doorkeeper’, was referring to the
opportunity, or assignment, to guard, so as to keep safe and to make available
the ‘doorway’ to the House of God? Not a
physical door or gate or threshold of a physical structure, but access to the
Spiritual Threshold and gate and Door to the Spirit Kingdom of God within,
which is of course “the House of God”, and to keep that ‘Way’ available and
safe and open to as many as will be “Asaph” ‘Yoseph’, or ‘added’ to the House
of God?! That just makes a lot more
sense to me.
The Hebrew word
‘sa-phaph’, and all of the words that are derived from this primary root, infer
and refer to a container that contains an experience or understanding of
dearest value, and/or the doorways and thresholds and gates that are the access
points of that valued experience, or understanding. The inference of the words derived from
‘sa-phaph’ is not the importance of the containers, or even the access points,
but rather to the valuable substance or experience or understanding that is
containedin or made accessible via these doors and gates and thresholds,
etc. As I meditated and mused on this
concept while studying this word ‘asaph’, ‘yasaph’, yoseph, and Joseph. How much meaning and purpose now I can see in
the old custom of a Bridegroom sweeping up his Bride into his arms, and
carrying her across the threshold (asaph) into their new home together as Bride
and Bridegroom have now become One. Hope
that makes sense to you.
Maybe the most effective notation for
describing the use of the word ‘sa-phaph’ is to say that this word is referring
to a location or containment of a valuable substance, or understanding. To be “gathered together”, in one collective
or locale or condition or mentality, is what the word ‘Asaph’ is describing. And Asaph is also a very important prophetic
character in the Old Testament.
The first use of the word
‘sa-phaph’ I can find is in Gen. 6:21 where the simpler form ‘asaph’ is
translated as “…thou shalt gather”. This
word is also used in Gen. 49:1 where Jacob, (not Israel), called for his sons
to “Gather yourselves together…”; Jacob told them literally to ‘asaph’. This word ‘sa-phaph’ is used many, many
times throughout the Old Testament, and in many forms. And in all of these uses of this Hebrew verb,
the idea of gathering together, a common interest or value, is conveyed. But the word is also translated as
‘threshold’, ‘basin’, ‘door’, ‘posts’ (as doorposts) , and ‘cup’. The word is obviously not describing all of
these different objects, but that which is desirable that is contained in these
objects, or made accessible through or beyond these objects.
Joseph, the 11th
son of Jacob, was destined to ascend beyond all of the previous sons of Jacob;
in importance, and in results. Joseph
was sold into slavery to Ishmaelites by his older brother Judah. Judah, with the help of Reuben, did so in
effort to get rid of Joseph (Yo-seyph) without bringing murder onto the heads
of the sons of Jacob. So Joseph
(yo-seyph) was sold for 20 pieces of silver.
It is worthy to note here that the word ‘silver’ is also from this
primary root ‘sa-phaph’. Silver,
‘keh-seph’ in Hebrew (Strong’s #3701) is also referring to a recognized value;
and many recognize that ‘keh-seph’, or ‘silver’, is symbolic of Redemption. ‘Yo-seyph’ was sold for ‘keh-seph’ (silver),
just as the Messiah would later be sold for silver. As we all know, Joseph ascended to the throne
of Pharaoh, essentially becoming king in all of Egypt. Joseph (yo-seyph) was the vehicle employed to
‘add’ (asaph) the family of Jacob to those that would survive the coming apocalypse
of famines. That also sounds like
‘Redemption’ to me. For God, Our Father,
knows the end of the story before the story begins.
A valuable mystery to
investigate at this time is the correlation between ‘sa-phaph’ and the Red
Sea. The Hebrew word for ‘red’ in ‘Red
Sea’ is ‘suf’ (soof), and is Strong’s #5488 for the Bereans in our midst. Red Sea in Hebrew is ‘yahmsuf’, or literally
“Sea ofSuph”. The Hebrew word ‘suph’,
referenedasStrong’s #s 5486, 5488 and
5489, according to Gesenius’ Concordance, is best recognized as an opportunity,
to ‘’cut off, or separate, or to be snatched away from one experience so that
another experience may begin, or be accessed.
That is my paraphrase (‘Alan’), but I trust it implicitly. And how ironic that most of the Spiritual
goals we strive for, are first accessed by the confession of the words of our
mouth, originating in our hearts. Seems
to fit for me.
From this concept it is reasonable to realize
that the ‘sea of suph’ was a basin in which to be drowned, or baptized into, or
to pass through, depending on whatever your assignment, or to that which you
were qualified. One in our midst has
often referred to the Red Sea as a sea of red ink. How appropriate. How Wright that description. The various forms of the verb ‘sa-phaph’ have
been used to refer to being gathered together into a common identity, or
experience or reality or value; or to being consumed and/or to being cut off
and/or finding escape from certain experiences or destinations. What a versatile word. It is also used to refer to the location or
access points (doors, gates, basins, or thresholds) at which those experiences
can be obtained. But the most
interesting aspect of this word ‘sa-phaph’, at least to me, is the idea that
all the different forms of this word end with the letter ‘pey’. ‘Pey’, the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew
alphabet, is symbolized by the mouth, and indicative of the importance of the
words that we speak. Words that begin
with, or end with, pey are usually emphasizing how we are affected or
influenced by what comes out of our mouth.
And we know from scripture that the words that we speak are because of
the abundance of what is in our heart (Matt. 12:34)
The word ‘sea’ therefore
can be referring to a mindset or mentality of humanity that is easily agitated
and fomented by whatever wind (spirit) of doctrine or confusion is available to
churn up our waters. The ‘sea’ of
humanity is frantic and emotionally distraught because of the abundance of
their/our hearts, which eventually comes out of the mouths. Only one Spirit, the Holy Spirit of Truth in
Love, which Yashua referred to as “My Father”, has the ability and assignment
to still the storms which rage in our ‘sea of humanity’. How appropriate that Yashua illustrated for
us the ability to “walk above” the furor and restlessness of the ‘sea of
humanity’. Can we learn from this
illustration? I think so. Yashua, our Redeemer, has baptized us all
into His death of the ‘Suf Sea’ of humanity, cutting us off from the legitimate
claim that satanic carnality has upon us, and Yashua has brought us
(rersurrected us out from the death of the ‘sea of humanity, and placed us
safely on on the other side on dry ground, and gathered us (asaph) into One Spirit,
and introduced us to His Father, and Our Father. Inviting us to accept this
‘gathering together’ via the confession of faith from our own mouths.
I hope this stirs your
imagination and understanding of Who, and Whose we are in Christ. And how we appropriate and gain that
benefit.
I might sum up this description of the Spiritual value revealed in Yoseph, in that we all, ultimately, impact or influence our own Spiritual journeys by the words of our mouths, coming from the abundance of our hearts. And likewise, Yoseph (our own confessions) becomes the most critical reality ‘identity’ on our journey from ‘adam’ to ‘Christ’, and is only followed and superseded by Benjamin (Ben Yamin), which is quite literally, the right to be the Son.Does God, Our Father have a ‘right’ hand, versus a ‘left’ hand? Is the ‘left hand’ of God inferior to the ‘right hand’ of God?
Shalom, Y’all. alan