Exodus 1:1 to 6:1
Jeremiah 1:1 to 2:3
Hebrews 11:23-26
Exodus is the second of the five books of Moses which are called Torah and the Torah is the constitution that governs Yahweh’s Kingdom on earth. Scriptures now have us travel forward over three hundred years from Joseph’s death, as we follow the continuing history of Jacob’s family, the Israelites.
As the book of Exodus opens, it recounts the success that Jacob’s grandchildren had in maintaining the Torah lifestyle that their father’s walked in. While living in Egypt, all twelve tribes were identifiable and unified during this exiled time. They did not assimilate with the Egyptians but kept themselves apart in their tribal families. Scripture reports that they were blessed, which means in Hebrew that they obeyed Yahweh and kept a torah lifestyle. “The Israelites were fruitful, multiplied and became exceedingly numerous” (Exodus 1:7).
As time passed and life within the Israelite camp flourished, Egypt came under the rule and government of a new Pharaoh. This king was not familiar with the history of Joseph’s service to Egypt, or of the special provisions made for Jacob’s, the twelve tribes of Israel. As Jacob’s family served Yahweh in Egypt, they had become very prosperous and had multiplied greatly. This roused the new Pharaoh’s jealousy, and brought hatred toward Yahweh’s people. This king was very shrewd and devised ways to destroy the God of the Israelites and oppress Jacob’s family to bring them under his subjection. Pharaoh saw himself as the dominant god of Egypt, chosen to lead the people and maintain order, so that he might provide an important link between the Egyptian people and their gods. Those who worshipped the God of Israel stood in direct opposition to Pharaoh’s plans and challenged his kingdom.
Pharaoh encompassed both the secular and sacred worlds, which to Egyptians were one and the same. He settled legal disputes and led the religious rituals that were the backbone of Egyptian culture. In accordance with his role as god-king, Pharaoh was responsible for maintaining the role of Ma’at and thus the role of balance-keeper. Ma’at was the god who had the rule of order over “the chaos that was waiting to envelop the world.” As long as king and commoner alike honored the gods and obeyed the laws they enforced, the balance was maintained and all would be well. Should the Pharaoh fail in his role, the entire world would suffer and descend into the unthinkable state of anarchy.
The god Ma’at was the patron of truth, law and universal order. The appearance of this god was that of a woman wearing a crown surmounted by a huge ostrich feather. Her totem symbol is set on a stone platform or foundation, representing the stable base on which order is built. Ma’at was described as the personification of the fundamental order of the universe, without which all of creation would perish. The primary duty of Pharaoh was to uphold this order by maintaining the law and administering justice. To reflect this, many pharaohs took the title "Beloved of Ma’at," emphasizing their focus on justice and truth.
Yahweh’s plans are higher than man’s ways. We will soon see that although Yahweh allowed Pharaoh to play a role in Israel’s history, it was Yahweh’s hand alone that would deliver HIS people at HIS appointed time. He had not forgotten Israel.
Genesis 15:13-14 Yahweh said to Abraham, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.”
This Pharaoh began planning hardships for the Israelites designed to bring about their oppression.
James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
In order to bring the Egyptian people onside with his plans, Pharaoh manufactured suspicion among his own people toward the Israelites. With the Egyptians incited by jealousy, the scene was set for the delivery of Yahweh’s people. Pharaoh said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land" (Exodus 1:9-10).
The Israelites were a flourishing and self-sufficient people in their own right, and they had blessed Egypt through their own economy. However, Pharaoh’s plan was successful and soon the Hebrews were given Egyptian names and hard taskmasters over them to oppress them. In their enslavement, the Israelites were forced to build the two store-cites of Pithom and Rameses located in Lower Egypt. Pithom means "the city of justice" and Rameses “child of the sun"
Pharaoh’s plan to enslave Yahweh’s people had four phases:
- First: recruitment for public service (Exodus 1:11).
- Second: enslavement under hard labor by making bricks with mortar, along with all kinds of field work that made their lives bitter (Exodus 1:13-14)
- Third: changing names from Hebrew to Egyptian causing them to lose their identity and assimilate (Exodus 1:15-16).
- Fourth: the final solution - killing all male Hebrew babies (Exodus 1:22).
The enemies of Israel have used these tactics throughout history. We have seen this in the pogroms, the Inquisition and the holocaust that have attempted to thwart Yahweh’s plans.
Midwives
Exodus 1:16 "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
With the Israelites doing so well Pharaoh feared that in the event of a war these slaves would unite with those attacking Egypt, fight against the Egyptians and leave the land. This would devastate the country’s economy. In order to prevent them from gathering against Egypt, the king decreed all Hebrew male babies be put to death, where as the female babies were allowed to live. It was here that we see Egyptian names being applied to the attending Hebrew midwives. The rabbis believe that the two midwives with the Egyptian names Shiphrah (fair) and Puah (splendid) are actually Jochebed and Miriam, the mother and sister of Moses (Exodus 1:10-15).
Scripture states that the midwives had a respectful fear of Yahweh over fear of man because they believed in His Covenant promises. Allowing the male babies to live soon had the midwives standing before Pharaoh to explain their actions. “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.” Because of their courageous actions Yahweh blessed them. The Hebrews continued to flourish, which made Pharaoh even more enraged, and he said, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive" (Exodus 1:17-22).
Yahweh’s prophesy for the Israelites was about to unfold. Yahweh chose a baby named Moses for His great plan to redeem Israel and bring them back to the Promised Land. Moses’ life was a prophetic picture of Yeshua’s life thousands of years later, as he also came as the kinsman redeemer for the nation of Israel. Both men came into this world in vulnerable positions; as babies.
Why do we fear? Here Yahweh presents His plan of redemption through the very vehicle that the enemy is attempting to destroy; a baby! Yahweh is revealing to us that His covenant promises are so powerful that even if we are spiritually like helpless babies, walking in His truth will deliver us.
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore Yahweh himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, meaning God with us.”
Luke 2:4-7 “Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.”
As Moses’ life was threatened, so was Yeshua as a baby. “An angel of Yahweh appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ And so was fulfilled what Yahweh had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son (Hosea 11:1).’ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi (Matthew 2:13, 15-16).”
The Basket
Exodus 2:1-10
Moses’ parents Amram and Jochebed were exceptional as well and were from the priestly tribe of Levi. They hid their baby for three months out of the public eye, until they could hide him no longer. Jochebed put her trust in Yahweh, believing that Moses would be protected from Pharoh’s death sentence and live.
Hebrews 11:23 “By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.”
Jochebed wove a basket to hold her baby Moses, using pitch inside and out to keep the little ark afloat. The Hebrew word for “pitch” is karph, the same Hebrew that translates as “atonement,” meaning covering, and specifically, a covering for sins. She placed the child in the ark and floated him on the water of the Nile River, but concealed him among the reeds.
The Hebrew male babies were to be thrown into the Nile to drown, but this child was placed on the waters of tribulation (suffering) to be led by the wind, representing the Spirit of Yahweh (Ecclesiastes 11:1). The waters that were a judgment of death to others brought this child deliverance from death. Jochebed knew Yahweh would not give her a son only for him to be taken from her. She also knew the covenant given her people and the prophecy which said that they would be four hundred years in a country not their own, but in the fourth generation they shall return here [the Promised Land - Israel]. (Genesis 15:13-16). She discerned the time of exile in Egypt was soon coming to an end and put her faith in the faithfulness of Yahweh. Just as Noah trusted his family into the care of Yahweh by concealing them into an ark and allowing the Spirit of Yahweh to lead them upon the waters that delivered them from death, so too Jochebed placed Moses in an ark on the water and in doing so preserved the whole Nation of Israel. The Israelites were looking for a Savior. Moses became the forerunner of the Messiah. This ark preserved one who would redeem the twelve tribes of Israel, the one who would free them from the enslavement to Egypt (a world system). It represented the Messiah who would become the Redeemer of the whole world through His Atonement that covered our sins and also represent the picture of the Bride of Messiah being redeemed out of the Nations in the Messianic Age. (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14).
In the study Noah, the waters represent people groups in all the nations to whom the waters did not provide deliverance and life but judgment and death. With Moses we see he was hidden in the ark that floated on the waters of tribulation/deliverance. In these two pictures Yahweh is showing us how to walk during the turbulent end times in the Messianic era. In order to stay safe, we need to be found walking in His covenantal ways, following His appointed times.
Shortly after Moses was placed in his ark on the Nile River, Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river’s edge to bathe. The eyes of her understanding “opened” as she noticed this unique basket. When she saw the circumcised babe, she realized that a Hebrew mother had the courage to defy Pharaoh, her father’s death decree, to uphold her Torah lifestyle/pattern (Exodus 2:5-6). This baby facing her would be the revealer of Yahweh’s Word (Torah) to His people and was to become the prophet who would talk face to face with Yahweh and proclaim the coming Messiah.
Water (or mikvah) is also representative of a status change and the basket (ark) represents a Torah lifestyle. Just as the daughter of Pharaoh had the basket brought near to her, we are to bring the Torah and its lifestyle closer to ourselves. When we look into Yahweh’s teaching and instruction the “eyes” of our understanding will also open. Looking into Torah enables us to see the Redeemer of Israel, the Messiah - Yeshua Ha Mashiach, and His Kingdom.
Later, in Deuteronomy, Moses shared Yahweh’s words with the Children of Israel: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account (Deuteronomy 18:18-19).”
John 5:46-47 Yeshua said, "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"
Miriam, who was watching her baby brother from the shore, approached Pharaoh’s daughter. This took great courage on Miriam’s behalf, as she was “inferior” in both age and status to the Egyptian princess. She suggested to Pharaoh’s daughter a Hebrew wet nurse be brought, and, after receiving royal approval, ran for the baby’s mother, Jochebed. Imagine Jochebed’s joy in being reunited with her child and seeing the faithfulness of Yahweh! Jochebed took Moses and nursed him until he was old enough to be weaned. During that time the child was taught Torah, Yahweh’s principles for life, the understanding of which would keep him throughout all the days of his life. When their time together came to an end and the child was weaned, Jochebed gave him back to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. Only then was the child named Moses, meaning “one who is drawn out” (Exodus 2: 7-10). Pharaoh, the great persecutor of the Hebrew people, now had the one who would deliver the Israelites from his wrath living in his very own household.
“Who made you ruler and judge over us?”
Exodus 2:11-15
Acts 7:22-35 (From Stephen’s last speech before his death) “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting (representing the Two Houses of Israel, brother against brother). He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’ But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ” (Exodus 2:11-14).
“Who made you ruler and judge over us?” Where have we heard this before? Joseph’s brothers made a similar statement: “Do you intend to reign over us?” “Will you actually rule us?” (Genesis 37:8). Like Joseph’s brothers, Yeshua’s kinsmen were also envious over His Kingdom (bloodline) authority, accusing Him of “ruling over them,” that they too plotted his murder.Moses Flees To Midian
Exodus 2:15-22
When Pharaoh heard of the murders, he sought to kill Moses, so Moses fled for his life to Midian (Acts 7:29). The Midianites are related to the fourth son of Abraham, by his second wife Keturah. They inhabited the desert north of the peninsula of Arabia. The peninsula of Sinai was the pasture-ground for their flocks. Being the most dominant among other tribes, they were virtually the rulers of Arabia (Genesis 25:2; 1Chronicles 1:32). The Midianites were a nomadic people, and it was to one of their caravans that Joseph had been sold to many years before when he was taken into Egypt (Genesis 37:28,36).
Arriving at Midian, Moses sat down by a well. The priest of Midian had seven daughters, who came to the well to draw water to fill the troughs for their father’s flock. Other shepherds attempted to drive them away, but Moses rescued their flocks and watered them himself. This was prophetic of Messiah Yeshua redeeming and watering the flocks of Yahweh with Living Water (Exodus 2:15-17; John 4:1-42).
We have learned through the stories of Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Rachel, that when we see stories of “wells” in Scripture it is prophetic language. Wells represent “Living Water” and are prophetic of drawing that “life” from the Living Water (Yeshua in Torah) given freely by the Messiah. Wells in scripture are also a picture of walking in His Redemption and blessings.
John 7:38 Yeshua said, “If a man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
The seven sisters are a picture of a complete number of assemblies in Yahweh’s Kingdom government as seen in Revelation 1:11: Yeshua declared to John, “I am the Alpha/Aleph and the Omega/Tav, the First and the Last”, and “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches/ekklesia…” (Strong’s #1577 - assembly).
When the seven sisters tried to draw living water from the well, shepherds (representing false teachers and prophets) drove them away. It was Moses (representing Yahweh’s Word/Truth) who came forward to rescue the seven sisters (ekklesia) and water their Father’s flocks. This picture represents Yahweh’s flocks, His Remnant Bride during the Messianic Age. They stand firmly in Yahweh’s teaching given to Moses at Mount Sinai, and it is they who will be “watering the Father’s sheep” – teaching them their heritage that leads them home to the Promised Land. They are Yahweh’s only true priests and prophets today.
When the sisters returned early from watering their flocks, their father Reuel (Jethro) remarked, “Why have you returned so early today?” They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” His daughters had not recognized Moses as a man of Yahweh for he was still in his Egyptian clothing, but their father discerned he was not Egyptian, as the Egyptians distained shepherding and would not have cared for his sheep as this man had done. Reuel had his daughters bring Moses back to their house to “break bread” together.
The Friend of God
Moses agrees to stay with Reuel (whose name means friend of God). In gratitude for the care shown his sheep and toward his daughters, Reuel gave Zipporah in marriage to Moses. She and Moses had a son, Gershom, whose name means, “I have become a stranger in a foreign land” (Exodus 2:22).
The Cry for a Redeemer
Exodus 2:23-24
Scripture keeps us informed of the events transpiring in Egypt while Moses was in Midian. Time had passed and the Pharaoh King who ordered the death of Moses had died. The Israelites groaned under the weight of their slavery in Egypt and cried out to Yahweh for help. Scripture says that Yahweh heard them and remembered His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The appointed time for the deliverance of the twelve tribes of Israel had come.
The Burning Bush
Exodus 3
As Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock in Midian, he saw a strange sight, a bush that was burning in the middle of the wilderness. As he approached it, he noticed that the flames did not consume the bush as it burnt. As he drew closer a voice called to him from within the flames, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” The Voice said: “Do not come any closer, take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:4-5; Acts 7:30-34).
In Hebrew thought, as referenced in Exodus 3:11-16, this took place at Mount Sinai where the future Israelites would become betrothed to Yahweh. “Taking off your sandals” intimates the giving and receiving of a marriage covenant. Moses was about to enter a marriage covenant and change of status with Yahweh as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had done.
Compromise
Exodus 3:6-10 "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-- the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
Moses could not see himself as a leader and hid his face from Yahweh. He became defensive and gave five reasons why he was not a suitable to be an ambassador to direct Yahweh’s people. Not believing in Yahweh’s covenant and His faithfulness leads to excuses that hinder His work in our lives. This affects us personally and it can also indirectly affect the lives of thousands of others. Serving Yahweh is never ONLY about us but is about blessing Yahweh’s people.
Moses’ queries, fears and excuses as to why Yahweh should not appoint him to lead Israel out of Egypt are points of reference to study today. Fear is the largest epidemic in the world today. When Yahweh asks us to serve Him (and others), He has already prepared the way and knows what challenges we might meet. He is asking for our obedience in spite of it. Not answering God’s call on our lives will diminish the blessings He intends to bestow on us. Settling for second best in our lives if we bow down to fear and compromise in our hearts (preference over principle) is never honoring Yahweh. (John 19:30)
Revelation 3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
The five excuses that kept Moses from answering Yahweh’s call were:
- Pride in the feeling of unworthiness: Moses said to Yahweh, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Yahweh said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I that have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship Yahweh on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:11)
- Fear of man: Moses said to Yahweh, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM (or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE).” This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'” (Exodus 3:13)
- Fear of rejection: Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘Yahweh did not appear to you?’ ” With this, Yahweh had him throw his staff on the ground and a snake appears. He then had Moses pick the snake up and it turned back to a staff again. Then Yahweh had Moses put his hand inside his cloak and pull it out. It was covered with a skin affliction. Repeating this healed Moses’ hand like the other again. (Exodus 4:1)
- Influence of previous experiences: Moses said to Yahweh, “O Yahweh, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." With this, Yahweh shared with Moses, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." (Exodus 4:10)
- Need for a mandate from Yahweh. Moses said, "O Yahweh, please send someone else to do it." This was the last one; the number five represents grace and Moses had “used up” all God’s grace! Yahweh’s anger burned against Moses, then He sent his brother Aaron to help him, telling him, ‘I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.” (Exodus 4:13)
The Departure
Moses then took his staff, returned to Jethro and asked permission to return to his people in Egypt. Jethro granted his request and blessed Moses, so he gathered his wife, two sons and their possessions and started out on his journey back to Egypt. Yahweh said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son' " (Exodus 4:21-23).
Circumcise Before Taking a Leadership Role
Exodus 4:24
Moses’ heart needed circumcision as had Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph’s before him. We cannot expect to move forward, walking in Yahweh’s power and authority if we have one foot in His Kingdom and one foot in fear. This sin of compromise and dishonor needed to be attended to before Moses could walk as an ambassador speaking only Yahweh’s kingdom/covenant principles before his Israelite brothers and before Pharaoh.
One night Yahweh met Moses when he and his family had settled down to sleep. Yahweh’s anger burned against Moses and He was ready to slay him, but Zipporah intervened and saved
her husband’s life. Moses had not yet trusted enough to offer his whole heart to Yahweh and this lack of heart circumcision was reflected in his actions of disobedience to the instruction to circumcise his son. The circumcision of the heart rests on the father firstly and then upon the hearts of his family before entering the Land. Although Moses was preparing to enter Egypt, not the “Land” of Israel, he was about to serve in Yahweh’s Presence. This circumcision of Moses’ heart was for the salvation of his soul – bringing blessing to his following generations. It was Zipporah and her quick action that saved Moses’ life.
Moses had neglected the basic fundamental requirement for returning to the land. Today, as it was then, the voluntary circumcision of our heart attitudes allows Yahweh to write His Word upon us where sin and dishonor had formerly lodged, which precedes outward signs of His presence in us. Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off her son’s foreskin, touching Moses’ feet with it and saying to him, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” Blood atones for our sin. The act of obedience by Zipporah protected Moses just as the blood sacrifice put on the doorposts of the Israelite homes would protect them from the angel of death on the night of the coming Exodus.
In these end of days/Messianic Era, we have protection from any destruction in the world around us when we walk in Yahweh’s Kingdom protocols/principles and apply them in our lives. Our job is to be finished with compromise, mixture and any lukewarm attitudes to sin in our lives. We cannot not shrink back from our responsibility as Moses tried to do, but must walk as Ambassadors (Kings and Priests), starting in our homes which are to be patterned after the order of His Kingdom. In these days, Yahweh is teaching His Torah to His lost sheep of the House of Israel in the Nations, and that is the sign that we are indeed in the 7,000 year Messianic Era (Ephesians 5:8; Acts 1:9-12; Isaiah 2:1-3).
Yahweh sent Aaron the brother of Moses just as He promised. The two embraced as they met for the first time since childhood, and Moses shared all of what Yahweh had done. They brought together the Israelite elders from the twelve tribes and declared that Yahweh had not forgotten them. With that, Moses unveiled Yahweh’s plans for them that had been spoken so long ago. The elders were overwhelmed and bowed down to worship Yahweh with thanksgiving (Exodus 4:27- 31).
Bricks without Straw
Exodus 5
With Yahweh’s plan of deliverance set in motion, the events that would deliver an entire nation from Egypt had started. At various times in our lives when Yahweh is about to do a great work, it may look to be the opposite to what we are expecting. Many may miss His blessings, as they pull out under the pressure too early, instead of holding on and waiting upon Yahweh for His mighty hand to deliver. May we learn this lesson of Moses: In judgment (of the world) is our deliverance.
Before Pharaoh
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him what Yahweh said, “Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.” The festival Moses spoke about would be the feast of Shavuot at Mount Sinai, the betrothal of Israel to Yahweh.
Upon hearing this Pharaoh’s heart hardened, he ordered heavier tasks for the Israelites, forcing them to make bricks without straw, but with the same daily quota. This put a huge burden on the people, who staggered under the pressure to perform an impossible task. The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh appealed to him but to no avail. These men did not seek Yahweh but turned to Moses and Aaron and accused them of being the cause of all their problems, saying, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us." Moses did not address the foremen but turned to Yahweh for help. Yahweh answered, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country" (Exodus 6:1).
Jeremiah 1:5-8 Yahweh said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I chose you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." "Ah, Sovereign Yahweh," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But Yahweh said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares Yahweh.
To be continued
Shabbat Shalom
Julie Parker
Since its inception in 2003, Sheepfold Gleanings has been written under the pen name of Carl and Julie Parker. It will now be published under the authors name Julie Parker, with her husband Carl’s continued support and covering.
Note: We are in the process of publishing the studies in soft spiral study format and soft bond format for prison ministry (an eBook format is coming!). Exodus is the second book in a five part series: Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy. Each book is part of the yearly Torah cycle starting in Genesis and is designed to be used each year for study purposes. To pre order please contact the information below.
Reference
Redeemed Israel – Reunited and Restored by Batya Wootten www.messianicisrael.com
Torah: Law or Grace by Rabbi Ralph Messer www.torah.tv
Studies in the Five Books of Moses by Ben and Catherine Dixon STBM publisher www.torah.tv
Easton’s Bible Dictionary free online
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