Hoshea Gets A Yod
- Posted on JulamMon, 04 Jul 2016 00:49:28 -05002016-07-04T00:49:28-05:0012 17, 2016
- in Bible, God, Hebrew, Messiah, Shelach Lecha, Study, Torah, Yeshua
- by Hallelujah Girl
Meet Hoshaia bin Nun, one of the 12 “spies” that was sent into the land following with milk and honey. Before sending the twelve men out, according to the Midrash, Moses foresaw with the Ruach ha-Kodesh that they would become corrupt. So Moses summoned his student Hoshaia (Hoshea) and renamed him Yehoshua (Joshua) , praying “May G-d save you from the spies’ evil counsel!”
The Midrash also offers two explanations as to why Moses prayed especially on the behalf of Yehoshua. First, Moses feared that Yehoshua might join the spies because of his great modesty. Since it was decreed that Moses would die before entering the land, Yehoshua might acquiesce to their plan in order to prolong Moses’s life, thus deferring the time when he himself would assume the mantle of leadership. Second, Moses considered that Yehoshua might be prone to speak lashon hara (evil speech, slandar), because the founder of his tribe, Yosaif, had spoken lashon hara against his brothers. Slander might have become a natural tendency among the tribesmen of Yosaif. Moses, therefore, felt it necessary to fortify Yehoshua with a special prayer to assist him in overcoming an inclination to join the spies.
Why a yod? Numbers 13:16 is where we see the official name change, however Moses refers to Hoshaia as Yehoshua (Joshua) back in Exodus 17:9 during the children of Israel’s battle with Amalek. Yehoshua was born from Efrayim, the second son of Yosaif (Joseph). He was the chosen, remember the blessing from Jacob, ” And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said unto his father: ‘Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.’ And his father refused, and said: ‘I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; how be it his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.’ And he blessed them that day, saying: ‘By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’ And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.” -Genesis 48:17-20
Ephraim’s Great-Great Grandmother was once known as Sarai, שרי, {shin,reysh,yod} which ends with the possessive yod (י). Her name meant “my princess ” implying that she owed her greatness to her status as Abraham’s wife. In Genesis 17: 15-16 the Holy One takes away this yod, And G-d said unto Abraham: ‘As for Sarai, שרי , thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah ,שרה, shall her name be. And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her.’ Now Sarah will signify that she is a “princess to all nations”. Once just a princess to only Abraham, now, according to Rashi, a princess “par excellence” –to all mankind. Along with the name change comes the Divine Promise that she would give birth, verse 21, “And God said: ‘Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.” Please take note of the phrase “everlasting covenant”, thank you 🙂
The yod is associated with the child of promise. Sarah gives birth to Isaac ( יצחק ) who fathers Jacob ( יעקב ) who’s name is changed to Israel ( ישראל ). Jacob, Israel fathers twelve, one of which was Joseph ( יוסף ) the father of Efrayim, the chosen.
The yod is the smallest of all Hebrew letters. The word yod ( יוד ) pictures a hand ( י ) joining together or making secure ( ו ) a path or a way of life ( ד ). Yehoshua became the “hope of salvation” for HASHEM’S people. His name sake is Yeshua after all! Yeshua (Salvation) spoke “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. Amen, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or serif shall ever pass away from the Torah until all things come to pass. –Matthew 5:17-18
Moses identifies Yehoshua as the forerunner for the Messiah with the right hand of G-d leading him. Learn your Torah, know your Messiah, invite your fiends! Happy day! 🙂
Shalom,
Hallelujah Girl
Tags: #ReadYourBible #ItsAllAboutYeshua #TorahIsTruth, shelach, ShelachLecha