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The parasha
for this Shabbat is entitled Vaera, meaning
“...and I appeared” and covers Exodus chapters
six through nine. God tells Moses that whereas
He had appeared to the Patriarchs by the title
El Shaddai, God Almighty, the Lord was
now making Himself known to Moses and Israel by
His personal name - a name we have long since
lost the knowledge to pronounce correctly. It
is comprised of just four letters, yod, hay, vav,
hay - which is why it is referred to as the Tetragrammaton
(from Gr. τετρα meaning
“four" and γραμματος
meaning “letter”). Some pronounce it Jehovah,
which demonstrates the failure to distinguish
between a k’tiv (what is written) and a Q’ere
(what is vocalized) - you need to know how to
read Masoretic symbols to make the distinction.
Besides which, Jehovah is a linguistic
improbability in Hebrew, owing to the lack of
a hard “J” sound. Some pronounce it Yahweh
which is speculative at best. The Jewish people
long ago determined to not risk mispronouncing
the sacred name and though it is still written
in Scripture as yod, hay, vav, hay, is spoken
aloud as “Adonai” - Lord. I personally don’t think
we should get worked up about how others choose
to pronounce God’s name, but some groups arrogantly
think they’re the only ones who know how to do
so.
In chapter
six, Adonai assures Moses that He has not forgotten
the covenant He made with the Patriarchs, to give
the land of Canaan to their descendants, nor is
He oblivious to the terrible oppression the sons
of Israel have suffered at the hands of the Egyptians.
Adonai sends Moses to announce to them that He
will accomplish their deliverance from Egypt,
and will bring them into the Promised Land. Moses
goes and announces it, but the people, we are
told, are in a state of such despondency that
they refuse to listen or to believe him. It was
immaterial - God was going to deliver His people
whether they believed it or not, and so He sends
Moses to Pharaoh.
Suddenly,
in the midst of the narrativ we are presented
with a genealogy - a genealogy focused primarily
on the tribe of Levi and two particular individuals
from that tribe: Moses and Aaron. Why suddenly
a genealogy? Simple: you want to establish the
credentials of the man who is about to lead the
entire nation and author the foundational five
books of the Bible, and you want to establish
the credentials of the man who will supervise
the religious life of the entire nation. In ancient
Israel, you didn’t get to square one without proving
proper ancestral lineage.
In chapter
seven God tells Moses without any ambiguity that
He will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that Pharaoh
will refuse to let Israel go, and it will give
God the opportunity to display His signs and wonders
in Egypt. The idea that God hardens a man’s heart
and then judges him may make some people uncomfortable,
but we’re told why it would be this way: And
the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when
I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the
sons of Israel from their midst (7:5). In
fact, so undeniable would be God’s authority over
all the false gods, that when our people left
Egypt, a multitude of non-Israelis accompanied
us (12:38). We need to take to heart that when
God judges, it is often with a redemptive purpose.
Egyptians will one day worship the Lord side-by-side
with Israelis (Isaiah 19:16-25)!
Moses
and Aaron confront Pharaoh (at ages 80 and 83,
respectively [7:7]!). Aaron throws down his staff
and it becomes a serpent, but Pharaoh’s magicians
were able to duplicate the sign, so Pharaoh’s
heart was hardened. Counterfeit miracles? Yes
- so don’t be impressed just because you see supernatural
signs. Listen to what is being proclaimed, and
make sure it is in keeping with the Scriptures,
and that the one performing the miracle is a genuine
servant of God and is of good character. The next
day Moses and Aaron confront him again in the
name of the Lord, and Aaron’s staff is waved over
the Nile and the water of the Nile turns to blood!
But again, Pharaoh’s magicians duplicate the sign,
and again he hardens his heart. They waved the
staff over the rivers and reservoirs as well,
and all the water turned to blood. All the fish
died, and the Nile became foul. Seven days later.
In chapter
eight, Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh again, demanding
in the name of the Lord that he let God’s people
go. Pharaoh refuses, and the land is smitten with
frogs everywhere - in the house, on the bed, even
in the oven. The magicians were also able to make
frogs, which at this point didn’t ingratiate them
with their master. Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron,
promising that if they will entreat the Lord to
remove the frogs, he will let Israel go. Moses
even allows Pharaoh to name the time for it to
happen, so that he might know it was from the
Lord. And sure enough, at that very time all the
frogs (except for those in the Nile) die out and
disappear. But Pharaoh hardens his heart again.
And so
it continues, chapters eight and nine chronicling
five more plagues: gnats, swarms of insects, the
death of Egypt’s cattle, horrible sores on the
skin of the Egyptians, hail destroying both crops
and what little livestock remained- each time
Pharaoh promising to let Israel go if the plague
would only be removed, and then hardening his
heart and reneging on his word once God removed
it. Pharaoh bears culpability for the great suffering
of the Egyptian people. Had he humbled himself
before the God of Israel, there might have been
blessings instead of plagues.
One of
the most startling truths brought out in this
passage of Scripture is our capacity as fallen
human beings to harden our hearts and dismiss
evidence before our very eyes. Miracles rarely
produce faith. The person who is dedicated to
unbelief will always manage to find an alternative
explanation. I don’t doubt that Pharaoh rationalized
away the sudden conclusion of each plague as circumstantial.
There
was an ad executive who was running late for a
make-it-or-break-it deal with a large firm. Millions
of dollars, not to mention his job, hinged on
landing this account, but there wasn’t a parking
space anywhere to be found, and time was running
out. Finally, in desperation, he looks up and
cries out, “God, I promise if you’ll just give
me a parking space right now, I will give up the
drinking and partying and will go back to church!”
At that very instant - right in front of the very
building he was going to, a parking space opens
up. He looks up and says, “Nevermind, I found
one.”
May we
learn from Egypt’s painful object lesson that
Adonai alone is God, and all the gods of the people
are idols. May we have the wisdom to give Him
the glory due Him. May all the Earth come to acknowledge
Him as Lord. May it not require plagues to bring
us and our friends and loved ones to a saving
knowledge of God and of Messiah Yeshua.
Shalom,
Rabbi Glenn
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