Two Steps Forward, Four Steps Back
Welcome to the book of Exodus. Our first parasha is Shemot, it begins of course with chapter 1:1 and ends at chapter 6:1. Jacob and his children have all died now. But since the time they came down to Egypt the people have greatly multiplied. Commentators have noted that there were three levels of Hebrew greatness: the Patriarchs, the twelve tribal ancestors and the seventy who originally went down to Egypt. After all these people were gone, the spiritual fall and decline into slavery greatly accelerated. Now there is a big problem, there's a new Pharaoh in town who doesn't know who Joseph was. He's worried about the Hebrews, they seem to be out numbering the Egyptians. If they chose to side with another nation, they could wipe out the Egyptians. The Egyptians were faced with a dilemma. The Hebrews were too dangerous too keep and too important to lose. So Pharaoh proposes a solution, enslave them. Then in order to stop the increase, he had all male Hebrew children killed at birth. They were to be thrown in the river and drowned. He engaged two Hebrew midwives to handle this. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah. At least that was their Egyptian names. They were really Moses's mother Jocabed and his sister Miriam. But it says these women feared YHVH and did not do what they were told. For this they were brought before Pharaoh.
Their answer, the Hebrew women give birth too quickly before we get there. Eventually, Pharaoh had 'all male children' killed at birth, even the Egyptian ones. (see Ex. 1:22) What had happened was, Pharaoh's soothsayers had told him there would be a deliverer of the Hebrew people born at this time and that his downfall would be through water. That's why he had the males thrown in the water, as opposed to killing them with a sword or some other method. What his soothsayers did not know was that Moses would be born at this time, but his downfall concerning water would be much later in the future at Meribah. If you remember, what happened there kept him out of the Promised Land. Now we see Moses is born and he is kept hidden for three months. You might remember that Moses's father was named Amram. Both of Moses's parents were descended from Levi. Finally Jocabed puts him in a basket (ark) that is coated with the pitch Noah's Ark was coated with. He was sent down the river and we all know the story of how the Pharaoh's daughter found him floating in the reeds. By the way, Pharaoh's daughter was named Princess Bisyah. What is great about this story is that Jocabed gets to nurse her own son and even gets paid to do it! But the sad part is that after he is weaned she has to give him over to Pharaoh's daughter. How that must have hurt! Doing what is YHVH'S will is not always a fun thing for us. But He knows everything will always turn out to our good. He also understands that sometimes things hurt us and we must get through those times as well as the good times. Moses's is now a grown man when he sees an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew. As we know, Moses kills the Egyptian and buries him in the sand.
Did someone say YHVH could not use a murderer:? Then he has to flee for his own life! He ends up in Midian sitting by a well. Oh no, a well, here we go again, a wedding is coming up:! So, here comes Jethro's seven daughters to draw water. You know one of them is getting married to Moses! The other men gave them a hard time and Moses stood up for them and helped them. They introduced him to their father Jethro, the priest of Midian. Jethro gave Moses his daughter Zipporah (what did I tell you) for a wife. For a while Moses was content to dwell with his wife and new born son Gershom there in Midian. The name Gershom means strange land in Hebrew, for Moses was indeed dwelling in a strange land. But dwelling there was not to last, as YHVH had other plans for Moses. YHVH made plans to meet Moses at a burning bush at the bottom of Mount Sinai. This is the same mountain in which they would later receive the Torah after leaving Egypt. What I want to call to your attention to is how YHVH introduced himself there at the burning bush. In chapter 3:6, we usually read it as YHVH saying he is the God of Moses's fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But if you take a closer look at it, it first states YHVH as saying, I am the God of "your father", singular, not plural. Then he goes on to list the other three Patriarchs. In other words, YHVH told Moses that he was the God of 'his father' (Amram) AND the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses was so afraid he hid his face. I'm sure we would probably do the same. Then YHVH begins to tell Moses what he is to do regarding bringing out the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Right away Moses starts making excuses why he cannot do the job. He felt that number one, he wasn't capable, number two, the people wouldn't listen to him and three, someone else could do a better job. He argued so much with YHVH about it that he angered God (dangerous). So YHVH finally tells him he can go with his brother Aaron and Aaron can be his mouthpiece. At one point YHVH asks him, what is in your hand.
Of course it was his staff. He instructed him to throw it on the ground. When he did, it turned into a serpent and Moses fled from it. But YHVH told Moses to pick it up by the tail. He did and of course it returned to being a staff. That should have convinced Moses, but it didn't. So YHVH tells him to put his hand in his bosom. He does and when he pulls it out, it is leprous. He's instructed to put it back in again and this time it comes out perfectly clean. So he tells Moses the people should believe these two signs. But if they do not, then he is to take water out of the Nile and pour it upon the ground, there it will turn into blood. Moses asks YHVH, who shall I say has sent me. YHVH answers him say, eyeh hasher eyeh. In English, He told him to say, I will be what I will be. YHVH agrees to have Aaron go with Moses and Moses returns to Midian. There he asks permission to leave from Jethro and return to Egypt. In Chapter 4:20, it says Moses left and took his wife and sons. We see sons, not son as in one son. So we know Gershom was already born previously, so now Moses must have his second son. Since he next gets into trouble with YHVH for not circumcising him, apparently this child is not very old. Since the circumcision took place on the eight day, we know the child must be past that. More than likely, the child was newly born and Moses was going to wait until he got to Egypt to circumcise him, probably because he worried about doing the procedure and then traveling in the heat on a journey with him. Whatever the reason was, he angered YHVH for not obeying. So Zipporah does the job for him. It's a bloody job, but someone had to do it! So now he and Aaron have gathered the elders of their people together.
YHVH has to always to get 'his people' in line before he can work on the others. Moses performs the exact first two signs in front of his people that he will be performing in front of Pharaoh. He had to convince his own people that YHVH truly was the one who had sent him. He did and the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Now it comes time to appear before Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron inform him that he is to let the people go for a three day sacrifice in the wilderness. You will notice Moses never says they will return after the three days:. But of course Pharaoh says, who are you and who is this God of yours, I know him not. Go away and tend to your business (paraphrasing). It is said in the commentaries the Levites were not enslaved as were the rest of the people. This can neither be denied, nor verified by Scripture. But it would give you the answer as to why Moses and Aaron were both free to walk around as they wished and were not out doing labor with the rest of the people. Now Pharaoh makes it even harder on the Hebrews. They now have to furnish their own straw, but yet their production is not expected to fall below what it was previously. Their Hebrew overseers were beaten if the quota fell. The overseers complained to Pharaoh, but to no avail. They see Moses and Aaron on the way out from speaking with Pharaoh and are very upset with them, to say the least. Then Moses does what a lot of us have done. He goes to YHVH and asks Him, what's going on here. He saw no deliverance take place and things 'only get worse'. Sometimes, situations have to get worse BEFORE they get better. But Moses was somewhat asking about the age old dilemma, why do bad things happen to good people. In the first place, none of us are good, only God is good. We deserve much more discipline than we get. Like the Hebrews, sometimes it feels like we take two steps forward and four steps back! Whether it is bad or good situations in our lives we are dealing with, if we belong to YHVH, He will work everything out in time, just as he did with the Israelites. Maybe that time might not be in this world, maybe you might have to wait until the world to come to see justice done. But what's one lifetime to wait in comparison to eternity? There's an appointed time and place for everything under the sun. Just make sure you're under the SON when that time comes! Shalom
Their answer, the Hebrew women give birth too quickly before we get there. Eventually, Pharaoh had 'all male children' killed at birth, even the Egyptian ones. (see Ex. 1:22) What had happened was, Pharaoh's soothsayers had told him there would be a deliverer of the Hebrew people born at this time and that his downfall would be through water. That's why he had the males thrown in the water, as opposed to killing them with a sword or some other method. What his soothsayers did not know was that Moses would be born at this time, but his downfall concerning water would be much later in the future at Meribah. If you remember, what happened there kept him out of the Promised Land. Now we see Moses is born and he is kept hidden for three months. You might remember that Moses's father was named Amram. Both of Moses's parents were descended from Levi. Finally Jocabed puts him in a basket (ark) that is coated with the pitch Noah's Ark was coated with. He was sent down the river and we all know the story of how the Pharaoh's daughter found him floating in the reeds. By the way, Pharaoh's daughter was named Princess Bisyah. What is great about this story is that Jocabed gets to nurse her own son and even gets paid to do it! But the sad part is that after he is weaned she has to give him over to Pharaoh's daughter. How that must have hurt! Doing what is YHVH'S will is not always a fun thing for us. But He knows everything will always turn out to our good. He also understands that sometimes things hurt us and we must get through those times as well as the good times. Moses's is now a grown man when he sees an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew. As we know, Moses kills the Egyptian and buries him in the sand.
Did someone say YHVH could not use a murderer:? Then he has to flee for his own life! He ends up in Midian sitting by a well. Oh no, a well, here we go again, a wedding is coming up:! So, here comes Jethro's seven daughters to draw water. You know one of them is getting married to Moses! The other men gave them a hard time and Moses stood up for them and helped them. They introduced him to their father Jethro, the priest of Midian. Jethro gave Moses his daughter Zipporah (what did I tell you) for a wife. For a while Moses was content to dwell with his wife and new born son Gershom there in Midian. The name Gershom means strange land in Hebrew, for Moses was indeed dwelling in a strange land. But dwelling there was not to last, as YHVH had other plans for Moses. YHVH made plans to meet Moses at a burning bush at the bottom of Mount Sinai. This is the same mountain in which they would later receive the Torah after leaving Egypt. What I want to call to your attention to is how YHVH introduced himself there at the burning bush. In chapter 3:6, we usually read it as YHVH saying he is the God of Moses's fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But if you take a closer look at it, it first states YHVH as saying, I am the God of "your father", singular, not plural. Then he goes on to list the other three Patriarchs. In other words, YHVH told Moses that he was the God of 'his father' (Amram) AND the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses was so afraid he hid his face. I'm sure we would probably do the same. Then YHVH begins to tell Moses what he is to do regarding bringing out the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Right away Moses starts making excuses why he cannot do the job. He felt that number one, he wasn't capable, number two, the people wouldn't listen to him and three, someone else could do a better job. He argued so much with YHVH about it that he angered God (dangerous). So YHVH finally tells him he can go with his brother Aaron and Aaron can be his mouthpiece. At one point YHVH asks him, what is in your hand.
Of course it was his staff. He instructed him to throw it on the ground. When he did, it turned into a serpent and Moses fled from it. But YHVH told Moses to pick it up by the tail. He did and of course it returned to being a staff. That should have convinced Moses, but it didn't. So YHVH tells him to put his hand in his bosom. He does and when he pulls it out, it is leprous. He's instructed to put it back in again and this time it comes out perfectly clean. So he tells Moses the people should believe these two signs. But if they do not, then he is to take water out of the Nile and pour it upon the ground, there it will turn into blood. Moses asks YHVH, who shall I say has sent me. YHVH answers him say, eyeh hasher eyeh. In English, He told him to say, I will be what I will be. YHVH agrees to have Aaron go with Moses and Moses returns to Midian. There he asks permission to leave from Jethro and return to Egypt. In Chapter 4:20, it says Moses left and took his wife and sons. We see sons, not son as in one son. So we know Gershom was already born previously, so now Moses must have his second son. Since he next gets into trouble with YHVH for not circumcising him, apparently this child is not very old. Since the circumcision took place on the eight day, we know the child must be past that. More than likely, the child was newly born and Moses was going to wait until he got to Egypt to circumcise him, probably because he worried about doing the procedure and then traveling in the heat on a journey with him. Whatever the reason was, he angered YHVH for not obeying. So Zipporah does the job for him. It's a bloody job, but someone had to do it! So now he and Aaron have gathered the elders of their people together.
YHVH has to always to get 'his people' in line before he can work on the others. Moses performs the exact first two signs in front of his people that he will be performing in front of Pharaoh. He had to convince his own people that YHVH truly was the one who had sent him. He did and the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Now it comes time to appear before Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron inform him that he is to let the people go for a three day sacrifice in the wilderness. You will notice Moses never says they will return after the three days:. But of course Pharaoh says, who are you and who is this God of yours, I know him not. Go away and tend to your business (paraphrasing). It is said in the commentaries the Levites were not enslaved as were the rest of the people. This can neither be denied, nor verified by Scripture. But it would give you the answer as to why Moses and Aaron were both free to walk around as they wished and were not out doing labor with the rest of the people. Now Pharaoh makes it even harder on the Hebrews. They now have to furnish their own straw, but yet their production is not expected to fall below what it was previously. Their Hebrew overseers were beaten if the quota fell. The overseers complained to Pharaoh, but to no avail. They see Moses and Aaron on the way out from speaking with Pharaoh and are very upset with them, to say the least. Then Moses does what a lot of us have done. He goes to YHVH and asks Him, what's going on here. He saw no deliverance take place and things 'only get worse'. Sometimes, situations have to get worse BEFORE they get better. But Moses was somewhat asking about the age old dilemma, why do bad things happen to good people. In the first place, none of us are good, only God is good. We deserve much more discipline than we get. Like the Hebrews, sometimes it feels like we take two steps forward and four steps back! Whether it is bad or good situations in our lives we are dealing with, if we belong to YHVH, He will work everything out in time, just as he did with the Israelites. Maybe that time might not be in this world, maybe you might have to wait until the world to come to see justice done. But what's one lifetime to wait in comparison to eternity? There's an appointed time and place for everything under the sun. Just make sure you're under the SON when that time comes! Shalom