Sabbath Torah Nugget (#14) The Journey from the Wilderness to the Promised Land The Beginning of Israel’s Salvation Through יהוה We are overjoyed each week as we discover new golden nuggets from the Torah ~ the teachings and instructions from our Heavenly Father ~. This past week, we studied Shemot (Exodus) chapters 6-9. יהוה (LORD) says to Moses, “Say, therefore, to the children of Israel, ‘I am יהוה, and I shall bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and shall deliver you from their enslaving, and shall redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments, and shall take you as My people, and I shall be your Elohim (God). And you shall know that I am יהוה your Elohim who is bringing you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I shall bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give it to you as an inheritance. I am יהוה.” Ex.6:6-8 TS98 Moses and Aaron repeatedly come before Pharaoh to demand in the name of יהוה, Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness. Warnings were given to Pharaoh and a plague followed. Pharaoh repeatedly refused. Because of Pharaohs refusals, יהוה sent a series of plagues upon the Egyptians. The waters of the Nile turn to blood; swarms of frogs overrun the land; lice infest all men and beasts. Swarms of flies invade the cities, a pestilence kills the domestic animals, and painful boils afflict the Egyptians. For the seventh plague, fire and ice combine to descend from the skies as a devastating hail. Still, the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he would not let the children of Israel go; as יהוה had said to Moses. The plagues were proving what יהוה had promised Abraham in Gen. 12:3, And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you.” TS98 Pharaoh had at least ten opportunities to heed יהוה’s commands but did not. During each act of rebellion his heart moved farther away from יהוה’s will and grew colder in the process. Each of the plagues occurred to teach Pharaoh, the entire world, and even Israel about יהוה. “And Pharaoh is not going to listen to you, and I shall lay My hand on Egypt, and bring My divisions and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am יהוה when I stretch out My hand on Egypt. And I shall bring the children of Israel out from among them.” Ex. 7:4-5. We see a few attributes of the Name יהוה taught in this study. יהוה is Elohim. In Ex. 9:13, we see that יהוה is the Elohim of the Hebrews. This word literally means Mighty One. יהוה is all-powerful. “But when the magicians tried to produce lice by their secret arts, they could not. And the lice were on men and animals. The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of Elohim.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as יהוה had said,” Exodus 8:18-19. יהוה is righteous. “And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: יהוה is righteous, and I and my people are wicked,” Exodus 9:27. יהוה distinguishes between Israel and the pagans. “But יהוה will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die,’ Exodus 9:4. These plagues occurred to teach the world that His name is יהוה and His might is unequal “Therefore see, I am causing them to know, this time I cause them to know My hand and My might. And they shall know that My Name is יהוה.” Jer. 16:21 Unfortunately, the warning signs continued to go unheeded and build in severity until Pharaoh’s own magicians could not reproduce them (as with the lice). The magicians even soon became subject to them (as with the boils.) The seventh plague, hail, was the first to claim human life, foreshadowing the death that would rain down during the last and final plague. Were the plagues just a random selection of judgments or was there a deeper significance to this theme? Egypt was polytheistic. They had gods for everything. Even Pharaoh was a god. For example, the Nile River was worshipped as a god; so were frogs, the sun etc. What a lot people might not know is that each plague actually singled out a specific Egyptian deity for judgment from יהוה. Here is a look at all ten plagues and the deities that they judged: 1) THE NILE PLAGUE judged Khnum, Sati, Hapi, Osiris, Hathor, Neith, Sobek, and Apepi. 2) THE FROG PLAGUE judged the creator goddess Heka. 3) THE LICE PLAGUE judged Seth, Geb, Ra, and Osiris. 4) THE FLIES PLAGUE judged Vatchit, Beelzebub, and the Scarab beetle. 5) THE DEADLY MURRAIN judged Ptah, Apis, Hathor, and Osiris. 6) THE BOILS PLAGUE judged Ptah, Osiris, Sekhmet, Imhotep, Serapis, the Egyptian priesthood, and the ritual of casting ashes. 7) THE HAIL PLAGUE judged Nut, Geb, Amun-Ra, Osiris, and Pharaoh. 8) THE LOCUSTS PLAGUE judged Sobek, Ra, Shu, Geb, and Osiris. 9) THE DARKNESS PLAGUE judged Nut, Hathor, Amun-Ra, and the Egyptian priesthood. 10) THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN judged Heka, Isis , Min, Horus, Bes, Seker, and the Pharaoh. As Elohim begins to make Himself known as יהוה, we see a new dimension opening to us in the Torah. The theme of spiritual warfare! From the moment Moses is sent to take Israel out of Egypt, we see a miraculous power display between the two kingdoms now in conflict, the kingdom of light versus the kingdom of darkness. This is also one of the most significant aspects of Y’shuas (Jesus’) ministry, being directed at overcoming demonic powers! See Acts 10:38 and Matthew 9:1-38. Concerning the Name יהוה, let’s look at each individual Hebrew letter and reveal a beautiful picture! The first letter is yod. This letter represents a hand. The next letter is hey, representing a window or revealing. The third letter is waw in the ancient text, representing a nail or hook. And the last letter is another hey. So, when you put these individual pictures together you get; (hand reveals nail reveals.) Wow, what a beautiful picture of salvation through the “nail”-pierced “hand” of Y’shua, which means in Hebrew, “I Am Salvation.” Have you noticed the phrases “outstretched arm” and “outstretched hand” scattered throughout this study? More on that next week as we conclude the exodus from Egypt! Our haftorah reading is found in Ezekiel 28:25 - 29:21. Lets find some thematic connections to the Torah portion and apply it to our lives today! In Ezek. 29:2 we read, Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh the sovereign of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against Egypt, all of it. This is connected to Ex. 6:29, “I am יהוה. Speak to Pharaoh sovereign of Egypt all that I say to you.” In both passages we see יהוה speaking to the prophet telling him to prophesy against Pharaoh and all of Egypt. In Ezek. 28:25 we read, ...When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered,... This is connected to Ex. 6:8, And I shall bring you into the land which I swore to give... and Ex. 7:5, ...And I shall bring the children of Israel out from among them.” Here is a big thematic connection seen over and over again throughout the Scriptures! Just as יהוה brought the Israelites out of exile from Egypt to the land of Canaan, יהוה will bring us out of exile and into the Promised Land! We see the phrase know that I am יהוה, (Ezek. 28:26) five times through the haftorah. Likewise, we see the same phrase know that I am יהוה, (Ex. 7:17) seven times in the Torah portion! We also see the Nile River used numerous times in each portion. It is repeated 9 times in Ezek. 29:1-10 and 18 times in Ex. 7:15 - 8:11! We would like to key in on Ezek. 29:3. Speak, and you shall say, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am against you, O Pharaoh sovereign of Egypt, O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, ‘My River is my own, and I, I have made it for myself. Lets examine this great monster that is mentioned here in this verse. The Hebrew words are Strongs H8577(hatannim / the dragon) Strongs 1419 (hagadol / great) the great dragon, and notice that it lies in the midst of the rivers! Now compare this to Ex. 7:10, ...And Aaron threw his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Again the same Hebrew root word is used Strongs H8577 (tannin). This is interesting because when Moses was at the burning bush (Ex. 4:2-4) and later before the Israelites (Ex. 4:30, 31), the Hebrew word for serpent that is normally used in referring to a serpent is Strongs 5175 (la nachash / a serpent) not (tannin)! So, whats up here? Why is יהוה using a different word when Aaron throws his rod before Pharaoh? Why is this same word used in Ezek. 29:3 and why is it lying in the midst of the Nile river? Lets go back to the Creation account and look at the fifth day in Gen. 1:21, And Elohim created great sea creatures... Again, the great sea creatures in Hebrew is Strongs H8577 (hatanninm / the sea creatures) Strongs 1419 (hagadolim / great) Although we dont know for sure what this great dragon or great monster really looked like, it was probably a lot bigger than an Egyptian cobra! Also notice that it says Elohim created Strongs 1254 (bara). The only other time this word is used in the creation account is in the first verse (Gen. 1:1). We believe Ezek. 29:3 is a direct attack on Pharaohs being a King / God myth. Remember, Pharaoh had said, ‘My River is my own, and I, I have made it for myself.’ יהוה is letting him know that He is the only Creator and King / God of the whole earth, sea and all there is! We also see that Ezek. 29:8 is connected to Ex. 9:25 in the idea that a form of destruction, (a sword in Ezek. and hail in Ex.) is going to kill both man and beast. Ezek. 29:10, ...I am against you and against your rivers, and shall make the land of Egypt an utter waste and a desert,... is connected to the whole Torah portion (Ex. 6:2 - 9:35), where we see that יהוה is laying the whole land of Egypt utterly wasted. So, lets evaluate these major themes and bring them down to our modern times. First we see the promise of redemption and exile, The world we are living in is set up for this same story to happen all over again. The time is ready for יהוה to step in and make this world know who He is! The modern day Pharaohs that have so much of the world enslaved are about to meet יהוה and see their empires collapse! Then the whole world will know יהוה and give Him the glory that is due to His Name! יהוה will take issue with these Pharaohs that think that they are god on earth, just as He did when He let Pharaoh in Egypt know that יהוה is the Creator of heaven and earth and it is His! Our exile from the Promised Land is likened to the Egyptian exile in Exodus and the book of Exodus is a prophetic pattern for Israels return at the end of this age we are living in right now! Let us prepare our hearts for His eminent return!!! :) ^_^ Blessings in Messiah, Kevin & Michelle
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 02:53:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015