Vayeshev - The 2 Messiahs

The Torah portion of Vayeshev is full of connections between Yosef and Yeshua. There are two Messiahs, and Yosef points to the suffering messiah, the first messiah. Yosef’s two dreams give a pattern for the first messiah to follow.


For those who believe in Yeshua as the first messiah, the story of Yosef, the beloved son of his father, rejected and betrayed by his brothers, forced to suffer as a slave, exalted over the nations, providing salvation to the world, unrecognized by his brothers, secretly saving his family, and finally being revealed as the savior of Israel - all this is a parallel to the story of Yeshua, from his coming, his death, through our current Exile, and until the final redemption. It says in the Midrash Rabbah:

“The fathers of the tribes were busy selling Yosef. Ya’akov was busy with his sackcloth and fasting. Yehudah was busy taking a wife. Meanwhile, the Holy One, blessed be He, was creating the light of Messiah.”

This Torah portion begins with the stories of Yosef and Yehudah, the firstborn of Rachel and Leah respectively. These two were the ancestral heads of the two kingdoms of Israel, and therefore, each had the potential to be the line of Messiah. Yehudah brought forth the kingdom of David, but Yosef also brought forth king Jeroboam, the son of Nephat, the Ephraimite.


To better understand Messiah son of Yosef and how he connects with Jeroboam, We need to know the story of Jeroboam. In the days of king Solomon, the Lord sent the prophet Ahijah with a message for Jeroboam the Ephraimite, a descendant of Yosef. Ahijah took a cloak and tore it into 12 pieces, to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Ahijah gave ten pieces to Jeroboam to signify that God was taking ten tribes from the house of Yehudah and giving them to Jeroboam and the house of Yosef. Then, in 1 Kings 11:37-38, the Lord made an incredible promise to Jeroboam:

“And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in My ways, and do that which is right in Mine eyes, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as David My servant did, then I will be with thee, and will build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.”

God promised Jeroboam a house just like David’s, and rulership over all of Israel, excluding the tribe of Yehudah, which He saved for the house of David. This promise implied that, just as God promised a messiah through the house of David, God promised a messiah through the house of Jeroboam. This promise depended upon Jeroboam walking in the ways of God and keeping his commandments, which Jeroboam didn’t do. Instead, he introduced idolatry into the house of God, appointed a new priesthood, and altered the biblical calendar.


If Jeroboam had been faithful to the Torah, things would have turned out differently. Instead, he became a symbol of idolatry in Israel, an evil king that the prophets used to measure the sins of later kings. As a result, the promises of a messiah and an eternal kingdom were forfeited by Jeroboam, and the ten tribes were returned to the kingdom of David. Ezekiel 37:19 points to God taking the promises of messiah son of Yosef and messiah son of Yehudah and making them into one messiah:

“Say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them unto him together with the stick of Yehudah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.”

As believers in Yeshua, we do not look for two messiahs, one from the house of Yosef and one from the house of Yehudah, but for one messiah, Yeshua, who has the spiritual potential of both of the tribes. This explains the belief that Yeshua is supposed to come two times, once for the tribe of Yosef, to fulfill the role of the suffering messiah, and once for the tribe of Yehudah, to fulfill the role of the victorious messiah.


The sages taught that messiah son of Yosef would suffer for Israel’s sins and be killed in battle. According to the Talmud, Zechariah 12:10 points toward the death of messiah son of Yosef and the house of David and all of Yerushalayim mourning for his death:

“And I will pour upon the house of David, And upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, The spirit of grace and of supplication; And they shall look unto Me because they have thrust him through; 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 first-born.”

In the same passage that the Talmud talks about this, it relates the tradition that messiah son of David would be victorious, and messiah son of Yosef would be resurrected:

The Sages taught: To Messiah ben David, who is destined to be revealed swiftly in our time, the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: Ask of Me anything and I will give you whatever you wish, as it is stated (in Psalms 2:7–8): “I will tell of the decree; the Lord said unto me: You are My son, this day have I begotten you, ask of Me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.” Once the Messiah ben David saw Messiah ben Yosef, who was killed, he says to the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, I ask of you only life; that I will not suffer the same fate. The Holy One, Blessed be He, says to him: Life? Even before you stated this request, your father, David, already prophesied about you with regard to this matter precisely, as it is stated (in Psalms 21:5): “He asked life of You, You gave it to him; even length of days for ever and ever.”

In Genesis 37:7 it says:

“For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and bowed down to my sheaf.’”

Yosef’s dream not only points to his own future, but it also points to the Messiah’s future. The messiah is the sheaf that all the other sheaves must bow down to.


Zerach Kodesh in Yalkut Moshiach, a Hasidic Jewish commentary, also relates this dream to the resurrection of messiah ben Yosef:

“This [dream about messiah son of Yosef] alludes to the prophecy [in Isaiah 52:2], ‘Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,’ -that he is raised up and made to rule and lifted from the dust. And the words [In Psalms 118:5], ‘From my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me,’ alludes to them that will be saved from the distress of messiah son of Yosef, namely that he will not only be slain, but he will also live at the time of the redemption, and it will be said of them, ‘Shake yourself from the dust, rise up.’”

In Genesis 37:9 it says:

“And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said: ‘Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream: and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.’”

Yosef’s second dream couldn’t refer to his actual life, because his mother, who was supposed to represent the moon, was dead. She could not come and bow before him. Instead, this second dream refers to Messiah. As it says in Numbers 24:17, “There shall step forth a star out of Jacob, And a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” The Genesis Rabbah also supports this concept:

“The dream about the sun and moon bowing to him refers to the Messianic Era. The dream will be literally fulfilled at the resurrection of the dead, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said, ‘Ya’akov thought [the dream meant] that the resurrection of the dead would take place in his days.’ For they will see the shechinah before them, and kings will fall before him.”

God gave both the tribe of Yehudah and the tribe of Yosef the potential of an everlasting line, and the potential of a messiah. God combined these potentials into one, with Yeshua. The story of Yosef and his two dreams point to the first Messiah, the suffering-servant Messiah. May Hashem bring Mashiach ben David, the second Messiah, son of David, King Messiah, who will gather the exiles, rebuild the temple, and establish true peace in the world, soon and in our days!

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