Joseph, Joshua, 110 and the Right Hand

Several days ago, I was in prayer and lamenting (ok, whining) that I didn't have that same closeness to God that I had back in 2017. I fully comprehended that the utter lack of a loving partner in my life is what drove me so hard to God back then.

But God showed me His great love and I reveled in it. Once a person feels that deep love, it's impossible to replace it. And the sad thing is that I'm the one who created the distance by being distracted and I missed His constant presence and peace.

I resolved that day to be more intentional with my time so that I could pour myself back into the Word, and ultimately have God's great love poured back into me. Maybe getting up a little earlier would do it...coffee and God is a winning combo.

A busy day went by and I spent a few minutes in prayer. Maybe only a few seconds. The day's tasks were pressing. I forgot all about my resolution - just like that (finger snap).

The next morning, I got up early and rolled down the window shades to keep the house cooler, let the dog go outside to potty, closed the windows, and turned on the a/c.

Then I hopped back into bed and picked up the dreaded smart phone. Doom scrolling commenced as my brain went in search of dopamine. But my phone was still on "DND" mode at 6:30, so no notifications sounded.

I closed the app I was using and noticed I had something on FB messenger. It was from a new friend whose FB connection is measured in days, and time in each other’s presence is measured in fewer hours than the fingers of your hand.

Here's a portion of what she sent:

"Good morning, Julie... (and then an excerpt from her bible study)

"Though communing with me, you transfer your heavy burdens to my strong shoulders. By gazing at me, you gain my perspective on your life. This time alone with Me is essential for unscrambling your thoughts and smoothing out the day before you. Be willing to fight for this precious time with me. Delight yourself and Me, for I am the deepest desire of your heart. You are dearly and deeply loved."

Wow. The words "BE WILLING TO FIGHT FOR YOUR PRECIOUS TIME WITH ME," hit me in the face. I realized that I have not been fighting for that time.

And, of note, I had never told this friend about my resolution. Yet she felt compelled to send a reminder of what I had completely forgotten in the space of a single day. (Finger snap!)

In response, I jumped out of bed, made some coffee and waved my hands at God as I waited for it to brew. Then I sat down with my beat up old Bible to read a bit. I was immediately transported back to the fervor of flipping through pages and making notes. It was exciting and interesting and fulfilling. It was as if I had never left off.

I’ve been fighting consistently for time with God, and have been enjoying study time each morning. Lately, I’ve been parked in the book of Ezekiel and, with tremendous gratitude to God, it’s once again captivated me as I feel “nudged” to look into some small detail.

It’s too much to provide the train of thought here, so I’ll just say something prompted me to look at the story of Jacob (Israel) giving blessing to his grandsons, in the presence of Joseph in the book of Genesis.

Joseph (the Patriarch) was one of 12 brothers who were sons of Jacob, who altogether formed the nation of Israel. It’s possible that almost all these 12 brothers are half of the 24 elders mentioned in Revelation, but that’s only my conjecture. I say “almost” because of what happens at the end of Jacob’s life.

Joseph was despised by his brothers and was initially going to be killed by them. However, he ended up being sold into slavery in Egypt. Through a series of remarkable events, Joseph was promoted to second in command, and provided refuge (and forgiveness) to his brothers many years later, in the second year of a seven year famine. 

Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Since Reuben’s birthright blessing had been taken away for uncovering his mother’s nakedness, Israel adopted both of Joseph’s sons and bestowed that birthright by placing his right hand on Ephraim. But Ephraim was the younger son, not the eldest. Israel insists that both Ephraim and Manasseh would become a great nation, but that Ephraim’s descendants would become a multitude of nations. (There is conjecture that Ephraim is the United States. I’ll leave that for you to ponder. Look at Zechariah for more information.)

Joseph’s blessing is five verses, and besides Judah’s allotment of leadership never leaving, is more abundant than the rest of the group, and he is called out as being “separated” from his brothers. 

Gen 49:22-26

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Jacob died, and Joseph continued to lead until his own death.

Joseph’s final age, 110 years old, is mentioned twice in scripture, providing two witnesses: once in Gen 50:22 and one in Gen 50:26. When something is repeated in the Bible, it’s often something at which one should look more closely.

So, I started to look at the other 110s in the Bible.

The word alethia (G225), which means “truth”, is used 110 times in the New Testament, as is the word sozo (G4982), which means “to deliver”.

And then there’s Joshua, who also lived to be 110.

Joshua’s name means “salvation,” and has the same spelling as Jesus in Hebrew. He was alongside Moses as they made their way through the desert, and is the one who ultimately led his people across the Jordan river into the promised land. 

Joshua 3:3-5

And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.And Joshua said unto the people,  Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

Could those 2000 cubits really be referring to the 2000 years since Christ’s death? Chuck Missler has come to the conclusion that Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected in 32 A.D., which is 1,993 years ago. If there is one “week” left, as mentioned in the book of Daniel, we’d better be watching and ready.

Let’s take a look at Joshua’s life. 

Joshua was initially met by the Angel of the Lord, who demanded of him that he remove his sandals (this is a recurring element that signifies redemption – see the story of Ruth and Boaz). 

As mentioned, he was given the task of completing the Exodus first charged to Moses, who was unable to complete the task because of his transgression against God. Later, Joshua was given the task of getting the people instructed, consecrated and prepared to cross into the Promised Land, then circumcised after crossing.

The Jordan crossing was a pivotal moment. Joshua was instructed by God to select 12 men of the tribes of Israel to remove 12 stones from the place where the priest’s feet stood in the Jordan, as a memorial of the crossing God provided. One stone for each tribe.  

But Joshua also took 12 stones of his own choosing and placed them at the feet of the priests carrying the ark, and those stones remain, according to scripture, in that spot to this day. Could this be a foreshadowing of Jesus choosing his 12 disciples? Consider the parallels. 

And, consider that one of the original 12 patriarchs was removed from blessing and replaced, just as one of the original 12 disciples was removed and replaced. 

And how remarkable that Joshua also lived to 110, as witnessed in Joshua 2:8 and Judges 20:10! There is significance in that.

I offer the consideration that 110 is the numerical symbol of doing it right – doing it well – and being blessed for that. And that blessing would naturally be bestowed by a right hand, which figures so frequently in scripture. Where else to we see it?

John 21:6. The disciples are out fishing after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. They are not catching on the left side of the boat. But the right hand? That yielded the amazing 153 fish. That number is the 17th triangular number. 17 is victory. The Passover is 153 in gematria.

Paul, from the tribe of Benjamin (literally Son of the Right Hand) is a preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles. Arguably a very large collection of nations.

But earlier, in Genesis 13:9, Abram and Lot are deciding to split up so that there is no quarreling for resources among the shepherds of their groups. The verse uses two different words for “right.” The first is yaman, with a gematria value of 100. The second time its yamin – the same as is used in Benjamin. And the Gematria value? An incredible 110, like the ages of Joseph and Joshua. 

But look more closely at the letters that make up these two words.

The letters of the yamin are Yood, Mem, Yood, Noon. Yood is the symbol of a hand and value of 10, which means Divine Deed, and Ordinal Perfection. Mem is the symbol of waters and value of 40, which means Flood and probation followed by renewal – like the story of Noah. Then comes another Yood, and finally Noon. Noon is a letter that has a “final” element to it, which means it looks different when it’s at the end of a word. Its symbol, of all things, is a fish, the numerical value is 50, and its meaning is both life and deliverance.

So, the word can be interpreted symbolically as Divine Deed, then Flood, then Divine Deed and deliverance. It’s the very story of man’s redemption by Jesus.

Interestingly, the word yaman, with a Gematria of 100 also ends in the symbol for redemption, but is missing a yood, the second Divine Deed. Perhaps this hints at Israel, who generally has yet to accept the Divine Deed of Jesus being the Lamb of God, the Messiah.

That’s a huge connection of 110 and right hand. But let’s not leave out Psalm 110 in this post. In its seven verses, there’s a right hand. 

Psalms 110:1-7

 [[A Psalm of David.]] The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

This psalm is full of interesting references to Messiah: right hand, footstools, rod of strength ruling, and a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Incredible.

When I searched the phrase “right hand” in scripture, I was hoping there were 110 mentions. Oh, well.
There are 140 verses and 146 mentions. Each time, it signifies God’s blessing, His protection, and righteous choices being made. Take a look at the first 8 mentions:

1)    Abram and Lot discussing their decision of where to live.
2)    Eliezer speaking with Laban to secure Rebecca for Isaac.
3)    Jacob adopting Ephraim and Manasseh as his own.

(Note – see the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in order, above?)

4)    Blessing given to Ephraim and Manasseh
5)    Blessing given to Ephraim and Manasseh
6)    Flood waters on the right and left of Pharaoh’s army.
7)    Israel walking safely through the flood waters on the right and left.
8)    The Right Hand of God destroying Pharaoh’s army.

And at the end of scripture, in Revelation, there are seven stars in the image of Jesus, being held in his Right Hand, which represent the angels of the seven churches.

The connections between Joseph, Joshua, 110 and the right hand are another wonderful example of the hidden gems in scripture when one searches them out. Praise God for His majesty, sovereignty, creativity, and constancy in telling us the story of His determination to redeem as many of us as will listen. Praise Him for the perfection of His Word.

Thanks for following this rabbit trail with me. I hope it blessed you.

Eyes up!