Miketz “At the End”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians who profess our faith in Jesus, we study the Old Testament to understand the historical, cultural, and contextual background of the history of our heritage in Jesus. This is commonly known as the Messianic teachings of Christianity and is a part of our Saturday Church in Norman, Oklahoma, and Dallas, TX.
While customs are not commandments there is beauty for believers in Jesus (Yeshua) to understand their identity as grafted into the covenants with Israel. As descendants of Abraham, all Christians are heirs according to the promise given to Abraham even before Sinai. Christians should study and learn the Torah and show respect for their Jewish brothers and sisters. It is through the study of the law that we see another level of greatness in Jesus who is the lawgiver and the greatest Torah teacher of all time.
Miketz is the Hebrew title for “At the End” and is the name for the weekly Torah portion reading for the Book of Genesis starting in chapter 41 verse 1 and going through chapter 44 verse 17.
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of 1 Kings in chapter 3 verse 15 through chapter 4 verse 1.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Luke in chapter 24 with verses 13 through 29.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Overview-
The tenth Torah Portion reading is called Miketz in the book of Genesis. Miketz means “at the end.” The Torah Portion name derives from the first verse of the reading which says “Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream” (Genesis 41:1). The story of this week’s Torah Portion begins with the dreams of Pharaoh. It then continues with Joseph’s interpretations and his rise to power in Egypt. When famine falls on the land of Canaan, Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt seeking food, but they do not recognize their brother Joseph, who then architects a plan to test their character and see whether their character has changed.
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Genesis 41:1 Joseph interprets the dream of Pharaoh
Genesis 41:37 The rise to power of Joseph
Genesis 42:1 Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt
Genesis 42:26 Joseph’s brother return to Canaan
Genesis 43:1 Bringing Benjamin the brothers come again
Genesis 44:1 Joseph detains Benjamin
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Zec 2:14 The appeal to the Exiles
Zec 3:1 Joshua and Satan
Zec 4:1 The olive trees and the lampstand
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Luke 24:13 The road to Emmaus
Luke 24:29 The disciples urge Jesus to stay
The Book of Genesis “B’reisheet” which means “In the Beginning.”
The Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Torah. It is the most sacred of all of Israel’s Scriptures. Most of our modern Bibles include the Old Testament “Torah” as the first five books in the Bible. The name in Hebrew of the first book of the Bible (Genesis) is B’reisheet. The name “B’reisheet” comes from one of the opening phrases in the book of Genesis which means “In the Beginning.”
The Greek Septuagint is where we find the English name for “The Book of Origins” called “Genesis.”
The Book of Genesis is the story of the origin of creation. Through creation, we learn about the nature of God and His intentions for creation. In the book of B’reisheet we learn about the creation of the universe, the creation of human beings, the creation of living creatures, and then the covenants leading to the creation of the nation of Israel before the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.
The first book in the Torah and the Christian Bible also have different spellings that derive from the different sects of Judaism and the Hebrew language. Bereshit, or Bereishith are also common spellings for Genesis “B’reisheet.”
As Messianic Christians, we find the book of Genesis and the stories therein, as a historical account of how we as believers are grafted into the covenants and promises of God with our forefathers and how we can learn to walk and learn from their actions.
To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE
