|
The name
of our portion of the Torah is Shemot - Names
- referring to the names of those first Jewish
people who went down to Egypt in the time of Joseph.
It also is the title of this second book of the
Bible.
The Jewish
people are now in the incubator of Egypt. We will
be there for some 400 years. Chapter 1 records
the fact that we had now been in Egypt for many
years. And, a new Pharaoh came to power who did
not remember Joseph, and the way God used that
great man to save Egypt during the great famine,
and instead of showing gratitude, and treating
our people well, Pharaoh and the Egyptians mistreated
the Chosen People.
They did
not understand that God was revealing Himself
to the nations of the world through this special
people, and had chosen us to be a blessing to
the nations, and the nation that blessed us would
be blessed, and the nation that cursed us would
be cursed.
They didn’t
know God, and they ignored their history, and
made a terrible decision to enter into a conflict
with the Chosen People. After all, they were bigger
and stronger, and had many gods - they could do
what they wanted.
So they
enslaved us, and made our lives bitter by slave
labor. We built some of the storage cities of
Egypt. But the more they persecuted us, like the
Church, the more we were persecuted, the more
we multiplied! Don’t be surprised if Christians
and Messianic Jews are afflicted even here in
the United States; and if that happens, the Church
is purified and grows.
The conflict
escalated. Jewish children were multiplying and
were not convenient. They might cause problems
when the grew up. Rather than allow these innocents
to live, the Egyptians decided it was better to
kill them. The Hebrew women who were in charge
of helping the other women give birth were instructed
by Pharaoh to kill all the Jewish sons. Within
a generation, with no sons, the rest of the Jews
would assimilate.
But these
women feared God more than man. They understood
that the unjust laws of men, unrighteous decrees
that allow for the murder of children, must not
be obeyed. The righteous laws of God must overrule
the wicked decrees of men, and the righteous must
not cooperate. Civil disobedience is called for.
So, they defied Pharaoh. God blessed them, as
He will ultimately reward all those who chose
righteousness over wickedness.
The conflict
escalates further. A decree is issued to all the
king’s people to kill all the Jewish sons
that are born. This is one of the first satanic
attempts to destroy the holy people, the nation
chosen to know God, and bring the truth about
God and salvation to the other nations of the
world, who had fallen away from God, and were
without salvation, without hope, and without God
in the world. This is the one of the first attempts
by the god of this world, using the powers that
be, to destroy the Chosen People, and it will
not be the last.
But, the
God of Israel, the true God, the great Creator
of men and angels, will show Himself stronger
than the god of this world. Israel will be seen
to be stronger than Egypt, and righteousness stronger
than wickedness. The God of Israel will demonstrate
to the Egyptians, and to the entire world, for
all generations, His superiority.
Chapter
2 records the birth of one of the very greatest
men who ever lived - Moses. Son of Abraham through
Levi, Prince of Egypt, great prophet, priest,
leader, deliverer of the Jewish people, warrior,
poet and writer of some of the Psalms, lawgiver,
legislator, author of the foundational part of
the Word of God. Instead of being thrown into
the Nile and killed, through the providence of
God he is spared death, and found by Pharaoh’s
daughter. He is adopted by the family of Pharaoh.
The first 40 years the savior of the Jews will
be provided for and raised and trained in the
house of Pharaoh, and in the wisdom of the Egyptians,
and given much of the knowledge that he needs
to accomplish the great tasks God is calling him
to do. The wise God knows how to use the resources
of the wicked to accomplish his purposes of salvation!
Moses
knows that though he is a prince of Egypt, he
is also a Hebrew. Even though he is rich and powerful,
and enjoys all the comforts of one of the mightiest
nations on Earth, Moses makes a decision to turn
his back on all the wealth of Egypt, and identify
with his enslaved people. One day he sees an Egyptian
mistreating an Israeli, and Moses sides with the
Jew and murders the Egyptian. The deed becomes
known, and Pharaoh wants to kill him, and so Moses
has to flee for his life. He goes east to Midian,
to a nation that comes from Abraham and his second
wife Keturah. He marries Tziporah, the daughter
of Jethro, the priest of Midian. They have a son,
Gershom. Even though the father is Jewish, and
the mother is not, there is no question that Gershom
is a Jew. According to the Torah, Jewish identity
goes through the father, as well as through the
mother.
Chapter
3 tells us that Moses, a once mighty prince of
Egypt, becomes a shepherd for the next 40 years
of his life. He learns how to shepherd a flock.
He learns the ways of the desert. One day he comes
to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai, and
sees a bush that is burning, but is not consumed.
The Creator speaks audibly to Moses from the midst
of the burning bush. The Lord calls Moses to return
to Egypt. The Pharaoh that wanted to kill Moses
has died, but the Chosen People are still suffering
terribly, and it is time to bring them out of
Egypt, and fulfill God’s promises, and bring
this people into the land that God has reserved
for them, and Moses is the man to do it. What
an honor!
But, this
is a daunting task and Moses is reluctant. But,
the Lord answers all the objections of His reluctant
prophet. Together, Moses and the Lord, who reveals
His special name, the Yud Hay Vav Hay, based on
the Hebrew verb “to be” - the God
who is who He is, who always is, always has been,
always will be, who has life in Himself, will
bring the Jews back to this very spot!
It will
not be easy. The conflict will escalate further.
Pharaoh won’t allow the Jewish people to
go unless he is forced to. And Adonai will force
him using signs and wonders.
Moses
is still reluctant to take up this daunting task.
So, the Lord gives him the ability to do several
miracles. His hand will turn white, and then back
to normal color. His staff will turn into a snake,
and then back to a staff. If he takes water out
of the mighty Nile, and pours it on the ground,
it will turn to blood.
Moses
is still reluctant to go. He is not a good speaker.
The Lord assures His reluctant prophet that the
One who created mankind with the ability to speak
will help him. But, Moses is still unwilling to
go. The Lord gets angry, but will allow Aaron,
the brother of Moses, to be his spokesperson.
Moses
heads back to Egypt. But, leaders are held to
a higher standard, and the one who will lead Israel
needs to follow God closely. But, he had not circumcised
his son and made him part of the covenant between
the Lord and Abraham and his descendants. The
Lord is about to kill Moses, until Tziporah does
the circumcision.
Moses
and Aaron return to Egypt. They tell the Jewish
people that they are here to save them. The people
are happy, happy about Moses and Aaron, happy
about the promises of escape from Egypt, hopeful
about the future, and they praise God!
Next comes
one of the greatest confrontations of all time.
Good vs evil, truth vs lie, God vs Satan, a prophet
vs false prophets, the outwardly weak vs the outwardly
strong, Israel vs the mighty Egyptian empire,
a nation of slaves vs a free people. Moses and
Aaron come before Pharaoh, and demand that Israel
be released. The king refuses. He escalates the
conflict, demanding that the Jews not only not
be released, but have to work harder than ever;
they have to do the same amount of work, and make
the same amount of bricks, but now they have to
supply and gather the straw to make bricks.
Things
are worse for the Jews, and we get discouraged.
We are angry with Moses and Aaron - and not for
the first time. It’s not easy being God’s
man, and being a leader. Do what the Lord wants
and it may make your life, and the life of those
around you, more difficult, but follow the Lord
anyway!
Shalom,
Rabbi Loren
|
